Factors Influencing Consumers’ Purchase Intention of Cosmetic Products in Malaysia
Teoh Khar Chin, Siti Haslina Md Harizan
Cosmetic industry is one of the fast growing industry in the world. This beauty business is booming with more and more new cosmetic companies entering the market, resulted into a highly competitive environment. It is therefore essential for the cosmetic companies to continuously develop their business activities in order to remain and attract new customers. In order to do so, cosmetic companies need to understand and satisfy their customers by creating values and meet their demands. The purpose of this research is to investigate the influence of celebrity endorsement, product packaging, brand image, price fairness, and perceived quality on intention to purchase cosmetic products. Data collection was done in a survey among working adults who are working in private sectors within the northern region of Malaysia. The results found that celebrity endorsement and price fairness significantly influenced purchase intention of cosmetic products. The findings might benefit cosmetics firms and marketers to better understand important factors underlying cosmetics purchase intention among Malaysian consumers in order to better compete in the global as well as the local market.
Investigating Consumers’ Perceived Social Representations of Arab Women in Media: Messages found in Glocal Magazines Advertisements
Eiman Medhat Negm
This study examined and documented the stereotypes associated with women in today’s advertisements found in Glocal magazines in the Egyptian context. Mixed research methods were conducted for this study. Five focus-groups and four-hundred questionnaires were analyzed in order to answer the research questions: does exposure to magazine advertisements impact perceived social representation of females? What are the stereotypes that exist today in association with women in magazine advertisements? The analysis revealed that the exposure of magazine advertisements impact consumers’ perceived social representations of Arab women. The study indicates that women in magazine advertisements are mainly portrayed as: home-makers (responsible for household chores), physically beautiful (sex-appeal and attractive), dependent on man, and self-reliant. These images of women conform to most stereotypical portrayals of women (as documented by previous researcher). This study highlights and implies the need for the advertising industry to adjust its communication practices to the changing role of women in society. The emerged insights of this study extend research in the area of female role stereotypes in print advertising by considering the frequency of female role portrayals.
Macroeconomic Variables, Financial Ratios and Property Stock Prices in Malaysia
Wong Kan Shin, Hassanudin Mohd Thas Thaker
This study aims to investigate the relationship that property stock price has with macroeconomic variables (GDP growth, exchange rate, and oil prices – model one) and financial ratios (debt ratio and return on equity – model two). Multiple regression analysis was carried out to test the data with KL property index (KLPR) and stock price of 30 property companies listed and active on Bursa Malaysia for the year 2010 to 2014. The results showed that model one variables are significantly related to property stock price. Gross domestic production (GDP) growth has a negative relationship, while exchange rate and oil prices are positively related to property stock price in Malaysia. For model two, debt ratio was not found to be related to or predict property stock price, while return on equity has a significantly positive predictor.