How Does Socioeconomic Level Change Women's Perspectives and Preferences on Aesthetic Applications?

Abstract

The rapid developments in aesthetic medicine and the exaggerated results promised on the social media platform drive people to spend considerable budgets on such procedures to look more beautiful. Individuals often work extra jobs, take out bank loans, or borrow from friends to be able to pay for the prices that exceed what they can afford. This study is a survey designed to feel the pulse of the community on the economic aspect of aesthetic procedures. The study was carried out during March 30 to April 30, 2019, in the province of Bursa. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with participants selected based on the socioeconomic status and age according to the data of the Turkish Researchers' Association and the Turkish Statistical Institute. The distribution by age statistical data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute for the province of Bursa was taken as the base in the selection of the participants. The survey was conducted with women as they undergo more aesthetic procedures and drive the cosmetic industry. Five hundred women, half of whom had undergone aesthetic intervention, were asked 15 questions to understand their viewpoint on the economic aspect of aesthetic procedures. The questions asked to all participants, i.e., those who had and had not undergone aesthetic intervention, were structured as easy-to-understand phrases without specifically guiding the participants and with clear response options such as “yes,” “no,” and “I have no idea.” The participants could also elaborate on their response using free text. The results were shown in percentile. Intra-analysis and cross-analysis were performed to interpret the results. The results of our study suggest that people tend to push the limits of their budget for aesthetic procedures. More importantly, however, the study showed that aesthetic procedures are often performed at incompetent centers. Most of those who have undergone a procedure in such places are of high education and economic levels, i.e., of high socioeconomic status (A and B) with undergraduate or postgraduate degree, which depicts a hard-to-understand and a troubling picture.