LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI INSTITUTE OF

MANAGEMENT

SUBJECT – Business Research Management

Title: The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Purchase
Decisions in the Cosmetic Industry

Under Supervision of,

Dr. Rajeev Sirohi

Submitted by,
Anushka Saxena (413)
Rishab Roy Choudhury (421)
Mansi Sharma (460)
Mohd Aman Raza (409)
Parth Mishra (448)
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Acknowledgment:
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Rajeev Sirohi for his valuable guidance and
support throughout the research process. His insights and expertise have significantly contributed
to the quality of this report.

Special thanks to Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management for providing access to data and
resources essential for the completion of this study.

Finally, we extend our appreciation to our colleagues and friends who provided encouragement
and feedback during the preparation of this report. Your support has been invaluable.

Table of Contents:
Contents Page No.
Abstract 3
Introduction 3
Literature Review 4
Problem Statement 5
Research Objectives 5
Hypothesis 5
Research Design and Methodology 6
Data Analysis and Findings 6
Results and Conclusion 11
Limitations and Suggestions 13
References 14
Appendix-Questionnaire 15

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The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Purchase
Decisions in the Cosmetic Industry
Rishab Roy Choudhury, Anushka Saxena, Mansi Sharma, Parth Mishra, Aman Raza
Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Plot No. 11/7, Sector 11, Dwarka, New Delhi - 110 075

Abstract:
This study contributed to the literature on influencer marketing by assessing the impact of types
of influencer content and the frequency of discovering cosmetic products on platforms such as
YouTube and Instagram has been assessed. This involved the collection of primary data using
simple random sampling through an online survey. The results of the analysis have been conducted
in two parts the first is the exploration of the sample characteristics, then a correlation has been
undertaken. This study undertook a logistic regression analysis as regression in contrast to
correlation can explain cause and effect relationships. The analysis has brought out the importance
of personal experiences in explaining the purchase decision of cosmetics which could indicate
increased relatability to social media influencers. Instagram usage frequency has been found to
have an impact on the purchase decision of cosmetics.

Introduction:
In the rapidly evolving landscape of the cosmetic industry, traditional marketing strategies are
undergoing a transformative shift, driven by the omnipresence of social media platforms. As
consumers increasingly turn to digital channels for product information and recommendations,
social media influencers have emerged as powerful catalysts shaping purchasing behaviors. The
significance of influencer marketing, emphasizing its role in fostering brand awareness and trust
among consumers in the cosmetic sector (Ananthsai et al., 2023). The rise of social media
platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok has provided individuals with unprecedented
opportunities to build personal brands and cultivate engaged online communities (Lies Ambarwati
et al., 2019). Within the cosmetic realm, influencers, often revered for their expertise, authenticity,
and relatability, have become pivotal figures shaping the preferences and purchase decisions of a
vast consumer base (Kapitan et al., 2022).

The allure of social media influencers lies not only in their ability to showcase products but also
in their capacity to narrate compelling personal stories and experiences. Consumers, inundated
with a myriad of choices, find solace in the guidance provided by influencers who share insights,
reviews, and tutorials. This phenomenon has sparked intriguing discussions among scholars and
industry experts alike, prompting a closer examination of the dynamics between social media
influencers and consumer behavior. In the context of the cosmetic industry, where trends are
ephemeral and subjective, understanding the mechanisms through which influencers impact
purchase decisions becomes imperative for marketers and researchers alike (Kim & Kim, 2021).

This research aims to delve into the multifaceted dimensions of influencer-driven consumerism
within the cosmetic industry, employing a mix of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. By
doing so, we aspire to provide a nuanced understanding of the symbiotic relationship between

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social media influencers and the purchasing decisions of consumers in the vibrant and competitive
landscape of the cosmetic industry.

Literature Review:
1. Influence of Social Media Influencers in Marketing:

In recent years, the landscape of marketing has witnessed a profound shift with the rise of
social media influencers. Social media influencers have become influential figures capable
of shaping consumer perceptions and behaviors. The transformative power of influencer
marketing, highlighting its ability to engage audiences authentically and create a direct
impact on consumer decision-making processes (Alexis Castillo et al., 2022). The cosmetic
industry, known for its dynamic and trend-driven nature, has become a focal point for
influencer marketing efforts due to its visual appeal and consumer-centric product
experience (Ananthsai et al., 2023).
2. Trust and Authenticity in Influencer Marketing:

Trust plays a pivotal role in the effectiveness of influencer marketing (Yee et al., 2020).
Consumers often perceive social media influencers as relatable figures, and their
authenticity contributes significantly to building trust (Kim & Kim, 2021). The authenticity of
influencers, defined by their genuine interactions and transparent communication, becomes
a critical factor in influencing consumer decisions within the cosmetic industry
(Nurhandayani et al., 2019). Consumers are more likely to be swayed by influencers who
appear genuine, providing honest reviews and sharing personal experiences with cosmetic
products (Kapitan et al., 2022).
3. Types of Influencer Content:

The types of content created by influencers play a crucial role in shaping consumer
preferences. Product reviews, tutorial videos, before-and-after photos, and personal stories
are common formats utilized by influencers in the cosmetic industry (Godey et al., 2016).
Understanding the impact and effectiveness of these content types is essential for marketers
seeking to optimize their influencer marketing strategies. Consumers often rely on
influencers not just for product information but also for guidance on application techniques
and real-world experiences with cosmetic products (Nurhandayani et al., 2019).
4. Influence of Social Media Platforms:

Different social media platforms contribute to the varying degrees of influencer impact on
consumer behavior. Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok are among the platforms where
beauty influencers thrive, each offering unique features and content formats. The
comparative analysis of YouTube and TikTok beauty influencers, exploring the nuances of
consumer engagement and influence on these platforms (Lies Ambarwati et al., 2019).
Understanding the role of each platform is crucial for marketers to tailor their strategies
effectively(Vrontis et al., 2021).
5. Consumer Behavior in the Cosmetic Industry:

The cosmetic industry's reliance on trends and consumer perceptions makes it an intriguing
space for studying consumer behavior influenced by social media influencers. Consumers

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 actively seek inspiration and validation from influencers, making purchasing decisions
based on the latest trends and endorsed products (Joshi et al., 2023). The fast-paced and
visually-driven nature of the cosmetic industry makes it imperative for marketers to stay
abreast of evolving consumer preferences influenced by social media influencers(Vrontis
et al., 2021).

Problem Statement:
The cosmetic industry is witnessing a transformative shift in marketing strategies due to the
increasing influence of social media influencers. However, the mechanisms through which these
influencers impact consumer purchasing decisions in the cosmetic sector and the resulting
implications for brand loyalty are not yet fully understood. This research seeks to address this gap
by examining the influence of social media influencers on consumer behavior in the cosmetic
industry.

Research Objectives:
• The impact of different types of contents by the influencer on the consumer decision to
purchase cosmetics.
• The impact of different social media platforms on the consumer decision to purchase
cosmetics.

Hypothesis:
• The impact of different types of contents by the influencer on the consumer decision to
purchase cosmetics.

Null Hypothesis
o Personal Stories/Experiences have no impact on consumer purchase
decision of cosmetics based on influencer endorsement.
o Before and After Photos have no impact on consumer purchase decision of
cosmetics based on influencer endorsement.
o Tutorial Videos have no impact on consumer purchase decision of cosmetics
based on influencer endorsement.

Alternative Hypothesis
o Personal Stories/Experiences have an impact on consumer purchase
decision of cosmetics based on influencer endorsement.
o Before and After Photos have an impact on consumer purchase decision of
cosmetics based on influencer endorsement.
o Tutorial Videos have an impact on consumer purchase decision of cosmetics
based on influencer endorsement.

• The impact of different social media platforms on the consumer decision to purchase
cosmetics.

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 Null Hypothesis
o Using Instagram frequently to discover cosmetic products has no impact on
consumer decision to purchase cosmetics based on influencer endorsement.
o Using YouTube frequently to discover cosmetic products has an impact on
consumer decision to purchase cosmetics based on influencer endorsement.

Alternate Hypothesis
o Using Instagram frequently to discover cosmetic products has no impact on
consumer decision to purchase cosmetics based on influencer endorsement.
Using YouTube frequently to discover cosmetic products has an impact on consumer decision to
purchase cosmetics based on influencer endorsement.

Research Design and Methodology:

A quantitative research design is followed in which certain hypothesis are defined and will be
tested across a large sample size. A large sample size will produce generalizable results.
The methodology used is Logistic Regression with the dependent variable a binary variable with
two categories Yes and No. The dependent variable is Purchase decision for cosmetics based on
influencer endorsement. The independent variables consist of perceived importance types of
content by influencers related to cosmetic industry such as Tutorial Videos, Personal
Stories/Experiences and Before and After Videos. These can be considered as indicators certain
influencer characteristics such as Authenticity, Relatability and Expertise. The other variables are
the frequent usage of social platforms for discovering cosmetic products such as Instagram and
YouTube. The target for this research study is the urban middle class. Information on Demographic
variables such as Age and Gender was also considered
The sampling technique considered for this study was simple random sampling across the target
population. Primary data was collected using an online survey.

Data Analysis and Findings:

Descriptive Analysis
A pie chart was used to assess the distribution of respondents according to the age groups. The
largest share of age group is in the range of 26-44 years of age. The second largest share is that of
age group 45-59 years of age.

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 Fig 1: Age distribution

Fig 2: Gender Distribution

86.7 percent of the respondents are Female.
Most of the respondents only occasionally follow social media influencers content related to
cosmetic products.

Fig 3: Distribution of social media influencers followers for purchasing cosmetic products

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The Dependent Variable which is customer purchase decision of cosmetic products based on social
media influencer content consists of two categories Yes and No. 37.8 percent of the sample
purchase cosmetics based on social media influencer content.

Fig 4: Distribution of customers purchase decision based on social media influencers contents
Importance of Types of Contents by Influencers
Count plot has been used to assess the relationship between the different types of content and the
purchase decision of cosmetics based on influencer content. Among those not purchasing based on
social media influencer content have highest number of respondents with the lowest importance
for before and after photos and those respondents purchasing based on social media influencer
content have highest number of respondents attach high importance to the before and after photos.

Fig 5: Influencers content having before and after photos vs purchase decisions

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Among those not purchasing based on social media influencer content have highest number of
respondents with the lowest and low importance for personal stories/ experiences by influencers
and those respondents purchasing based on social media influencer content have highest number
of respondents attaching a high importance to the personal stories and experiences by influencers.

Fig 6: Influencers contents having personal stories/experiences vs purchase decisions

Among those not purchasing based on social media influencer content have highest number of
respondents with the lowest importance for Tutorial Videos by influencers and those respondents
purchasing based on social media influencer content have highest number of respondents attaching
a high importance to the personal stories and experiences by influencers.

Fig 7: Influencer contents having tutorial videos vs purchase decisions

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Importance of Types of Contents by Influencers
Among those not purchasing based on social media influencer content have highest number of
respondents with the lowest frequency for using Instagram to find cosmetic products and those
respondents purchasing based on social media influencer content have highest number of
respondents with high frequent usage of Instagram for discovering information regarding
cosmetics.

Fig 8: Instagram usage vs purchase decision based on influencers contents

Among those not purchasing based on social media influencer content have highest number of
respondents with the lowest frequency for using YouTube to find cosmetic products and those
respondents purchasing based on social media influencer content have highest number of
respondents with high frequent usage of YouTube for discovering information regarding
cosmetics.

Fig 9: YouTube usage vs purchase decision based on influencers content

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Correlation analysis has also been conducted. The results of the correlation analysis indicate the
importance of tutorial videos has a strong positive and statistically significant correlation with
frequency of using Instagram to discover cosmetic products and a moderate correlation with
purchasing cosmetic products based on social media influencers content. The importance of before
and after photos has a strong positive statistically significant correlation with the importance of
Personal stories/ experiences by influencers and purchase cosmetic products based on content of
social media influencers. The importance of personal stores/experiences has a strong positive
correlation with cosmetic products purchase based on content from social media influencers.
Frequent usage of Instagram has a strong positive and statistically significant correlation with
Frequent usage of YouTube. Purchasing cosmetic products based on the content from social media
influencers has a positive and strong statistically significant correlation with Importance of Before
and After Photos, Personal Stories/Experiences importance, frequent Instagram usage to discover
cosmetic products and the frequent YouTube usage to discover cosmetic products. The
demographic variables Age and Gender have no statistically significant correlations with purchase
decision of cosmetic products based on content of social media influencers.

Table 1: Correlation between different variables

Results and Conclusion:

The forward stepwise logistic regression model was estimated using SPSS. In this type of
regression model predictor variables to the model were iteratively added to the model based on
their statistical significance. This method aims to find the best combination of predictors which
explain the variation in the outcome variable. At the first step the initial model includes only the
variable Frequency of YouTube usage for discovering cosmetic products. The second step adds
another variable, and third step also introduces another variable. In the fourth step only two
variables are considered which are Frequency of using Instagram for discovering cosmetic
products and the other variables have been dropped. The variables are entered on the basis of the
significance level and the likelihood ratio determines the removal.
Table 1: Correlation between different variables

Results and Conclusion

The forward stepwise logistic regression model was estimated using SPSS. In this type of
regression model predictor variables to the model were iteratively added to the model based on
their statistical significance. This method aims to find the best combination of predictors which
explain the variation in the outcome variable. At the first step the initial model includes only the
variable Frequency of YouTube usage for discovering cosmetic products. The second step adds
another variable, and third step also introduces another variable. In the fourth step only two
variables are considered which are Frequency of using Instagram for discovering cosmetic

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products and the other variables have been dropped. The variables are entered on the basis of the
significance level and the likelihood ratio determines the removal.

Table 2: Result after analysis

The- 2 log likelihood function is minimised at Step 4.
Accuracy= (True Positive + True Negative) /(True Positive + True Negative +False Negative +True
Negative)
Accuracy at Step 1 =(15+24)/(15+24+2+4)=0.87
Accuracy at Step 2 =(26+15)/(26+15+2+2)=0.91
Accuracy at Step 3 =(26+14)/(26+14+2+3)=0.89
Accuracy at Step 4 =(27+13)/(27+13+1+4)=0.89

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 Table 3: Model Diagnostics and Classification Table

The – 2 log likelihood is minimised at Step 4 hence the model at Step 4 would be considered the
final model while the accuracy of Step 2 is higher. The two variables in Step 4 model are
Importance of Personal Stories/Experiences by influencers and Frequency of using Instagram to
discover cosmetic products. These variables are statistically significant at 5 percent level, and have
odds ratio of 10.955 and 12.599.
We reject the null hypothesis and using Instagram frequently has an impact on the decision to
purchase cosmetic products and the null hypothesis that the importance of personal stories/
experiences don’t have an impact on the decision to purchase cosmetic products.

Limitations and Suggestions:

The Limitations of the study include that time constraints led to a smaller sample size than
expected.
Further research can be conducted considering the comparison of the effectiveness of social media
influencers versus celebrity endorsement on the purchase decision. A stratified random sampling
considering demographic variables such as Education, Income levels can also be considered.

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References:
1. Alexis Castillo, R. V, Zoy Jaramillo, C. C., Sy, L. S., & Author, C. (2022). Journal of
Business and Management Studies The Effectiveness of Social Media Influencers in the
Cosmetic and Skincare Industry to the Purchase Intention of the Generation Z Filipinos.
https://doi.org/10.32996/jbms
2. Ananthsai, N., M, H., V, N., & Lakshmi, Dr. N. C. R. (2023). A Study on the Influence of
Social Media on the Purchase of Skin Care Products. International Journal of Research
Publication and Reviews, 4(10), 1118–1124.
https://doi.org/10.55248/gengpi.4.1023.102619
3. Godey, B., Manthiou, A., Pederzoli, D., Rokka, J., Aiello, G., Donvito, R., & Singh, R.
(2016). Social media marketing efforts of luxury brands: Influence on brand equity and
consumer behavior. Journal of Business Research, 69(12), 5833–5841.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.181
4. Joshi, Y., Lim, W. M., Jagani, K., & Kumar, S. (2023). Social media influencer
marketing: foundations, trends, and ways forward. Electronic Commerce Research.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-023-09719-z
5. Kapitan, S., van Esch, P., Soma, V., & Kietzmann, J. (2022). Influencer Marketing and
Authenticity in Content Creation. Australasian Marketing Journal, 30(4), 342–351.
https://doi.org/10.1177/18393349211011171
6. Kim, D. Y., & Kim, H. Y. (2021). Trust me, trust me not: A nuanced view of influencer
marketing on social media. Journal of Business Research, 134, 223–232.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.05.024
7. Lies Ambarwati, M. F., Damaryanti, H., Prabowo, H., & Hamsal, M. (2019). The Impact
of a Digital Influencer to the Purchase Decision. In IPTEK Journal of Proceedings Series
(Issue 5).
8. Nurhandayani, A., Syarief, R., Syarief, R., & Najib, M. (2019). The Impact of Social
Media Influencer and Brand Images to Purchase Intention. Universitas Brawijaya
Journal of Applied Management (JAM), 17(4), 650–661.
https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.jam.2019.017.04.09
9. Vrontis, D., Makrides, A., Christofi, M., & Thrassou, A. (2021). Social media influencer
marketing: A systematic review, integrative framework and future research agenda.
International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45(4), 617–644.
https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12647
10. Yee, D., Thein, Y., May, M., & Cho, T. (2020). THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
INFLUENCERS ON PURCHASE INTENTION IN COSMETICS PRODUCTS (A CASE
STUDY OF FEMALE CONSUMERS IN YANGON).

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Appendix
Questionnaire:

Name*

Your answer

Age*
18-25
26-44
45-59
60 and above

Gender*
Male
Female

How often do you follow social media influencers in the cosmetic industry?*
Rarely or Never
Occasionally
Frequently
Always

Do you often purchase cosmetic products based on the content from social media
influencers?*
Yes
No

Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5 the importance of Tutorial Videos by influencers *

Not Important
1
2
3
4
5
Very Important

Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5 the importance of Before-and-after photos by influencers *

15
 Not Important
1
2
3
4
5
Very Important

Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5 the importance of Personal stories/experiences by

influencers *

Not Important
1
2
3
4
5
Very Important

How frequently do you use Instagram to discover cosmetic Products*

Rarely
1
2
3
4
5
Frequently

How frequently do you use YouTube to discover cosmetic Products?*

Rarely
1
2
3
4
5
Frequently

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