How Park Avenue engineered loyalty to the Gillette brand.

I can’t for the life of me remember when and why I, a regular Gillette Shaving Gel user, bought my Park Avenue Shaving Foam. Right now after a few weeks of using the latter I am ruing my decision to switch. Tell you what, once the Park Avenue foam is exhausted, I am getting back to Gillette and staying put.

So here’s the Marketing stuff that can decipher my buying behavior. My regular use of Gillette Gel shouldn’t get you to conclude I am a ‘committed loyal’ buyer of the brand. You should instead read my repeated buying as an outcome of habit (habitual buying behavior) exhibited in a category with which I am lowly involved (an outcome of my low risk association with a purchase decision).

Here’s my theory on the switch I made from my routine buying habit. Park Avenue must have run a promo/price-off which I stumbled on when I searched for ‘Shaving Gel’ with an online retailer (must have been Amazon Now). The lower price/promo must have lured me off Gillette, into the arms of Park Avenue.

So why am I planning to go back to Gillette? I must admit there’s nothing wrong with Park Avenue’s shaving foam. It’s the aerosol can that’s the problem. Made of metal, the top and bottom ring-edges have rusted. The bottom one stains the bathroom cabinet, and the top gets mixed with the foam when I squeeze it out; which is why I am going back to my earlier brand, one that never posed such a problem. Plus, hence on I am going to be careful about my next buy; that’s because my risk perception with buying in this category has risen. In loyalty lingo that may mean, when it comes to the Gillette brand, I am probably moving towards ‘committed loyalty’.

Now that should make brand Gillette happy!