User-generated beauty videos on YouTube : the effects on brand attitude and purchase decisions
Authors
Kostera, Magdalena
Issue Date
2016
Degree
MA of Business Administration
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
The user-generated content (UGC) constitutes the main component of the digital world. UGC is known to be an independent source of product- and brand-related information. One of the biggest sources of the UGC is the YouTube platform. In the past years YouTube has evolved into smaller ecosystems, the beauty ecosystem is one of them. A report published by Pixability (2015), revealed that YouTube has been revolutionizing the beauty industry. On YouTube beauty products and brands are exposed in many types of videos, they are demonstrated, reviewed, recommended or criticized. The changing landscape in the beauty industry is a great challenge for the beauty brands and marketers. Thus, it is important to face the phenomena of the beauty world on YouTube, and provide important implications for the future-oriented marketers who are looking for alternative ways to strengthen their brands, often using limited financial resources. The hereby research investigates the effect of the user-generated beauty videos on the audience/consumers with a special attention to the brand awareness and purchase decisions. In order to better understand these effects, a conceptual framework of the existing theories and concepts was developed. Through the quantitative research the study aimed to fulfil the gaps and provide implication for the marketers. An online-survey was distributed among the YouTube audience and delivered valuable data consisting of 1,196 completed questionnaires. The findings indicated that user-generated beauty videos have a significant impact on band attitude and purchase decisions of the audience. The paper presents these findings in details and provides valuable recommendations concerning the beauty marketing for the practitioners. Author keywords: User-generated ontent, UGC, YouTube, Beauty Videos, Brand Attitude, Purchase Decisions, Content Credibility