Post on 09-Jul-2020
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1 will provide the background of this research including current global
beauty trends, narrowing down to beauty trends in Indonesia and South Korea.
Furthermore, it will give readers an insight regarding white beauty in Asian region,
why it is important to study this culture and research questions needed to understand
it.
1.1 Background
In today’s world, females and cosmetics are inseparable. Girls as young as
eight years old have started to understand the notion of beauty (Anuwong, 2013).
Taking care of one’s beauty and thus improving the physique of oneself is not seen
as a negative behavior, but rather a custom that every female practices. In the past,
cosmetics were believed to be a nuisance for noble women. Prostitution, immorality,
and materialism were words that used to relate to the cosmetics industry (Pallingston,
1998). Nonetheless, three centuries after its introduction, the global cosmetics
industry is now more than widely accepted, generating up to USD 382.3 billion
revenues in 2010 (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013).
Perception regarding cosmetics has always been evolving, changing along
beauty trends. While it was known to be a vanity purchase, after the 2009 global
recession, cosmetics are seen rather as investments (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013).
Globally, consumers spend on cosmetics with less guilt and thus encouraging
expansion of the cosmetics market. The ever-growing industry is now divided into
five main segments namely: skincare, hair care, color (make-up), fragrances and
toiletries (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013). This paper will focus on the skincare category
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within cosmetics industry which contributes up to 23% of the total global sales in
2010 (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013), making it one of the most prominent sectors in the
industry.
Even though cosmetics sales are growing in most parts of the world, cosmetics
trend differ with regions. Anti-aging products are the most favorite within beauty
care products in the Western world (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013), but in Asia, skin-
lightening is what the market looks for (Bird, Caldwell, & DeFanti, 2010). Hence,
there is a need to look deeper into consumers’ perception regarding skin-lightening
products to better market cosmetics in Asia.
This study on skin-lightening product purchase intention were done as a
journal adaptation from a past study titled Women’s Perceptions and Use of ‘Anti-
Aging’ Products by Amy Muise & Serge Desmarais (Muise & Desmarais, 2010).
1.1.1 Global Cosmetics Industry
The sales within global cosmetics industry are still dominated by major
developed countries such as United States, Japan, and France, mostly due to the high
discretionary income of women in those regions (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013). While
men’s role as cosmetics consumers is increasing, women are still the key consumers
in most parts of the global cosmetics market (Anuwong, 2013). Hence, when women
have more percentage of income to be spent on beauty products, sales of cosmetics
are expected to rise in proportion.
Despite positive trend in average global growth of around 4.4% (Lopaciuk &
Loboda, 2013), emerging markets promise even bigger growth for major cosmetics
brands. Brazil, India, Russia, and China, or better known as BRIC are now
attributing to 21% share in the global cosmetics industry, with promising growth up
to 25% share in 2015 (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013). Big cosmetics brands are looking
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into BRICs markets’ beauty trends to mark their existence in these rising markets.
BRICs markets, however, possess unique characteristics that are not similar with the
long-established cosmetics industry in the Western world. With the exception of
Russia, BRICs markets consist of countries that are predominantly non-white and
thus have different beauty standards than consumers in France or USA.
Source: (L'Oreal, 2014)
Figure 1-1: World Cosmetics Market
Another apparent shift in the cosmetics industry is the popularity of skincare.
During the 1990s, hair care was the second highest revenue driver (20.8%) in
personal care market. Nonetheless, the trend has changed and consumers are now
more willing to spend money on skincare, causing the segment to replace hair care’s
position in 2010 with 23% (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013). In 2013, L’Oreal Annual
Report shows that a 34.1% of total global sales attributed to skincare, with 32.8% of
sales coming from Asia-Pacific market; both percentages show the highest
contribution amongst other product types and geographic regions (L'Oreal, 2014).
Without skincare market, researches believed the cosmetics industry will struggle to
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prosper. In fact, in 2010 skincare segment was considered the most significant
market due to its success in developing markets hence the vast potential room for
growth (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013).
In developed market such as USA, baby-boomers and older generations are
dominating the skincare market, reasonably making anti-aging the most popular
skincare choice (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013). That is; however, not the case in BRIC
markets, especially those in Asia. Asian market has its own set of beauty standards
and demographics of cosmetics buyers. Hence, brands are competing to better
understand the Asian market as it is currently the main drive for growth within
skincare industry (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013)
1.1.2 Beauty Trends in Asia
“The definition of beauty in the Western world is linked to anti-aging. In Asia,
it’s all about being two shades lighter” the quote from Ashok Venkatraman of
Unilever India accurately describes beauty trends in Asian market (Bird, Caldwell, &
DeFanti, 2010, p. 28). First, there is a need to define whiteness in Asian countries.
Based from a study on cosmetics advertisements in Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea,
ideal skin colors in Sino Asian countries are soft ivory, classic ivory, and natural
ivory (Li, Min, Belk, Kimura, & Bahl, 2008). This spectrum of ivory is what Asian
women consider as white. In Indonesia, there is no clear definition of whiteness.
Originally, Indonesian skin is considered to be in the middle of light and dark,
varying from one island to another. Most commonly found is a tone called sawo
matang, and white skin according to Indonesians most probably refer to shades
lighter than sawo matang, often called kuning langsat (Rashid, 2007), which literally
translates to olive color but often related to ivory colors.
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Sources: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/yg46ZiDNIDM/UO7C2BTYbQI/AAAAAAAACq0/ejDXZBObiXE/s1600/whulandary-herman-foto-2.jpg
http://indonesiabrandforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/sariayu_wp_putihlangsat.jpg
Figure 1-2: Skin-tone Comparison in Indonesia
Women in Asia have constantly been on a hunt for the best skincare products
that give their skin more brightness and clarity. In Asia-Pacific region, whitening
products sales are valued up to US$13 billion, and is still growing at a positive rate
since the 1970s (Tan, 2012). Considering the large population in Asia, and its
growing middle class, it is no surprise that both prestigious and mass market brands
release skin-whitening products especially in Asia (Bird, Caldwell, & DeFanti, 2010).
Asian market started to surface when the 2009 global recession happened. Like
how it affected other industries, cosmetics, defined as something bought from
discretionary income were struggling with global sales. In Asia, though, especially
China, India, and Indonesia, sales were not highly disrupted by the recession, even
resulting in over 25% growth rate in 2010 (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013). Hence, Asia
provides a safety net for cosmetic brands to salvage themselves from stagnant growth
in developed Western markets, causing big brands to develop products that better suit
this market. Furthermore, in some Asian cultures such as China, skincare especially
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skin-whitening is originally seen as an investment, long before the recession
(Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013). This particular consumer behavior is highly beneficial
for big global brands as they can be assured the purchase does not come from
discretionary income like it was in the West but rather from consumers’ main
disposable income.
Anti-aging, maintaining its lead in the global cosmetics industry, is starting to
get its spotlight in Asian market. Various studies in Asia show that 50% of cosmetics
consumers feel its importance. Nevertheless, more than 80% of consumers surveyed
still feel that skin-lightening is the most important aspect in a skincare product
(Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013). Growth in the skin-lightening market is currently
boosted by Asian market, with Japan as the biggest consumer. The segment in Asia-
Pacific market is predicted to be growing at the rate of 13.3% (McDougall, 2013).
Furthermore, 2006 data shows that there were 226 skin-lightening products (only
those that specifically meant to lighten skin tone, not other cosmetics products with
lightening attributes) available in Asia, four times more than it was in 2002 (August,
2008). The increase is explained by demands for skin-lightening products in various
Asian countries, in Thailand, 58% of its women population use lightening cream.
Similar cases happen in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Hong Kong with 50%, 41%,
and 45% of usage rate respectively (August, 2008).
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Source: Synovate, from (August, 2008)
Figure 1-3: Use of Skin-lightening Products in Asian Countries
South Korea
While countries in Asia are distinct from one another, some countries bear
similarities due to the culture they share. South Korea is one of the three countries
sharing one similar culture which sociologist Reischauer calls Sino Asians
(Reischauer, 1974). The word Sino means Chinese and behaviors that relate to its
culture. Historically, the common use of Chinese alphabets gave these countries a
uniting root, then as letters were shared, so did the teaching of Confucianism that
became a uniting philosophy for China, Korea, and Japan.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Thailand Philippines Malaysia Hong Kong
Pe
rce
nta
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Countries
Use of Skin-lightening Products
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Source: (Anuwong, 2013)
Figure 1-4: Skincare Sales in Asia Pacific
As published by Euromonitor, skincare is the most popular category in Asia-
Pacific market. Sino Asian culture is one of the main reasons that drove Asia to
become the main growth driver for the skincare industry. Sino Asian women have
long-standing tradition in regards to skincare, the demographic puts less emphasis on
color make-up and relate beauty to having skin that is bright, transparent, white, and
full (Pan, 2012) hence the high consumption on skincare.
In Asia, anti-aging benefits from a skincare come in second due to the belief
that having white beauty trumps any other sort of beauty, in accordance to an old
Chinese proverb “one white can cover up a hundred uglinesses” (Bird, Caldwell, &
DeFanti, 2010). Sharing the same Sino root, the same belief is reflected in Korea, a
country that has centuries-old white beauty standard, proven by the existence of mi-
an-soo started in the Goryeo Dynasty (year 938-1392) (Li, Min, Belk, Kimura, &
Bahl, 2008). Mi-an-soo is a ritual of washing faces with peach water to achieve
brighter skin tone, and is encouraged to be practiced since a young age. Historically,
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Korean traditional folklore often related darker skin-tone with evil; hence, the
existing opinion, even in present time, that fair skin-tone is what Koreans have to
achieve (Li, Min, Belk, Kimura, & Bahl, 2008).
In South Korea, beauty could almost translate to sameness. In a society whose
women are expected to have pale skin, having darker skin-tone could lead to being
an outsider. According to an opinion article written by a foreign teacher in South
Korea, beauty in the mindset of young Korean girls is definite (Lee, 2013). Probably
due to its homogenous characteristic as a country, the pressure to follow the standard
of beauty is rather high in South Korea. High-school aged girls in South Korea
regard beauty as looking similar to the idealized features which include a small face,
big eyes, pale skin, and ssang-kkeo-phyool (the crease of fold in an eyelid). Due to
the strict standard of beauty, to judge the beauty of a person Koreans tend to use
some sort of a checklist, suitability does not matter as long as a person fulfills the
criteria aforementioned she will be considered beautiful.
Source: Euromonitor International
Figure 1-5: Sales of Beauty and Personal Care Products in Asia-Pacific
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Following this attitude, physical appearance becomes an important issue in
South Korea; making it the third leading country in terms on beauty products
consumptions in Asia with an estimate of US$ 9 billion in sales (Anuwong, 2013). It
is not uncommon for job applicants to include appearance improvement as a part of
the preparations they need to make before attending job interviews. Due to its favor
for beauty, South Korean women mostly use up to 18 different types of cosmetics
daily, with a focus on skincare (Hunt, 2011). Throughout different demographics,
South Koreans take serious care of their skin, which usually involves double skin
cleansing and a regular regimen of facials, weekly treatments and hydrating masks
(Kantor, 2014).
Therefore, it is no wonder that in 2012, this country became the 12th largest
cosmetics producer in the world. South Korea is also the biggest beauty trend
importer in the global market, spreading unique local trends such as the use of snail
mucus and sheet mask globally. South Korean cosmetics started gaining its fame
after the boom of BB (blemish balm) cream that gives the impression of smooth,
natural skin often with brightening benefits (Tang, 2013). When its cosmetics
became popular, so did Korea’s beauty standard which promotes natural, pore-less,
and bright skin look. Furthermore, Korean wave or the popularizing of Korean pop
culture across Asia further spreads white beauty perception in China and Southeast
Asian markets.
Indonesia
Indonesia’s beauty perception should be given extra attention because
Indonesia is one of the few countries which cosmetics sales were not disrupted by the
2008 global recession (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013). It may not be the largest
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cosmetics market in Asia, but its growth rate for cosmetics products reached up to
almost 8% in 2012, much higher than the total global growth of below 2% (Anuwong,
2013). The country’s large population and growing consumer class also made
Indonesia one of the most promising countries for many industries (McKinsey
Global Institute, 2012), including cosmetics.
In Indonesia, a country known for its originally tanned skin tone, surprisingly
white beauty is also the goal that women thrive for. Up to 70% of Indonesians wish
to have white skin (Rashid, 2007), mainly due to the perception that whiteness
symbolizes beauty. According to Synovate, 65% of women, and 69% of men in
Indonesia prefer their opposite sex to have white skin (Rashid, 2007). Whiteness is
even becoming an unhealthy obsession for some, as proven by the case of an
Indonesian housemaid who pushed herself to steal just so she could purchase skin-
lightening creams (August, 2008).
Traditionally, pre-colonialism Indonesia’s Javanese literatures recognize both
dark and light skin colors as beautiful. Nonetheless, after being colonized by the
Dutch for 350 years, white beauty became more widely accepted in Indonesia.
During this era, whiteness always symbolized power (Rashid, 2007). The ladies of
the Dutch, as the ruling class, are comparatively whiter than the natives. While native
Indonesian skin was often seen as exotic, Indonesians have been long dictated that
white equals power.
White beauty in tropical countries like Indonesia is not only due to white
(Caucasian) adoration, but as well social status. Shifting to more recent eras, the rise
of local cosmetics brands during 1970s became another factor that pushes popularity
of white beauty in Indonesia. Local companies such as Martha Tilaar and Sariayu
both promote beauty like Keraton (Javanese-style palace) princesses as the beauty
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standards of Indonesian women (Rashid, 2007). Princesses, in this case, are
perceived as women who do not work hard labor and stay inside the palace hence
they have paler skin tone than the average native Indonesian (in this context,
Javanese) women. In promoting white beauty, Sariayu even went as far as changing
the term kuning langsat to putih langsat as a part of its product series to put further
emphasis on the word putih (meaning: white).
Source: www. vemale.com
Figure 1-6: Whitening Products in Indonesia
From the pop culture perspective, teenage magazines also played its role in
shaping whiteness as beauty standard in Indonesia. These magazines often talk about
Hollywood styles, providing young girls with cosmetics alternatives, ranging from
make-up, hair dye, to colored contact lenses that will make them look more Western
(Handajani, 2006). From early 2000s, Asian pop culture including the rise to fame of
Taiwanese and Korean dramas which feature pale-skinned actresses also contributed
to further strengthening the perception of white beauty in Indonesia (Handajani,
2006). Skincare brands have even started selling products that are promised to make
one Korean-style beautiful due to the perception of Korean skin-tone as beauty ideal
(Kartika, 2013). Ponds with its White Beauty line, for example, advertises a young
Indonesian singer, Gita Gutawa, with fair white skin and rosy cheeks, admired by the
Koreans for her pretty face.
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1.2 Rationale
Indonesia is a big market in Asia with a growing consumer class, making it the
16th biggest economy in the world (McKinsey Global Institute, 2012). In this
promising market, mass media are promoting white beauty as the standard of beauty
(Handajani, 2006). Likewise, in South Korea one is more likely to find ivory-skinned
models representing beauty products (Li, Min, Belk, Kimura, & Bahl, 2008).
White beauty seems to be an interesting cultural phenomenon and hence
provides skin-lightening a unique position in the Asian market. Brands should look
further into this market because Asian market makes up to US$ 18 billion in
cosmetics sales (Pan, 2012), and 80% of this growing market considers skin-
lightening attributes within a skincare product to be the most important (Lopaciuk &
Loboda, 2013).
This paper does not discuss the moral values of skin-lightening nor does it
provide judgments regarding white obsession. Knowing the buying behavior of these
female consumers is not meant to fix nor change their morals but, as businesspeople,
to serve their needs better and thus provide possible growth for the cosmetics
industry. The novel point of this study is for companies to understand that Indonesian
market may differ from the more popular and more discussed Sino Asian markets
(South Korea, Japan, and culturally-Chinese countries).
1.3 Research Problem
While whiteness is clearly the beauty standard for South Korean and
Indonesian women, past studies have only analyzed women’s desire for lighter skin-
tone from psychological or anthropological perspectives, and some even focused on
correcting this white beauty phenomenon in Asia. These women were only seen as
victims of white supremacy, when in fact they are potential consumers who influence
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the growth of cosmetics industry in Asia as more and more women are considering
cosmetics as important purchases (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013). Hence, it is necessary
to understand women’s purchase intention of cosmetics products.
The objective of this research is to study different variables and their impact on
consumer behavior of Indonesian and South Korean women in regards to skin-
lightening purchase intention, more details will be explained in Chapter 3.3
(Research Objective). It is hoped to provide a comparison between the two
nationalities. Variables that were be studied are: self-esteem, importance of
appearance, skin-tone anxiety, and sociocultural pressures; adapted from (Muise &
Desmarais, 2010) block two independent variables. Country-of-Origin effects was
added, based on a study by (Pan, 2012).
1.4 Research Questions
[RQ1]: Do the independent variables studied (self-esteem, importance of
appearance, skin-tone anxiety, sociocultural pressures, and country-of-brand effect)
have any impact on skin-lightening product purchase intention?
[RQ2]: Is there any significant difference between results of study on
Indonesians and of South Koreans?
1.5 Aims and Benefits
The aim of this paper is to better understand cosmetics industry in Indonesia
and South Korea by looking at several factors including self-esteem, importance of
appearance, skin-tone anxiety, sociocultural pressures, brand’s COO and their impact
on skin-lightening product purchase intention. This study is going to provide
stakeholders within the cosmetics industry with better insight regarding women’s
purchase behavior of skin-lightening products.
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Knowing Indonesian women’s perception regarding skin-lightening cosmetics
will be beneficial for global brands. Indonesia currently has 8% yearly growth in
cosmetics industry (Anuwong, 2013); in addition, Indonesia is home to 45 million of
middle class population (McKinsey Global Institute, 2012), making it a favorable
target for big global brands. Global brands are currently developing products to
better suit Asian market; however, most studies provide data only from Sino Asia
(those with originally pale skin such as Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South
Korea) while Indonesia has different cultural backgrounds attributing to desire for
whiteness compared to those countries. Hence, this paper hopes to provide
understanding for any stakeholder that tries to tap into an emerging market that is
Indonesia.
The choice to include South Korea is to highlight the similarities and
differences that Indonesian women consider when using skin-lightening products.
For global brands, this could help in designing specific regional marketing strategies
by understanding that Asia is a varied market. Indonesian women are culturally
different from the more known Sino Asian women characteristics, hence factors that
drive them into using skin-lightening products may differ; global cosmetics brands
need to understand these to better provide customized marketing strategies.
Furthermore, local brands could as well benefit from this study to reinvent
their identity as cosmetics brands. Western or Sino Asian brands may have the
country-of-origin advantages that make their skin-lightening products more
trustworthy, but knowing the behavior of cosmetics consumers in their own
homeland could help Indonesian brands to recreate the beauty image they are
offering to Indonesian consumers and compete with East Asian brands. Local brands
could also utilize this study to better understand South Korean, which is currently the
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third top consumer of cosmetics in Asia-Pacific and thus venture into international
market.
1.6 Scope
This research specifically focuses on females, currently still the main buyers of
cosmetics products. Men grooming is growing but this habit is not yet widely
accepted especially in Asia; hence, for the purpose of research ease, this paper will
focus on women.
The term “Indonesian” and “South Korean” refer to nationality. This paper
studies Indonesian and South Korean women with limitation on age. Researcher
decided to study only young women, targeting university to early employment age.
Limitations of this research are chosen in order for sample to better represent
the population of said demographic since cosmetics market’s consumer segment is
wide and varied; furthermore, it is based on the consideration young women are part
of the future workforce and some Asian cultures believe that skin clarity is important
in job application processes.
The title of this research indicates that it focuses on the behavior of female
consumers in urban areas, which according to Merriam-Webster dictionary is defined
as “of or relating to cities and the people who live in them”. The choice to include
only city population is based on past studies that show cosmetics consumption are
highly concentrated in cities (Lopaciuk & Loboda, 2013).
Skin-lightening refers to any skincare product that has skin-lightening
properties claim, not limited to specifically skin-lightening cream but also includes
face mask, body lotion, night cream, cleansing foam and other types of skincare that
promise lightening results. The term “lightening” commonly means to make whiter,
used interchangeably with words such as bright or fair, but all referring to lighter
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skin-tone. Skin-lightening products come in various shapes and prices; hence,
researcher considered respondents’ expenditure on beauty products as an indicator of
type or price range studied in this research.
Figure 1-7: Explanation for "Skin-lightening" Term
Indonesia is chosen because it is a unique market with varying cultures. South
Korea is expected to represent Sino Asian countries that mostly have homogenous
race, and is chosen as comparative study. For many Asian women, Sino Asian
women are already seen as the ideals of white beauty; however, they too put efforts
to lighten their skin. Hence, it is important to see factors that made these so-called
ideals thrive to be a shade paler.
1.7 Structure
Chapter 1 (Introduction) talks about the background of this research including:
current global beauty trends, narrowing down to beauty trends in Indonesia and
South Korea. Furthermore, Chapter 1 gives readers an insight regarding white beauty
in Asian region, why it is important to study this culture and research questions
needed to understand it.
Chapter 2 (Theoretical Foundation) reviews theories and past studies that are
supporting this current study. In Chapter 2, readers are hoped to understand each
variable studied in this research.
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Chapter 3 (Methodology) lays out plans for research methodology used to
answer research questions provided in Chapter 1. Since this study is a journal
adaptation, readers will also find journal adaptation table in Chapter 3.
Chapter 4 (Findings and Analysis) analyzes findings using methodology
explained in Chapter 3. The analyses are hoped to be able to answer research
questions proposed in Chapter 1 and thus provide a conclusion about the study in
Chapter 5.
Chapter 5 (Conclusion and Recommendation) summarizes answers of
research questions will be provided to fulfill research objectives. Based on this
current research, recommendations will be given for further researches.