Social media plays an important role in the global cosmetics industry and has enabled a change in consumer behaviour from ‘private’ to ‘public’ consumption of certain products. Cosmetic consumption used to be considered a private activity, but since the adoption of social media, it has become more open and is shared in public more than ever before. Nonetheless, social media-led learning processes of consumers are insufficient as well as understanding into how social media has transformed cosmetic consumption. This qualitative research aims to evaluate the role of social media in the development of skills and competencies in cosmetics consumption in Thailand. A total of 53 Thai female Social Media Users (SMUs) were interviewed and categorised using Kozinets’s (1999) typology of online community members - Tourists, Minglers, Devotees and Insiders – whose consumption of cosmetics ranged from low to high, as did the intensity of their relationship with social media. SMUs’ development of skills and competencies in relation to cosmetic consumption was investigated through the lens of Bandura’s (1987) social cognitive theory, particularly in relation to self-efficacy and vicarious learning. The findings revealed a new typology of social media learners; Surface learners, Inexpressive learners, Private learners, and Sociable learners, thus extending Kozinets’s original typology. The new typology of social media learners offers a contribution to both knowledge and marketing practice. The typology of social media learners enriches scholarship as, it combines two underpinning concepts from different disciplines, Kozinets’s typology and Bandura’s social cognitive theory, to provide valuable insight into how social media adoptees acquire skills in a digitalised consumer environment. Scholars benefit from this research by deepening their understanding of SMUs’ social media-led learning processes. The discovery of a typology of social media learners allows marketing practitioners to plan marketing strategies by being able to highlight specific product characteristics and tailor communications more effectively based on the type of social media leaner. Beyond the remit of marketing, this new typology has further applications. The potential of the typology’s applications in future research is outlined, for example DIY and cooking, which social media has similarly transformed consumption from private to public.
Permanent link to this resource: https://doi.org/10.24384/jyjy-rj16
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Timsard, Somhatai
Supervisors: Clarke, Jackie; Quinton, Sarah
Department of MarketingOxford Brookes Business School
Year: 2022
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