THE ROLE OF SELF-CONGRUENCE, MARKETING MODELS, AND PRODUCT CONSPICUOUSNESS IN COLLEGE STUDENTS’ ONLINE COSMETICS SHOPPING

The online service of the cosmeceutical industry is booming in recent times, the business model is no longer traditional, but towards e-commerce to social commerce; thereby inducing existing customers to increase brand identification degree through a better marketing model and acceptance of the brand’s products. In this study, we focused on the online service of the cosmeceutical product platform to determine the self-conspicuousness, brand identification, product conspicuousness, and different marketing model that promotes online cosmetics shopping among college students. We propose a research model and used a 2*2 experimental design approach to investigate the factors impacting online purchase intention. The interference degree of different marketing models for two products from two different conspicuous brands indicates their influence on purchase intention. The study data were collected from 246 online users. The results indicate: (1) Self-congruence positively affects brand identification, and self-congruence and brand identification both positively affect purchase intention. (2) The marketing model moderates the relationship between self-congruence and brand identification and their effect on purchase intention. (3) Product conspicuousness does not significantly moderate the relationship between self-congruence and brand identification on purchase intention. The theoretical and practical implications of our study results are discussed, and suggestions are provided for future research.