With the growing popularity of the ability to customize your characters in video games, cosmetic items are becoming a big part of the gaming experience; games let players pick and choose what to equip on characters and what colors to use. In this study, skilled Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2 players were interviewed to gain a deeper understanding of the players’ experiences with the cosmetic items in their respective games. The games were chosen based on their well established system for cosmetic items and the authors’ previous knowledge of the games. The result yielded individual answers from ten different experienced players and were reviewed and divided into categories based on the patterns seen in the answers. From what could be seen from the results, the skilled players have a positive outlook on cosmetic items and believe that they have more than an aesthetic meaning, like for example that they can be a way to gauge player skill. / I takt med att förmågan att kunna skräddarsy karaktärer i spel har blivit populär, håller så kallade cosmetics på att bli en stor del av spelupplevelsen; spel låter spelare välja utrustning och färger i stor utsträckning. I den här studien blev erfarna Team Fortress 2- och Dota 2-spelare intervjuade för att ge en djupare förståelse för dessa spelares syn på kosmetiska förmål. Spelen valdes ut på grund av deras väletablerade system för kosmetiska föremål och författarnas tidigare kunskap om spelen. Alla de individuella svar som samlades in från de tio erfarna spelarna lästes igenom och delades upp i kategorier utifrån mönster som kunde utgöras från svaren. Från vad som kunde tydas har de erfarna spelarna en positiv syn på cosmetic items och antyder även att de har mer än en estetisk betydelse, till exempel att de kan vara ett sätt att tyda spelares kunskaper.

The object of the study is to examine the consumption of cosmetic tourism from the consumer's and the producer’s viewpoint and to examine what factors help individuals choose to travel overseas to consume cosmetic surgeries. The method used in the study was a qualitative examination, where we interviewed seven individuals. Five of the individuals have gone through the process of surgery overseas, one is a Swedish surgeon that’s working on Akademikliniken and lastly we interviewed one person who runs a company in Sweden that arranges trips overseas with the purpose of going through a surgery. The collected data was analyzed with support of the consumer society and Gidden's theory about modernity and self-identity. The final discussion shows that cosmetic tourism is a growing phenomenon and the extent of it is growing in today's society and that the main factors that have shown to affect the choice is trust and competence within the clinic and the surgeon, and women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka konsumtionen av kosmetisk turism utifrån ett konsument- och producentperspektiv samt att se vilka faktorer det är som styr individen utomlands för att konsumera kosmetiska ingrepp. Studien genomfördes med en kvalitativ undersökning, varav vi intervjua sju personer. Fem av dem har utfört kosmetiska ingrepp utomlands, en av dem är en svensk kirurg som arbetar på Akademikliniken och slutligen intervjuade vi en kvinna som driver ett bolag i Sverige som arrangerar resor utomlands med syftet att genomgå kosmetiska ingrepp. Det insamlade materialet analyserades med bland annat stöd av utgångspunkten från konsumtionssamhället och Giddens teori om modernitet och självidentitet. Den slutliga diskussionen visar att kosmetisk turism är ett växande fenomen och vad fenomenet innebär samt att de utmärkande faktorerna som visat sig påverka valet av resan är tilliten, kompetensen hos kliniken och kvinnors missnöje med kroppen.

The concept of ‘brand experience’ has evolved as an essential area of study within the brand management and marketing discipline. Despite the importance of (and the attention paid to) this concept in recent years, the theory of brand experience has remained unclear and there is a less of theoretical support. In addition to this, several scholars content that there is a connection between brand experience and loyalty. This study aims to address the gap in the literature and provide a better understanding of the concept of ‘brand experience’ together with its consequences, with particular regard to consumer loyalty. The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between brand experience and consumer loyalty in the luxury cosmetic brand industry (Thailand). This empirical study proceeds with a systematic review of the existing literature, leading to the development of a theoretical framework. The research adopts a mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) approach, use of a quantitative survey to collect data, validated and enhanced qualitatively by personal interviews. The questionnaires were completed by Thai customers who frequent the luxury cosmetic brand counters in three particular stores in Bangkok. The data analysis uses descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and linear/multiple regression analysis for hypotheses testing. The personal interviews use a purposive sampling technique. The results of this study demonstrate that sensory experience, affective experience, behavioural experience, intellectual experience and social experience form the dimensions of luxury cosmetic brand experience. In addition to this, there is a positive direct relationship between luxury cosmetic brand experience and consumer loyalty. In addition, luxury cosmetic brand experience has a positive indirect relationship with consumer loyalty through brand personality, brand trust and consumer satisfaction; albeit, brand trust is the most significant of these. A key contribution of the present study is the conceptual model the study offers that explains the phenomenon of luxury cosmetic brand experience and its consequences. This study contributes further knowledge to the marketing literature, brand management literature and, also, consumer behaviour literature (particularly in the luxury cosmetic brand sectors in Thailand and other Asian countries) and suggests directions for future research. Finally, the present study will facilitate luxury cosmetic brand managers’ endeavours to identify both the experiential needs of their customers and the marketing strategy necessary to achieve consumer loyalty.

Quality of appearance is important in nature and individuals have a basic need to establish the normality of appearance to confirm their acceptability to others. In daily inter-relationships of the same species, for instance, normal-appearing members of a species group reject or kill other members who appear abnormal. In human society, appearance is considered as one of the most direct sources of information about other people, and unattractiveness is often accompanied by negative judgments, which can cause emotional distress and isolation. Accordingly, humans tend to pay great attention to their personal appearance and make improvements to enhance their self-representations. The growth of the beauty and cosmetic surgery industries is an indication of an increasing willingness to enhance physical appearance. However, despite the growing demand for cosmetic procedures, the consumer research literature on this topic is extremely sparse. In fact, little is known about the attitudinal and motivational drivers that facilitate undergoing such procedures. This dissertation enriches our understanding of factors that affect consumers’ motivation to pursue cosmetic procedures and examines the role of emotions in such decisions. To that end, objective self-awareness (OSA) theory is applied and the interplay between the state of public OSA, beauty standards, and self-conscious emotions of shame and pride is explored. The results of two experimental studies indicate that access to beauty standards coupled with the state of public OSA generates self-standard comparison thoughts that may yield self-standard discrepancies. Negative emotions experienced due to such discrepancies move individuals into a self-regulatory cycle with the purpose of discrepancy reduction and impact their motivation to undergo cosmetic procedures. Pride and shame, two central self-conscious emotions, influence self-regulatory strategies and differently impact the approach to discrepancy reduction. These findings contribute to the research advocating the role of emotions in decision making and provide more insights about self-conscious emotions and their role in regulating goal pursuit behavior. The findings provide practical implications for marketers of cosmetics products and services, social marketers trying to encourage or discourage certain behaviors, and public policy makers. Moreover, the results have wide-ranging implications for structuring programs designed to contribute to consumer welfare.

Cosmetic treatment with botulinum toxin type A injections is the top non-surgical cosmetic procedure in the U.S. Many patients are beginning treatment at a younger age to prevent the development of facial wrinkles associated with aging. However, there is limited data to support the use of prophylactic botulinum toxin injections. Patients beginning treatment at a younger age have fewer wrinkles requiring fewer units to treat, which reduces the overall cost of treatment. Patients also maintain higher levels of self- esteem by preventing or delaying the onset of facial wrinkles that can negatively impact their appearance. This study proposes that patients receiving botulinum toxin injections at a younger age (< 35) will have higher satisfaction with treatment outcomes. By demonstrating an association between starting age of injections and patient satisfaction, this study aims to provide merit for clinical trials studying the effectiveness of prophylactic botulinum toxin injections for cosmetic indications.

Two experimental phases examined the characteristics impacting the physical attractiveness stereotype and a potential stereotype shift. From reading a description of a hypothetical target, Phase 1 of this study revealed that participants considered an overweight attractive woman significantly more likely to help a friend in need and significantly more likely to become a friend than an underweight attractive woman. These findings provide understanding of how particular stereotypes may provide social benefits. In Phase 2, knowledge of the woman's plans for liposuction, which was disclosed in a second description of the target, dramatically lowered the participants' evaluations of her physical attractiveness, willingness to help a friend in need, and likelihood as a potential friend. The women's ratings of the target's willingness to help a friend dropped significantly more than the men's ratings. These results indicate that evaluations of physically attractive women may decline if they choose to unnaturally alter their appearance.

<p>Background</p><p>After a successful launch in early 2007 Pond’s Age Miracle, Unilever Vietnam’s anti-aging skincare product, is now experiencing falling sales and a declining market share having failed to complete its mission of counter-attacking its main competitor – P&G’s Olay Total Effect. This predicament poses a question of how Unilever Vietnam can improve market performance of this product.</p><p>Purpose</p><p>To determine Pond’s Age Miracle customer perceived value and propose recommendations on how to improve it.</p><p>Method</p><p>A combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches was pursued. In-depth interviews with consumers were used to discover relevant attributes of anti-aging skincare. A consumer survey was employed to measure relative importance and relative performance of the identified attributes – a basis for determining Pond’s customer perceived value.</p><p>Findings, Analysis and Conclusion</p><p>Customer perceived value of Pond’s Age Miracle was found to have a negative character on the entire market scale and across most of the listed consumer groups.</p><p>Recommendations</p><p>A re-launch of the upgraded version of Pond’s is suggested to maintain the current consumers and recruit the potential anti-aging skincare users.</p>

Background After a successful launch in early 2007 Pond’s Age Miracle, Unilever Vietnam’s anti-aging skincare product, is now experiencing falling sales and a declining market share having failed to complete its mission of counter-attacking its main competitor – P&amp;G’s Olay Total Effect. This predicament poses a question of how Unilever Vietnam can improve market performance of this product. Purpose To determine Pond’s Age Miracle customer perceived value and propose recommendations on how to improve it. Method A combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches was pursued. In-depth interviews with consumers were used to discover relevant attributes of anti-aging skincare. A consumer survey was employed to measure relative importance and relative performance of the identified attributes – a basis for determining Pond’s customer perceived value. Findings, Analysis and Conclusion Customer perceived value of Pond’s Age Miracle was found to have a negative character on the entire market scale and across most of the listed consumer groups. Recommendations A re-launch of the upgraded version of Pond’s is suggested to maintain the current consumers and recruit the potential anti-aging skincare users.

From ancient times, makeup in religion society play an important role. The changes of history and culture created a different aesthetic and developed a variety of dressing style. Taiwan was colonized by Japanese colonial rule until the Kuomintang took over the regime after the World War II in 1945. Makeup style of Taiwan has gradually changed under the different cultural concepts. During the World War II period, dressing and makeup are regarded as luxury in Taiwan. There are many events (ex: television broadcasting, the oil crisis, global tourism, Internet¡K.etc) make the change of dressing style. In 2010 no matter is girls or boys in Taiwan, they take dressing and makeup for granted. The outline of this study is about the development of makeup style and aesthetic during this 55 years. This research uses historical research method and literature analysis method and is also divided into five major periods by historical time to describe the development of makeup style in Taiwan during 1950 to 2010. This research discussed the changes of makeup style by observing the economy, political society, culture and education. To sum up the conclusions from this research, we can know that the economy, political society, culture and education are the foundation of makeup style. Besides, Productions, promotions and marketing places are the motive force of various makeup style. The evolution of aestheticism about makeup style in Taiwan during 1950 to 2010 are: (1)Makeup behavior is luxurious; (2)Makeup behavior is polite; (3)Cosmetics are daily commodities; (4)Makeup is the representation of an individual style; (5)Makeup can beautify one¡¦s appearance. It can also help people have more confidence and increase their competitiveness in the workplace. I make conclusions from cosmetologists and people¡¦s opinions that the changes of makeup characteristics are: (1)Simplicity; (2) Imitating people blindly; (3)Makeup styles should be suitable for individuals and not imitate other people blindly; (4)Makeup style shows diversification by absorbing foreign fashion and experiences; (5)Makeup style tends to two extremes: elaboration or free style.

Taiwan National Health Insurance system by strictly controlling the total amount of health care, the combination of "Medical" and " cosmeic profession " of two Medical cosmeceutical business, medical institutions have been regarded as the most worthy of our efforts to the develop ment of one of the items at their own expense. In the past, Dermatological clinics and Plastic surgery specialist had the advantages of medical profession;"However, without strict legal restrictions, many medical cosmeceutical have mushroomed rapidly of the setting up, making the medical market is fiercely competitive. In this study, Kaohsiung area for more than 18 years of age to study the population of the research parent body, in the consumer behavior theory and the basis of related literature, the use of EBM model structure, using purposive sampling survey method,Issued a total of 400 questionnaires were obtained 375 valid samples, survey data will be analyzed through statistical methods to explore the demographic variables of consumers, the medical knowledge of beauty, consumer characteristics, the purchase decision-making, purchase of consumer behavior analysis, and differences between single-factor analysis of variables, found that the majority Kaohsiung area women, unmarried women and young mature women,Service industry or business people, college education, monthly income of 2 - 4 million is to become the mainstream of medical cosmetic treatment; accept satisfactory cosmetic medical treatment have 78% will come back to hospital for treatment or to introduce relatives and friends therapy; no accepted medical cosmetic experience in the survey of 184 people, 167 people will consider accepting a medical cosmeic treatment, these are exciting message. This study was designed to explore the consumer demand for medical cosmetic treatments, in the hope of providing for medical cosmetic in the foreseeable future in the marketing strategy formulation and marketing of develop the reference, Blue Ocean strategic thinking in order t o find out the value and innovation in medical cosmetic business model, offering consumers value for money and high quality medical cosmetic, to find their own market position, and avoid vicious competition, and create consumer demand and expansion of medical cosmetic market.