Chinese female preference of cosmetic products information channels
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-04-2017-0042 |
| Published date | 03 April 2018 |
| Date | 03 April 2018 |
| Pages | 166-179 |
| Author | Yonghe Lu,Xiaohua Liu |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information in society,Information literacy,Library & information services |
Chinese female preference of
cosmetic products
information channels
Yonghe Lu and Xiaohua Liu
School of Information Management, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
Abstract
Purpose –Understanding the customers’habits of getting cosmetic products information is of great
importance to enhance the effectiveness of advertising and marketing strategy of cosmetics. In China, as
females are the major target customersof cosmetics, this paper aims to analyze the information behaviors of
obtaining cosmetics information of different women groups, including the preferences of information
channelsand the corresponding means of getting information.
Design/methodology/approach –This research is based on a questionnaire survey. A total of 419
effective questionnaires were collected from females who had bought cosmetics in China. Descriptive
statisticsand chi-square analysis were used to analyze the data.
Findings –Accordingto the result of the questionnairesurvey, women preferred to get information through
social platforms and physical stores. And the primary reason of the choice was that they believed the
informationfrom the channel they chose was reliable. Thesurvey also revealed that age, educational leveland
occupationwould significantly affect their preferences of informationchannels.
Originality/value –There was no previous research which analyzed Chinese women consumers’
information-seeking behaviors about cosmetic products information as well as the influence factors of the
behaviors.
Keywords China, Information seeking, Information behaviour, Information channel, Female,
Cosmetic product
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Women have always been the major group of purchasing and using cosmetics. A model
presented by Kotler and Keller (2011) shows thatthe buying decision process of a consumer
includes problem, identification, information search, evaluation of alternatives, buying
decision and after sales behavior.So, when facing the variety of cosmetics in the market, the
information about the cosmeticswhich women consciously seek for before the purchase will
help them make choices.However, if the enterprises want to attract more women customers,
they ought to understand not only what products they need but also how they get
information about the products,so that they can deliver more targeted advertising and put
forward better marketing strategy. So, this paper focuses on the preference of information
channels and means women choose when they get cosmeticsinformation and the differences
of preference between differentsubgroups.
The studies on consumers’information-seeking behaviors mostly focus on the
impact of information-seeking behaviors and other factors on purchase decision. For
instance, Schleenbecker and Hamm (2015) investigated the information needs and the
information behavior of the consumers before they make a purchase of Fairtrade Coffee.
The sequence of information search and the degree of cognitive were taken into
consideration. They found that the search behavior largely affected the purchase
GKMC
67,3
166
GlobalKnowledge, Memory and
Communication
Vol.67 No. 3, 2018
pp. 166-179
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2514-9342
DOI 10.1108/GKMC-04-2017-0042
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