SHS Web of Conferences 165, 02022 (2023) https://doi.org/10.

1051/shsconf/202316502022
CIKE 2023

How beauty influencers on TikTok can affect the purchasing of

cosmetics
Qinglin Liu *
Bachlor of Business, Management, James Cook University, Qingdao, Shandong, 266100, China

Abstract. Businesses in the cosmetics industry have struggled to preserve their market share, growth, and
growing consumer preferences. According to Chatzigeorgious (2017), one strategy for these businesses to
enhance their product sales is using beauty influencers (— for example, beauty product influencers on social
media). This study thus aimed to examine the effect of TikTok beauty influencers on cosmetics sales. The
report will demonstrate consumers' attitudes as well as behaviors towards beauty influencers'
recommendations for cosmetics. The research employed quantitative research strategy survey methods. The
research respondent entailed 100 individuals selected through the convenience sampling technique. It is also
presented in the form of tables. The research findings showed that beauty influencers play a significant role
in influencing customer purchasing decisions.

1 Introduction
In recent years, the "net popularity economy" has
gradually emerged, generating great social and economic
benefits, and many companies have changed their
marketing methods from hiring celebrities to advertise to
KOLs. Companies in the cosmetics industry have
struggled to preserve their market share, growth, and
growing consumer preferences (Widyanto and
Agusti,2020) [1]. According to Chatzigeorgious (2017)
[2], one strategy businesses may use to enhance their
product sales is beauty influencers ( — for example,
beauty product influencers on social media). In the last
Figure 1. Independent Variables & Dependent Variable
few years, there has been an increase in social media
beauty influencers, which has led to the development of Objective 1: To ascertain the relationship between
different technologies to identify the most relevant consumer attitudes toward beauty influencers and the
influencers who can enhance certain brands. TikTok is decision-making process. The first goal demonstrates
one of the social media platforms utilised to market how attitudes influence followers throughout their entire
cosmetic brands. The choice and purchase of products decision-making process. Positive or negative feelings
through the internet is based on trust, and once trust is about beauty influencers, in particular, can pique
established, economic activity is created. Predicated on people's interests and lead them through several stages of
this, this research thus aims to address the question, the purchase.
"How do beauty influencers on TikTok affect cosmetic Objective 2: To assess the credibility of influencers
purchases?" in influencing customer purchasing behavior for
cosmetic products. As there is more hype in the beauty
1.1 Research Objective advertising industry, where products can cost customers
several years, their primary concerns are trust and
The following Figure 1 shows the variables relationships credibility. This article will investigate whether it is true
studied in this article. that influencers' reputations can influence the behavior
of their followers.
Objective 3: Determine the personal interaction
between beauty influencers and audiences regarding
their purchasing decisions. A good influencer's job is to
interact with their followers as well as use the concept of
*
Corresponding author: 1960561602@qq.com
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
SHS Web of Conferences 165, 02022 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202316502022
CIKE 2023

influence to guide people's decisions and express suggestions. According to others, this feature is most
themselves authentically. Many influencers attempt to important when influencers recommend a product or
attract audiences to their personal Tiktok pages, where service because the effect only becomes apparent after
activities and posted content are regularly mainstreamed. the customer makes a purchase and customers are blind
to any prior payments. Customers cannot physically
touch, feel, or connect with sellers and items in the
2 Literature Review online market environment. People consequently feel a
great deal of ambiguity, making trust a crucial
2.1 Source credibility theory component in making wise purchasing decisions.

Ohanian(1990)[3], hypothesized that source credibility is

an acceptable characteristic of propagandists, which 3 Implications
leads to the acceptance of information transmitted by the
Based on the results of previous studies, it can be
target audience. Attractiveness and credibility are a
determined that cosmetic consumers have positive
major dimension of this model. Attractiveness refers to
attitudes toward beauty influencers. Chen and Chang
the familiarity and popularity of information sources
(2021) [14] stated that individuals with positive attitudes
(endorsers), which affect the objectivity of consumers in
are more likely to purchase a product, which increases
purchasing decisions. Thus, it can be inferred that
the likelihood of liking the product. In addition, the
consumers have a certain favorable impression on
study found that beauty influencers gave credible
celebrities who are attractive to them, and this positive
information. According to Pramono and Pradana (2022)
attitude will be transmitted to their acceptance of
[15], credibility and attitudes toward beauty influencers
products (Park & Lin, 2020)[4]. On the other hand,
have a direct beneficial effect on followers' responses to
credibility is the consumer's perception of the
purchase the advertised product.
spokesperson's honesty, belief and integrity. Therefore,
Finally, according to the study, it was found that the
Chung and Cho(2017)[5] believe that the trust of
use of beauty influencers on TikTok influenced
celebrities highly affects consumers' attitude towards
consumers' purchase decisions. The results are also
brands and also affects their purchasing decisions.
consistent with the theoretical applicability of the
stimulus-organization-response model. According to this
2.2 influencers on social media: theory, consumers who open TikTok are stimulated by
online advertisements; the cosmetic information
Influencers are third parties who dramatically shape the promoted online is evaluated in the minds of the
purchasing intention of customers (Brown and Hayes, audience based on their level of understanding and
2008)[6]. On social media, influencers share their influences their decision-making behavior. Influencer-
opinion on products, services, and brands which can be endorsed products are preferred by consumers,
considered as leader points of view in their network and especially when they lack product knowledge and are
community (De Veirman, Cauberghe, & Hudders, 2017) less likely to purchase false or dangerous goods.
[7]. Recently, engaging influencers on social media is Influencers are crucial in influencing organizational
one of the most effective ways to promote products and purchase decisions because of this.
services as 94% of marketers found that campaigns using
influencers are profitable (Ahmad et al, 2018) [8].
4 Outline Further Research Required
2.3 TikTok platform:
4.1 Overall Research Design
TikTok has become one of the most popular social
media worldwide with more than 800 million users
globally and 400 million users in China (Kemp, 2020) 4.1.1 Methodology
[9]. TikTok stands out with dynamism for influencer
This study set out to investigate how social media
marketing as influencers make content mostly for young
influencers affect how consumers make decisions.
people in different categories: fashion, cuisine, travel,
Qualitative research is required to gain an in-depth
makeup, review, etc. (Haenlein et al, 2020) [10]. The
exploration of the study's subject in order to accomplish
attitude of TikTok users as well as potential customers is
this purpose. This method of research allows the
positive (Dirir, 2022)[11]. Regarding credibility, users
researcher to study things in a natural setting without
think TikTok is not only the place to gain entertainment,
intervening with any variables and can more naturally
and fun but also for information seeking and
and accurately explain the meaning and phenomena
socialization (Yang & Ha, 2021)[12].
brought about by the research process. This strategy is
suitable and appropriate for this report since it will
2.4 Trustworthiness enable the researcher to examine the topic's specifics
from the respondents' points of view and result in a
According to Willemsen, Neijens, Bronner, and Ridder thorough comprehension of the issue. Also, this report
(2011) [13], trust is the degree of assurance that will combine quantitative research strategies and survey
information providers are motivated to present useful research design. The study uses a survey research design

2
SHS Web of Conferences 165, 02022 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202316502022
CIKE 2023

because the research strategy effectively characterizes a inappropriate questions. Also, the researcher needs to
large population and visualizes the results of the sample. evaluate if participants are members of the study's target
Since many people use social media, the researchers sample demographic and whether they are appropriate
used convenience sampling. for the interview's subject. This was done to determine
the knowledge of potential participants about the topic
under study. The sample size, calculated based on a 95%
4.1.2 Type of Questions
confidence level and a 10% error rate. The participants
Each participant will be interviewed by the researcher selected for this study include 100 individuals with
with open-ended general structured questions. This type different occupational and educational backgrounds,
of interview is more convenient for participants to gender and age groups, they were considered relevant to
express their views on the topic freely and honestly. the topic of this study and met all the selection criteria so
Questions will be posed taking into account the theory that the researcher could obtain reliable data from them
discussed and the literature reviewed. for analysis. The sample selection method in this study
The first phase of interviews will be conducted in a used purposive sampling, is a non-probability sampling
relaxed atmosphere, featuring the researcher in which participants were selected after the researcher's
interviewing participants about their unique perceptions basic judgment of their suitability for this survey. The
of beauty products recommended by influencers on selection criteria were summarized according to
TikTok and their own consumption behavior in response elements such as the use of social media platforms and
to this marketing model. In order to properly online consumption as follows: (i) respondents who have
comprehend the impact of online marketing influencers social media accounts and/or read blogs/online content
on customers' buy intentions, the second stage involved (ii) respondents who use social media to communicate
investigating online purchase intention and its (iii) respondents who are aware of influencers (iv)
contributing elements. The interview questions in the respondents who have made at least one online purchase
third phase designed to investigate the influence of in their lifetime.
influencers on consumers' purchase intention. The final
phase will briefly discuss the types and personalities of 5 Conclusion
influencers that consumers are more convinced by,
including the style of videos recommended on social As a result of the findings and the subsequent discussion
media platforms. of the research, it is possible to draw the conclusion that
Also, this study combines interviews with a promotion of cosmetics on TikTok through beauty
questionnaire that will select a sample of 100 people, and influencer has a significant influence on the consumers
potential participants volunteer to provide data for the purchasing decision. And that consumers' attitudes
study, where data collection is done through an online towards this behavior remain mostly positive and will
questionnaire. pay for it. This implies that advertisements for
cosmetic products posted on TikTok are increasingly
4.1.3 Data Collection Techniques being improved by paying attention to the following
dimensions: content, credibility, and creativity of the
Considering that the goal of this study is to investigate beauty influencers.
how consumers' purchasing decisions are influenced by
marketing influences, this report will use semi-structured
interviews to collect primary data. This contributed to References
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