Abstract:
The specific aims of this study were 1) to examine the purchasing decision behaviors related to skin whitening skin products among female students at Walailak University and 2) to determine the factors associated with decisions by these students to purchase skin whitening products. The data were randomly collected by means of questionnaires, and a total of 400 responses were gathered from female students studying at Walailak University.
The results of the study showed that the respondents had a mean age of 20.47 years, and tended to be first and second year students in the School of Liberal Arts. They had an average income per family between 10,000 and 25,000 baht and an average personal income per month between 3,000 and 5,000 baht. Many respondents had used sunscreen in order to prevent themselves from developing darker skin. They frequently purchased the product one time a month, buying just one sunscreen item each time. The individuals sampled said they focused on the ingredient of the products more than any other factor, giving this factor an average score of 45.30 per cent. They gave the highest rating to vanishing products, with 68.93 per cent. The average amount of money spent was 461.71 baht per time and 725.04 baht per month. The highest rate of expenditure on these products was 823.01 baht per month, while the lowest rate was 147.15 baht per month. Most of the individuals surveyed purchased the products in markets or supermarkets, considering the reliability of the distributors and also the certificates providing confidence such as FDA. They made purchasing decisions on their own after acquiring
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relevant information from their friends. Most of the individuals surveyed spend approximately 4 to 6 hours per day using the internet for entertainment. As to values, they expressed both terminal values and instrumental values at the medium level. As for potential psychological factors, the achievement motive, affiliation motive, and power motive had expression levels of medium. Most of samples also expressed the 4Ps as follows, rating the products and the marketing methods at a high level while rating the price and promotion at medium levels.
The assumption tests found that the variations among demographic factors, especially levels of education and average income per family per month, influenced the female students purchasing decision behaviors concerning skin whitening products, with a statistical significance at p0.05. Furthermore, social factors; information resources, and frequency of using the internet affected the purchasing decision behaviors concerning skin whitening products, with a statistical significance level of p0.05. Female students using the internet had significantly different purchasing decision behaviors from those who rarely used the internet. Moreover, the differences among psychological factors; including terminal values, instrumental values, achievement motive, affiliation motive, and power motive, also influenced the students purchasing decision behaviors, with a statistical significance at 0.05. A correlation test showed that the 4P factors were significantly associated with the purchasing decision behaviors for orally consumable products and for vanishing lotions (p0.05). The 4P factors were also related to purchasing decision behaviors for skin whitening products, with statistical significance of p0.05.
WALAILAK UNIVERSITY. CENTER FOR LIBRARY RESOURCES AND EDUCATIONAL MEDIA