Social Media Influences And Customer Buying Behavior

Running head: SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES AND CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
HOW DO SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS IN THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY IMPACT
CONSUMER ATTITUDES AND THEIR BUYING INTENTION?
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES AND CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
ABSTRACT
This study undertakes an analysis of the impact of the social media influencers on the customer
attitude and their buying behavior within the beauty industry. Furthermore, for the conduct of
this study the researcher had taken the help of the pragmatic research philosophy, deductive
research approach, descriptive research design, primary data collection method and quantitative
analysis method. More importantly, primary data was collected from 147 customers related to
the beauty industry through the tool of survey.
The results of the study indicate that a positive relationship exists between customer attitude and
the social media influencers. This can be explained on the basis of the fact that the different
characteristic features of the social media influencers like trustworthiness, credibility, product
match-up, reliability and others influence the customers to trust the product recommendations or
the suggestions offered by them which in turn significantly influences the attitude of the
customers towards the concerned products. These as a matter of fact are the major factors which
influence the different beauty brands to take the help of the social media influencers for
promoting the products offered by them. However, the results obtained from the study also
reveal that a negative relationship exists between customer buying behavior and the social media
influencers. This finds explanation from the fact that the customers rather than acting on the
product recommendations made by the social media influencers take into account the subjective
norms, perceived behavior control and other factors before undertaking the purchase of the
beauty products. Thus, the study concludes by recommending the beauty brands to take into
account these factors into consideration within their marketing activities or campaigns along with
the usage of the social media for influencing the attitude and also the buying behavior of their
customers.

2SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES AND CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost, I would like to thank my Professor, Mr......, for offering me the opportunity
to complete my study on the topic “How do Social Media Influencers in the Beauty Industry
impact Consumer Attitudes and their Buying Intention?”. Next, I would also thank my
Supervisor for the being patient with me and helping me during each of the stages of this study.
Lastly, I would also like to extent my thanks to my friends and family members for the constant
support that they have offered me and without which I would not have been able to complete this
study.
Thank You
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(Name of the Researcher)

3SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES AND CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................6
1.1 Chapter Introduction..............................................................................................................6
1.2 Background of the Study.......................................................................................................6
1.3 Rationale of the Study...........................................................................................................7
1.4 Research Aim.........................................................................................................................7
1.5 Research Objectives...............................................................................................................7
1.6 Project Overview...................................................................................................................8
Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................................................................9
2.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................9
2.2 Customer Buying Behavior...................................................................................................9
2.3 Factors Affecting Customer Buying Behavior....................................................................10
2.4 Social Media and Marketing................................................................................................10
2.5 Social Media Influencers.....................................................................................................11
2.6 Factors affecting the usage of Social Media Influencers.....................................................12
2.7 Match-Up Hypotheses.........................................................................................................12
2.8 Theory of Planned Behavior................................................................................................13
2.8.1 Attitude.........................................................................................................................14
2.8.2 Subjective Norms..........................................................................................................15
2.8.3 Perceived Behavior Control..........................................................................................15
2.9 Theoretical Framework........................................................................................................16
2.10 Hypotheses.........................................................................................................................17
2.11 Summary............................................................................................................................17
Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.................................................................................18
3.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................18

4SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES AND CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
3.2 Research Philosophy............................................................................................................18
3.2.1 Rationale for the Selection of the Pragmatic Research Philosophy.............................18
3.3 Research Approach..............................................................................................................19
3.3.1 Rationale for the Selection of the Deductive Research Approach...............................19
3.4 Research Design..................................................................................................................19
3.4.1 Rationale for the Selection of the Descriptive Research Design..................................20
3.5 Data Collection Method.......................................................................................................20
3.5.1 Rationale for the Selection of the Primary Data Collection Method............................21
3.5.2 Participants...................................................................................................................21
3.6 Data Analysis Method.........................................................................................................22
3.6.1 Rationale for the Selection of the Qualitative Data Analysis Method..........................23
3.7 Ethical Considerations.........................................................................................................23
3.8 Limitations of the Study......................................................................................................24
3.9 Summary..............................................................................................................................24
Chapter 4: FINDINGS...................................................................................................................25
4.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................25
4.2 Presentation of the Findings................................................................................................25
4.2.1 Social Media Usage and Social Media Influencers......................................................25
4.2.2 Social Media Influencers and their important attributes...............................................26
4.2.3 Correlation Analysis.....................................................................................................28
4.2.4 Regression Analysis......................................................................................................30
4.3 Summary..............................................................................................................................32
Chapter 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION..........................................................................33
5.1 Research Overview..............................................................................................................33
5.2 Discussion............................................................................................................................33

5SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES AND CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
5.3 Future Scope........................................................................................................................34
5.4 Recommendations................................................................................................................34
5.5 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................35
References......................................................................................................................................36

6SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES AND CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Chapter Introduction
This chapter of the study sheds light on the research aim and also the research objectives
on the basis of which the entire study would be conducted. More importantly, this chapter also
elucidates the research problem which it will try to address and also the research gap which it
will try to cover up.
1.2 Background of the Study
The total revenue contributed by the beauty industry towards the national GDP of UK for
the year 2018 was more than £28.4 billion which accounted for around 1.9% of the national GDP
of the same (Ibisworld.com, 2020). Patrick and Betts (2020) have noted that the personal care
and the maintenance products account for the major products offered by the beauty industry and
the desire of the individuals to beautify themselves or for that matter to look good had largely
accounted for the growth of the beauty industry. However, as stated by Patel (2018), presently
numerous beauty product options are available to the customers on the score of the large number
of beauty product brands that are operational within the concerned industry and this in turn had
greatly enhanced the brand switch propensity on the part of the customers. Thus, it had been seen
that the brands related to the beauty industry are presently struggling to acquire competitive
advantage in the face of the intense competition which they face within the concerned industry.
In the light of this, some of the corporations are even taking the help of the social media
influencers to influence the customer attitudes or their buying behavior.
Shan, Chen and Lin (2019) have found that the majority of the brands related to the
beauty industry are presently using the social media influencers for the purpose of positively
influencing the buying behavior of their customers. However, as stated by Cooley and Parks-
Yancy (2019), the social media influencers both positively and negatively affect the attitude of
the customers and their buying behavior by outlining the positive as well as the negative
attributes of the beauty products offered by the corporations. Thus, it becomes important for the
beauty brands to use the social media influencers in such a manner that rather than negatively

7SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES AND CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
affecting the attitude or the buying behavior of the customers it will positively influence or affect
them to purchase the beauty products offered by them.
1.3 Rationale of the Study
The specific research problem that had been selected for analysis in this study is the
impact of the social media influencers on the customer attitude and their buying behavior within
the beauty industry. This is an important research problem since it had been seen that the beauty
brands in the present times have struggled to influence customer attitude and also their buying
behavior through the usage of traditional marketing strategies and the digital marketing strategies
(Patel, 2018). More importantly, it had been seen that although the overall revenue earned by the
beauty industry had increased exponentially in the present times yet because of the brand switch
tendencies of the customers the individual profitability registered by the different brands related
to the beauty industry had declined (Patrick and Betts, 2020). The net result of this is that the
different beauty brands are taking the help of social media influencers for influencing the buying
behavior or the attitude of the customers. However, the major problem arises since it had been
seen that the beauty product related recommendations or the suggestions offered by the social
media influencers both positively and negatively influence the buying behavior and also the
attitude of the customers (Cooley and Parks-Yancy, 2019). Thus, this research by examining the
manner in which the beauty brands need to use the social media influencers for influencing the
customer attitude and their buying behavior will also elucidate the impact of the social media
influencers on the customer attitude and their buying behavior within the beauty industry.
1.4 Research Aim
The aim of this particular study is to undertake an analysis of the impact of the social
media influencers on the customer attitude and the buying behavior displayed by them within the
beauty industry.
1.5 Research Objectives
1. To understand the factors which influence the buying behavior of the customers and their
attitude within the beauty industry
2. To understand the factors which influence the brands related to the beauty industry to
take the help of the social media influencers