Factors Influencing the Attractiveness of Cosmetics Distribution Channels

Abstract

Purpose: This study is focused on analyzing the key reasons why One-brand Shop has been shrinking and Multi-brand shop is rising from the perspective of the trend changes of customer behavior and distribution channel in the Korean cosmetic market. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors influencing the attractiveness of cosmetics distribution channels from a store perspective and a consumer perspective. Research methodology: This study conducted a survey to define the factors that influence the attractiveness of cosmetics distribution channels. A total of 300 samples were investigated. Results: The store factors that influence the attractiveness of the cosmetics distribution channel were product quality, shopping convenience, and store accessibility in the group of single-brand store preferences, and product diversity and store experience in the group of multi-brand store preferences. Conclusions: Core competing factors of One-brand shop include product value, shopping convenience and accessibility. In contrast, Multi-Brand shops offer core competing factors of diversified product portfolio and shop function experience. A new trend has been found that the customer segments of the price-oriented group and the pleasure-oriented group have become the mainstream segments in the Korean cosmetic market. In conclusion, Multi-brand Shops are suggesting better overall customer experiences in terms of distribution channel attractiveness and customer values.

1. Introduction

The distribution channels that lead the market have changed with the times in the process of the development of the domestic cosmetics market. The 1980s were a golden age of door-to-door sales, whereas the 2000s brought forth the era of low-cost cosmetics with their brand stores leading the market growth. Since 2016, the distribution channel of health and beauty (H&B) has emerged and multi-brand stores carrying various cosmetic brand products have shown growth at a rapid rate (Yoon, Song & Kang, 2000). As such, the growth and decline of such distribution channels have had a significant impact on the cosmetic companies that have mainly utilized these channels, and the decline of one-brand cosmetic stores has led to the performance decline of its cosmetics companies.

The performance of a cosmetics company is based on various factors. When it is observed from the perspective of the history of the Korean cosmetics industry, it can be seen that there were many cases where the growth of cosmetics companies went hand in hand with the growth of specific distribution channels. The representative examples of such phenomenon can be seen from the door-to-door sales channels in the 1960s and 1970s, general cosmetics channels in the 1980s, and the mart channels in the late 1990s. When the changes to the Korean cosmetics market after the year 2000 is examined, the trend of “one-brand stores” became popular, and companies using the corresponding channel took the lead in the market change. Cosmetic brands such as Missha, The Face Shop, Skin Food, and Tony Moly have achieved great success in the market with excellent product power and reasonable prices. These brands utilized independent stores with a clean and pleasant environment as their main distribution channel.

After 2013, H&B (health & beauty) stores such as “Olive Young” began to grow significantly, and from 2015, it could be observed that sales of cosmetics companies using one-brand stores began to comparatively declining. “Multi-brand stores” that are called H&B stores have risen to become the mainstream in the domestic offline cosmetics market. As of 2017, the sales of cosmetics companies focusing on multi-brand stores have exceeded those of one-brand stores, with the gap further deepening and the one-brand stores facing a crisis in light of this phenomenon (Yoon, Song & Kang, 2020).

What are the key factors influencing the attractiveness of cosmetics channels? In order to examine this, the current study aimed to determine the factors that affected attractiveness in cosmetics channels and examine from both the perspective of the business and the consumers. Thus, the purpose of this study was to observe how the consumption orientation of various consumers, as well as store characteristics, affected the evaluation of store attractiveness. To verify this phenomenon, the concept of one-brand stores and multi-brand stores were observed, as they led the most changes in the cosmetic distribution channel structures in recent years. With the examination of these factors, this research aims to diagnose the causes of recent changes in the structure of the cosmetic distribution channels and present possible strategic implications that might be able to be utilized for the sustainable growth of cosmetics companies for the future.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Store Characteristics as a Factor Influencing Channel Selection

With the rapidly changing consumption trends and the emergence of novel distribution channels that did not exist in the past, the consumers’ choices for choosing their purchasing channels are gradually increasing. In this regard, there have been various studies conducted on the factors that influence consumers’ purchasing channel decisions. For example, Spiggle and Sewall(1987) presented a model that summarized previous studies on the factors that influenced store selection for consumers. It was seen that consumer psychology, characteristics, and the specific store traits affected the consumers’ store selection. Consumer psychology was consisted of store perception, store attitude, and store image, whereas consumer characteristics included lifestyle, consumption orientation, and population statistics. For store characteristics, the store location (distance, travel time) as well as product characteristics were shown to be influencing factors for consumers choosing stores. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the factors that influence the selection of cosmetic channels from the perspective of the store and consumer characteristics.

Store characteristics are an element that comprises the store image, serves as a standard for store evaluation, and influences the selection of purchasing channels (Peter & Olson, 1987; Bearden & Mason, 1990; Chen Ching & Tsou, 2009). Martineau(1958) mentioned that when a consumer selects their final purchase channel, the functional factors such as product, price, and location of the store are considered, as well as the store image. Moreover, Baker and Grewal(1994) described design factors such as the store's music, ambient factors of lighting, color, product display, etc., social factors such as the number of employees, employee's personnel, and employee's uniform, were the main factors in evaluating the sore. These elements impacted the overall store image. Yoo, Park, and Maclnnis(1988) argued that product assortment, product value, employee service, follow-up management, facilities, store atmosphere, and the store location influenced the consumer’s attitude towards the stores. In addition, Shim and Kotsiopulos(1992) presented the results of a study that demonstrated that the factors which influenced the formation of attitudes toward stores were different depending on the type of store. The consumers that preferred specialty stores showed a positive relationship between quality and diversity, as well as trademarks and popularity whereas price and return policies conferred a negative effect. The consumers that preferred discount stores showed a positive relationship between price and return policies, whereas they showed a negative relationship for quality and variety. Of note, the above study mentioned that these factors influencing store attitudes may vary depending on the type of store. Thus, this study aimed to illuminate how the factors influencing store attractiveness of one-brand stores and multi-brand stores among the various types of cosmetics distribution channels were different.

In a plethora of studies on cosmetics distribution channels conducted in Korea, reasonable price, efficiency, trust in quality, product functions, follow-up management, understanding consumer needs, giving pride, word of mouth, etc., were some of the many factors that influenced consumer attitudes toward cosmetics channels(Ahn & Chai, 1993; Kim & Kim 2015, Hwang & Shin, 2016)

Additionally, it was seen that in terms of cosmetics distribution channels, the department stores were channels that controlled high ease of information acquisition, trust in quality, product function, follow-up management, understanding of consumer needs, pride, and word of mouth. Road shops in Korea were channels that offered reasonable prices, had ease of information acquisition, and word-of-mouth communication. In this study, based on the preceding studies above, product diversity, product quality, price rationality, purchase benefits, shopping convenience, store experience, and accessibility were chosen as some of the factors related to store characteristics and were observed for their influence on consumers.

The variables of store characteristics were defined and measured based on the former researches like these: product diversity(Wakefield and Baker, 1998), product quality(Olshavsky, 1985), price rationality(Sirgy & Samli, 1985), purchase benefits (Blattberg & Neslin, 1990), shopping convenience (Moeller, Fassnacht, & Ettinger, 2009), store experience(Samli, Kelly, and Hunt, 1998), and accessibility(Mackay & Olshavsky, 1975).

2.2. Consumption Orientation as a Factor Influencing Channel Selection

Consumption Orientation conceptualizes a lifestyle that is related to shopping and includes interests in shopping as well as shopping behavior and opinions. As such, consumption orientation is triggered by various psychological needs(Darden & Howell, 1987; Westbrook & Black, 1985; Munkhtuya & Kim, 2012; Zhao & Deng, 2020). Numerous previous studies have suggested consumption orientation as a factor that influences consumers' purchasing channel decisions. For example, in a study conducted by Stone (1954), a representative researcher in the field of consumer classification according to consumption orientation, the reason for why middle class female consumers used local distribution stores were largely divided into four types of the economic consumer, the interpersonal consumer, the ethical consumer, and the indifferent consumer. Through this, it was revealed that the consumers’ preferred distribution channel differed based on their characteristics. Moreover, in a study conducted of adult women by Darden and Reynolds(1971), their consumption orientation classification was also divided in the same way as the study by Stone(1954) and demonstrated that based on each consumer’s consumption orientation classifications, their preferences for specific cosmetic brands and shops also differed. Bellinger and Korgaonkar(1980) showed that consumer categories could be made based on the degree to which they enjoyed shopping: economic-oriented consumers or leisure-oriented consumers. It was discovered that these two types of consumers had opposing consumption orientations. The leisure-oriented consumers were shown to enjoy shopping and were active in searching for information, as well as valuing a comfortable atmosphere experience such as department stores, while the economic-oriented consumers did not enjoy shopping and chose stores in terms of time and cost.

There were various domestic studies on the trends of cosmetics consumption, such as differing cosmetic channel preferences based on varying consumption orientations, as well as cosmetic consumption tendencies based on location convenience, economic rationality, shopping pleasure, and store loyalty as well as brand loyalty. In line with this, this current study will aim to focus on consumption orientation factors considering price orientation, interpersonal relations orientation, brand orientation, pleasure orientation, and information orientation.

The variables of consumption orientation were defined and measured based on the former researches like these: price orientation(Yin & Paswan, 2007), interpersonal relations orientation(Arnold & Reynolds, 2003), brand orientation(Urde, 1994), hedonic orientation(Arnold & Reynolds, 2003), and information orientation(Mustafa and Al-Abdallah, 2020).

2.3. Store Attractiveness

Store attractiveness is defined through the degree of persuasion by the sense of familiarity, favorability, or similarity felt in the distribution space (Backer and Churchill 1977). In this study, store attractiveness was measured as a dependent variable. Teller & Reutterer(2008) defined the attractiveness of shopping space from the perspective of sustainable attractiveness and situational attractiveness. In this study, based on previous studies, store attractiveness was measured through the intention to continuously visit the shopping space (retention proneness) and the degree of patronage to the store (intended patronage).

The variables of store attractiveness were defined based on Teller and Reutterer(2008). And also measured by focusing on site satisfaction, site maintenance propensity, and site affection intention.

3. Methodology

3.1. Research Model and Hypothesis

The focus of this study is to present the characteristics that affect the attractiveness of the cosmetics channel from the perspective of the store and the consumer, as well as illuminate the differences that exist within these factors on one-brand and multi-brand stores.

Figure 1: Research Model

The following seven factors were derived as store characteristics that influenced store attractiveness.

The first characteristic is product diversity. This refers to the variety of product types and prices that are handled by the store. Wakefield and Baker(1998) argued that various tenants in shopping malls, such as restaurants, stores, and amusement facilities, motivated consumers to visit the stores. This entailed that tenant variety instilled a positive effect on store image.

The second is product quality. A study by Kolter(1994) classified product quality into subjective quality and objective quality. The subjective quality is the quality related to the consumer's individual perception, and the objective quality is the quality related to the physical function and attribute of the product itself. Among them, the perceived quality, which is the subjective quality, was observed to be more important. This is because consumers mainly rely on a subjective method when evaluating a product. Olshavsky(1985) also stated that perceived quality, which is the overall evaluation of a product, is more important than actual quality.

Third, reasonable price is one of the main factors that determine the store image(Sirgy, Samli, 1985). Jacoby and Olson (1997) argued that when consumers look for the price of a product, they compare several stores and remember the price of the store where the price is relatively low, which has a decisive influence on the consumers' final purchasing decisions.

Fourth, promotion benefits refer to activities that provide incentives in order to attract consumers' purchasing behaviors. This can also be referred to as a catalyst for sales promotion activity. These include but are not restricted to free gifts, discounted prices, point accumulations, sweepstakes, and coupons, which are all incentives for consumers to visit a store and a factor that enables store attractiveness (Blattberg & Neslin, 1990).

Fifth, shopping convenience is the easability of service and purchase that is offered by the store. Factor related to the convenience of shopping includes the convenience of the payment method, ease of exchange and refund services, favorable delivery conditions, the distance to the stores, and convenient business hour(Moeller, Fassnacht, & Ettinger, 2009).

Sixth, store experience includes the store elements and services that allow the consumers to feel the store’s atmosphere and stimulate the five senses of pleasure. Samli, Kelly, and Hunt(1998) revealed in their study that store atmosphere that is able to make a positive shopping experience for the consumers confers a favorable store image formation.

Seventh, store accessibility refers to how easy and convenient it is for consumers to access the stores that they intend to use. Huff(1964) observed that the store’s size and the time it takes to get to the store have an impact on how much the consumers prefer a particular store over others. In this case, the distance of the store perceived by the consumers, and not the actual sore distance, was shown to have a greater influence on the consumers in choosing their store preferences(Mackay & Olshavsky, 1975).

Based on these previous studies, the following hypotheses were derived.

H1. Attractive store characteristics will have a positive effect on store attractiveness.

H1-1. Product diversity will have a positive effect on the store's attractiveness.

H1-2. High-quality products will have a positive effect on the store's attractiveness.

H1-3. Rational pricing will have a positive effect on store attractiveness.

H1-4. Purchase benefits will have a positive effect on store attractiveness.

H1-5. Shopping convenience will have a positive effect on store attractiveness.

H1-6. Attractive store experiences will have a positive effect on store attractiveness.

H1-7. Store accessibility will have a positive effect on store attractiveness.

H2. There will be differences in the evaluation of store characteristics for one-brand and multi-brand stores.

Next, the factors that influenced the attractiveness of the cosmetics stores from the perspective of the consumers were investigated. When consumers purchase products, each individual has their own preferences and tendencies, and this affects which type of buying behavior the consumer portrays(Shim & Kotsiopulos, 1993). Therefore, this study aims to observe the factors that influence the purchasing channels of cosmetics for consumers from five categories of consumption orientations.

First, price orientation refers to a consumption attitude that considers the importance of purchasing a product at a lower price, as well as allotting time and effect in order to do so, as well as the reluctance to purchase products at a higher price. Consumers with such orientations tend to frequent discount stores and utilize sales and discount coupons(Yin & Paswan, 2007).

Second, interpersonal relationship orientation in a societal meaning refers to the consumption attitude of enjoying shopping. Consumers with these tendencies prefer to shop with others and have a relatively strong hedonistic personality(Arnold & Reynolds, 2003). This consumption orientation, which can be considered to be a factor for wanting social interaction, is related to a lifestyle where people enjoy hanging out with others.

Third, brand orientation refers to the tendency to correlate the quality of a product with the brand. Consumers with this consumption orientation tend to be willing to pay a higher price for a product in order for them to get the brand of their choice (Urde, 1994). This can also be observed when consumers frequent a specific cosmetic store that they like or purchasing products from only a specific brand. The consumers that are loyal to a brand that they choose are called the brand loyalty shopping group.

Fourth, hedonic orientation refers to the concept that contrasts with rational consumption. It is a type that pursues various emotional pleasures obtained from the consumption process itself rather than focusing on purchasing products(Arnold & Reynolds, 2003). These consumers love shopping itself, so even if they are not planning on purchasing anything, they often shop to see new things, consider shopping as a leisure activity, and prefer to shop as a way to feel better.

Fifth is information orientation, which refers to consumers that prefer to shop based on various information about the products. Consumers with these consumption orientations seek various sources of information before purchasing a product and enjoy comparing and contrasting before making a final purchase decision(Mustafa and Al- Abdallah, 2020). Cosmetic consumers are highly interested in acquiring trends for various cosmetics. In particular, there has been a recent surge in diverse brands for the cosmetics market, resulting in an increase for consumers to obtain information about these novel brands. The recent development of social media has contributed to the spread of consumers to seek information in the cosmetics market.

Based on these previous studies, the following hypotheses were derived.

H3. Cosmetic consumers' shopping orientation will have a positive effect on the evaluation of store attractiveness.

H3-1. Cosmetic consumers' price orientation will have a positive effect on the evaluation of store attractiveness.

H3-2. Cosmetic consumers' interpersonal relationship orientation will have a positive effect on the evaluation of store attractiveness.

H3-3. Cosmetic consumers' brand orientation will have a positive effect on the evaluation of store attractiveness.

H3-4. Cosmetic consumers' hedonic orientation will have a positive effect on the evaluation of store attractiveness.

H3-5. Cosmetic consumers' information orientation will have a positive effect on the evaluation of store attractiveness.

H4. There will be a difference in the shopping orientation preferences for one-brand and multi-brand stores.

3.2. Research design and sample

The research targets for this current study were female consumers, who are the majority of the consumers in the cosmetics market. The survey was designed for the core consumers in the cosmetics market, which were the young women consumers, and teens were also included in the survey, as their age group has seen a recent surge of supply and demand in the cosmetics market. The sample size of the survey consisted of classifications by four age groups, and preferences for either one-brand or multi-brand stores were analyzed as well. In each sample size group, there were at least 75 subjects included, with a total of around 300 subjects. The detailed characteristics of the respondents are shown in table 1. below.

Table 1: Respondents characteristics

4. Results

4.1.Reliability and Validity

Statistical analysis was performed to verify the reliability and validity of the measurement tools used in the study. First, the reliability analysis was measured by the Cronbach-α coefficient. The Cronbach-α value can be considered to be an indicator of the degree of internal consistency of the measures, and all of the theoretical variables used in this study had Cronbach-α coefficient values of 0.7 or higher, demonstrating results to be reliable. For the validity analysis, the factor analysis was performed. The common factors of all measured variables were grouped and extracted to confirm whether they appeared as one latent variable. Through this, the convergent validity was confirmed. Additionally, the validity of discrimination between constituent concepts was verified by whether they could be distinguished from other latent variables' measurement items. Here, it could be observed that the higher the factor loading, the higher the convergent validity and reliability of the measurement items bound to the factor. The results of the factor analysis for the store specific factors showed identification of seven-factor structures, as shown in Table 2. The cumulative variance explained by the seven factors of the variable group of the store characteristic factors was found to be 74.3%. The final factor analysis results for store-specific factors are shown in Table 2. The results of the specific factor loading for the last seven factors and the reliability analysis for each factor showed statistically significant results.

Table 2: Validity and reliability test of store characteristics

The results of factor analysis on the factors of shopping orientation showed that five-factor structures could be identified, as shown in Table 3. The cumulative variance explained by the five factors of the store characteristic factors variable group was 76.7%. Moreover, the final factor analysis on shopping orientation factors was as shown in Table 3. The specific factor loading amount for the final five factors and its individual reliability analysis results were shown to be statistically significant.

Table 3: Validity and reliability test of consumption orientation

4.2 Hypothesis Testing

First, a regression analysis was conducted to confirm the relationship between the factors of the cosmetic store characteristics and store attractiveness. The regression analysis was divided into the one-brand store preference group and the multi-brand preference group, and each relationship was verified through linear regression analysis. The analysis for the one-brand store preference group is as follows. The R square value of the model was shown to be 0.248 (adjusted R square = 0.203), and the analysis of the model revealed the results of the significance probability derived to be statistically significant. The result of the regression analysis for the multi-brand preference group demonstrated the R square value of the model to be 0.215 (adjusted R square = 0.184) and the results of the significance probability derived to be statistically significant. The regression analysis results of the two models are as shown in Table 4.

Table 4: The results of regression analysis - Store characteristics

The results of testing the impact independent variables conferred for each preferred channel revealed that in the one-brand store preference group, the product’s quality, shopping convenience, and accessibility had a significant influence on store attractiveness. In the multi-brand preference group, it was shown that the diversity of the products, as well as store experience factors conferred a statistically significant effect for the consumers.

In addition to analyzing the causal relationship between each independent variable and the store attractiveness, this study verified whether each independent variable showed any carrying differences between the groups in the preferred distribution channels. The results of the analysis demonstrated that there was a statistically significant difference in product diversity and store experience factors as shown in Table 5. It was confirmed that product diversity and store experience factors in multi-brand stores were evaluated more positively. Moreover, it could be observed from the results that the multi-brand stores which are preferred more in recent trends demonstrated superior product diversity and store experience factors, which all contributed to the positive evaluations for the corresponding channel’s attractiveness to the consumers.

Table 5: The result of T-test - Store characteristics

Second, regression analysis was performed in order to confirm the causal relationship between the shopping orientation factor and the store attractiveness evaluation. The regression analysis was divided into the one-brand store preference group and the multi-brand preference group, and each relationship was verified through linear regression analysis. As such, the results of analyzing the one-brand stores are as shown in Table 6. The regression analysis revealed that the model was statistically significant, with the value representing the explanatory power of the regression equation to be 0.273. For the multi-brand store group, the results of the linear regression analysis on the shopping orientation and store attractiveness showed that this model was also statistically significant, with the explanatory power of the regression equation to be 0.188.

Table 6: The results of regression analysis - Consumption orientation

In the store preference for the one-brand group, it was discovered that price orientation and hedonic orientation conferred effects in the evaluation of store attractiveness for consumers. These factors were also shown to have significant influences on the multi-brand store group as well. Based on these trends, it could be seen that regardless of the store group type, price orientation and hedonic orientation both had influences on store attractiveness evaluation for consumers. However, there were also differences in the consumption orientation of consumers that preferred either the one-brand or the multi-brand stores. As can be observed from Table 7, consumers that preferred one-brand stores showed a more statistically significant influence for price orientation, and those who preferred multi-brand stores showed a high propensity for being affected by hedonic orientation and information orientation. These results reveal that while consumers have more price and hedonic-oriented tendencies, the one-brand preferring consumers were more price-oriented, and the multi-brand preferring consumers were more hedonic and informationoriented. Thus, it can be analyzed that recent increases in market shares for multi-brand stores lie partially in the reason that consumers are able to delve into more enjoyable shopping while also obtaining a variety of information about the products and the stores at the same time.

Table 7: The result of T-test - Consumption orientation

5. Discussion

5.1. Summary and Implications

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors affecting the attractiveness of cosmetics stores for consumers. The results of the study were derived as follows.

First, the results of the regression analysis on the factors affecting the attractiveness of the cosmetics distribution channels could be observed in three main aspects. The factors influencing the attractiveness of the stores were reviewed focusing on the store characteristics from the store’s point of view, and the shopping orientations from the consumer’s perspective. The factors that were shown to be statistically significant and influenced the store’s attractiveness from the store’s point of view included the product value, shopping convenience, and accessibility from the one-brand store group. In terms of the multi-brand store group, product diversity and store experience played a significant role. For both groups, the factors of price orientation and hedonic orientation were shown to be prominently relevant for store attractiveness in both the one and multi-brand store groups.

Second, the study compared how the consumers’ characteristics differed based on the types of stores they preferred. In the one-brand and multi-brand groups, the differences in the trends for the store characteristics and shopping orientations factors were observed. In the case of store characteristics, it could be seen that product diversity and store experience factors played a significant role in store preferences among consumers. The multi-brand group consumers considered product diversity and store experiences to be very important, and factors such as product quality and shopping convenience were considered to be relatively important. For shopping orientations, it could be observed that price orientation, hedonic orientation, and information orientation showed statistically significant differences in both the one-brand and multi-brand groups. In the case of one-brand preferring consumer group, the price orientation demonstrated higher significance, while in the multi-brand preferring consumer group the hedonic and information orientation showed higher significance.

This current study examined the factors influencing the attractiveness of distribution channels to shed some light on the recent changes that have been revealed in the distribution structure of the cosmetics market. The results illuminated that previously studied factors such as product diversity, product quality, price rationality, purchase benefits, shopping convenience, store experience, and accessibility showed differing influences in the one-brand and multi-brand groups. In particular, it was found that price rationality or purchase benefits did not significantly affect store attractiveness to the consumers. This can be interpreted that in the market, as these factors or price and purchase benefits are already up to par with the standards of the consumers, they are no longer considered as a crucial factor when the consumers are choosing or deciding the store attractiveness factors.

In the current cosmetics market, it was confirmed that consumers that were price-oriented or hedonic-oriented had a tendency to consider the stores to be attractive. This means that when the price orientation and the hedonic orientation is high in the cosmetics market, then the major stores are evaluated to be more attractive to the consumers. This phenomenon was relevant to both one-brand and multi-brand consumer groups. It can be seen that consumers in the cosmetics market are pursuing shopping for both rational purchases and hedonic purposes.

This study considered the factors behind the recent rise and growth in multi-brand stores. It could be observed that the multi-brand stores offered a diversity of products as well as store experience values, which appealed to many consumers that showed hedonic and information orientations. As it was confirmed that the major competitive factors in the cosmetic markets were consistent with the values provided in the multi-brand stores, this section of the market showed inevitable exponential growth. In particular, this was closely correlated with the values that the younger age group, which is a core subject area in the cosmetics market, considered to be important. Thus, in order to secure the continuous competitiveness in the future markets, it will be imperative to develop the strategic management of the above factors.

5.2. Limitations and Future Research

As this study was conducted with a relatively small sample of 300 subjects, a relatively careful approach is needed to interpret the results of this study. In addition, since the research is of an exploratory nature, it is necessary to proceed with a more procedural and strict confirmation follow-up study in the future. One of the limitations of this study lies in the target of the test subjects. This study examined the age group of women from their teens to their 40s, and this has a limitation that the data offered cannot encompass the markets for females in their 50s or above. Moreover, it can be seen that men’s cosmetics markets have expanded in recent times, and it would be crucial that studies conducted with these test subjects are conducted in order to accurately offer the current trends in the cosmetics market. This study has not been verified for age-specific differences. Further studies are needed about these. Also, it is necessary to study with various dependent variables such as purchase intention and so on.

* This Research was financially supported by Hansung University.

* This paper is reconstructed using data of 2019 doctoral dissertation of Sang-hyeon Yoon.