Influence of Celebrities and Salespeople on Female Generation Y Students’ Attitudes Towards Beauty Products

Abstract

The social environment of young consumers plays an important role in their consumption behaviour. Consumers seek additional information from personal sources before they commit to purchase a product. Personal sources can include friends, family members, salespeople or even strangers, as well as media sources. Celebrities can also influence consumers purchase decisions, especially Generation Y consumers, as these individuals are obsessed with celebrities, preoccupied with celebrity image and will go to extreme measures to replicate celebrity styles. Celebrities are often used to build brand images within the fashion industry. Fashion includes various consumer products, such as automobiles, clothing, cosmetics, food, footwear, housing, music and perfumery. Cosmetics, also known as beauty products, comprise products used to care for, clean and improve the human body. The beauty product industry is a noteworthy industry, representing a significant share of the global economy. This industry is showing tremendous growth, as it was estimated to be worth 532 billion USD in 2017, with an expected growth of up to 863 billion USD by 2024. Generation Y consumers spend a significant amount of their time and energy on shopping, more specifically shopping for fashion products, resulting in them spending a considerable amount of their disposable income on these products. Furthermore, these consumers are known to have well-paid jobs, substantial spending power and a high social standing, and are therefore becoming an emerging financial force. Consequently, this paper sought to determine the influence celebrities and salespeople have on female Generation Y students' attitude towards beauty products. Data collection was done using a self-administered questionnaire. This questionnaire was distributed to a convenience sample of female 610 students across the campuses of three higher education institutions within the Gauteng province of South Africa. Data was analysed by means of descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, reliability and validity measures and regression analysis. The findings suggest that celebrities and salespeople have a significant direct influence on Generation Y female students' attitude towards beauty products. Marketers and retailers can use the results of this study to effectively market beauty products to South African female Generation Y students. This can be done by training salespeople to provide consumers with the needed assistance in order to make the correct purchase decisions. Marketers and retailers can also make use of celebrities to endorse, use and review beauty products. JEL Classification: M3168 https://iises.net/proceedings/international-academic-conference-barcelona/front-page

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