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Changing faces: cosmetics opinion leadership among women in the new Hungary
Robin A. Coulter Lawrence F. Feick Linda L. Price
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Changing faces
Robin A. Coulter
Lawrence F. Feick
1287
Linda L. Price
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The economic and political change in Central and Eastern Europe captured the
attention of many Western firms interested in these emerging markets. Overall,
there was a rush of new products and increased exposure of consumers to
advertising, leading consumers to greater understanding of and desire for
Western branded products (Batra, 1997). In the personal care and cosmetics
product categories, major multinational firms such as Proctor & Gamble,
Henkel, and Johnson & Johnson began distributing and manufacturing in
Central and Eastern Europe. And, by 1992, with the surge of personal care and
cosmetics products and many new retail establishments (Central Statistical
Office of Hungary, 1992; CEEBIC, 1998), it was ``wow'' for everyone (Personal
interview with Brand Manager, Procter & Gamble Hungary, Budapest,
Hungary, 1998). A Hungarian woman, age 37, of Budapest (personal interview,
1998) commented, ``In 1992, suddenly we [could] buy [things that we never
could before]''.
During the 1990s, many Central European women began a period of
personal transition: changing their lifestyles and becoming more concerned
about their appearance (Drakuli, 1993; 1996; Kligman, 1996; Business Week,
1998). In Hungary, from 1991 to 1995, the cosmetics and toiletries market
increased 40 per cent, and the market size for 1998 was reported at 113.6 million
USD (Vegh, 1998). In Poland, the demand for cosmetics has also increased
dramatically, reaching an estimated 150 million USD in 1997 (CEEBIC, 1997).
In addition, multi-level marketing firms including Avon, Oriflame, and Amway
established strong customer bases in Central Europe (Vegh, 1998; CEEBIC,
1997).
Although personal care and cosmetic product sales continued to grow, a
brand manager for Procter & Gamble Hungary (personal interview, Budapest,
1998) reported the difficulties related to new product introductions, product
adoption and increasing usage in the product category:
. . . it is very, very difficult to change the accepted consumer beliefs which have roots for 50
years. They heard it from their mother and their grandmother, and everyone has done it this
way. So why should I be different? Why should I do it differently?
We have found, based on wide consumer research, that [the lack of personal care and
cosmetic product usage] roots in the social background or the culture of Hungary and Central
and Eastern Europe. First of all, people didn't have the products to choose from or the
products that gave them benefits. They didn't have the choice because there were no choice of
products, there were a few local brands which performed the same. They never felt this inner
need of wanting to [attend to personal care and cosmetic issues] . . . . But it is the culture . . .
women don't shave. Women don't use antiperspirant, women don't wash their hair often
enough (one and a half times per week) . . . hair washing frequency hasn't changed over the
past five years.
Product and brand managers of personal care and cosmetic products in Central
Europe are faced with decisions about how to speed the diffusion and increase
the usage of their products. In Hungary, a brand manager for Procter &
zlethaz (an Austrian-owned drug
Gamble, the shop manager for Higienia U
store), the marketing manager for Azur (a Hungarian-owned drug store chain),
and the promotions managers for Hungarian Promotional Service report that
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five decades (Childers, 1986; Price et al., 1987; Katz and Lazarfeld, 1955;
King and Summers, 1967, 1970; Lazarfeld et al., 1948; Reynolds and Darden,
1971; Rogers and Cartano, 1962). They are a key group for marketers to
target in that they are critical to the diffusion of product information
(Rogers, 1995), but in addition, they are important actors in market
economies. Opinion leaders gather, use, and disseminate product and
marketplace information, encouraging price competition, promoting
quality, and reducing the likelihood of monopoly power (Capon and Lutz,
1979; Porter, 1980). Price et al. (1987) argue that the diffusion of information
by influential others immediately and directly affects the choices of less
informed consumers.
Who are the Hungarian cosmetics opinion leaders?
As we noted earlier, many Central European women are transforming their
lifestyles and becoming more concerned about their appearance (Drakuli, 1993,
1996). Cosmetics are a ubiquitous element of women's consumer culture, one of
the imperatives of contemporary life, and represent one of the most important
ways women present and transform their public persona (Beausoleil, 1994;
Bloch and Richins, 1992; Cash, 1988; Darden and Worden, 1994; Etcoff, 1999).
Women use cosmetics to audition various selves (Beausoleil, 1994; Thompson
and Haytko, 1997), and cosmetics matter because they are a means of selfinvention (Hebdige, 1988).
Since the early 1990s, reports indicate that Central European consumers
have been exposed to an avalanche of new cosmetic products and brands, as
well as more retail outlets which stock these products (see, for example,
Business Central Europe, 1997; Business Week, 1998; Vegh, 1998; CEEBIC,
1997). Additionally, cosmetics are an increasingly important product in
television advertising, and in the content and advertising in the increasing
number of women's magazines. Further, women are spending more on cosmetic
products in Hungary (Vegh, 1998). All of these factors suggest that some
Central European women are becoming more involved with cosmetic products
and brands.
Dichter (1966) suggested that opinion leadership is a consequence of an
individual's interest in a product category, and that interest results in these
individuals talking about the product. Early examinations of opinion
leadership supported a positive relationship between opinion leadership and
product involvement (Reynolds and Darden, 197l; Summers, 1970; Wright and
Cantor, 1967). With regard to cosmetics and personal care products, Myers and
Robertson (1972) found a 0.69 correlation between product interest and opinion
leadership. More recently, research has suggested that it is enduring
involvement (i.e. ongoing and long-term in nature), not situational (or purchase)
involvement that affects opinion leadership (Bloch et al., 1986; Higie and Feick,
1989; Richins and Root-Schaffer, 1988; Venkatraman, 1990). Consistent with
this research, we expect:
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a 0.24 correlation between opinion leadership and market mavens, people who
have general marketplace expertise. Recent research has documented the
presence of market mavens in Poland (Chelminski and Coulter, 2000). This
finding is not terribly surprising given that until the early 1990s, Central
Europeans typically dealt with shortages, retailers that carried a broad array of
products, sometimes in related product categories (e.g. toiletries and cosmetics),
others not (e.g. scotch and berries) for unpredictable time periods (Feick et al.,
1995). Thus, Central European consumers would take it upon themselves to
pay attention to the whereabouts of products, and communicate that
information to less well informed consumers. Thus, we hypothesize,
H2e. A positive relationship between Hungarian women's cosmetics
opinion leadership and market mavens.
Demographic profile
Research has profiled opinion leaders on a number of demographic variables.
Although we would expect the profile to vary by product class, in fashion,
Summers (1970) found that in the USA opinion leaders are younger, more
educated, and have a higher income than non-leaders. Since cosmetics are like
fashion in the connection to the presentation of self, we expect that
H3. Women cosmetics opinion leaders in Hungary are younger, more
educated, have higher incomes, and are more cosmopolitan than women
who are not opinion leaders.
Brand preferences and choices
As a consequence of opinion leaders' greater participation in the product
category, and higher socioeconomic, more cosmopolitan status, we further
expect that opinion leaders' brand choices will be affected. In particular, we
expect that opinion leaders will be aware of more brands, will purchase more
brands, and will be more likely to purchase upscale brands and brands with
less local tradition than will non-opinion leaders. Therefore, we propose:
H4. A positive relationship between Hungarian women's cosmetics opinion
leadership and the number of cosmetics brands known, number of
brands purchased, and likelihood of preferring a foreign or new
cosmetic brand.
Opinion leaders' product knowledge as a basis for influence
Consumers have been classified as opinion leaders on the basis of their
influence on others with regard to a particular product or product category
because they provide those others with useful product-related information. In
other words, opinion leaders have product category knowledge. Indeed,
numerous studies have reported support for the positive relationship between
opinion leadership and product knowledge (Dawar et al., 1996; Flynn et al.,
1994; Jacoby and Hoyer, 1981; Summers, 1970). In some ways, having product
knowledge is a necessary condition for opinion leaders to influence the choices
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domestic and foreign fashion magazines (Vegh, 1998; CEEBIC, 1998). Media
have provided a great deal of product relevant and brand information of
interest to cosmetics opinion leaders. We expect that given the more intensive
media environment, and opinion leaders' interest in finding out product
information that:
H6. Hungarian women's cosmetics opinion leadership is positively related
to media exposure and usage.
Personal sources
The two-step flow model also posited that opinion leaders influenced nonleaders (Lazarfeld et al., 1948), the implication being that opinion leaders were
not influenced by other personal sources. Katz and Lazarfeld (1955) in their
seminal work on personal influence, however, argued more for opinion leaders
as information sharers, not just information providers. Evidence for opinion
leaders' sharing information was also documented by Arndt (1968), who found
that opinion leaders (compared to non-leaders) were not only more influenced
by the media, but also were more influenced by other opinion leaders. Given
Dichter's contention that opinion leadership is driven by product interest, Katz
and Lazarfeld's and Arndt's findings are not particularly surprising. And,
numerous studies have provided support for opinion leaders both giving and
receiving information from other personal sources (Anderson and Garrison,
1978; Dawar et al., 1996; Feldman, 1966; Feick et al., 1986; Summers, 1970;
Wright and Cantor, 1967). Other research has demonstrated that opinion
leaders are connected to other opinion leaders and use them as sources of
information (Feick and Price, 1987; Higie et al., 1987). More recent conceptual
work is consistent with these findings and views opinion leaders as links
between groups: opinion brokers who connect individuals to other individuals
and groups (Burt, 1999).
Research in the USA has documented the importance of personal sources
in consumer decision making particularly with regard to products that have
symbolic or communicative value, such as cosmetics (Bearden et al., 1989;
Reingen et al., 1984; Bloch et al., 1986; Feick and Price, 1987). And, in the
cosmetics and personal care product category, Myers and Robertson (1972)
found a 0.54 correlation between reciprocal influence and opinion
leadership.
Research in Hungary in 1992 indicated that few people relied on personal
sources of information in the cosmetics product category (Feick et al., 1995).
Friends, family and even salespeople were seen as neither knowledgeable nor
experienced enough in the product category to be considered reliable sources of
information. As noted previously, since 1992, the number and variety of
products and brands has increased and cosmetic usage has become more
prevalent. Domestic and foreign firms have take strides to train their
salespeople to be more knowledgeable and customer friendly (personal
interviews with marketing manager for Azur, shop manager for Higienia
Changing faces
1295
Personal investigation
As we have noted, research has established a strong relationship between
opinion leadership and product knowledge, some of which has come from
individuals paying close attention to product attribute information (Alba and
Hutchinson, 1987; Bloch, 1981). Feick et al. (1995) reported that in 1992, a
segment of Hungarian women were intensive information seekers about
cosmetics, paying close attention to reading labels and studying product
ingredients. Based upon the behaviors typical of opinion leaders in more
developed market economies, we anticipate that the opinion leaders in Hungary
will pay greater attention to product and brand attribute information than nonopinion leaders. Hence, we expect:
H8. A positive relationship between Hungarian women's cosmetics opinion
leadership and intensive information seeking in the cosmetics product
category.
Method
In October 1998 we gathered survey data using structured personal interviews
with 340 adult women in Budapest, Hungary. The questionnaire used in the
data collection focused on opinion leadership in the cosmetics product category,
and women's involvement with and usage of cosmetics, and information
seeking and personal influence patterns related to the cosmetics product
category. The questions were written in English, translated into Hungarian by
a native Hungarian speaker and back translated into English by a native
English speaker. Changes in translation and content were made based on
discussions with both translators.
The Hungarian office of an international market research firm designed
the sampling plan and conducted the data collection. The sample included
only women who were 18 years of age or older. Our sample was selected by
multistage area sampling in which intended sample proportions matched the
population percentage in the major census regions of Budapest; then block
groups and households were selected at random from within the major
divisions. Interviewers made at least three attempts to contact addresses
included in the sample before substituting a replacement address. Trained
women interviewers indicated the information would be used by university
researchers, and offered assurances of confidentiality. The interviewers
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attempted 547 contacts to yield the 340 completed interviews in our data. Of
these attempted contacts, 57 were ineligible (a bad address, the person
moved, etc.). The cooperation rate for the survey was 69.4 per cent (340/(547
57)) and the refusal rate was 13.9 per cent (68/(54757)). Table I provides
sample characteristics. A comparison of our sample with Hungarian
population characteristics suggests that our sample matches population
characteristics on comparable variables (Hungarian Central Statistical
Office, 2000).
Measures of constructs included in our survey, as well as their reliability
measures, are included in Table II. The mean score on the scales were derived
from the average of the unweighted sum of the five-point Likert items used in
the scales. Other behaviors measured in the survey are included in
Tables III-VI. Of particular interest is the measure of opinion leadership; 321 of
the 340 respondents answered all six of the opinion leadership items and were
included in our analyses. The results suggest the measure is reliable with a
Cronbach's alpha = 0.92. Respondents' scores on the scale ranged from one to
five, and the mean score was 2.16 (SD = 1.17). While the overall mean for
opinion leadership might be considered low, as we noted even though Hungary
is one of the leaders in Central Europe's transition to a market economy, the
country is early in that transition (Braun and Barany, 1999).
Characteristic
Table I.
Demographic
characteristics of the
sample
Age (%)
18-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60 and older
20.6
12.1
19.4
17.8
30.3
49.4
14.6
19.3
16.7
38.5
22.2
55.3
21.9
0.6
2.8
39.1
71,801
Note: a HUF = Hungarian Forints. At the time of the 1998 data collection, 222 HUF = 1 USD
Opinion leadershipa
My family, friends and neighbors often ask my advice about cosmetics
I sometimes influence the types and brands of cosmetics that my friends
and family buy
My friends come to me more often than I go to them for information about
cosmetics
I feel that I am generally regarded by my friends, family and neighbors as a
good source of advice about cosmetics
I can think of at least two people whom I've told about some cosmetic product
or brand in the last six months
In general I talk a lot about cosmetics with my friends, family and neighbors
0:92
0:92
Variety seekingc
I switch among brands of cosmetics just to try something new once in a while
When I'm shopping for cosmetics, I am likely to buy new brands just for the
fun of it
I get bored with buying the same brands of cosmetics, and so I often try
different brands
0:81
Knowledged
How much do you
How much do you
How much do you
How much do you
these products?
0:88
know
know
know
know
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r 0:47
Notes: All items are five-point Likert-items, (1) strongly disagree and (5) strongly agree
Sources: a Childers (1986); b Higie and Feick (1989); c Derived from Van Trijp et al. (1996),
Raju (1980), Moore-Shay and Lutz (1988); d Park et al. (1994); e Feick et al. (1995)
Findings
Who is the Hungarian woman cosmetics opinion leader?
To test the propositions about the characteristics of opinion leaders, we report a
one-way analysis of variance based on a trichotomization of respondents on the
opinion leadership scale into the lower 33 per cent (lowOL), the middle 35 per
cent (medOL), and the upper 32 per cent (highOL). The respective means of the
groups on the opinion leadership scale are (xlowOL 1:02), (xmedOL 1:89), and
(xhighOL 3:63), (F2=320 805:00, p 0:001), and the post-hoc Scheffe tests
Table II.
Scales and their items
and reliability
measures
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Table III.
Means for opinion
leadership groups and
ANOVA results for
H1 and H2
LowOL
n = 106
H1. Involvement
2.10
H2a. Product usage and expenditures
Cosmetic usage (% using)
Face cream
0.61
Lipstick
0.32
Eye make-up
0.27
Nail polish
0.33
Rouge/face powder
0.25
Amount spent/hhd (HUF)d
897
H2b. Early adopter
1.51
H2c. Variety seeking
1.47
H2d. Shopping enjoyment, frequency
of shopping and purchase
Shopping frequency (times/year)
5.70
Enjoy shopping (1 = not at all)
2.28
Purchase frequency (times/year)
6.10
H2e. Market maven
1.72
Means
MedOL HighOL Overall
Scheffe
n = 111 n = 104 n = 321 F-value
test
3.11
3.87
3.03 93.51***
0.89
0.96
0.82
0.55
0.85
0.57
0.60
0.85
0.57
0.56
0.82
0.57
0.55
0.65
0.48
2,047
2,865
2,032
1.89
2.65
2.07
1.81
2.24
1.85
17.59
3.10
13.68
2.63
23.65
3.89
18.12
3.65
15.66
3.12
13.06
2.66
29.29***
36.12***
46.22***
29.88***
20.98***
7.58*
23.54***
16.04***
31.65***
45.42***
21.34***
84.19***
a,b,c
a,b
a,b,c
a,b,c
a,b,c
a,b
b
b,c
a,b,c
a,b,c
a,b,c
a,b,c
a,b,c
Notes: a = LowOL different from MedOL at p 0:05; b = LowOL is different from HighOL
at p 0:05; c = MedOL is different from HighOL at p 0:05; d = HUF (Hungarian Forints).
At the time of the 1998 data collection, 222 HUF = 1 USD. * refers to p 0:05; * refers to
p 0:01; *** refers to p 0:001
indicate that each of the three groups is significantly different from each of the
other two (p 0:05).
The overall mean for cosmetics involvement for our sample was at the midpoint of the scale (x 3:03, SD = 1.15). As H1 predicted, the highOL group
(x 3:87) was significantly more involved than either of the other groups
(xlowOL 2:10; xmedOL 3:11), see Table III.
Product category and marketplace participation
Table III also provides the ANOVA results for H2a-e. H2a concerned
Hungarian women's use of and money spent on cosmetics products,
particularly face cream, lipstick, eye make-up, nail polish and rouge or face
powder. On average, approximately eight out of ten Hungarian women use face
cream, approximately six out of ten use lipstick, eye make-up and nail polish,
and five out of ten use rouge or face powder. The usage rates of face cream for
our groups were 96 per cent (highOL), 89 per cent (medOL) and 61 per cent
(lowOL) groups; and for rouge or face powder were 65 per cent, 55 per cent, and
25 per cent respectively. For these two cosmetics, both the medOL and the
highOL groups used the cosmetics more than the lowOL group, but there was
no statistical difference between the usage rages for the highOL and medOL
groups. For the other three cosmetics (lipstick, eye-make-up and nail polish),
LowOL
n = 106
Means or percentage
MedOL HighOL Overall
n = 111
n = 104 n = 321
F-value
Scheffe
test
19.26***
3.09*
a,b
5.83**
10.31***
a,b
4.43*
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1299
a,b
b
30.71***
21.24***
a,b
8.96***
3.53*
4.48*
12.47***
3.85*
0.39
0.56
0.51
a,b
b
b
b,c
b
77.93***
a,b,c
11.03***
a,b
Notes: a = LowOL different from MedOL at p 0:05; b = LowOL is different from HighOL
at p 0:05; c = MedOL is different from HighOL at p 0:05; d = Brands named by more
than 5 per cent of the sample; * refers to p 0:05; ** refers to p 0:01; *** refers to
p 0:001
the highOL group was significantly more likely to use the product than either
the medOL or the lowOL group, with the highOL group using them more than
twice as frequently as the lowOL group. Our findings also indicate that the
highOL group spends more than the medOL group (2,865 v. 2,074 HUF), and
more than three times as much money on cosmetics as the lowOL group (897
HUF). Thus, we found support for H2a.
H2b and H2c respectively posited that Hungarian opinion leaders would be
early adopters in the product category, and would engage in variety seeking
within the product category. Our results overall show relatively low incidence
of early adoption (x 2:07), and variety seeking (x 1:85). We found support
for both of our hypotheses, however. Opinion leaders adopt brands earlier
(x 2:65) than either the lowOL (x 1:51) or medOL (x 1:89) group, and are
more likely to switch among brands (x 2:24) than either the lowOL (x 1:47)
or medOL (x 1:81) group.
Table IV.
Means for opinion
leadership groups and
ANOVA results for
H3-H5
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Means or percentages
LowOL MedOL HighOL Overall
Scheffe
n = 106 n = 111 n = 104 n = 321 F-value test
Media sources used to find out about
new cosmetics
TV ad
Catalog/brochure
Magazine article
Newspaper ad
Magazine ad
Radio ad
Billboard ad
Ad at movie theater
Television profile
Television ownership (%)
VCR ownership (%)
Cable for TV ownership (%)
Weekday avg. hours watched
Weekend avg. hours watched
Media habits
No. of days per week reading
newspaper
Table V.
Means for opinion
leadership groups and
ANOVA results for H6
2.82
1.75
1.37
1.92
1.53
1.54
1.47
1.01
3.45
2.88
1.98
2.68
2.31
1.82
1.75
1.32
3.56
3.31
3.09
2.92
2.85
2.42
1.83
1.61
3.28
2.64
2.14
2.51
2.23
1.92
1.68
1.31
6.94***
29.97***
46.65***
13.21***
25.79***
13.46***
3.27*
18.64***
97.0
51.0
46.0
6.0
4.2
97.0
55.0
50.0
4.1
4.1
99.0
76.0
74.0
4.4
3.9
98.0
61.0
57.0
4.8
4.1
0.57
7.70***
10.06***
3.90*
0.47
2.9
4.0
4.4
3.8
7.87***
0.58
25.0
11.0
2.0
4.0
0.0
1.06
33.0
18.0
5.0
7.0
5.0
1.52
36.0
30.0
13.0
3.0
12.0
1.05 16.26***
31.0
1.68
20.0
5.99**
7.0
5.95**
8.0
3.44*
6.0
6.83***
a,b
a,b
a,b,c
a,b
a,b,c
b,c
a,b,c
b,c
b,c
a
a,b
a,b,c
b
b
b
b
Notes: a = LowOL different from MedOL at p 0:05; b = LowOL is different from HighOL
at p 0:05; c = MedOL is different from HighOL at p 0:05; * refers to p 0:05; ** refers
to p 0:01; *** refers to p 0:01
3.31
3.11
2.90
2.61
2.53
2.36
70.0
3.80
3.53
2.97
4.16
3.99
2.42
2.64
2.62
2.52
1.95
2.08
2.08
43.0
3.32
3.17
2.57
31.98***
23.21***
24.30***
28.09***
15.55***
23.46***
15.61***
17.99***
13.62***
11.05***
3.37 60.55***
3.23 39.52***
1.86 21.71***
a,b
a,b
Changing faces
1301
a,b
a,b,c
a,b
a,b
a,b
a,b
a,b
a,b
a,b,c
a,b,c
a,b,c
Notes: a = LowOL different from MedOL at p 0:05; b = LowOL is different from HighOL
at p 0:05; c = MedOL is different from HighOL at p 0:05; * refers to p 0:05; ** refers
to p 0:01; *** refers to p 0:001
Demographic profile
Table IV includes a demographic comparison of the opinion leadership groups.
There is general support for H3: the highOL group includes younger, better
educated, more cosmopolitan women. For example, the highOL group
compared to the lowOL group was younger (41.5 years v. 53.7 years), more
educated (12.1 v. 11.2 years) more likely to be employed (52 per cent v. 23 per
cent), of higher household income (86,100 HUF v. 54,700 HUF), and more likely
to have traveled to Western Europe or the USA in the last two years (1.27 v.
0.29 times).
Brand preferences and choices
As predicted in H4 and shown in Table IV, opinion leaders named more brands
and purchased more brands than non-leaders; the highOL group reported more
than twice as many brands as the lowOL group (3.37 v. 1.48). Additionally,
opinion leaders are more likely to prefer Western, high end products (e.g. Avon,
Oriflame, L'Oreal), many of which have been introduced since the opening of the
markets in 1989. They also prefer Nivea, a German brand that was introduced in
Hungary in 1925. There are little or no differences in likelihood of preference
across the groups for products that are lower end (e.g. Fa, Ponds) and/or have
Hungarian or local origins (e.g. Helia-D). Additionally, the highOL group was
significantly more likely to agree with the statement, ``When choosing cosmetics
products, I usually buy a Western brand'' (x 3:76), than either the lowOL
(x 2:40) or medOL (x 3:21) group (F2=296 21:98, p 0:001).
Table VI.
Means for opinion
leadership groups and
ANOVA results for
H7 and H8
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for H7. The three most important personal information sources reported by our
sample were a company salesperson (e.g. Avon, Oriflame), a friend or
acquaintance, and a family member. The highOL group reported each of these
sources to be more important to them in finding out about new cosmetics than
did the lowOL group. In general, Hungarian women viewed cosmeticians as
their least important personal source (x 1:95). However, they were the fourth
most important source for the highOL group, playing a significantly more
important role for them (x 2:61) than for the medOL (x 2:01) or the lowOL
(x 1:23) groups. The store salesperson and pharmacist were seen as less
important for finding out about new cosmetics. As expected, our findings
indicate that members of the highOL group compared to the lowOL group were
more likely to know an opinion leader (70 per cent v. 36 per cent), and to use an
opinion leader to find out about and evaluate brands and to identify retail
stores that carry certain products (see Table VI).
Personal investigation of cosmetics information
In our H8, our expectation was that Hungarian women cosmetics opinion
leaders would be interested in product attribute and other relevant product
information. We found that cosmetics products opinion leaders are
significantly more likely to read labels, consider cosmetics ingredients and try
to sample the brand than either the medOL or lowOL group (see Table VI).
Compared to the lowOL group, the highOL women were more likely to read
labels (4.16 v. 2.18, on a five-point scale), consider ingredients (3.99 v. 2.16), and
try to sample a cosmetic product before buying (2.42 v. 1.33).
Discussion
Since 1989 the popular press has discussed the enormous change that is
occurring in media, new brands, and in the structure of retailing in the
countries of Central and Eastern Europe. With a few exceptions (see for
example, Belk, 1999; Feick et al., 1995; Humphreys et al., 2000; James, 1995),
little academic research has focused on the changes occurring at the consumer
level. In this paper we have examined the incidence and characteristics of
women cosmetics opinion leaders, ten years into Hungary's transition to a
market economy.
Our study, while not cross-cultural per se, does use much Western literature
as a basis for considering opinion leadership in Hungary. From a cross-cultural
perspective then, our research has examined level-oriented and structureoriented generalizability (see van de Vijver and Leung, 1997). With regard to
level-oriented generalizability, which assesses the magnitude of variables
across cultures, the mean score (on a one to five scale) for our Hungarian
women on the opinion leadership scale is 2.16, and their average self-reported
knowledge is 2.40. These findings are low compared to what we might expect
in more established market economies, and likely indicative of the recency of
cosmetics product introductions in Hungary and the beginnings of opinion
leadership in the product category.
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ultimately help to speed the diffusion of new and existing cosmetics products
and brands.
To summarize then, our findings suggest that a small segment of Hungarian
women have become established as opinion leaders in the cosmetics product
category, and that these women's behaviors are similar to their counterparts in
more mature markets. While limited incomes and the long entrenched norms
discouraging cosmetics use may impinge on Hungarian women's adoption and
use of cosmetics products, concerted efforts to develop and target opinion
leaders will likely impact on the rate at which a ``new woman'' emerges in
Hungary. A continued tracking of the development and importance of opinion
leaders and other personal sources over time will enable us to understand
better the evolution of the importance of personal sources in transitional
economies.
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