BL -

Abstract
Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to investigate whether attitude, perceived behavioural control, past experience, social norms and value of money will influence the purchase intention of natural skincare products among Generation Y in Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach: This study adopted the Theory of Planned Behaviour of Ajzen to investigate the factors affecting Generation Y’s purchasing intention of natural skincare products. A self-administered questionnaire has been answered by 200 targeted respondents from three states in Malaysia which are Johor Bahru, Melaka and Selangor. Data obtained from the survey were then analysed using SPSS and Smart PLS.
Findings: The results indicate that attitude, past experience and value of money have a significant relationship towards the purchase intention of natural skincare products among Generation Y in Malaysia. However, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms showed no significant relationship towards the purchase intention of natural skincare products.
Research limitations/implications: In conclusion, this study may benefit the marketers of natural skincare industry in developing an effective marketing strategy to gain a better competitive edge from the competitors around the world in the Generation Y’s market.
Originality/value: To the author’s knowledge, this is the first methodological study which include the five independent variables to evaluate the purchasing intention of natural skincare products that conducted among Generation Y in Malaysia.
Keywords: Purchase Intention, Natural skincare, Attitude, Subjective norm, Generation Y
Introduction
The cosmetics industry has been changed to be more concerned about eco-products because of the rise of consumer response on the tendency for a healthier lifestyle and also make sure the demand for products becomes more natural (Dimitrova, Kaneva and Gallucci, 2009). The natural skincare is far from a new trend in which the ingredients have been used in topical creams and lotions for millennia across many cultures. Nowadays, there are many types of natural skincare ingredients which are shea butter, aloe vera, safflower oil, chamomile, witch hazel, and rosehip seed oil. In other words, natural substances for skincare also include natural minerals, such as mica, or animal-derived products, like beeswax. “Natural” ingredients are considered to be any mineral, plant or animal by-product. Since natural products or those that claim to be natural are not regulated by any regulatory body, the use of the word “natural” on
Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal
Vol. 12, No. 1 (2020)
62
a brand’s packaging is purely a marketing ploy. This means that products containing a small number of natural skincare ingredients can claim to be natural, although it has the addition of synthetic ingredients. As more people seek to stay away from chemicals, and finding that natural skin care products actually work better. Natural products costly to make, but their benefits outweigh the risks associated with eczema, cancer, and pollution. It has been used for centuries. Regarding the American journal of public health, the skin absorbs an average of 64 percent of the fluids it touches. So natural products are very important because the skin is the largest organ of the body. In the long run, using natural skincare products not only helps you and the environment but also reduce the amount of stimulation non-organic skincare products on your skin.
The cosmetics industry is rapidly developing in both advanced and developing countries. In Asia, the cosmetics market is appearing to be the fastest-growing market. The Asia-pacific region is already worth more than $70 billion and it is the second-largest market after Western European. Beauty and health markets are growing rapidly in Malaysia. In the past few years, consumer spending in cosmetics and toiletries consumption has increased by 40%, from a peak RM 1.4 billion (in 1995) to RM 1.9 billion (in 2007), in 2010 with expected sales to reach $1.1 billion. Referring to the data provided by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (2019), Malaysians spending about $407 million in toiletries and cosmetics and most of these products are import from foreign countries in order to meet the requirements of the consumers. The skincare product is the main force in the cosmetic market which valued at $229 million and this is followed by eye makeup which valued at $20.6 million (Hassali et al., 2015). In Malaysia, the number of skincare brands has increased. Consumers can buy skincare products from health care and beauty specialist retailers such as Watson’s, Guardian and so on. Malaysians are increasingly turning to skincare products that use healthier ingredients and natural ingredients. In Malaysia, competition for international skincare brands to establish local halal skincare brands is getting fiercer. In 2017, many skincare brands that produce domestically or regionally such as Syahirah, Simply Siti has appeared to strengthen the competition for multinationals which can lead to the rising of Muslim population demand for halal-certified skincare products. (Euromonitor, 2018). Regarding Euromonitor (2018), skincare brands are mostly stipulated in multi-channel retail that targeting the widest range of consumers in Malaysia. In 2011, the skincare product has dominance in the global market for organic skincare products. On the revenue side, the natural skincare market is prospective to raise at a 9.9% rate between 2012 and 2018. (Penning, 2013).
Generation Y or also known as Millennial Generation (Lyons, 2016). They usually refer to a generation born between the early 1980s and 1990s. Some broader definition includes children born in the early 2000s. Generation Y has a lot of different characteristics. They have a negative side and a positive side. In a negative way, they are perceived as narcissistic, lazy, and prone to job-hopping. In a positive way, they are generally described as more open-minded, confident, self-expressive, free, optimistic and open to new ideas of life (Main, 2017). The latest demographic estimate dates to July 1, 2016, and we defined 2016 as Generation Y having 71 million. The Generation Y population is expected to overtake the baby boomers by 2019, when their population will rise to 73 million and the baby boomer population will fall to 72 million (Fry, 2017). The research estimates that Generation Y currently makes up about one-third of the shoppers, but by 2022 they will cover nearly 47% of the total population of shoppers (Courtland Consulting, 2018). Generation Y is the most targeted population of many brands. With the improvement of Generation Y’s purchasing power and its continue in the consumption demand, it is necessary for the marketer to evaluate their purchasing power. They are a larger population and have equal or greater influence, especially given differences in wealth, education, and acceptance of ideas. Generation Y also have greater purchasing power and
Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal
Vol. 12, No. 1 (2020)
63
influence because of their population numbers. They are newly aware of their impact on society. They understand the responsibility for the environment, tolerance, and acceptance of others, and understand that a person can change the world (Gailewicz, 2014). They have followed major green attitudes and behaviour. In research, Generation Y purchases green products are increasing to 36 percent from 31 percent in 2009. See the growth of a category is a natural personal care market such as skincare, hair care and etc. In 2012, there are 39% of generation Y purchase this product and only 27% in 2009. Now more than a third of Generation Y said they would buy the green product. This trend is likely to accelerate significantly and have a significant impact on manufacturers as their life stages continue to shift towards the maximum consumption phase.
Hence, this study adopted the Theory of Planned Behaviour of Ajzen which are attitude, perceived behavioural control and subjective norm to study their influence on the purchase intention of natural skincare products among Generation Y. The two variables which are value of money and past experience are included in this study as past research studies have showed that these two variables provide better determination behavioural intentions (Kim & Chung, 2011; Chen et al., n.d.). Therefore, this study also would like to extend the investigation of these two factors with the purchase intention of natural skincare products among generation Y’s consumers.
Literature Review
Generation Y’s Purchase Intention
The young generation which is also referred to Generation Y or Millennials is born between 1982 and 2000. They love fashion, trends, and also shopping (Tran, 2008). Generation Y are some entered the workforce and some study in school or university, they have the education higher than the previous generation. This generation makes up 20% of the population and spends more than 200 billion US Dollars a year (Atwell, 2015; Schwabel, 2015). Generation Y has become an important target group not only because of their interest in fashion, but also because of their size, they also represent a group with great purchasing power (Parment, 2013). Compared to previous groups, Generation Y consumers have greater spending power (Noble, Haytko & Philips, 2009). Generation Y consumers are more materialistic and show higher levels of compulsive buying than the Baby Boomer generation born between 1943 and 1960 (Reisenwitz and Iyer, 2009). The researchers found that Generation Y was even proved to be the most environmentally conscious group (Vermillion and Peart, 2010). 33 % of generation Y is a trend toward healthy consumption that they think health attributes are important (Nielsen, 2015). Most of them are become positive about green products and might pay more for green products, brands, and services (Smith, 2010). Generation Y consumers play an important role in the purchase decisions of their peers and families so that it is important for marketers to attract and target Generation Y consumers. Peer relationships can lead to social-environmental pressures that make them subject to group norms, such as brand preferences (Lu, Bock, & Mathew, 2013). In the western world, social pressure from peers has been found to be a major factor that influences green purchasing behaviour among adults (Lee, 2010).
Theory of Planned Behaviour
In 1991, Ajzen has developed the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and its basic structure represents a popular cognitive theoretical framework. It explains and reveals the predictors of individual buying intentions and behaviour (Eleonora, 2017). Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is adopted as the framework of the theoretical for predicting behavioural intention, and tracking attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behaviour control are used as the basis for predicting behaviour (Ajzen, 1980). It is probably the most influential theory for predicting
Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal
Vol. 12, No. 1 (2020)
64
social and health conditions. Besides that, it has been successfully used in the ecological behaviour field. Ajzen (1985) revealed that in the Theory of Planned Behaviour model which have subjective norms, perceived behaviour control, and attitude influence intention that will affect actual behaviour.
Peripheral persuasion extracted from the refined likelihood model is added to the framework as part of the research on the ability to predict individual behaviour. In this study, these predictive factors are regarded as the driving force to motivate consumers to make purchase intentions. Understanding intentions, behaviour attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behaviour control, and peripheral persuasion (the image of store and salespeople role) can help discover different aspects of behaviour or better understand behaviour, and then help marketers design marketing programs that can persuade consumers to purchase products (Chan & Bishop, 2013). TPB which was used to predict green consumer behaviour has also been proven to be robust and is used to interpret the motivation to purchase in organic skincare products (Bamberg, Ajzen & Schmidt, 2003; Kalafatis et al., 1999).
The development of TPB is originally from the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) which designing to interpret any behaviour of human that has been certified successful in determining and interpreting human behaviour in different application contexts (Ajzen, 1980; Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1989; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). Regarding TRA, when a person performing some action, the actual behaviour is directly influenced by the person intends to act that is identified by the subjective norms and attitudes towards the behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). Behavioural intention is an estimate of the intensity a person is willing to try when performing some behaviours (Ajzen, 1991). Based on TRA’s efforts, TPB has been suggested to avoid the restrictions of the original model in dealing with behaviour where people do not have purposely complete control (Ajzen, 1991). The difference between TPB and TRA is that addition perceived behavioural control, which can have a direct impact on the intention of behavioural (Ajzen, 1991).
Attitude
Attitude toward behaviour defined as whether a personal evaluation is beneficial or detrimental to the implementation of the behaviour. In fact, an individual has the potential to pursue some behaviour if he or she has a positive attitude toward pursuing behaviour (Ajzen, 1985). It can be defined as an individual estimate about whether the product is under preferred that will manage the desired attribute or not. If a customer has a positive attitude toward a particular behaviour, he or she is more likely to buy, while a negative attitude eliminates a consumer’s precautionary tendency (Verbecke & Vackier, 2005). Attitudes help to define a person’s behaviour model and thus affect his or her choices (Testa et al., 2016). When consumers demonstrate a good attitude towards certain behaviour, their behavioural intention will increase accordingly (Ajzen, 1991). Previous research on sustainable consumption has confirmed a positive and important relationship between consumer attitudes and purchase intentions (Honkanen, Verplanken and Olsen, 2006; Paul, Modi and Patel, 2016; Teng & Wang, 2015; Vermeir & Verbeke, 2008). Brand attitude is a major component of measuring the value of a brand’s equity. Mitchell and Olson (1981) state this term as an individual’s evaluation of a brand. Consumers’ perception will influence individual attitudes towards a brand (Andrews and Shimp, 2017). An attitude can be built either in several ways which include classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning or through a complex cognitive process. The relationship between consumer’s attitudes and intentions is discordant that the willingness to buy natural products can be affected by factors such as prices (Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006). There is a strong relationship between attitudes toward skincare cosmetics and willingness to buy, which is consistent with the desire to improve appearance through skincare products (Kim
Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal
Vol. 12, No. 1 (2020)
65
& Chung, 2011; Sukato & Elsey, 2009). Consumer’s attitudes towards purchase natural skincare products have a positive impact on willingness to purchase natural skincare products (Kim & Chung, 2011).
H1: There is a significant relationship between attitude and purchase intention towards natural skincare products among Generation Y.
Subjective Norms
Subjective norm refers to a person to perform a behaviour that perceived social pressure. Consumers have more purchase intentions when they believe that significant other people consider natural skincare products is good. In the context of behaviours related to skin management, subjective norms have an important impact on the intention of behavioural (Hillhouse, Turrisi and Kastner, 2000). Subjective norms are normative beliefs that the expectations of other people (Ajzen, 1991). It can be defined as an individual’s motivation to follow personal expectations who are personally important, for instance, peers and superiors (Taylor & Todd, 1995; Venkatesh, Morris & Ackerman, 2000). If the consumer thinks a particular product is good, he or she is more likely to buy it (Kim & Chung, 2011). Normative pressure is more show to family and close friends, and appearances are considered desirable and admirable traits associated with friendship preferences (Ajzen, 2002). Although the subjective norm can be divided into informational and normative influence, the typical application of TPB holds that the subjective norm only includes the normative influence (Karahanna, Straub, & Chervany, 1999). This limitation may lead to an insignificant relationship between subjective normative factors and intention of behavioural (Mathieson, 1991; Taylor & Todd, 1995). In the context of mandatory use, the behavioural intention has a positive impact on subjective norms, but not significantly in the context of voluntary use (Venkatesh & Davis, 2000). In the context of behaviours related to skin management, subjective norms have an important impact on intention of behavioural (Hillhouse et al., 2000). The research conducted by Kim and Chung (2011), Souiden & Diagne (2009) and Sukato and Elsey (2009) stated that taking skincare as an example, they support the positive correlation between subjective normative concept and behavioural intention when purchasing skincare products. In the study of green consumer behaviour, there is a strong relationship between subjective norms and intentions (Bamberg, 2003; Kalafatis et al., 1999). Consumer’s subjective norms can have a positive impact on their willingness to purchase natural skincare products (Kim & Chung, 2011).
H2: There is a significant relationship between subjective norms and purchase intention towards natural skincare products among Generation Y.
Perceived Behavioural Control
Perceived behavioural control defined as the level of control in which an individual realizes over the execution of the behaviour (Chen, 2007). Ajzen (2002) described that the perceived behavioural control is the perception of people that difficulty or ease to perform interesting behaviour. It has to do with the presence of controlling factors that may facilitate or prevent behaviour (Ajzen, 2002). Ajzen (1991) stated that perceived behavioural control is it reveals the perception of whether the behaviour is controllable. The control belief of resources and opportunities is related to the potential perceived behaviour control, which can be formed as the control belief is weighted by the perception ability of the control factors. Control factors can be divided into external and internal constraints. The external control is related to the environment, and internal control is related to awareness or self-efficacy (Ajzen, 1991). For
Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal
Vol. 12, No. 1 (2020)
66
those who perceive a higher level of personal control, they tend to have a stronger intention of behavioural to be occupied in some behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). Product availability can be considered one of the most significant aspects related to perceived behavioural control (Vermeier & Verbeke, 2008). When a person senses that she or he can control behaviour, for example, she or he will be more likely to pursue that behaviour if the product is widely available (Ajzen, 1991). When a person’s intention of behavioural increases because they believe that they have many resources which are money, skills, and time so that they have higher control perceptions. Hence, when consumers perceived have more control over purchase natural skincare products, they are more willing to purchase these products (Kim & Chung, 2011). Consumer’s perceived behaviour control to purchase natural skincare products has a positive impact on their willingness to buy these products (Kim & Chung, 2011). Chen (2007) claimed that the numerous research that suggests that a person may have a favourable impression of some behaviour but when he or she senses a difficulty, he or she may have no intention of completing the action.
H3: There is a significant relationship between perceived behavioural control and purchase intention towards natural skincare products among Generation Y.
Value of Money
Value of money is considered a trade-off between receivables and customer sacrifice which is the price (Kashyap & Bojanic, 2000). Through the value of money, consumers will evaluate the perceptions that what have they received and given (Ryu et al., 2008). Means-end models have expressed the concept of the customer that has the difficulty remembering the particular price that he or she paid for a certain product or service. Besides that, value of money is defined as a limitation to the cost of money (Kashyap & Bojanic, 2000; Murphy, Pritchard, & Smith 2000). Mentioning an encode price by a company has become significant for them to determine the prices that the customers have given and receive their pay (Dickson & Sawyer, 1986; Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman, 1988). Furthermore, value of money for a product is the price that consumers pay relative to the quality of the product that they purchase (Grewal et al., 1998; Lichtenstein, Ridgway and Netemeyer, 1993). Kim & Chung (2011) stated in their research that when people choosing a product, most people think that price is the priority. From this research, they simply show that the price of the product is considered to be one of the main influencing factors the consumer’s purchase intention. Some consumers are concerned about whether the product is worth paying the price. If they think the price is reasonable, or the product is good to worth buying, it will increase their willingness to buy the same product next time.
H4: There is a significant relationship between value of money and purchase intention towards natural skincare products among Generation Y.
Past Experience
Based on the hypothesis that consumer’s behaviours result from other research studies, many researchers have disputed that consideration of previous consumer’s behaviours can provide a better determination of behavioural intentions (Bagozzi et al., 2000; Bentler & Speckart, 1979; Conner & Armitage, 1998). Ajzen (1991) expressed that “past experience can be used to determine the amplitude of any model”. This means that past behaviour provides control over some missing variables, so the incentive to use past experiences as consumer-oriented variables is primarily methodological (Bagozzi et al., 2000). Consumer knowledge consists of two parts, expertise and familiarity (Alba & Hutchinson, 1987). Familiarity is the amount of product-
Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal
Vol. 12, No. 1 (2020)
67
related experience cumulative by consumers, while professional skills are the ability to successfully carry out product-related tasks. Grime, Diamantopoulos and Smith (2002) have stated that the higher the consumer’s knowledge level, the greater the influence of fitness on consumer’s evaluation of brand extension. It is expected that an individual’s past green purchasing behaviour is led by his or her values. This may increase the consumer’s future intention to purchase other green products. Besides that, it is assumed that the consumers have more experiences with other organic products are more likely to purchase organic skincare product. Research on green purchasing behaviour, the consumer’s experience on natural products in the past might be essential to form a product-specific awareness that leads to future purchase intentions. By contrast, consumers who buy or use natural products are affected by their past experiences. Consumer’s past experience in purchase other natural products has a positive impact on their willingness to purchase natural skincare products (Kim & Chung, 2011).
H5: There is a significant relationship between past experience and purchase intention towards natural skincare products among Generation Y.
Method
In this study, data were collected through a purposive sampling method. The minimum required sample size calculated based on G* power 3 is 74 respondents. However, Delice (2010) has mentioned that the larger sample sizes can give effect to higher accuracy. A set of self-administered questionnaires was distributed to 200 targeted respondents which covered Johor Bahru, Melaka and Selangor. This study only focused on three states which were the middle and the northern region of Malaysia as these three states covered about 34.4% of the total population of Malaysia (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2019). The set of questionnaires consisted of three main sections which are demographic variables, the measurement of independent and dependent variables. The five independent variables include in this study are attitude, perceived behavioural control, subjective norms, value of money and past experience. The dependent variable of this study is the purchase intention. The measurement items of the variables were based on subjective judgments of respondents by using a five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). All measurement items of the independent and dependent variables are adapted from Kim and Chung (2011) to ensure content validity. The collected data were keyed into SPSS version 25 and followed by using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM 3.2.7) to assess the hypothesis.
Findings In this study, there are six questions in the demographic section such as gender, age, monthly income level, education level, and how often purchase skincare products in a year. There were 88 or 44% male respondents and 112 or 56% of female respondents who participated in the survey. The questionnaire categories age into four main categories. The age of 18 to 22 has 91 respondents or 45.5%. Followed by the respondents aged between 23 to 27, it accounts for about 72 respondents or 36%. Next, the age of 28-32 years old is 12%, which is 24 respondents. Lastly, the respondents aged 33-36 accounted for 13 respondents or 6.5%. This study has categorized monthly income levels into five main categories. The monthly income level of respondents below RM1, 000 was 42.5% or 85 respondents. Next, the monthly income level of RM1, 000-RM1, 999 was 12% or 24 respondents. In addition, the monthly income levels of RM2, 000-RM2, 999 and RM3, 000 – RM3, 999 comprised 17% or 34 respondents. Finally, the monthly income level RM4, 000 and above is 11.5% or 23 respondents. 200 respondents that participated in this study come from a different education background. Among those who
Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal
Vol. 12, No. 1 (2020)
68
have a secondary school education level is 20.5% (41 respondents). Followed by the respondents who are the diploma which has 27% or 54 respondents. The education level of the degree has 96 respondents or 48%. Then, there are 5 respondents or 2.5% are postgraduate. Lastly, the other education level has come from the foundation which is 4 respondents or 2 %. There are two main categories of the times of the respondents purchase skincare products within one year which are three times per year and five times and above per year. There are 46 respondents or 23% make their option for these two categories respectively. Next, there are 41 respondents or 20.5% of respondents purchase two times per year. The rest of the 39 respondents or 19.5% of respondents purchase four times per year. Lastly, there are 28 respondents or 14% of respondents purchase one time per year. The summary of the respondents’ profile is presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Summary of respondents’ profile Demographic Profile Frequency Percentage (%)
Gender
Male
88
44
Female
112
56
Age
18 – 22
91
45.5
23 – 27
72
36.0
28 – 32
24
12.0
33 – 36
13
6.5
Monthly Income Level
Below RM1000
85
42.5
RM1000 – RM1999
24
12.0
RM2000 – RM2999
34
17.0
RM3000 – RM3999
34
17.0
RM4000 and above
23
11.5
Education Level
SPM
41
20.5
Diploma
54
27.0
Degree
96
48.0
Postgraduate
5
2.5
Others
4
2.0
Number of purchase skincare products in a year
One time per year
28
14
Two times per year
41
20.5
Three times per year
46
23.0
Four times per year
39
19.5
Five times and above per year
46
23.0
Table 2 shows the convergent validity measures result of all the question items. The reliability tests and construct validity had to achieve an acceptable range before the Structural Equation Modelling is applying. Our results show that all the items loadings are range from 0.898 to 0.962 and this indicates that all the item loadings are meeting the minimum requirement (Chin, 1998). Furthermore, the composite validity (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE) values for all the six variables were above 0.7 and 0.5 respectively. According to Hair et al. (2016), a
Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal
Vol. 12, No. 1 (2020)
69
strong valid model covered factor loading above 0.5, CR values above 0.7 and AVE values above 0.5. hence, our analysis results confirmed that the model constructs fulfilled the convergent validity and internal consistency. Table 3 shows the result of the square root of the AVE value for each construct has exceeded its correlation with other constructs. This indicates that our model is sufficient to support for discriminant validity at the construct level (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Furthermore, Table 4 illustrates all the values of Heterotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) criteria were lower than the required threshold value of HTMT 0.90 by Gold, Malhotra and Segars (2001). Hence, the discriminant validity was verified and proved and this indicates that the proposed hypotheses were accepted.
Table 2: PLS result of convergent validity measures Question Items Loadings AVE CR
Attitude
Att1
0.907
0.859
0.968
Att2
0.934
Att3
0.948
Att4
0.935
Att5
0.908
Perceived Behavioural Control
PBC1
0.924
0.895
0.977
PBC2
0.932
PBC3
0.920
Past Experience
PE1
0.944
0.857
0.947
PE2
0.949
PE3
0.951
PE4
0.945
PE5
0.942
Purchase Intention
PI1
0.910
0.841
0.963
PI2
0.911
PI3
0.935
PI4
0.929
PI5
0.898
Subjective Norms
SN1
0.943
0.895
0.972
SN2
0.962
SN3
0.949
SN4
0.931
Value of Money
VM1
0.921
0.872
0.972
VM2
0.934
VM3
0.944
VM4
0.940
VM5
0.931
Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal
Vol. 12, No. 1 (2020)
70
Table 3: Result of Fornell Lacker criterion for discriminant validity Attitude Past Experience Perceived Behavioural Control Purchase Intention Subjective Norms Value of Money
Attitude
0.927
Past Experience
0.741
0.946
Perceived Behavioural Control
0.722
0.731
0.926
Purchase Intention_
0.840
0.763
0.732
0.917
Subjective Norms
0.763
0.728
0.743
0.752
0.946
Value of Money
0.736
0.744
0.758
0.764
0.742
0.934
Table 4: Result of Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT) for discriminant validity Attitude Past Experience Perceived Behavioural Control Purchase Intention Subjective Norms Value of Money
Attitude
Past Experience
0.768
Perceived Behavioural Control
0.767
0.774
Purchase Intention_
0.878
0.793
0.780
Subjective Norms
0.796
0.754
0.792
0.785
Value of Money
0.765
0.769
0.805
0.797
0.770
Hair et al. (2016) mentioned that statistical significance can be accessed through the application of the bootstrapping technique. In this study, the minimum number of bootstrap samples is 5000 times. Figure 1 illustrates the values of R2 and the structural model of this study. The R2 value of the model is 0.774 which means that 77.4% of the variation in purchase intention can be explained by the five independent variables which are attitude, past experience, perceived behavioural control, subjective norms and value of money.
Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal
Vol. 12, No. 1 (2020)
71
Figure 1: Structural Model
The summary of the hypothesis testing result is shown in Table 5. The hypothesis result indicates that attitude (H1), value of money (H4) and past experience (H5) were supported at a minimum of 5% significance level. However, subjective norms (H2) and perceived behavioural control (H3) were not supported.
Table 5: Hypothesis testing results Relationship Std Beta Std Error t-value Decision
Attitude -> Purchase Intention
0.464
0.093
4.964**
Supported
Past Experience -> Purchase Intention
0.172
0.065
2.658**
Supported
Perceived Behavioural Control -> Purchase Intention
0.076
0.087
0.870
Not supported
Subjective Norms -> Purchase Intention
0.090
0.078
1.163
Not supported
Value of Money -> Purchase Intention
0.170
0.079
2.136*
Supported
**p<0.01, *p<0.05, Bootstrapping (n=5000)
There is a significant relationship between attitude and purchase intention of a natural skincare products. The attitude toward buying natural skincare products has a positive influence generation Y purchase intention of a natural skincare products. This hypothesis is significant and supported. This analysis result is supported by the finding of Kim and Chung (2011) and
Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal
Vol. 12, No. 1 (2020)
72
Sukato and Elsey (2009) which say there is a strong relationship between attitudes toward skincare cosmetics and willingness to buy and this is consistent with the desire to improve appearance through skincare product. Besides that, consumer’s attitudes towards purchase natural skincare products have a positive impact on their willingness to purchase natural skincare products (Kim & Chung, 2011). Previous research on sustainable consumption has confirmed a positive and important relationship between consumer attitudes and purchase intentions (Honkanen et al., 2006; Paul et al., 2016; Teng & Wang, 2015; Vermeir & Verbeke, 2008). Testa et al. (2015) stated that attitudes help to define a person’s behaviour model and thus affect their choices. When consumers demonstrate a good attitude towards certain behaviour, their behavioural intention will increase accordingly (Ajzen, 1991). The customer will be attracted by the natural skincare product because they feel that this product is better for them.
The data analysis result showed that subjective norm has no significant relationship with the purchase intention of a natural skincare products. This hypothesis is not supported. Hillhouse et al. (2000) mentioned that subjective norms have an importance impact on intention of behavioural in the context of behaviours related to skin management. Besides that, Souiden & Diagne (2009); Sukato and Elsey (2009) and Kim and Chung (2011) also stated that taking skincare as an example, they support the positive correlation between subjective normative concept and behavioural intention when purchasing skincare products. The other previous study also mentions that consumer’s subjective norms can have a positive impact on their willingness to purchase natural skincare product (Kim & Chung, 2011). Therefore, the result of this study is not consistent with the previous result and this phenomenon may be due to the characteristic of our respondents. From our analysis result, we can conclude that generation Y will not easily influence by social pressure on their willingness to purchase natural skincare products.
There is no significant relationship between perceived behavioural control and purchase intention of a natural skincare products. Hence, this hypothesis is not supported. The result of this study is supported by Kim & Chung (2011) which say that when consumers perceived have more control over purchase natural skincare products. Consumers are more willing to purchase these products. They also say that consumer’s perceived behaviour control to purchase natural skincare products has a positive impact on their willingness to buy these products. In conclusion, consumers from generation Y also not necessarily will look for and purchase the natural skincare product that they feel interested.
Value of money has a significant relationship with the purchase intention of a natural skincare products. This hypothesis is supported. It is supported by the finding of Kim and Chung (2011), they stated that when people choosing a product, most people think that price is the priority. Kim and Chung (2011) also mentioned that they simply show that the price of the product is one of the main influencing factors the consumer’s purchase intention. Some consumers are concerned about whether the product is worth paying the price. If they think the price is reasonable or the product is good to worth buying, then their willingness to buy the same product next time will be increased. Thus, the customer has the intention to purchase the natural skincare product because the price of the natural skincare product is worth and reasonable.
There is a significant relationship between past experience and purchase intention of natural skincare products. Thus, this hypothesis is supported. This result is agreed by Kim and Chung (2011) who also point out the consumer’s past experience in purchase other natural products has a positive impact on their willingness to purchase natural skincare products. Besides, D’Souza et al. (2006) also supported which say that consumers who buy or use natural products are affected by their past experience. If the consumers have more experiences with other organic products are more likely to purchase organic skincare product.
Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal
Vol. 12, No. 1 (2020)
73
Discussion and Conclusion
In conclusion, the purpose of this research is to explain the generation Y purchase intention of natural skincare products which affects by attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, value of money and past experience. Based on the results, three out of the five independent variables were found to have a significant relationship with the dependent variable. The attitude, value of money and past experience have a significant relationship with the generation Y purchase intention of natural skincare products while the subjective norm and perceived behavioural control have no significant relationship with the generation Y purchase intention of a natural skincare product. It is hoped to help the researcher better understand and develop better strategies for the purchase intention of natural skincare products. This research focused on generation Y’s intention to purchase natural skincare products not only helps researchers and the skincare industry, but also improves their knowledge in several aspects. There are generation Y’s willing to buy natural skincare products is in terms of attitude, value of money and past experience. Therefore, skincare industry should pay more attention to customer attitude, value of money, and past experience in the needs of the customer. Firstly, the variable of attitude toward buying natural skincare products can direct or indirect effects the generation Y purchase intention. Generation Y will be an appeal to a natural skincare product and they feel the product is better to them. Besides that, value of money will affect the generation Y purchase intention of a natural skincare product. Money is a very sensitivity in which the customer will shift to the other competitor when the worthy and the price of the competitor are valuable than us. Moreover, the past experience was found to be significant and influenced the purchase intention of generation Y. When customers have used and know the natural skincare product, they will be more willing to buy it.
This research is beneficial to the skincare industry to know what factors will affect generation Y’s intention to purchase natural skincare products as currently generation Y is the biggest population. In order to attract more consumers from generation Y to purchase natural skincare products, the retailers from skincare industry should be aware of the factors that will affect generation Y’s intention. The findings of this study suggest that the retailer of the skincare industry should develop an effective marketing strategies emphasizing product safety to satisfy the values of potential consumers. Besides that, the retailers also can use psychological pricing to make the customer feel their product is cheaper than other competitors. Thus, consumer will think that the natural skincare products are worth to buy with better-quality at a reasonable price. On the other hand, the retailers of skincare industry can consider to distribute free sample of natural skincare products to their customers. After the customer has tried to use the product sample, they might have the intention to purchase the natural skincare product in the near future.

Tinggalkan Komentar Batalkan Balasan