Social media reviews effect on consumers purchases intention &amp; actual buying behavior in the beauty industry : -A cross-country comparison

(1)

Social media reviews effect on consumers purchases intention &

actual buying behavior in the beauty industry

-A cross-country comparison

Demiel Yekbun

Gangabada Piyumi

School of Business, Society & Engineering

Course: Master Thesis in Business

Administration

Course code: FOA 403

15 cr

Supervisor: Harun Emre Yildiz

Date: Final Seminar, 3/6-2021, Submission

(2)

Abstract

Date: Final Seminar: 2021-06-03, Submission Date: 2021-06-03 Level: Master Thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr

Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University

Authors: Gangabada Piyumi Yekbun Demirel

(93/08/11) (91/05/25)

Title: Social media reviews effect on consumers purchases intention & actual buying behavior in the beauty industry -A cross-country comparison

Tutor: Harun Emre Yildiz

Keywords: Social media reviews, purchase intention, actual buying behaviour, cross-country comparison

Research Question To what extent do social media reviews’ effect on the purchase intention and actual buying behaviour of consumers differ in the beauty industry in a cross-country comparison?

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore to what extent consumers in the beauty industry perceive the importance of social media reviews and if it has direct or indirect effect on either their purchase intentions or buying behaviors or if not on both. The aim is then to contribute to limited research available and to see if this connection differs with the country particularly between Sweden and Sri Lanka.

Methodology: A descriptive qualitative research strategy was approached conducting semi-structured interviews with a total of fourteen participants both from Sweden and Sri Lanka. Open-ended questions were asked and thematic analysis was used when analyzing the collected primary data.

Conclusion: Respondents from Sweden were more engaged with social media reviews and their purchase decisions were based mostly on social media reviews. Sri Lankan respondents were interested in negative reviews while Swedish respondents were highly affected and motivated by positive reviews. Even if young consumers in Sri Lanka were motivated to purchase beauty products because of social media reviews, almost all of the Sri Lankan respondents’ purchase decisions were highly impacted by family and friends compared to effects of social media reviews.

(3)

Acknowledgements

After studying three years for our bachelor's degrees and one year at the master program; International Marketing at Mälardalens University we would like to express our deepest gratitude to our university, faculty and all our teachers. Especially Toon Larsson for making the program even more exciting and enjoyable during this year with the ongoing pandemic. We would also like to thank our supervisor Harun Emre Yildız for guiding us through this process and giving us valuable information and help for conducting our thesis in the best possible way we could ever imagine.

We also want to take this opportunity to further thank our family and friends for the support and patience they have had with us during this process but also all the participants who were willing to take some time out of their schedules for helping us with our thesis by letting us interview them.

Västerås, 2021-05-27

Piyumi Gangabada Yekbun Demirel

(4)

List of Tables

Table 1 Information about Sweden & Sri Lanka, (Global Edge & Word Factbook, 2019) ... 6 Table 2 Information about the Participants ... 15

(7)

List of Figures

Figure 1: Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) ... 7 Figure 2: Conceptualized Version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour ... 8 Figure 3 Country-Comparison of Sweden & Sri Lanka (Hofstede Insights, 2021) ... 9

(8)

1. Introduction

1.1 Background

According to Erskine (2017) and Unni (2020) approximately between 81 to 90 percent of people are searching for online reviews before purchasing a product and 67.7 percent of peoples’ purchase decisions are influenced by online reviews. In recent years social media reviews have become a significant factor and source for product information. Online reviews have become a part of the marketing mix and furthermore a tool for companies to understand consumers' attitudes (Elwalda et al., 2016). Social media reviews in today's society have become a significant factor for purchase intentions and it also plays a significant role in shaping consumers' perception and awareness about services and products (Li et al., 2019).

With the evolution of digitalization consumers have become more empowered and active with personal opinions about different products (Maslowska et al., 2017). In today's societies consumers can easily compare products and services to one another regarding product quality and brand reputation (Yung-Shen, 2014). According to Dalziel and De Klerk (2021), the beauty sector has a strong annual growth and is continuing to grow. One of the reasons is the increased day to day awareness among consumers of their appearances (Dalziel & De Klerk, 2021). The most common way of purchasing beauty products has always been through physical stores. One explanation could be that consumers want to be able to try the products before buying them (Kestenbaum, 2019). According to Kestenbaum (2019) the world has become more digitized including the beauty industry. According to Morgan (2019) 70 percent of companies either have a strategy for digital transformation or are developing one. However, the main challenges with online beauty businesses are the lack of not being able to try the products on before buying them (Kestenbaum, 2019). Therefore, this is one of the main reasons why social media review becomes even more important in the beauty industry (Dalziel & De Klerk, 2021).

Consumers today have access to considerably more information than ever by using social media platforms such as YouTube (Yung-Shen, 2014). Consequently, companies have been affected by this increasingly. At the moment customers use social media reviews more often to assist their purchase decisions (Elwalda et al., 2016). The perceptions on value have great impacts on customers’ purchase intentions. Producers and retailers always look for ways to increase the interest in a product and willingness of consumers to buy a product by showing its value by using various ways and means including social media to get customer attention (Yung-Shen, 2014).

Not only consumers have different needs and preferences. Countries can also differ in many ways, the differences can include culture, values, beliefs, economic systems, family, education level, religion, language, government, social control, technology, infrastructure and institutional structure. All these aspects have to some extent, direct or indirect a fundamental effect on consumers' purchase intentions and actual buying behaviors (Gong et al., 2014). Therefore, consumers' behaviors are not random decisions. Many internal and external factors affect consumer behavior (Klemencic et al., 2012). When a consumer purchases beauty

(9)

products, importance is given to quality, price and ingredients of the product and the sources for this information can be through many ways like advertisements and recommendations (Prasanna, 2019).

Due to high competition in the beauty industry, producers that can identify and satisfy consumers’ preferences, will receive much customer attention, hence understanding consumer buying behavior has become crucial in the beauty industry (Prasanna, 2019). According to Bartosik-Purgat (2019), there are not many studies about how culture and other important aspects of a country affect the usage of social media and the attitudes towards social media reviews. Therefore, this study will be based on two countries; Sri Lanka and Sweden. According to the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association Ltd (2019) among the European countries, Sweden is ranked to have one of the largest markets for cosmetics, valued at 1.9 billion euros. Sri Lanka is one of the countries in Asia where the demand for beauty products in the last couple of years have grown and is continuing to grow (Chandrasiri & Wijesekara, 2019). The aim is to study two countries in different parts of the world with a growing interest in beauty products. As a result, companies can learn the importance of how to handle and take advantage of social media reviews for growing their companies in different societies.

1.2 Problematization

Previous research has shown the importance of using digital marketing and social media’s impact on consumer behavior. (Husain et al., 2016). However, even if the study of consumer behavior on social media has become an interesting topic (Sashi, 2012), only a limited number of research have been conducted regarding reviews impact on consumer behavior. Even most of the available literature focuses only on purchase intention and not on actual buying behavior (De Cannière et al., 2010). The available literature suggests that more research studies can be carried out to investigate how consumers value digital media like social media platforms in their decision making and buying behavior (Unni, 2020). Therefore, in this study it is expected to explore how the impacts of social media reviews on purchase intention and actual buying behavior of consumers in the beauty industry would differ according to the country.

1.3 Purpose

The purpose of this research study is to explore to what extent social media reviews would affect purchase intention and actual buying behavior of consumers in the beauty industry and to understand how it would be different according to the country of the consumer. Furthermore, it is expected to analyze how consumers react to social media reviews and to see if ways of reacting would differ according to the country. This purpose leads to identifying to what extent consumers perceive the importance of social media reviews and if it has direct or indirect effect on either their purchase intentions or buying behaviors or if not on both. The aim is then to contribute to limited research available and to see if this connection differs with the country particularly between Sweden and Sri Lanka.

(10)

The research question is:

To what extent do social media reviews’ effect on the purchase intention and actual buying behaviour of consumers differ in the beauty industry in a cross-country comparison?

(11)

2. Literature Review

2.1 Social Media Reviews

Before the first online review appeared, people were dependent on information, knowledge and recommendations based on their families, friends and social settings. Individuals did also get information from different types of media such as newspapers, televisions and radios (Haywood, 1989). However, people used to see word-of-mouth as the most credible source of information and recommendation. This kind of information was mostly generated from family, friends and the individual’s social environment (Anderson, 1998).

Social media reviews are used as a source by consumers to gain more information about products. Especially products which cannot be characterized before they have been used (Li et al., 2019). In today’s society, consumers are more willing to share personal opinions with the public. Hence, this is viewed as something more interesting and trustworthy instead of getting information from the actual firm selling the product (Maslowska et al., 2017). Due to social media review, consumers can today evaluate and compare products more than ever before (Li et al., 2019). According to Dalziel and De Klerk (2021), female consumers in today’s society are more engaged with social media reviews than men. Furthermore, females purchase behaviors do get more easily affected by their surroundings and their group when purchasing beauty products in general compared to men.

The purpose of social media reviews is to find information about products people want to buy. The information people are looking for streams from different platforms on the internet (Dalziel & De Klerk, 2021). In line with another study by Chih et al. (2020), discussing electronic word-of-mouth which is a statement made by a potential or actual consumer sharing a positive or negative experience about a product, service or company online available for everyone to see or read. In this study it was proven that both positive and negative electronic word-of-mouth have a large impact on purchase decisions. However, in the past, negative electronic word-of-mouth have had a larger impact on consumer purchase decisions. Nevertheless, in today's society it has been proven the opposite (Chih et al., 2020).

2.2 Purchase Intentions

Zhu et al. (2020) mention that purchase intention is only a subjective likelihood of consumers to purchase a product and that it is different from actually purchasing the product. Consumers try to select products to reduce the perceived risk as much as they can and thus factors such as price, brand image and product reputation directly and indirectly affect their purchase intentions (Wu et al., 2011). A previous study by Zhu et al. (2020), reveals that positive online reviews can stimulate satisfaction and purchase intention of a consumer. Lin and Lu (2010) also show in their study that purchase intention is positively influenced by trust and the corporate image has a significant effect on trust. Furthermore, the study reveals that positive word-of-mouth has a significant effect on the influence of trust on purchase intention. Individuals who are together with similar beliefs and values of a given in-group are likely to favor it over any out-group and

(12)

2010). Hence ideas and recommendations from peers can be considered as important factors that affect consumers purchase intention. According to Meng and Po-Lin (2012) attitude, interest towards beauty products and advertising made about beauty products including cosmetics that claim to have medicinal purposes are positively impacting purchase intention. The literature suggests that purchase intention is a combination of effects that arise from perceived trust, word-of-mouth, media, recommendations and experience from peers and advertising strategies.

2.3 Actual Buying Behavior

According to Peña-García et al., (2020) to understand consumer behavior, it is crucial to understand the attitudes, internal and external factors that eventually generate the purchase intention as purchase intentions are considered the main predictor of actual buying behavior. However, they also mention that the act of purchasing is not only confirmed with intention since intention is only a predictor of any behavior and factors. Previous studies suggest that intentions are not perfectly correlating to actual behavior due to factors like economic power and many other internal factors such as knowledge, attitude, personality and external factors such as marketing can affect consumer behavior (Klemencic et al., 2012, Barber et al., 2012). Mihic and Culina (2006) explain that buying behavior can be affected by different factors depending on the product and consumers tend to care less about the cost for the products that are visible to the society as they think that it would improve their social status. This research conducted by Prasanna (2019) depicts that there is a significant difference on how consumers execute buying decisions depending on the role they play in the family. Apart from main socioeconomic conditions that affect buying behavior, Patwardhan et al. (2010) points out that electronic media influence consumers’ minds to change their buying decisions and that factors like past history, ingredients, cost, availability, packaging, fragrance, popularity, and product composition also have a significant impact on buying behavior. Hence many internal and external factors affect consumer behavior in all the stages from information searching (Klemencic et al., 2012).

2.3.1 Consumer Behavior & Other Socio-Economic Variables in Cross-Country

Comparison

When conducting cross-country comparisons, apart from cultural differences, some of the main socioeconomic variables used to identify the differences in consumer behaviour among countries are urbanization, population density, education, age distribution, household and family, social class, ethnicity and climate (Mooij, 2019). For example, one of the reasons connected to the demand for different goods is the distribution of rural-urban population around the world (Ghauri & Cateora, 2014). In general, the urban households have a higher income on average compared to the rural income (Mooij, 2019). As this study mainly focuses on Sweden and Sri Lanka, it is important to observe how those socioeconomic variables differ between the two.

According to the world factbook and Global edge (2019), some other factors regarding Sweden and Sri Lanka have been presented below.

(13)

Factor Sweden Sri Lanka Status (developed, developing or underdeveloped) Developed Developing GDPs per capita $55,820 (2019) $13,657 (2019)

Income level High Income Lower Middle

Economic freedom index in a scale from 0 to 100

75.2 56.4

Location Nothern Europe East Asia

climate Cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly

cloudy summers; subarctic in north Tropical

Population 10,261,767 (July 2021 est.) 23,044,123 (July 2021 est.)

Age distribution

(2020 est.) 0-14 years: 17,71% 15-24 years: 10,8% 25-54 years: 39,01% 55-64 years: 11,9%

65 years and over: 20,59% (2020 est.)

0-14 years: 23,11% 15-24 years: 14,58% 25-54 years: 41,2% 55-64 years: 10,48% 65 years and over: 10,63% (2020 est.)

Urban population 88,2% of total population (2021) 18,9% of total population (2021)

Rate of urbanization 0,89% annual rate of change

(2020-25 est.)

1,22% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Ethnic Groups Swedish 80,9%, Syrian 1,8%, Finnish 1,4%, Iraqi 1,4%, other 14,5% (2018 est.)

Sinhalese 74,9%, Sri Lankan Tamil 11,2%, Sri Lankan Moors 9,2%, Indian Tamil 4,2%, other 0,5% (2012 est.)

Unemployment rate 6,78% (2019 est.) 4,83% (2019)

Unemployment (age 15-24) 20,1% 21,1% (2018) Gini index co efficient (distribution of family income) 28.8 (2017) 39.8 (2016)

(14)

3. Theoretical Framework

3.1 Theory of Planned Behavior

Theory of planned behavior explains and predicts the outcome of what influences the decision making, why people do what they do and why they act the way they act. The independent factors: attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control determine the intention which then leads to performing the behavior (Ajzen, 1991).

Figure 1: Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991)

Attitudes are the opinions and beliefs of a person’s outcome towards performing the behavior. A person can have a negative or a positive evaluation of a behavior. If the person has a positive attitude towards a behavior, it is more likely the person will perform the behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Attitudes are created through beliefs, norms and opinions which is what a person thinks (George, 2004). Subjective norms can be explained as the perceived social pressure a person has from its surroundings to perform or not perform the behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Perceived behavioral control is what a person think they can do and if they have the ability and resources to handle and perform the behavior or not (Ajzen, 1991). Intention is the influence and motivation towards a behavior. The motivation is how much someone is willing to perform the behavior. If the motivation is strong enough it can cause the person performing the behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Intentions are influenced and created by: attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control (George, 2004). The actual behavior occurs when someone acts upon their intentions. However, intentions do not always lead to actual behaviors since there is sometimes a gap between these two factors. The gap depends on what kind of behavior it is and to what degree the person's attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control matters in that specific situation and if the outcome of these three factors is negative or positive (Ajzen, 1991).

3.1.1 Conceptualizing the Theory of Planned Behavior

The theory of planned behavior is a fundamental theory often used when conducting research on purchase intentions and buying behaviors. The theory explains how attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control affects purchase intentions and buying behaviors. It is

(15)

also a general theory which means the model does not specify some specific beliefs related to a behavior. Therefore, it is up to the researcher to determine those beliefs (George, 2004). According to George (2004), the theory has been used in many studies to understand consumers' intentions and behaviors. Studies such as understanding how negative word-of-mouth affect communication intentions (Cheng et al., 2006) and other studies such as understanding young consumers' intention towards buying green products in a developing nation (Yadav and Pathak, 2016). These two studies are only a few examples of all the research that has been made based on this theory connected to buying behaviors. The reason why this theory has been used frequently, is because the theory is useful in the sense of predicting certain intentions which can lead to behaviors moreover to identify why humans change their behaviors (George, 2004). Therefore, the theory of planned behavior will be the only theory used in this paper.

Figure 2: Conceptualized Version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Since the research question of this paper involves social media reviews' effect on purchase intention and actual buying behavior, new factors were replaced in the model. Therefore, attitude are attitudes towards beauty products. Subjective norms became the influence of social media reviews, family, friends and social environment. However, family, friends and the individual's social environment are not the main focus of this paper due to the research question, but instead used as a comparison to understand to what extent individuals rely on social media reviews versus family and friends. Perceived behavioral control is the individuals’ ability, access and economic power to buy beauty products. Lastly, the intention and behavior parts in figure 1 have changed to purchase intentions and actual buying behaviors.

3.2 Hofstede National Culture

Hofstede cultural dimensions are one of the most significant cross-cultural studies which was conducted by an international survey among 116,000 of IBM employees from more than 60

(16)

the mind which distinguishes one group from another” (Hofstede, 2011, p.3). Cultural differences are mainly determined by factors such as law and order, respect for individuality, nature of power and authority, rights of property, concept of deity, relationship between individual and state, national identity and loyalty and values and customs (Roy, 2020). Beugelsdijk and Welzel (2018) describe those cross-cultural differences continue to exist over a prolonged period and that those differences can be explained by economic development, generational effects and by the distinctive geographic location and political history of each country.

According to Hofstede (2011), the six cultural dimensions are, as follows. A detailed description of the dimensions can be found in appendix 5.

1. Power distance

2. Uncertainty avoidance

3. Individualism vs. Collectivism 4. Masculinity – Femininity

5. Long term vs. Short-term Orientation 6. Indulgence vs. Restraint

The graph below indicates the values Sri Lanka and Sweden have obtained in each cultural dimension.

Figure 3 Country-Comparison of Sweden & Sri Lanka (Hofstede Insights, 2021)

3.2.1 Theory of Planned Behavior Connected to Hofstede Cultural

Dimensions

National culture plays an important role in theory of planned behavior as the culture affects components and interrelationships of the model and hence a connection can be observed between Hofstede cultural dimensions and theory of planned behavior. (Hassan et al., 2016). The reason why culture affects consumers' purchase intentions, actual buying behaviors and product information searching is because of the different dimensions of culture, such as Hofstede’s and Globes frameworks (Fong and Burton, 2008) and due to the fact that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are also affected by culture. Hence culture can be considered as a factor that affects all the components in the theory of planned behavior

(17)

model. Below the impacts of culture on the components of theory of planned behavior have been discussed shortly using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.

According to Mooji (2019), purchase intention is highly impacted by masculinity or femininity in a society. This dimension determines the role of males and females in the society and as well the responsibilities in domestic life and the purchase intention and the buying behavior is thus impacted by this. Moreover, the way how quality of life is perceived in each culture is different along with how each culture shows its status in the society. Hence the impacts of subjective norms differ across cultures Mooji (2019).

According to Hassan et al., (2016), individualism and power distance can moderate the relationships in the theory of planned behavior. According to their study, behavioral intention is highly impacted by subjective norms in high power distance cultures. In high power distance cultures people are much concerned about rules and regulations and give less priority to their own attitudes and preferences. This can even be more explained by differences in locus of control. People in cultures with high internal locus of control believe that their own actions and decisions are more influential towards their consequences. However, their attitudes have a greater importance in making a decision than people in a culture with high external locus of control where they believe that they have less influence on themselves.

According to Fong and Burton (2008), when purchasing a product, the concerns on country of origin play an important role in collectivistic cultures whereas in individualistic cultures the product quality is more important. In individualistic cultures, as individuals prioritize maintaining their own identity than social relationships, their buying behavior might be different from a consumer in a collectivistic culture as collectivistic cultures like conformity with others’ opinions (Gong et al., 2014). Individualistic societies have freedom to select according to their preferences and have less pressure from peers. This can especially be seen in the fashion and beauty industry (Mooji, 2019) where consumers in individualistic societies try different styles and new fashion trends way faster. The information seeking process before purchasing a product differs according to culture and in collectivistic societies people tend to look for sources such as reference groups and recommendations from fellow members while individualistic cultures rely mostly on personal experience and self-evaluation (Fong & Burton, 2008).

Uncertainty avoidance can affect perceived behavioral control of an individual. In cultures with high uncertainty avoidance, adaptations to new technology and innovation are lower (Gong et al., 2014) and thus access to information can be limited in such cultures due to limited technology or less willingness to use foreign languages. Mooji (2019), further describes that long term-oriented cultures focus on savings for the future while short term-oriented cultures are willing to spend now rather than thinking of tomorrow and that directly impacts buying behavior. Thus, the literature depicts that cultural model like Hofstede cultural dimensions are important aspects that shape attitudes, subjective norms, behavioral control, intention, and behavior of consumers.

(18)

4. Methodology

4.1 Research Design & Strategy

4.1.1 Research Design

The paper had a descriptive research approach. Descriptive research is often used to describe an event, person or situation. To conduct descriptive research, it is important to have a clear picture of the phenomena before collecting the data. The purpose of descriptive research is to evaluate information, come up with ideas and draw conclusions from the collected data (Saunders et al., 2009). In this case it was collecting data with the intention to understand to what extent purchase patterns due to social media reviews in the beauty industry differs in Sweden and Sri Lanka.

4.1.2 Research Approach

Deductive approach is commonly used in quantitative research studies however, it is possible to use a deductive approach for qualitative studies too. Therefore, the paper took a deductive approach since the paper was based on a theory which explained an ongoing phenomenon (Bryman & Bell, 2011). The purpose of the paper was never generating a new theory but to explore to what extent people in two different countries get affected by social media reviews. The theory of planned behavior was only used as a foundation to understand, explain and explore the research question. Fundamentally, the paper is replicating earlier research by using an established theory in a new setting. This paper used a quasi-replication, quasi-replication is used when a research is made based on a new population and in a different context, since this kind of replication informs how well the results of a paper is holding up in multiple settings (Bettis et al., 2016).

4.1.3 Research Strategy

In this paper the research strategy was based on a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews. When conducting cross-country studies, a qualitative research method is recommended since the method can provide an insight into the problem (Malhotra et al., 1996). Qualitative methods can also reduce the psychological distance between the interviewer and the participants since the respondents and the researchers are having a conversation rather than the participant filling out a survey (Malhotra et al., 1996). The researchers already knew there were differences in buying behaviors in different countries, since previous studies had already conducted many surveys about this topic before. Therefore, a qualitative research strategy was chosen by the researchers since they wanted to explore, get a deeper understanding of the phenomena rather than touching the surface of the issue (Creswell, 2016). The research question could also be answered by using a quantitative research method however, quantitative research methods cannot provide the in-depth and elaborated answers which the authors desired to gain an in-depth understanding of the research problem (Bryman & Bell, 2011).

(19)

4.2 Data Collection

4.2.1 Literature Discussion

The database used was Google Scholar, because it is a large database which provides a variation of articles and journals. However, even if databases are suitable for finding journals and articles not all articles are critically reviewed (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Therefore, when the authors found any interesting journals or articles, they went to the university database to confirm if the articles they had found in Google Scholar were peer-reviewed. The authors started searching for relevant literature before developing the research question to gain knowledge about the interested area and to clarify the research question. This process is called “critically reviewing

the literature” (Saunders et al., 2009). Furthermore, business research and scientific books were

used both in the theoretical framework chapter and in the methodology chapter to provide both information on cultural aspects, cross-country aspects and on how to conduct a research methodology.

Chosen theory and theoretical frameworks

The only used theory was the theory of planned behavior, attitude and perceived behavioral control were not the main factors in this paper, however they were used as comparison factors to understand to what extent social media reviews are affecting purchase intentions and actual buying behaviors. Furthermore, subjective norms are not the only factor affecting consumer purchase behaviors but attitude and perceived behavioral control are also equally affecting. Thus, these factors play a huge role in people's decision making and even more in different countries (Ajzen, 1991; George, 2004). When conducting cross-country comparisons, it is important to also use different frameworks which explains what kind of differences there are in different countries and how they affect purchase behaviors and intentions. Therefore, the authors used Hofstede national culture framework but also considered other cross-country factors why there can be differences in consumer behaviors, since culture is only one aspect of it. On an individual level, aspects such as social, economic and political conditions of a consumer have also a major influence on the overall purchase intention and buying decision (Gong et al., 2014).

4.2.2 Secondary & Primary Data Collection

Secondary data collection

The secondary data used was statistics from Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association Ltd, Statista, Forbes, Hofstede insights, The World FactBook and Global Edge which contain a wealth of data, especially important statistics which are hard to find when using only primary data. Secondary data is especially important when conducting cross-country comparisons research since it can be useful when answering the research question (Saunders et al., 2009). Conducting cross-country studies is time consuming and there are barriers such as language and cultural differences which are likely to be significant when conducting such studies. Therefore, using previous processed data can save time but also minimize the language and

(20)

cultural differences since the data have already been processed by others (Bryman & Bell, 2011).

Primary data collection

A total of fourteen semi-structured interviews were the main source of primary data for this study. The interviews were conducted via digital communication platforms by Messenger calls and Zoom. Since the study consisted of a comparison between Sri Lanka and Sweden, an equal number of interviews were conducted in both countries. Since the study consisted of a comparison between Sri Lanka and Sweden, an equal number of interviews were conducted in both countries. Out of the fourteen interviews, seven interviews were conducted with respondents from Sweden while the other seven interviews were conducted with the respondents from Sri Lanka.

4.2.3 Interview Respondents

When searching for prospective interviewees, it was focused on purposive sampling. According to Suri (2011), in qualitative research, purposive sampling is a strategic sampling method to achieve the purpose of a study to generate an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon by capturing dissimilarities of a population while maintaining a common core. Cultural representativeness, age, education and gender were considered as the main selection criteria for the interviewees. Purposive sampling enabled the authors to select participants who suited the targeted group of the study and shared the same characteristics of their national culture and represented the majority of the population in the particular country. Another advantage was that it made it possible to include respondents of different demographics and social backgrounds. To fulfil the aim of cultural representativeness, the prospective respondents were asked a few questions to confirm if they actually represent the national culture of which they represented (See Appendix 1 for the pre-selection process). The questions that were used for this pre-study have been attached in the appendix (See Appendix 1).

All the fourteen participants were individuals who were between the age of 20 to 33 since the authors believed that respondents who were used to the digitized world would be more appropriate for the study. The participants had minimum education qualifications as high school studies and were either studying at university or were employed. All the interviewees were females due to the fact that the majority of the consumers who use beauty products are females and are the main target group in the industry (Dalziel & De Klerk, 2021). The higher consumption of beauty products by females compared to males generates the importance of deeper understanding of purchase intentions and behavior of female consumers in the beauty industry.

4.2.4 Procedure for Primary Data Collection

All the respondents chosen had no personal acquaintance with the authors previously. At the first interview, the preselection questions were asked and the interview questions consisted of questions regarding characteristics of national culture and how those were perceived by them. Out of the seven participants from Sweden, three participants had to be replaced by new participants based on their answers to the pre-selection interviews. It showed that they were

(21)

deviating a lot from the national culture of Sweden. Out of the seven participants in Sri Lanka, two participants had to be replaced due to the deviations from the national culture. Hence in total ten potential participants from Sweden and nine potential participants from Sri Lanka were involved in the first pre selection interview. The aim of this first interview was to obtain possible respondents for the interview who were more in correspondence with the national culture of the country they represent as the study consisted of a comparison between the two countries. The preselection interview lasted less than fifteen minutes for each individual. The questions in the first pre-selection interview have been attached in the appendix (See Appendix 1).

The fourteen participants that were selected from the pre-selection interview were then informed about the nature of the actual research study so it would create an interest for them to participate. After confirming the date and time for the interview, the questions were sent to them via email before the interview so that they could be prepared for the questions to get the maximum use of the time during the interview. all the interviews were conducted in English. The seven interviews with participants from Sri Lanka were conducted as video calls through either Messenger or Zoom since both authors were based in Sweden. Nevertheless, the same procedure had to be followed for the interviews in Sweden because of the COVID 19 pandemic. Compared to physical face-to-face meetings, digital meetings such as via calls are efficient both in timewise and economically since it allows to cover a huge geographical area within a limited time even if it has disadvantages of not getting to see one another physically. (Bryman & Bell, 2011). To reduce these negative aspects, all the participants were asked to turn their camera on so that the author and the interviewee could observe one another's facial expressions. This approach was useful for the authors because "qualitative researchers are frequently interested not only in what people say but also in the way they say it" (Bryman & Bell, 2011, p.482). As all the interviews were not conducted by the same author, to maintain the consistency among interviews an interview guide was formed (See Appendix 2). Since the approach was to conduct semi-structured interviews, the author who conducted the interview received the opportunity to change questions and formulate new questions as follow up questions during the interview according to its progress. With the permission from the participants, all the interviews were recorded using a voice recorder.

4.2.5 Semi-Structured Interviews

The main focus of this paper is social media reviews on YouTube since according to Statista (2021) YouTube is one of the main social media platforms where public reviews on beauty products are being displayed. According to statistics the annual beauty related content viewed on YouTube in 2018 was 169 billion (Statista, 2021). One of the largest and most popular businesses on YouTube is the beauty industry and, in this category, also includes beauty products reviews which is 14 percent to 15 percent of all the beauty related content (Statista, 2021). Therefore, to narrow down the term “social media” the participants were asked questions only related to social media reviews on YouTube.

(22)

Each respondent was given a codename during the interviews so that the authors could easily refer to a specific participant throughout the paper (See Table 3). The interviews were based on 14 questions and with follow-up questions if it was needed. The interview questions were prepared and processed through an operationalization process to make sure that the questions were capturing the themes of the study (See Appendix 3). Throughout the interviews open-ended questions were asked as much as possible. However, some questions could not be formed to open-ended questions therefore the authors asked follow-up questions. The purpose of the open-ended questions was to gain a richer description of the participants' buying behaviors (Saunders et al., 2009). The advantages of having the questions ready before the interviews was so that the interviewers and the participants do not stray out of the subject (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Therefore, the most suitable interview strategy for this paper was semi-structured interviews with mostly open-ended questions.

Table 2 Information about the Participants

4.2.6 Ethical Considerations

According to Bryman and Bell (2011), ethical consideration is one of the most important aspects in a research study. To ensure that this research study had been carried out concerning the ethical aspects, several initiatives were taken by the authors. Before conducting the interviews, the participants were informed about the purpose of the research and how their interviews would be used in the study. Furthermore, they were assured that apart from their age and profession, their personal details would not be revealed. Hence the names of the interviewees were kept confidential to respect the interviewees' privacy. Before recording the interviews, they were informed that the interviews would be recorded for the quality purposes and their approval were acquired.

Respondents Code Name

Country Gender Profession Years of Age Length of Interview Date of Interview

1. SW1 Sweden Female Lawyer 29 37 Minutes 2021-05-04

2. SW2 Sweden Female Controller 23 45 Minutes 2021-05-04

3. SW3 Sweden Female Student 20 39 Minutes 2021-05-04

4. SW4 Sweden Female Accountant 29 33 Minutes 2021-05-05

5. SW5 Sweden Female Student 25 30 Minutes 2021-05-05

6. SW6 Sweden Female Administrator 33 28 Minutes 2021-05-06

7. SW7 Sweden Female Nurse 28 38 Minutes 2021-05-07

8. SL1 Sri Lanka Female Teacher 30 32 Minutes 2021-05-01 9. SL2 Sri Lanka Female Nurse 26 24 Minutes 2021-05-02 10. SL3 Sri Lanka Female Accountant Trainee 21 22 Minutes 2021-05-02 11. SL4 Sri Lanka Female Student 20 18 Minutes 2021-05-03 12. SL5 Sri Lanka Female Tea Analyzer 29 31 Minutes 2021-05-05 13. SL6 Sri Lanka Female HR Coordinator 32 26 Minutes 2021-05-06 14. SL7 Sri Lanka Female Student 22 23 Minutes 2021-05-06

(23)

4.3 Procedure for Data Analysis

Qualitative deductive analysis was used for the analysis of data in this research study. After transcribing the interviews, the transcriptions were read several times to familiarized with the data. The coding process then began by reflecting the content of the transcriptions and identifying meaningful and interesting aspects in the data. For the coding process, five themes were created according to the conceptualized model as attitudes towards beauty products, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, purchase intention and actual buying behavior. The formation of the themes was a deductive approach which means that the themes emerged from the theories that had been used in the study. For the ease of identification of coding, a separate color was assigned for each theme. The data relevant to each theme was highlighted using the color assigned to the specific theory while re reading the transcriptions. To ensure that every single data is under the most appropriate theme, the codes were re-examined repeatedly. In the analysis section data under each theme have been analyzed with regards to the theories that have been used in the study.

4.4 Methodological Criticism

Not being able to conduct face-to-face interviews could be considered as a limitation in the data collection process since the opportunity to observe the behavioral changes of the respondents during the interview got limited.

Interviewing only female consumers can be a limitation as well. The study focuses mainly on female consumers since they are the main target group in the beauty industry. However, in future studies, male respondents can also be included to study similarities and differences between the genders.

Language can be a limitation as all the interviews were conducted in English even if neither of the two countries' official language was English. It might have been difficult for the respondents to communicate through a foreign language as comfortably as they use their mother tongue, and this might have affected their answers when expressing themselves.

Even if pre-selection interviews were conducted to make sure that the respondents represent their national culture, this representation cannot be perfectly confirmed as they could hide genuine ideas and give false information during the pre-selection interviews that might not truly reflect their original thoughts.

Even though this is a country-comparison, the author cannot fully say that everyone in Sweden and Sri Lanka is always representing their national culture. Therefore, selecting only participants who represented the national culture of Sweden and Sri Lanka can also be a limitation. However, in cross-country comparisons culture mostly also has an effect on the issues and therefore the authors used Hofstede’s framework and selected individuals only representing their national culture. Thus, only then could the authors make a conclusion if

(24)

The main focus of subjective norms in this paper were social media reviews. However, subjective norms are also family, friends and social environments which influence the individual motivation. Therefore, these factors were only asked about, to the participants for comparison reasons, to understand to what extent individuals rely on social media review versus family and friends and was not future investigated. Hence, this could be a limitation.

The authors wanted to maintain a homogeneous sample in terms of class, education and other socio demographics factors, however people differ in different countries because of social, economic and political reasons. Therefore, the authors tried to find in both countries groups of people that were comparable with each other in terms of their education and socio demographics positions. However, the authors were aware that for example socio demographics positions might not always be equally the same in different countries. The middle class in Sweden might not be the same as the middle class in Sri Lanka in absolute terms, however, inside their countries, they are both middle class and highly educated individuals.

4.5 Validity, Reliability & Trustworthiness

4.5.1 Validity

One of the most important aspects of validity is to be sure if the questions the researchers have asked the participants were relevant questions for the research paper (See Appendix 3). In a qualitative study when discussing validity, it means discussing credibility, transferability and confirmability (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Credibility in a qualitative research study is if the findings have been interpreted accurately (Gaus, 2017). Researchers can never completely know if the findings of a paper have been interpreted accurately. However, the researchers can reduce the possibility of getting the wrong answers (Saunders et al., 2009). The issue with credibility in a qualitative study is that the researchers are the only ones collecting the data. Thus, to strengthen the credibility of the paper both authors interpret the data separately and then compare and contrast their interpretations. In this way, the authors could detect potential misinterpretations.

The paper was written in a thought through way with many details so the paper could be

transferable for other researchers and to make it possible to use the results and generalize it to

other contexts and settings. The authors tried to strengthen this criterion by providing rich descriptions of the respondents and their social setting including writing a detailed report. (Bryman & Bell, 2011).

When writing a paper, it is impossible to be completely objective. However, confirmability is important when conducting a study (Bryman & Bell, 2011). To increase the confirmability of the study, the authors remained unbiased when presenting the findings concerning the neutrality and objectivity of the research. Furthermore, when conducting the interviews, it was made sure by the authors not to show the authors’ personal opinions or interest to the respondents as it might affect their answers or persuade them to deliver a different response than their original thoughts.

(25)

4.5.2 Reliability

Reliability is about replicability or it can be consistent with research findings. Therefore, if the paper is replicable, other researchers using the same method and instruments studying the same phenomenon in different settings will eventually produce the same results and findings. In qualitative studies the term dependability is used since it is harder to replicate a qualitative study because human behaviors are constantly changeable thus, the authors were aware of this issue. In qualitative studies it is important to bring a rich description of the context to convince the readers that it actually happened, since the reality is only temporary (Gaus, 2017). To make the paper more reliable, the authors used an auditing approach which means the recordings and the collected data were kept at all phases of the research process until the end to ensure the data was valid throughout the paper. (Bryman & Bell, 2011).

4.5.3 Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness is one of the criteria used to define accessibility, usefulness of a research study

and news value and importance of the findings (Lorelli et al., 2017). To increase the trustworthiness of the study, all the steps in the research and data collection process have been presented and explained thoroughly so that the research can be replicated with less alterations. Also, the detailed description enables the readers to determine the importance and relevance of the results of the study based on how it has been arrived at. Throughout the process, the study was constantly reviewed by the supervisor and fellow students to ensure the quality of the study. The findings have been presented using direct quotations of the respondents as much as possible to ensure the findings are unbiased and without personal inclinations from the authors. The interviews also have been transcribed in English, the same language that was used in interviews to avoid errors and misinterpretations that might arise in translations.

(26)

5. Empirical Findings

5.1 Attitude

5.1.1 Swedish Participants

All the Swedish participants had watched YouTube beauty reviews at least once in their lifetime. Some of them did it regularly and some of them have done it a few times. The participants either watched reviews on YouTube for fun, gained some kind of knowledge about a product or to found what kind of products are good for them. The participants had similar attitudes towards beauty products such as beauty products being good, fun to use, loved and liked. Many of the participants felt that beauty products especially makeup could be used for many purposes such as playing with it, collecting it like art, or using it for improvement purposes. As illustrated by respondent SW2 (May 4, 2021) “I love beauty products not only to

make me feel more pretty but I like beauty products because it can give you tools to be creative and embrace yourself (…)” All of the participants agreed that beauty products are expensive

and as illustrated by respondent SW2 (May 4, 2021) “the prices are high and it's not sustainable

for someone with a regular salary since it gets quite expensive (…)” Some of the respondents

also saw other disadvantages with beauty products. Some of the disadvantages according to the participants where; allergic reactions and people wanting to be someone they are not. Some beauty products according to the participants were not needed however some essential products were.

5.1.2 Sri Lankan Participants

All the respondents mentioned that they had watched beauty reviews either as a usual habit or as a seldom act. All the respondents except two had positive thoughts of beauty products and considered them as aids that enhance outer appearance and that are connected with personal care and hygiene. It was mentioned that beauty products give extra protection for the skin in a climate like Sri Lanka and helps maintain their beauty and hide scars and blemishes. “If you

choose a suitable and appropriate beauty product you will enjoy, if not you will suffer.” - (SL1,

May 1, 2021)

SL6 shed light on a different area mentioning that culture plays a role regarding how people think about beauty products. She said that even in some countries, makeup is common in everyday life. That most of the women in Sri Lanka use make up only for a functional occasion.” I have seen young girls in western cultures like 13, 14 start to use cosmetics. But in

our society young girls are not allowed that much freedom to use makeup because it is not normal in our society” - (SL6, May 6, 2021). SL7 also confirmed that the less usage of makeup

might be due to the rules and regulations that they had during the school years as they were not supposed to wear any makeup.

As for disadvantages, respondents pointed out that toxic ingredients in beauty products can cause skin allergies, infections, trigger premature aging, and cause deadly diseases like cancers. According to SL2 another disadvantage was financial impacts. She mentioned that the marketing campaigns of these beauty products make consumers over buy expensive products,

(27)

“Those so-called beauty standards are a myth and those huge beauty companies are making those standards to sell their products more in the community I feel.” - (SL2, May 2, 2021)

5.2 Subjective Norms

5.2.1 Swedish Participants

All the participants agreed that they do get affected by social media reviews. Six participants said that social media reviews had a huge impact on their purchase intentions and they strongly did get affected by social media reviews when making purchase decisions. Some of the reasons why they got affected by social media reviews were because they were exposed to it. According to many of the participants, if a product were bought by many people because of positive reviews online, they would also purchase the products since they believe the reviews and the number of people purchasing it. However, the participants who did not buy many beauty products usually relied on family and friends’ recommendations rather than social media reviews. Thus, they still watched beauty reviews which resulted later on in them basing many of their purchase decisions on social media reviews.

The participants who loved using beauty products normally got strongly affected by social media reviews. They felt that beauty reviews had a strong influence on their purchase intention and behavior. Most of the time the reason why the participants preferred social media reviews over family and friends was because they either felt they knew more about beauty products than their family and friends did or because they didn’t trust their family and friends for their honest opinions. They also preferred social media reviews because they wanted tailored advice and that kind of advice could only come from someone who had used the products before. People also went for social media reviews because as illustrated by SW2 (May 4, 2021) “Many brands

do not have an actual store where you can touch and feel the product. Many people have online stores, e-commerce. So, if brands today do not have an actual store as I said so we can feel, touch and try out or get a tester of a product then of course I would watch a YouTube video where someone else has tried the product (…).” The overall driving force for listening to social

media reviews was money since all of them thought beauty products were expensive. The Participants in many cases could not try the products they wanted to buy before purchasing them. Therefore, they turned to social media reviews, to seek for more information about the products and to understand if they were worth the price.

Another fundamental reason why the participants got influenced by social media reviews was because of the provided knowledge and the quantity of it. According to some of the participants, if they wanted to buy a particular product, they could find many reviews online about that specific product. That is why they mostly went for social media reviews rather than friends and family’s advice. Almost all of the participants always searched for social media reviews even if they did not listen to the recommendations every single time. They also trusted social media reviews fully as illustrated by SW4 (May 5, 2021) “I do get affected by beauty reviews (...).

The reason why I do get affected is because I feel like I need to get a picture of what I am buying. Most of the products I buy don’t even have their stores in Sweden (...). I listen to

(28)

All seven Swedish participants agreed on people in Sweden being affected by social media reviews before purchasing beauty products. Some of the reasons were; people wanted to keep up with beauty trends, “electronic word-of-mouth” had become increasingly important, consumers trusted more online reviews rather than the companies posting reviews on their webpages and people felt they were exposed to social media more than ever before.

5.2.2 Sri Lankan Participants

Out of the seven respondents, four respondents answered that they do not think that they get affected by beauty product reviews on YouTube since false information and sponsored reviews are “misleading”.” Honestly most of the reviews are like scripted dramas for me.”- (SL2, May 2, 2021). They elaborated that compared to social media, advertisements are affecting purchase intentions. According to them, even if they watch reviews, the impacts is low because they think it is not honest. SL1 mentioned that she feels that some reviews are like paid advertisements and are not genuine. “Some of the beauty results are sometimes unimaginably

published in reviews. Like they say you can get your skin lighter within a week and so. Those are ridiculous.” - (SL6, May 6, 2021).

SL7 acknowledged that beauty reviews act as recommendations for her because it is good to know what a person who has used the product thinks of it. She admitted that sometimes she feels like she needs to buy the product even if it is not useful to her because those reviews look attractive.

When the respondents were asked about the influence of beauty reviews on their purchase intentions, all respondents except two, replied that it affects to a certain extent. However, they said that they pay greater attention to the comments published under the reviews.” So, I listen

to what other watchers have to say on the product, not the presenter of the reviews.” – (SL1,

May 1, 2021). They pointed out that reviews are a great source of information. However, persuasive: hence social media reviews directly or indirectly affect purchase intentions. “When

you go to a store to buy a new beauty product and every brand is unfamiliar to you, I think I would most probably go for the product that I have seen on the review because that’s the only product that I know at least a bit.” – (SL4, May 3, 2021).

SL6 shed light on a different field mentioning that she would get the intention to buy. However, she was not sure if she would buy it even if she has the intention. When she was asked the possible reasons for that, she explained that she cannot afford to buy all the beauty products she wishes with her limited financial capacity. She believed it is a common situation for everybody as they cannot buy everything that they imagine.” Sometimes I get the intention that oh how

nice to have it. But it does not mean that my intention will do the work that Youtubers want because I might not give money and buy it even if I get the feeling to have it.” - (SL6, May 6,

2021).

(29)

All the interviewees responded that they would choose family and friends over social media reviews as their first choice when looking for recommendations to buy a beauty product. They pointed out that family and friends are more trustworthy, and less risky. “I can trust them

because I know that they are not paid by beauty companies” – (SL7, May 6, 2021). Two

respondents said that they usually watch YouTube reviews to get a pre-assessment. However, they admitted that their final decision will depend on family and friends and even the reviews that they watch are usually recommended by their family and friends.” It makes me feel secure

when I ask someone who knows me.”- (SL5, 2021).

All the respondents’ agreed upon that people in Sri Lanka get affected by social media reviews when purchasing beauty products. However, they pointed out that the younger generation is the most affected compared to the older generation.” Family and friends' influence becomes higher

when people are maturing. So young generation yes, older generation no.” - (SL6, May 6,

2021). They explained that the tendency to trust reviewers is higher among the younger generation as they are emotionally attached to YouTubers. The respondents also mentioned that people like to watch reviews on YouTube since it is time-saving and less costly to receive free advice from reputed beauticians. However, it was pointed out that the effect of YouTube reviews gets weak in front of the opinions of family and friends. “(…) I know that positive

feeling can get destroyed within seconds if he or she get a negative opinion from a close family or friend.” – (SL4, 2021).

5.3 Perceived Behavioural Control

5.3.1 Swedish Participants

All participants mentioned they almost always had the ability to buy all the beauty products they wanted. The participants gave examples such as; ordering online and because they spoke English they could order from foreign pages. They also mentioned they had computers, the knowledge and the availability of beauty stores. However, some of the participants did not always have the ability to purchase all the products they wanted, as SW7 (May 7, 2021) illustrated “I wanted to order a brand called “Colourpop” from the US but they couldn’t ship

some of the products (…). And as SW6 (May 6, 2021) illustrated “(…) I would say that I would like to have more access to the products and when I mean access it also includes trying out the product or at least testing them once.” When it came down to the financial question, most of

the participants could almost always buy all the products they wanted each month. However, it depended on the price of the products. The participants either had a well-paid job or a partner with a good income and therefore, they had the money to purchase the products. However, even if the students had a limited amount of money each month, they could still spend some of the money on beauty products. One participant had a job but preferred to keep her money in her pocket rather than spending it on beauty products but that also due to a lack of interest in beauty products.

Social media reviews effect on consumers purchases intention &amp;amp; actual buying behavior in the beauty industry : -A cross-country comparison