BIZ202 Assignment: Consumer Behaviour Analysis of MECCA Brands

Part a- Discussion Post

Background of the Business:

Australia’s beauty industry giant MECCA Brands, is popular beauty and personal care retailer. It was established in 1997 by Jo Horgan and deals in premium skincare products along with beauty and wellness items that are available online and in-store. MECCA has more than 1000 employees employed in more than 100 stores all across Australia and New Zealand. It operates in various store formats including MECCA Maxima, MECCA Cosmetica and online store targeting quality-focused consumers with strong ethical values (MECCA, 2025).

Customers:

The primary customer base of MECCA is the Millennials and Gen Z generation who were born into digital age, and are conscious about ethical sourcing, clean ingredients, and valuable retail experiences. Psychographically, these consumers are self-expressive, individualistic, and need to have a sense of belonging in the community (Hoffmann & Akbar, 2023). When making their purchase decisions, they rely on online reviews, social media, and brand values.

Gupta (2021) states that emotional motivations and social validation influence the behaviors of digital consumers. The desire to be accepted and the online anonymity provides as unrestrained opportunity for identity experimentation, which is very crucial to consumers interaction with MECCA blogs and content, products and brand community. MECCA capitalizes this by offering personalized online experiences and promoting an all-inclusive brand identity.

Competition:

MECCA has its rivals in the market including:

• Sephora – an international competitor with online and physical stores.
• Adore Beauty- an Australian e-commerce-centric brand that has a broad portfolio of products and offers competitive prices.

MECCA’s omni-channel retail experience, exclusive partners and a string emphasis on brand ethics position it distinctively , a factor critical in the beauty industry market aligning with sustainability orientated Gen Z (Coggins et al., 2024).

External stakeholders:

MECCA Micro-environment contains:

• Suppliers: High-end international beauty labels that rely on MECCA to reach Australian market.
• Online and social media platform - instrumental in product discovery and consumers interaction.
• Regulatory Government jurisdiction-these bodies ensure safety of products, transparency, and meeting environmental standards.
• Community- the local investment particularly into sustainability driven causes as a part of the B-Corp ethos representing stakeholder-inclusive business models (Management Editorial Team, 2019).

Consumer Behavior Insights:

Both internal and external factors influence the consumers decisions in MECCA including motives, attitudes, emotions (Hoffmann & Akbar, 2021) and, on the other hand, social media, cultural norms and digital anonymity (Gupta, 2021).

As consumers can remain anonymous on the digital platform, the decisions they make tend to be more honest and emotionally driven. MECCA leverages it through tailored content, socially responsible narratives, and peer reviews to engage and convert its audience through influencing perception resulting in conversion.

As Coggins et al., (2024), stated that, although the social media cannot be trusted, it indirectly shapes behaviour through identity and values, particularly with the Gen Zs who value cost-effectiveness, seamless experiences, and alignment with their personal values.

References:

Coggins, B., Alldredge, K., & Adams, C. (2024, June 10). State of the Consumer 2024: What’s now and what’s next. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/state-of-consumer

Gupta, S. (2021). How people buy online: the psychology behind consumer behaviour. SAGE Publications Pvt. Ltd.

Hoffmann, S., & Akbar, P. (2023). Consumer behavior: Understanding consumers – Designing marketing activities. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-39476-9

Management Editorial Team. (2019, August 27). Time to amend why companies exist? Management Magazine NZ. https://management.co.nz/business/time-amend-why-companies-exist

MECCA. (2025). About MECCA. https://www.mecca.com/en-au/about-mecca/