Male grooming in Portugal: the attitude and behaviour of generation y men

Abstract

Nowadays, an always growing number of men is engaging in the purchase and consumption of male grooming products. However, consumers appear to hold different degrees of acceptance and behaviours towards this activity. As the men’s grooming market in Portugal has yet to boom, the key aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the attitude and behaviour of Portuguese males and to explore the barriers to consumption of men’s grooming products in a culture that is still said to largely hold typical notions of masculinity in relation to gender roles. Through a qualitative analysis consisting of eleven in-depth interviews, five major hindering factors are unveiled: stigma, lack of information, image, price and inertia. These insights and the proposed practical recommendations might be of interest to men’s grooming brands operating in Portugal and in other similar cultures, which should adopt strategies focused on encouraging the consumption of beauty and personal care products and on decreasing these barriers. Overall, this paper contributes to a deeper understanding of male consumer attitude and behaviour in the men’s grooming market by exploring the Portuguese context.