Intergenerational effect on the brand preference of cosmetics in teenagers

Abstract

Our research is to investigate the degree of intergenerational effect on teenagers aged 13 to 16 years olds’ brand preferences of cosmetics products in Singapore. We explore this by first testing for the different factors that would lead to high or low intergenerational effect (knowledge of cosmetics, existing relationship with mother, existing relationship with sister). After establishing the presence of the intergenerational effect, we measured it against similarity of brand preference between mother and daughter to test for a correlation between these two elements. We did take into account two moderating factors (price and peers) that are factors likely to influence purchasing intention of buying cosmetics. Our purpose of this research is to provide relevant insights to marketers regarding how important and influential the role of mothers are in helping teenagers today shape their perceptions and preferences towards a certain cosmetic brand thus, highlighting if the marketing mix of cosmetic brands today should be directed not only towards teenagers but also to their mothers.

We carried out surveys at secondary schools around Singapore for our research. The findings are that relationship with one’s mother is the most significant factor (p<0.05) influencing the intergenerational effect followed by knowledge and relationship with elder sister. This is further explained by how the intergenerational effect which is a significant mediating factor (p<0.05) in affecting the similarity in brand preference between mother and daughter.

In relation to our results, we suggest that cosmetic brands such as Dior and Lancome whose target customer are usually mature women can consider coming out with another line for the young adults as our results have shown that a strong relationship with one’s mother leads to high intergenerational effect which further leads to similar brand preference with one’s mother.