The Impact of Cosmetic Brands towards Female Consumers Perception - Essay Example

The Impact of Cosmetic Brands towards Female Consumers’ Perception and Behavior Problem ment and Objectives In the UK, the cosmetics and beauty industry is seeing a period of sustained growth. Statistics released recently show that the industry has an annual category growth of approximately 12%, while its market value is expected to grow from £15 billion to £20 billion in the next five years (Chorlton 34). This research study will seek to contribute towards improved comprehension of various aspects of perceptions and behavior of female cosmetic consumers. The study is important in the delineation of new and emergent trends in the UK cosmetics industry. As will be discussed in the study, the country and the world at large has undergone rapid modernization and growth with women becoming more involved in society, as well as an increasingly powerful movement among the younger women towards the sue of cosmetics in coping with cultural and social changes. These trends tend to put more emphasis on female appearance, particularly among educated women, which informs the choice of respondents between the ages of eighteen and forty (Chorlton 43). The research study will also seek to enrich current literature, while also providing additional information about women in UK society to the cosmetics sector and other retailing sectors, as well. The information produced by this study should be of value to marketers in the identification of opportunities, which will ensure improved resource-use efficiency, especially in relation to the perceptions and buying behavior of consumers, such as selling and promotional efforts, product features, consumer targeting, and market segmentation. On this basis, this research paper will seek to pursue several objectives: To provide an overview of the UK cosmetics market and its importance to the Country. To examine how cosmetic brand influences the perceptions, and buying behavior of female consumers. Propose recommendations that will enable UK cosmetic companies to target strategies at female consumers. Literature Review The strategy used by brands that are well known in introducing product categories to the market can be referred to as brand extension attitude (Tuškej & Podnar 1362). Many companies use the strategy as a way of strengthening their brand equity and making it more influential. According to Alav & Zeynali (p. 3226), an effective strategy for brand extension should strengthen the image and name of its parent brand. Brand extension also influences the consumer’s perceptions and attitudes favorable towards the extended brand (Sundaram & Webster 664). According to Berger (p. 56), a successful brand image will enhance the consumer’s ability to identify needs that can be satisfied by the brand, while also differentiating it from competitors and improving the probability of the consumer purchasing the product. By maintaining a favorable brand image, companies and their products, will definitely gain increased market share, sustainable competitive advantage, and a better market position (Strašek 63). Additionally, various research findings have shown that favorable brand image results in increased consumer loyalty (Czellar & Luna 45), brand equity (Stiff 50), purchase behavior (Eric 22), and performance of the brand (Mowen 51). Grime et al (p. 132) contends that an image can be defined as a mental construct, which a consumer develops based on several selected impressions that are among numerous other impressions in the market. The brand image emanates from a creative process through which the impressions selected by the consumer are ordered, embellished, and elaborated. Mela & Lehmann (p. 155) defines brand image as a set of impressions, ideas, and beliefs, which a consumer has with regards to a specific product. Jacoby & Olson (p. 37), on the other hand, considers the image of a brand as a set of perceptions concerning a specific brand as reflected by what the consumer associates it with, in their memory. Another similar take on brand was proposed by Lückerath (p. 48), in which he refers to brand image as a group of associations that are normally organized in a way that is meaningful. However, Levy & Rook (p. 71) defines brand image as a group of associations and attributes that are connected to a brand name by consumers. Research Question Does cosmetic brand image influence the perceptions and buying behavior of female consumers? Hypothesis H1: A positive and significant relationship exists between cosmetic brand image and favorable consumer perception and buying behavior. Methodology Research Design The nature of the research study will be descriptive. In addition, rather than a longitudinal research design, the study will sue a cross-sectional research design. For this type, data is collected during a single point in time from the participants, as well as during a brief period of interaction with consumers. This period should be long enough for data collection from the participants selected as part of the study. For cross-sectional research design, it is possible to collect data from participants on various issues in a relatively short period of time. The design is appropriate for this study because there are time constraints, as most consumers will not have a lot of time to give answers. In addition, since the research study is not focused on the examination of trends, cross-sectional design is best. Participants For this research study, the focus group will be made up of general female consumers who use cosmetics. It will consist of a quantitative study that will use fifty consumers in the City of London. The target group has been identified as female cosmetics consumers aged between eighteen and forty years. This is because previous research shows that this is the group with the highest eagerness and power to spend with most cosmetics consumers being female and over the age of eighteen. Measures In order to achieve the objectives set up for the research, various independent and dependent variables will be used. Independent variables will consist of brand image, brand performance, brand relevance, brand reputation, product knowledge, and brand price and promotion. The dependent variables, on the other hand, will be consumer perceptions and loyalty and consumer buying behavior. Sampling Sampling can be defined as a technique or process of coming up with suitable representative parts of the population in order to determine characteristics/parameters of an entire population. For this research study, convenience sampling, which is a non-probability design of sampling, will be used. This sampling design will involve the collection of information from participants from the selected population that are available conveniently to give information. The selected sampling units will be female cosmetics consumers. This sample will be constructed at three cosmetics shops in London. Data Collection Since the aim of undertaking this research study is in order to determine the influence of various factors related to brand on perceptions of the brand and buying behaviour of the consumer, the nature of the study is descriptive. As with most descriptive research studies, the survey method is to be used in collecting data. Particularly, questionnaires based on the survey will be utilized as data collection’s primary tool. During collection, both qualitative and quantitative data will be gathered. With regards to the questionnaires, questions will predominantly be closed-ended in nature in order to ensure high rates of response and to save time for the participants. The survey design’s central aim will be to search for relationships that exist between various factors. Its success is dependent on using well-structured questionnaires that will collect relevant data from the relevant participants. Therefore, the study will be able to depict existing relationships between different the different variables stated above. Because the study is centred on the consumer, the questionnaires for the survey are to be circulated among cosmetics users in London. In order to supplement the collected questionnaire data, the study will also conduct interview sessions with marketing department employees. Analysis ANOVA will be used in this study in determining whether any significant relationships exist between the IVs, including brand image, brand performance, brand relevance, brand reputation, product knowledge, and brand price and promotion and the perceptions and buying behavior of participants. ANOVA is appropriate for testing hypotheses in cases where more than two sets of groups are to be measured using an interval scale. Because 1-way ANOVA is a fixed effect and single factor model in the comparison of one factor’s effects, it can be used in the determination of variability of values from the sample through examination of variance within the groups and the mean of the group. For the analysis between two variables, Pearson Correlation is appropriate with ratio and interval scales. In addition, its coefficients show the direction and magnitude of relationships, which is particularly important in testing hypotheses. The research will use Pearson correlation to test the six IVs that influence consumer perceptions and buying behavior, as well as to test for existing relationships between the IVs and DVs. Expected Outcomes and Limitations Expectedly the study will show that, brand is a fundamental influence in influencing the perceptions and attitudes of the consumer. For majority of consumers, a positive image of the brand is a vital attribute. In fact, it is expected that attributed brand reputation and image have more importance on the perceptions, and buying behavior of cosmetics consumers than brand performance, relevance, knowledge, price, and promotion. Product knowledge allows the consumer to consumer to identify the quality of cosmetic products in fulfilling their needs and is expected to have a positive correlation with consumer perceptions and buying behavior. Brand image and reputation are both expected to be the most important factors for female cosmetics consumers, although there is still a place for other attributes like brand knowledge and performance. These two aspects, i.e. brand image and reputation, are the ones that cosmetics companies should be focused on with the objective of improving sales. There are a number of limitations expected in this study. The first one is that, due to the time limitations occasioned by a cross-sectional study, the target population will also be limited to a smaller participant number. This can be remedied by using random sampling to select participants, although this would take up too much time. Secondly, the research study is only focused on brand equity as the main indicator that affects the decision-making and perception of consumers. Thirdly, because the research study was conducted at the primary stage of branded cosmetics adoption, it is not probable to generalize the results for the entire cosmetics industry. Fourthly, the research study utilizes females aged between eighteen and forty as its sample. However, there might be differences in the expected results if the age group interval was increased or decreased. In addition, because of the aforementioned time constraints, the research study sample was limited to fifty participants. In another case, the number of participants should have been higher in order to make the study more authentic and realistic. Consequently, these issues could limit the researcher’s ability to decipher the effects of the research’s results on the wider UK society, especially since the findings from the study are only based in the City of London. Works Cited Alav, Shṭudentsḳi. & Zeynali, Safarnia. "The Impact of Brand/cause Fit and Causes Participation on Consumers Purchasing Intention: a Case Study among Customers of Iranian Chain Stores." Advances in Environmental Biology. 7.11 (2013): 3224-3233. Print. Berger, Arthur. A. Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture: Advertisings Impact on American Character and Society. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2011. Print. Chorlton, Penny. Cover Up: Taking the Lid Off the Cosmetics Industry. Wellingborough: Grapevine, 2013. Print. Czellar, Sandor. & Luna, David. 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