MG3604: Social Media Influencers and Customer Buying Behavior

This project investigates the influence of social media influencers on consumer attitudes and buying behavior within the beauty industry. The study employs a pragmatic research philosophy, deductive approach, and descriptive design, using primary data collected from 147 beauty product customers via surveys. The findings reveal a positive correlation between customer attitudes and social media influencers, attributed to influencer characteristics like trustworthiness and credibility. However, a negative relationship was found between customer buying behavior and influencers, suggesting consumers consider subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. The project recommends that beauty brands integrate these factors into their marketing strategies, alongside leveraging social media influencers to shape customer attitudes and purchasing decisions. The research includes a literature review, methodology chapter, findings, discussion, and conclusion, providing a comprehensive analysis of the topic.

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
--------------------------------------------------
(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

8SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES AND CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
3. To examine the relationship between the social media influencers and the customer
attitudes or the buying behavior displayed by them within the beauty industry
4. To recommend ways through which the brands related to the industry can use the social
media influencers to positively affect customer attitudes or customer buying behavior
1.6 Project Overview
Chapter 1: Introduction Introduces the research aim, research problem, research objectives,
research gap and other important aspects on which the entire study
would be modeled on
Chapter 2: Literature
Review
Presents a critical analysis of the past secondary literature related to
the impact of the social media influencers on the customer attitudes
and their buying behavior within the beauty industry
Chapter 3: Research
Methodology
Offers an outline the different research methodological tools that had
been used for the completion of the study like research philosophy,
research approach, research design, data collection and data analysis
methods and others
Chapter 4: Results An analysis of the primary data collected from the customers related
to the beauty industry regarding the impact of social media
influencers on their attitude and also their buying behavior had been
undertaken.
Chapter 5: Discussion
and Conclusion
A critical discussion of the results or the findings obtained from the
primary data collected for the study had been undertaken and also
conclusions are drawn from the same

9SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES AND CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
This chapter undertakes a theoretical discussion of the impact of social media influencers
on customer attitudes and their buying behavior. This theoretical discussion had been undertaken
in the light of the arguments presented by the past scholars related to the concerned topic. Along
with the theoretical discussion, the researcher had also stated the hypotheses which had been
used in this study for its completion.
2.2 Customer Buying Behavior
As stated by Jones (2010), customer buying behavior is associated with the motivations
or the activities which are undertaken by the groups, individuals or the organizations for the
purchase, use and the ultimate disposal of the different services or products offered by the
corporations. Adding to this, Jiménez-Castillo and Sánchez-Fernández (2019) have noted that
this is an inter-disciplinary approach which tries to analyze the social, emotional, psychological,
economic and other factors that influence the individuals to purchase a particular service or
product. This particular process becomes especially important from the context of the different
business corporations since their profitability is significantly influenced by the buying behavior
or the purchase behavior displayed by the consumers.
Customer buying behavior model is an important framework which offers an insight into
the behavior displayed by the customers related to the purchase of the services or the products
(Pöyry et al., 2019). As per this model, the first step is the need recognition stage wherein the
customers because of their internal awareness or by getting influenced by the marketing
advertisements of the corporations feel the need to purchase a particular product or service
(Freberg et al., 2011). This is followed by the information search process and the evaluation of
alternatives wherein the customers not only search for adequate information related to the
product or service that they feel the need to purchase but also compare it with similar products or
services (Glucksman, 2017). Furthermore, it is on the basis of this evaluation that the purchase is
being done by the customers which is followed by the post-purchase evaluation and this
determines whether the customers will undertake repeat purchase or not (Black, 2004).

10SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES AND CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
2.3 Factors Affecting Customer Buying Behavior
Whiting and Williams (2013) have observed that the contemporary customers have
plethora of product or service options on the score of the globalization of business and this in
turn had substantially influenced their buying behavior. As discussed by Donald, Cooper and
Conchie (2014), the value proposition or for that matter the benefits offered by a particular
product or service is an important factor which influences the customer buying behavior. For
example, if the attributes of a particular product or services are not benefit for the customers or
for that matter not in synchronicity with their needs or their demands then they are more likely to
not purchase the same. Adding to this, Glanz, Rimer and Viswanath (2015) have noted that the
contemporary customers are not only taking into account the value proposition of the products or
the services for their purchase but also the brand image, price, the effectiveness of the marketing
campaigns used by them, the suggestions of the social media influencers, bloggers and others as
well. In addition to these, it had been seen that the social, cultural, psychological and others
factors also influence the buying behavior displayed by the customers. Thus, it becomes
important for the business corporations to take into account these factors for the purchase of
adequately influencing the buying behavior of their customers and thereby enhance their
profitability.
2.4 Social Media and Marketing
According to Khamis, Ang and Welling (2017), the success or the failure of the business
corporations substantially depends on the marketing strategies or the marketing campaigns which
are being used by them for the promotion or the advertisements of the products or the services
that they offer. Adding to this, Till and Busler (2000) have noted that the corporations over the
years have relied heavily on the traditional marketing strategies for the promotion as well as the
advertisement of the products or the services offered by them. Furthermore, the usage of this
particular marketing approach required the corporations to place their promotional
advertisements over the traditional media platforms like newspapers, magazines, radio, television
and others (Ohanian, 1990). An important limitation of this particular marketing approach was
that because of the narrow scope of the traditional media platforms, the target market of the
corporations used to get significantly reduced (Corina, 2006). This adversely affected the
profitability of the brands and thereby hindered the achievement of their business goals or

11SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES AND CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
objectives. Thus, the corporations in order to overcome the limitations of the traditional
marketing strategies are presently using the disruptive technology of internet or more precisely
the social media platforms for advertising the products or the services offered by them.
Furthermore, the extensive usage of social media by individuals from all demographics helps the
corporations to advertise their products or services to a large number of people (Khamis, Ang
and Welling, 2017). More importantly, the usage of the different social media platforms for
marketing is cheaper in comparison to the traditional marketing strategies and ensures that the
corporations are being able to attain the desired results (Sundermann and Raabe, 2019). This had
greatly contributed towards the extensive usage of the different social media platforms or for that
matter the process of social media marketing by the business corporations in the present times.
2.5 Social Media Influencers
An important trend seen within the contemporary business landscape is that the
customers for the purchase of new products take into account the reviews given by the existing
customers and also the opinions of the bloggers or the social media influencers as well (Chu,
Kamal and Kim, 2019). Jalali and Khalid (2019) have noted that the social media influencers are
the individuals on the social networking websites who have not only adequate knowledge about
an industry but also the information offered by them related to the concerned industry are
credible. Furthermore, it is seen that because of the authenticity as well as the credibility of the
news or the opinions shared by the social influencers they are being able to influence a large
number of individuals over the social networking websites (Trivedi and Sama, 2019). Thus, it is
seen that the business corporations often take the help of the different social media influencers
for the purpose of promoting or advertising the products or the services offered by them and also
for the purpose of influencing the buying behavior of customers related to the industry in which
they operate in the best possible manner. In this relation, it needs to be said that there are various
essential features that the social media influencers are required to have like credibility,
reliability, trustworthiness, ability to write attractive opinion pieces or social media posts and
others (Silva and de Brito, 2020). For instance, if the posts or the opinions shared by the social
media influencers are not credibility, reliable, attractive or trustworthy then it is more likely that
they would not be able to influence the buying behavior of the customers.