Inclusive Marketing in Cosmetics: An Examination of the Effects of Diverse Representation on Brand Authenticity Perceptions and Long-Term Brand Relationships in the Makeup Sector
(2025) BUSN39 20251Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- The primary objective of this study is to explore the perceptions of three inclusive marketing strategies—racial representation, AI-driven personalization, and unfiltered beauty—on consumer perceptions of brand authenticity and their connections to long-term brand loyalty in the makeup sector. The study aims to gain insight into how the combined application of these strategies shapes the perceived authenticity of a brand and influences emotional consumer-brand relationships. This research was conducted using a qualitative methodology. Data were collected through nine semi-structured interviews with female consumers aged between 24 and 33, who were purposely sampled for their diverse ethnic and national backgrounds. The analysis was guided... (More)
- The primary objective of this study is to explore the perceptions of three inclusive marketing strategies—racial representation, AI-driven personalization, and unfiltered beauty—on consumer perceptions of brand authenticity and their connections to long-term brand loyalty in the makeup sector. The study aims to gain insight into how the combined application of these strategies shapes the perceived authenticity of a brand and influences emotional consumer-brand relationships. This research was conducted using a qualitative methodology. Data were collected through nine semi-structured interviews with female consumers aged between 24 and 33, who were purposely sampled for their diverse ethnic and national backgrounds. The analysis was guided by a simplified version of the Brand Authenticity Framework developed by Fritz et al. (2017), focusing on only four dimensions, such as consistency, congruency, individuality, and continuity. The findings suggest that each strategy independently was not perceived as strongly contributing to authenticity and loyalty. Their combined use was described by participants as insufficient to fully convey brand authenticity, since it did not support perceptions of brand individuality in the competitive market nor brand consistency with certain makeup brands’ original identity and messaging. Additionally, the absence of an overall enhancement of authenticity perception was not associated with stronger perceptions of brand-relationship quality among customers, therefore resulting in limited brand loyalty, as the effectiveness of such strategies appeared to depend on their alignment with the brand’s identity and the expectations of its target audience. This study contributes to the academic discourse on relational marketing and brand authenticity and offers practical guidance for beauty marketers aiming to connect meaningfully with diverse consumer groups while avoiding perceptions of performative inclusivity. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9210937
- author
- Bolioni, Sofia LU and Meda, Marzia LU
- supervisor
-
- Burak Tunca LU
- organization
- course
- BUSN39 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Makeup Brands, Brand Authenticity, Brand Loyalty, Racial Representation, Personalization, Unfiltered Beauty, Inclusive Marketing.
- language
- English
- id
- 9210937
- date added to LUP
- 2025-09-17 10:18:30
- date last changed
- 2025-09-17 10:18:30
@misc{9210937,
abstract = {{The primary objective of this study is to explore the perceptions of three inclusive marketing strategies—racial representation, AI-driven personalization, and unfiltered beauty—on consumer perceptions of brand authenticity and their connections to long-term brand loyalty in the makeup sector. The study aims to gain insight into how the combined application of these strategies shapes the perceived authenticity of a brand and influences emotional consumer-brand relationships. This research was conducted using a qualitative methodology. Data were collected through nine semi-structured interviews with female consumers aged between 24 and 33, who were purposely sampled for their diverse ethnic and national backgrounds. The analysis was guided by a simplified version of the Brand Authenticity Framework developed by Fritz et al. (2017), focusing on only four dimensions, such as consistency, congruency, individuality, and continuity. The findings suggest that each strategy independently was not perceived as strongly contributing to authenticity and loyalty. Their combined use was described by participants as insufficient to fully convey brand authenticity, since it did not support perceptions of brand individuality in the competitive market nor brand consistency with certain makeup brands’ original identity and messaging. Additionally, the absence of an overall enhancement of authenticity perception was not associated with stronger perceptions of brand-relationship quality among customers, therefore resulting in limited brand loyalty, as the effectiveness of such strategies appeared to depend on their alignment with the brand’s identity and the expectations of its target audience. This study contributes to the academic discourse on relational marketing and brand authenticity and offers practical guidance for beauty marketers aiming to connect meaningfully with diverse consumer groups while avoiding perceptions of performative inclusivity.}},
author = {{Bolioni, Sofia and Meda, Marzia}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Inclusive Marketing in Cosmetics: An Examination of the Effects of Diverse Representation on Brand Authenticity Perceptions and Long-Term Brand Relationships in the Makeup Sector}},
year = {{2025}},
}