1. Introduction

This research is expected to add to the pool of knowledge in the Malaysian beauty industry, as well as to illustrate the current trend of the involvement of social media in Malaysia.

Regularly, it applies to most beauty product consumers, especially girls, where females are more actively engaged in social media advertisement and endorsements to beauty products compared to males. Also, as social media is taking over mainstream media, it will be interesting to study as to ascertain how strong the correlation between social media and purchase intentions in the beauty industry. So, some predictions could be that, as the informativeness of social media increases, the more people rely on the message provided by the social media influencers, and it will eventually have a larger effect on customer purchase intentions.

Joint with a Computer-Aided Engineering postgraduate degree, Malaysia will deliver a good blend of First World development and indulging excitement modernization yet still preserving Asia’s rich history and cultural heritage. This makes Malaysia a great host country to do research in as it serves as a great location for real-life studies and at the same time provides the advantage of modern technological facilities.

The rising trend of customer engagement in social media and the recent focus of aligning marketing strategies to fit the new customer environment will further amplify this phenomenon. This research studies the impact of social media endorsements on customer purchase intentions in the Malaysian beauty industry, as well as trying to identify how different social media platforms, like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, have different effects on customer purchase intention.

One of the most emerging trends and viewpoints is the high spirit of social media in determining the minds of customers, which leads to purchasing and buying decisions seen in beauty products. Due to the new customer-centric environment in social media, cosmetic and beauty-centric brands have adapted to the changes of engaging in two-way communications with brands’ end-customers. The move from traditional cosmetic marketing, such as using celebrities or TV commercials in endorsing a product, to more customer engagement on social media has allowed customer insights and opinions to be collected. It is well-accepted nowadays by many cosmetic brands that customers trust real opinions from real girls, and it is the brand’s job nowadays to engage the customer and to make them love the brand (Marketing Weekly, 2016).

The cosmetic industry is a flourishing and profitable sector in which its consumers constantly demand the products that compliment their overall appearance. Over the last decade, the cosmetic industry has been revolutionized by new technological advancements, chic beauty trends, as well as a strong online presence. With the internet boom and the rising popularity of social media, the dynamics of the cosmetic industry have seen great changes. The valuation of beauty parlors has dilated to such a great extent that consumers nowadays have a plethora of choices and thus are directly impacted by the digitization of the cosmetic industry.

1.1 Background

The beauty industry is a growing market across the world. According to global consultancy firm AT Kearney, the beauty and personal care market was valued at $433 billion in 2017. As technology and internet usage becomes more prevalent, firms have sought to utilise the numerous new digital platforms that have emerged in recent years to reach out to potential customers. One such digital platform that has garnered much literature attention is social media. With users of social media across the world increasing at an almost exponential rate, it is no surprise that firms are taking advantage of the largely untapped marketing potential that social media offers. There is a growing consensus among the literature that social media is not just a means for digital marketing, but a new way of performing business – a concept commonly referred to as social business. This emerging trend of digital marketing relies essentially on the engagements and interactions of users on social media – a stark contrast to the previous, more traditional method of turning a more or less passive audience into active customers by using strong calls to action in advertisements. There is also major shift in the creation of marketing contents – from a few individuals orchestrating a marketing campaign to a more collective effort, deploying user generated contents (UGC) that relies heavily on digital media. As such, the business models and marketing trend suggested in the literature when considering the beauty industry recently have to take into account the implications of social media – from the new trend of content generations and demands for personalisation to the impacts towards the relationships between firms and other stakeholders in the supply chains. This research seeks to build on such an encouraged new trend of dialogue between firms and consumers and shed light on the possible influences that social media marketing could have on consumer behaviours and understanding towards a certain industry – this study decides to focus on the beauty industry. With the intuitive nature of interactions on social media that fosters a continuous relationship between users, brands and support in between users themselves as a community, it is logical to theorize that as firm’s engagement with social media increases, background marketing research would shift from a more traditional brand led approach to a customer-oriented strategy and thus has a greater influence on steering consumer behaviours. This research will concentrate on analysing the marketing related activities carried about by companies in the beauty industry on different social media platforms and how the change of such marketing strategies is affecting or would affect different aspects of consumer intention to purchase.

1.2 Research Objectives

The research aims to examine the influence of social media on customers’ purchase intention in the beauty industry. It focuses on the top social media platforms used in the beauty industry and the access that customers have to the industry through participation in social media. The research attempts to provide a clear understanding of customer behaviors and preferences which are affected by social media. It also attempts to identify motivational factors which drive customers to engage in the beauty industry and establish what contents and channels attract them most. Finally, the research intends to examine the effectiveness of social media and reveal if it is beneficial or not for the customers. The study will benefit cosmetic brand owners and marketing professionals in the beauty industry in formulating marketing strategies by comprehending the effects and the actual power of social media in shaping customers’ behaviors. The results of this research also offer valuable information to influencers and brand followers in the beauty industry as their activities on social media could be focused and guided.

1.3 Scope of the Study

The study will focus on the impact of social media on customers’ purchase intention in the beauty industry in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The choice of Ho Chi Minh City is based on two reasons. First, Ho Chi Minh City is the largest and most dynamic city in Vietnam with the characteristics of a typical city in a developing country. It represents a big portion of the beauty and personal care industry revenue in Vietnam. Second, Ho Chi Minh City leads the country in terms of social media usage, making it an ideal location for studying the impact of social media. The study will focus on the beauty industry in general, which includes skin care, makeup, and hair care. Although there are a wide variety of products and brands in the beauty industry, the study will narrow down to investigate the purchase intention of consumers toward facial skin care products, which are the most popular segment and have the biggest portion in the beauty and personal care industry revenue in Vietnam. Furthermore, as the research aims to investigate the purchase intentions of customers, which concentrates on the active user in social media who might face a decision on purchasing a product at some certain point rather than all social media users, only females, who are the main consumers of facial skin care products, will be included in the research.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Definition of Social Media

2.2 Importance of Social Media in the Beauty Industry

2.3 Previous Studies on Social Media and Purchase Intention

2.4 Theoretical Framework

3. Methodology

3.1 Research Design

3.2 Data Collection

3.3 Sample Selection

3.4 Data Analysis

4. Findings

4.1 Social Media Usage in the Beauty Industry

4.2 Influence of Social Media on Purchase Intention

4.3 Factors Affecting Purchase Intention in the Beauty Industry

5. Discussion

5.1 Comparison with Previous Studies

5.2 Implications for the Beauty Industry

5.3 Limitations of the Study

6. Conclusion

6.1 Summary of Findings

6.2 Contributions to the Literature

6.3 Recommendations for Future Research