Analysis of the determinants of customers` purchase intention in the beauty industry: effect of social media, case study Kawempe division.

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to analyze the determinants of customers` purchase intention in the beauty industry: effect of social media, case study of kawempe division. Specifically, the study analyzed: (i) to evaluate if the time spent on social media influences the purchasing decision of customers; (ii) to find out if customers are likely to buy any beauty product that is recommended by a friend on Facebook; (iii) to evaluate if YouTube advertising influences customers` purchase intentions. To operationalize these objectives, the researcher suggested using quantitative data rather than qualitative data so as to generate information about the specific objectives of the study. Quantitative data was collected using 100 questionnaires to gather information related to the research topic and it was gathered from Wandegeya, Makerere, Mulago and Nakulabye. For convenience, stratified sampling method was employed where each strata had a sample of 25 respondents. Descriptive statistics was provided for the univariate data analysis while cross tabulations were used for bivariate data analysis, a logistic regression model was used to study and examine the probability of an event occurrence which relies on binary dependent variables that take up only two values that is to say 0 (no) or 1 (yes). It was found out that the majority of the respondents are females (66%) who are seen dominating the beauty industry, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others were found to be the most frequently used social media platforms and respondents spend in between 6 hours to 8 hours averagely on them. The study further revealed that time spent on social media and YouTube advertising do not influence customers` purchase intention while respondents are willing to purchase a beauty product that is recommended by a friend on Facebook. It is recommended that beauty companies carry out market survey through use online questionnaires to know if the target market needs have been satisfied and do short advertisements of 30seconds to create awareness about the beauty products offered on the market. It is also recommended that future researchers to use unstructured interviews. The use of this element will allow flexibility and in-depth exploration of the topic and it may greatly contribute to the discussion of the topic and increase the understanding of the rational and subliminal motivations for making purchase intention.