Evaluation of the impact of L’Oréal’s acquisition of The Body Shop on both brands

Abstract

This research aims to study the impact that L’Oréal’s acquisition of The Body Shop had on consumers’ identification with both brands. Our research was based on the assumption that because both companies have different cultures and values, this could lead to changes in their brand identifications. Consumers from both brands were evaluated separately and both samples were further divided into two sub-samples: the ones that had previous knowledge about the acquisition and the ones who didn’t. Through this research we concluded that consumers from both brands are environmentally-conscious and also that both considered that company’s social responsibility practices heavily weighed when deciding where to buy. This research was developed based on the Consumer-Company Identification model with some adaptations based on the recent literature. The results suggest that consumers have a strong relationship with both brands. Those who knew a priori about the acquisition expressed that it didn’t have much impact on their perception and purchase behavior. For those who only acknowledged it during the research also demonstrated a remaining strong brand identification (with both brands), although with results weaker than before.