The rapid rise in social media users has spawned a new form of advertising for businesses called social media advertising. Advertisers have long faced one of the most important challenges: low consumer acceptability of commercials. It is vital to identify the most salient elements of social media advertisements that influence how consumers see them. Data has shown that in Indonesia advertising on social media stands out as the main source with a third rank and a percentage of 72%. One product category that is widely sold through social media in advertising is skin care products with expected to grow annually by 4.10%. In Indonesia, local cosmetic companies face a tough challenge due to intense competition in the industry. To stay competitive, it is crucial to develop innovative marketing strategies by utilizing social media advertisements and the e-WOM phenomenon to increase interest, especially given the popularity of Skintific on social media.
This research aims to study further the influence of social media advertisement and e-WOM towards purchase intention of Skintific products by predicting the purchase intention. This study uses a quantitative method to achieve this goal. The variables analyzed consist of internal factors of social media advertisements, namely creative characteristics, celebrity endorsement, attention-grabbing details, and emotional appeal. E-WOM is an additional variable in the research. The findings in this research are hoped to help Skintific improve its marketing strategies and help MSMEs in the beauty industry grow their business with social media advertisement and e-WOM.
Data was collected from 300 respondents by filling in a Google Form questionnaire with several criteria, such as Indonesian social media users who search for skincare product references, know or have seen Skintific brand, follow or not follow Skintific. To process the data, the method is using PLS-SEM with SmartPLS to predict the purchase intention of Skintific.
Based on the research results, creative characteristics of Skintific products on social media advertisements significantly and positively influence purchase intention. Celebrity endorsement of Skintific products on social media advertisements significantly and positively influence purchase intention. Attention-grabbing details of Skintific products on social media advertisements significantly and positively influence purchase intention. Emotional appeal of Skintific products on social media advertisements significantly and positively influence purchase intention. Electronic Word of Mouth of Skintific products on social media advertisements significantly and positively influence purchase intention.
As for the business sector, various other features need attention to create effective social media advertisements. If more features could be identified at a later stage, it would make this study more effective. For future research, it is suggested to focus on different objects and compare them to see how social media advertisements and electronic word of mouth affect purchase intention across different objects.