Abstract

Cosmetic products are very important for women. Nowadays women are very conscious while purchasing their products. Women use a vast variety of cosmetic products, such as soap, shampoo, perfume, skincare or make-up. In Pakistan nowadays many cosmetic product companies advertise their products as a need which eventually appeals to a vast majority of women. Many companies use different social applications for advertisements. The Facebook application was selected as a medium for advertisement. This research study includes an analysis of the exposure to social media advertisements regarding cosmetics and purchasing behaviour of women. Specifically, this investigation is based on this specific objective. The research reveals that women are affected by social media advertisements. The study was anchored on the hierarchy of effect model. The target population comprised women. A simple random sampling technique was used. The survey method was used in the research study. Data were analyzed descriptively. The study revealed that social media advertisements affected the attitude and beliefs of women.

Key Words

Advertisement, Social Media, Facebook, Behaviour, Cosmetic Products

Introduction

Social media penetration into the lives of its users has been at its peak these days. The recent figures show that “there are 3.96 billion social media users worldwide in 2022 which is a 4.8 per cent increase from a year ago. It is also 1.1 billion more than the number of social media users in 2017, which represents a massive 38.5 per cent jump in just six years. The average annual increase rate over this period is 6.7 per cent”.  

Women are also very active on social media. In Pakistan, 22% of women use social media. According to PTA, the mobile subscription rate among women has been 21% of the total over the years. Out of 182 million mobile connections across Pakistan in FY 21-2020, only 38 million women have ID cards, while the other 144 million are active in the name of men.

People are “spending more time on social media as a study shows that every person, an average of three hours is spent per day on social 

media. Because of this trend, social media has become extremely relevant for online marketing, as statistics also show that 54% of social media users not only research but also receive product information nowadays GlobalWebindex,2018”.

Social media advertisements refer to the use of social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat to persuade consumers that an organization, item or solution is valuable. Advertising on social networking sites is a great source of product information these days.

The role of social media advertising in cosmetics is invariable and persuades women consumers, especially towards cosmetics and makeup. Cosmetics “play a very important role in the day-to-day life of women consumers. It helps to develop personality and to increase the confidence level of women. Advertisement has a vital role to generate desire among the female group of society to buy various products, especially cosmetics and makeup. Social media have become the most effective tool influencing consumers, especially those women who use social media”. 

Cosmetics are a regular part of women’s lives in today’s world of life and style. It “adds extra elegance to our appearance and makes us feel more comfortable and confident. Nowadays, there are more varieties of cosmetics available in the market than ever before, and it is quite obvious to us that they play a crucial role in our day-to-day life. Cosmetics are part of a daily routine and a crucial part of most women's lives”.

Cosmetic is applied are applied externally to the body. Cosmetics have been part of human history for a long. The word 'cosmetics' have been derived from the Greek word meaning 'technique to dress and arrange'. Cosmetics products include hair care, skin care, sun care, perfumes, deodorants and makeup. In other words, they may be applied to skin, hair, and nail for the purpose of covering, colouring, softening, nourishing, waving, setting, preservation, removal, protection and cleansing. All cosmetics are formulated as solids, semi-solids, and liquids. Beautifiers are something which has turned into an essential piece of a lady's form articulation.

Cosmetics products and their “usage are very important as well as common for women. Cosmetics and personal care products are applied to the human body for the purposes of cleaning, beautifying, promoting attractiveness or changing expression. Ranging from antiperspirants, fragrances, makeup and shampoos, to soaps, sunscreens and kinds of toothpaste, cosmetics and personal care products play an essential role in all stages of our life”. 

Women have been using “cosmetics for thousands of years and today the vast majority of women use cosmetics and personal care products every day to protect their health, enhance their well-being and boost their self-esteem. Throughout the past decade, the World Wide Web has experienced an extensive expansion of user-driven web technologies, called social media and lead to the creation of online communities, enhanced discussions and opinion-sharing, as well as user-generated content” (Voramontri & Klieb, 2019).

Statement of Problem

This study, therefore, assessed the use of social media advertising regarding cosmetic products and the purchasing behaviour of women. The research assessed how much advertising affects purchasing decisions of women and investigates the Facebook advertising of cosmetics on the attitude and beliefs of women, also analyze the preferences of women affected by advertisement.

In this study, we conducted a survey to investigate if watching social media advertising would affect the purchasing behaviour of women. The motivation why the Researcher designs this research is social media advertisement in regards to cosmetic products and purchasing behaviour of women since cosmetic products are vital for women.

The main objective of the current study is to find the relationship between Social Media Advertisements regarding Cosmetics and Purchasing Behaviour of Women by presenting a comprehensive analysis of the long-term association between social media advertisements and purchasing behaviour of women.

Literature Review

Many researchers have done their research on social media advertisement and their impact on the purchasing behaviour of women. But there is a very unique theoretical review on the same topic. So, we have made investigative work on the topic of social media advertising regarding cosmetic products and the purchasing behaviour of women. In this research, we have examined the impact of social media advertising on cosmetic products as well as on women.

The study also “considered advertisements featuring physically attractive people. This significantly affects female consumers and their self-esteem. Advertisers target women into buying beauty products by making them seem like problem-solving products. Advertisers make it appears these products will fix the flaws of a person's appearance, and that by using beauty products, the consumer will be as attractive as the person featured in the advertisement. Further, when beauty advertisers create an ad, they suggest an ideal view of beauty and create a standard of beauty. This further pushes consumers of cosmetics to make these purchases by self-referencing their own looks to the looks of the people in the ads” (Trampe, 2011).

Stacey Fabricant and Stephen Gould studied “why women wear makeup and the connections between frequent use and quantity used of makeup amongst different ages. What was found was that the women in the study used makeup as self-expression, as well as using it as a mask to improve their looks. However, despite enjoying using makeup, some of the women saw makeup use as negative, and attempt to change their makeup routines to avoid that negative stigma by changing the colours used in their routines from bright to neutral colours, or by using less makeup overall. Other women in the study who saw makeup as a symbol of their femininity would wear more makeup to display that” (Fabricant, 1993).

Mary Martin and Patricia Kennedy considered “how advertisers affect adolescent girls and innocent women. They touched upon the fact that advertisers create the impression that young females should always look nice, even if that means putting on a mask of makeup. Because of this, Martin and Kennedy did a study of how preadolescent and adolescent females reacted to models in advertising. The study found that as females get older, they become more concerned with their looks, and they strive to look more like models as they get older. Furthermore, even a one-time exposure to an ad featuring a model could affect the participant into wanting to change their appearance” (Martin, 1993).

Sofia Bratu of Spiru Haret University confirmed that “women who view advertisements that feature physically attractive females will react negatively to the ad, especially if the ad has a suggestive nature. However, much of the reaction towards the ad will be based on the viewer's current mood. For example, a female who is in a positive mood will be more likely to react positively to a sexually suggestive ad. Further, females tend to be more detail-oriented and tend to process and engage more than men in these ads. A female will nitpick the ad, and feel more emotions towards the ad than a male viewing the same ad” (Bratu, 2013).

Another article, written by Jeanine Skorinko, Suzanne Kemmer Michelle Hebl, and David Lane, “focused on the naming of products, and how those names affect consumer choices. In the article, Skorinko et al. discuss how advertising attracts customers to the products and makes the products more prominent in their daily lives. However, before a company can start advertising they need to think of a name for their product. The name chosen should have a certain appeal to the everyday customer to pique interest and still be relevant to the product. The name of the product is extremely valuable as that is the first impression of the product. The name can create the standard for the rest of the products on the market for example many people refer to soda in general as Coke” (Skorinko, 2006).

Much of Skorinko’s et al. research revolves around how naming colours affects consumers’ perceptions. In their study “they sent out a survey which showed the picture of a coloured towel and the participant had to choose a colour name for the towel. What was found was a brown towel would be suggested to be labelled mocha or a blue towel would be suggested to be labelled ocean. These fancy names for the colours had higher appeal to the consumers, and consumers would be willing to pay more for a product with a fancier name. This would be important for marketers in a cosmetics company as the company would want their products to be named appropriately and still appeal to the consumer. For example, a lipstick called “Blood Red” may not appeal to some consumers, but a lipstick called “Ruby Red” may have more appeal” (Skorinko, 2006).

Shabir, Ghous & Safdar (2017) revealed through their study that “often it has been observed that consumers are misguided by the electronic media to purchase unnecessary and injurious products. Researchers have made efforts to explore the causes and fixed responsibility on media channels for the violation of consumer rights. Shabir et al., further revealed that buyers have the opportunity to visit markets and purchase what they want while having personal encounters with the shopkeepers while suggesting the regulatory bodies step forward to shun the practice of violation of consumer rights in Pakistan”.

Hollebeek,  Glynn,  and  Brodie  (2014) have maintained that  “the effects of digital and social media advertising lack empirical investigation from the standpoint of literature regarding brands. Kim and Ko (2012) revealed that only limited attention has been given to brand impartiality and effectiveness regarding advertising on social media”.

Anderson, Sims, Price & Brusa, (2011); Tuten and Solomon (2015) have “concluded that in today's modern era, social media has turned not only into a commerce but social platform where male and female consumers both can online pay and buy the products they like directly from given social commercial channels.  For instance, according to Anderson et al., (2011) through the platform of Twitter, the Dell Outlet has sold out its products worth over 6.5 Million US Dollars”.

Hierarchy of Effects Theory

Lavidge & Sterner (1961) designed “the hierarchy of effects theory. The theory is also applicable to advertising research. The two authors tried to evaluate the role of advertisement in luring customers to buy their products. The hierarchy of effect model proposed six steps to customer purchasing behaviour which include:

 

Awareness

This is the first and most critical stage. It marks the beginning step in purchasing. Firms must ensure that clients are aware of the existence of their brand. At this point, cosmetic advertisers should make sure that their brands are well advertised in targeted media so that their target audience and probably their prospective client are aware of the existence of the specific cosmetic brand in the market.

 

 

Knowledge

It describes the stage where a commodity is examined against other commodities by the client. Firms must ensure that sufficient knowledge regarding product information is available through the Internet and other platform.

Liking: Refers to considerations made for its emotional benefits. The advertiser should ensure they clearly communicate the strengths of the product and how it stands to benefit the client and be sure to make them prominent. The cosmetic product be portrayed as a product that will efficiently help the woman enhance her physical appearance and hence enable her to communicate her strength as a woman.

 

Preference

By this time clients may be convinced to try out your commodity, but may prefer alternative brands of cosmetics too. Creation of a competitive advantage which will differentiate you from others and ensure that the customer prefers your brand compared to others in her wish list is paramount.

 

Conviction

This is the stage where the doubt in consumers’ minds about purchasing your brand requires to be converted into action.

 

Purchasing

There is the critical step of the customer's buying cycle. The advertiser needs to make sure that the cycle ends with the purchase of the advertised product. This is through ensuring that the purchase experience is friendly for the consumer. Some of the methods used to persuade customers to purchase are through maintaining simple and alternative payment options, making the product easily available, well-communicated usage instructions, easy to understand usage instructions after sells services, offers, and warranties”.

 

Populations

Pirmahal City is the population of the researcher from which the researcher selected the 4 colleges to represent all the women of Pirmahal and use

the random sampling technique to summarise the population. A survey questionnaire will be used to collect data.

The following Public and Private sectors colleges have been chosen for the study:




 

Name of Colleges	Target Population
Government College for Women Pirmahal	62.5
Faran Group of Colleges Pirmahal	62.5
Punjab Group of Colleges Pirmahal	62.5
National College for Women Pirmahal	62.5

 

Research Questions

? What is the impact of social media advertising on the purchasing choice of ladies towards cosmetic products?

? What attitudes and beliefs do women have about cosmetics products on social media?

? Do the women prefer the products they watch in the advertisement?

Hypothesis

H1: Advertising has a significant impact on women purchasing intentions toward cosmetics Products.

H2: Social media advertising changes the attitude and beliefs of women about purchasing cosmetics.

H3: It is more likely women prefer the Products which they watch in the advertising.

Analysis and Finding

This chapter details the investigation of the data acquired for the study. The results of the respondents' demographic characteristics are presented in the chapter along with a summary of their responses. The means, attitudes, and inferential statistics that help answer the study's questions are also supplied, along with a descriptive analysis of the results.

Statistics on age groups, genders, educational backgrounds, and other crucial topics are provided in this chapter's part, which act as the study's control variables.

The respondents' ages were the subject of the first questionnaire. The results are displayed in Table 1 as such.




 

Table 1

Depicts the age of respondents (N=250)

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative percent
Valid	15-20	151	60.4	60.4	60.4
	21-25	98	39.2	39.2	99.6
	Above 25	1	.4	.4	100.0
	Total	250	100.0	100.0

Figure 1

Depicts the age of respondents (N=250)



Table 2

Women mostly use Cosmetics Products?

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Yes	250	100.0	100.0	100.0

Figure 2

Women mostly use Cosmetics Products



Table 2 demonstrates that Women are the only ones who purchase and utilise cosmetics. In my research, I exclusively talked to women since I was intrigued by finding out about their shopping habits. The findings indicate that 100% of women used cosmetics when they were younger. Women utilised a variety of items, including soaps, shampoo, conditioners, and cosmetics.

According to Sofi et al. (2018), advertising significantly predicts consumer purchase behaviour, and this link is higher when advertising actively generates favourable results. The mediation impact of customer loyalty between advertising and customer purchasing behaviour has also been demonstrated by this study. It suggests that an increase in advertising leads to an increase in consumer purchasing behaviour and that this rise becomes more substantial when brand equity plays a significant role.

Table 3

Which type of cosmetics do you use?

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Hair products	55	22.0	22.0	22.0
	Makeup products	99	39.6	39.6	61.6
	Soaps and Lotion	66	26.4	26.4	88.0
	Skincare products	30	12.0	12.0	100.0
	Total	250	100.0	100.0

Figure 3

Which type of cosmetics do you use?



Above table shows that 39.6% of females used Makeup products while 26.4% of women buy soaps and lotion products for their skincare. The majority of the respondents purchase make-up products after viewing different commercials on social media platforms. The mediated effect of brand recognition on the correlation between advertising and brand loyalty has also been proven by this study. Because of the advertising message, consumers show more positive buying behaviour and are more loyal, and this relationship grows stronger as a result of brand awareness, according to this study's findings.

Table 4

Which kind of Cosmetics do you use the Most?






		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Solid e.g. powders	27	10.8	10.8	10.8
	Liquid  e.g. Lotions	178	71.2	71.2	82.0
	Semisolid e.g. cream and gel	45	18.0	18.0	100.0
	Total	250	100.0	100.0

According to Table 4, 71.2% of women use liquid cosmetics, such as various lotions depending on the season (winter or summer) and their skin type. The fact that they exclusively utilised semisolid goods, such as cream, gel, etc., (18%, N=250), indicates that. 10.8% of women used cosmetics with a texture similar to powder to care for their skin. Because they are more conscious of their social standards, customers preferred branded cosmetics goods, according to the study's findings.

Figure 4

Which kind of Cosmetics do you use the Most?



Table 5

Do you see Advertisements on Social Media?






		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Yes	234	93.6	93.6	93.6
	No	16	6.4	6.4	100.0
	Total	250	100.0	100.0

According to Table 5, 93.6% of respondents saw social media advertisements, whereas 6.4% do not. The majority of respondents admitted to watching various advertisements on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and other social media sites. The online world of today is dominated by social media, which includes virtual communities, blogging, forums, web forums, online networks, media sharing, and microblogs. According to Neilsen (2011), more than 80% of Americans utilize social media on a daily basis. Social media has developed into a significant medium for businesses that are closely linked to advertising or media advertising (Miranda et al., 2012).

Figure 5

Do you see Advertisements on social media?



Table 6

Advertisements Screened on Social Media Influence Purchasing Behaviour



Table 6 shows that 37.2% of survey respondents made cosmetic purchases using social media marketing. Social media advertisements are created in such a way that they capture the listener's attention and affect women's purchasing behaviour. Different advertisements were created in such an overtly attention-seeking manner so that no one could ignore them because they directly addressed the skin issues of women. Since they had no interest in cosmetics products, 3.6% and 4% of people do not respond to any commercials.

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Strongly agree	93	37.2	37.2	37.2
	Agree	80	32.0	32.0	69.2
	Neutral	58	23.2	23.2	92.4
	Disagree	9	3.6	3.6	96.0
	Strongly disagree	10	4.0	4.0	100.0
	Total	250	100.0	100.0

Figure 6

Advertisement Screened on the Social Media Influence Purchasing Behaviour



Table 7

I use many Cosmetic Products after Watchi

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Strongly agree	82	32.8	32.8	32.8
	Agree	90	36.0	36.0	68.8
	Neutral	49	19.6	19.6	88.4
	Disagree	15	6.0	6.0	94.4
	Strongly disagree	14	5.6	5.6	100.0
	Total	250	100.0	100.0

ng the Advertisemen

Table 7 shows that 36% of survey respondents made purchases via social media marketing. According to 32.8% of respondents who also purchase cosmetics goods, they see in advertisements, the majority of women who analyze hair-related advertising do so in search of solutions. For their new look, they tried out various hair dye cosmetics and drew inspiration from online celebrities. After purchasing, women also offer their original product reviews.




Figure 7

I use many Cosmetic Products after Watching the Advertisement



Table 8

Advertisements attract your mind and convince you to Purchase Products






According to Table 8, 38% of respondents make social media purchases of cosmetics as a result of advertisements' persuasive tactics. 32.8% of respondents who also buy cosmetics products said they do so because they saw them in commercials. Even if they are not interested in purchasing the products, the way the advertisement is made will persuade viewers to do so in order to benefit their skin.

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Strongly agree	82	32.8	32.8	32.8
	Agree	95	38.0	38.0	70.8
	Neutral	45	18.0	18.0	88.8
	Disagree	12	4.8	4.8	93.6
	Strongly disagree	16	6.4	6.4	100.0
	Total	250	100.0	100.0

Figure 8

Advertisements attract your mind and convince you to purchase products



Interpretation and Result

H1: Advertising has a significant impact on women purchasing intentions towards cosmetic products.

After the responses of students of Pirmahal colleges, the table has been created hereinafter and obtained from Q6 and Q8.




 

Table 9

	Q6	Q8	total
Strongly agree	93	82	175
Agree	80	95	175
Neutral	58	45	103
disagree	9	12	21
Strongly disagree	10	16	26

 




Interpretation and Result

As demonstrated already, the above table shows that Advertising has a significant impact on women purchasing intentions in the cosmetics industry. The data was gathered from the respondents of students of Pirmahal colleges and arranged and develop the result. The information collected from the Q6 and Q8 reveals that almost 70% of respondents agree or strongly agree that Advertising has a significant impact on women purchasing intentions in the cosmetics industry. While 8.4% disagree, 10.4 strongly disagree and 41% are neutral with this statement.

 

Interpretation and Result

H2: Social media advertising changes the attitude and belief of women about purchasing cosmetics.

After the responses of students of Pirmahal city, the table has been created hereinafter and obtained from Q12 and Q13.




 

Table 10

	Q12	Q13	total
Strongly agree	104	66	170
agree	78	91	169
neutral	43	74	117
disagree	16	16	32
Strongly disagree	9	3	12

 




Interpretation and Result

As demonstrated already, the above table shows that Social media advertising changes the attitude and beliefs of women about purchasing cosmetics. The data was gathered from the respondents of the students of Pirmahal colleges and arranged and develop the result. The information collected from the Q12 and Q13 reveals that almost 68 respondent agree or strongly agree that Social media advertising change the attitude and belief of women about purchasing cosmetics.  While 12.8% disagree, 4.8% strongly disagree and 46.8% are neutral with this statement.

H3: It is more likely women prefer the products they watch in the advertising.

After the responses of students of Pirmahal City, the table has been created hereinafter and obtained from Q16 Q17 Q18.




 

Table 11

	Q16	Q17	Q18	total
Strongly agree	91	86	46	223
agree	86	76	75	237
neutral	49	56	90	195
disagree	14	21	24	59
Strongly disagree	10	11	15	36

 




Interpretation and Result

As we know earlier, It is more likely women prefer the things they watch in the advertising. During the survey, 89% of women of Pirmahal colleges strongly agree or 94.8% agree with the statement respectively. It means more than half of the respondents accept this statement while 23.6% disagree and 14.4% strongly disagree with the statement but 78% set their mind as neutral in this statement.

Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations

Impact of social media advertisement regarding cosmetics products

The first objective of the study “was to check the impact of social media advertising on women purchasing decision process. The findings revealed that social media advertising has a positive and imperative impact on women. With the increase of social media advertisements increase the aggregate demand for cosmetics products. The majority of women said that they trust social media advertisements".

On the same note, through the question, the finding also revealed that Facebook is mostly used by women. And women pay much attention to the 

advertisement. Majority base their arguments that the products advertised on social media are of high quality and better.




Attitude and belief in cosmetics in social media advertisement

The second objective of the research “was to investigate the impact of social media advertisements of the cosmetics on attitudes and beliefs of women about the products. The findings revealed that women's attitudes and beliefs have a positive and imperative impact on the performance of cosmetic products. This was reinforced by the claims in which a high portion of the respondents accepted that the advertising promotes change in attitude and belief on cosmetics products”.




Preference of women affected by advertisement

The third objective of the research was to analyze the preference of women towards cosmetic products affected by advertisements. The study revealed that most women prefer the products they watch on social media women mostly purchase at least one product in three months which they watch on social media advertisement.

Conclusion

The investigation was primarily established for a few purposes the researcher deliberate to find the impact of social media advertisements regarding cosmetics products and purchasing behaviour of women. Moreover also look forward in the direction of behavioural changes that can be brought to the women. Social media advertisements have a diverse influence on women. This investigation also finds to collect data about the most popular medium among women. Facebook is mostly used by women.

Based on the results of the study concluded that the attitude and behaviour towards cosmetic products of women are affected by social media advertisements, which affects the cosmetics purchasing decision of women.

Studies revealed that social media advertisements change the attitude and beliefs of women.

Hypothesis 1 was "advertising has a significant impact on women purchasing intention towards cosmetic products" according to the result collected after data collection from the colleges of Pirmahal. The researcher collected data and examine and develop a result which clearly shows that advertising has a significant impact on women purchasing intention towards cosmetic products the information collected from Q6, and Q8 reveals that the majority of women agree and strongly agree that social media have significant impact on women purchasing intentions toward cosmetic products. So, the hypothesis is accepted.

Suggestions and Recommendations

The study recommends “future studies should aim to broaden the knowledge on the factors that affect the growth of social media advertisement. Additionally, there should be a study that determines the actual influence of social media advertising on woman regard to cosmetic products”.

Can choose different demography for the study if anyone wants to conduct a study on the same topic If anyone doesn't want to choose different demography then they can increase the sample size from the population for further research. The study can be equipping different sampling techniques in order to verify or rectify the result in the future.

References

• Anderson, M., Sims, J., Price, J., & Perspective, J. (2011). Turning “Like” to “Buy” Social Media Emerges as a Commerce Channel.
• Bond et. al. (2010), Social Media Advertising: An Investigation of consumer perceptions, Attitudes and Preference of Engagement, ANZMAC 2012, 1-9.
• Chen, Y.-H., Hsu, I-Chieh., & Lin, C.-C. (2010). Website attributes that increase consumer purchase intention: A conjoint analysis. Journal of Business Research, 63(9- 10), 1007–1014.
• Cheung, C. M. K., Lee, M. K. O., & Rabjohn, N. (2008). The impact of electronic word‐of‐ mouth. Internet Research, 18(3), 229–247.
• Cook, D. L., & Coupey, E. (1998). Consumer Behavior and Unresolved Regulatory Issues in Electronic Marketing. Journal of Business Research, 41(3), 231–238.
• Huang, J., Lee, B. C. Y., & Hsun Ho, S. (2004). Consumer attitude toward gray market goods. International Marketing Review, 21(6), 598–614.