THE INFLUENCE OF SEXUAL APPEAL IN ADVERTISING TOWARDS MALAYSIAN COSMETIC PRODUCT BUYING BEHAVIOUR LAW TSU PIN JASMINE KOH CHIA MIN LIM JOO HONG A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE BACHELOR OF COMMUNICATION (HONS) ADVERTISING FACULTY OF ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN DECEMBER. 2020 THE INFLUENCE OF SEXUAL APPEAL IN ADVERTISING TOWARDS MALAYSIAN COSMETIC PRODUCT BUYING BEHAVIOUR LAW TSU PIN JASMINE KOH CHIA MIN LIM JOO HONG A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE BACHELOR OF COMMUNICATION (HONS) ADVERTISING FACULTY OF ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN DECEMBER. 2020 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It would be impossible to complete this research without the assistance and cooperation of a host of individuals and organization. Therefore, we are deeply thankful to Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman for giving us this opportunity to partake in this final year project. Besides, we would like to express our deep and sincere gratitude to our supervisor, Ms Cheryl for her valuable and constructive suggestions during the planning and development of this research work. It was a great privilege and honor to do this research and learn under her guidance. We are extremely grateful to our parents for their caring, word of encouragement and supporting us throughout this process of research work. Last but not least, a special thanks to all the interviewees who were kind and willing enough to share their precious time and experiences with us during the interview process. This thesis has been completed by having all of your efforts and contributions. LAW TSU PIN JASMINE KOH CHIA MIN LIM JOO HONG APPROVAL FORM This research paper attached hereto, entitled “The influence of sexual appeal in advertising towards malaysian cosmetic product buying behaviour” prepared and submitted by” Law Tsu Pin, Jasmine Koh Chia Min and Lim Joo Hong” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Communication (Hons) Advertising is hereby accepted. _____________________ Date:14th April 2020 Supervisor Cheryl a/p Chelliah Thiruchelvam i Abstract Sexual appeal advertisement is always a sensitive topic in Malaysia, this qualitative study aims to explore the perception of different races in Malaysia on sexual appeal advertisement and their opinion towards the impact of sexual appeal in cosmetic products on their buying behaviour. In order to find out whether sexual appeal advertisement is appropriate to advertise cosmetic products and how sexual appeal advertisement influence Malaysian buying behaviour. Based on the literature review of sexual appeal advertising in Malaysia and theory of planned behaviour, phenomenological research design was used. The data was collected by using email interview and conducted with 9 interviewees from different cities of Malaysia to explore individual’s perception about sexual appeal advertisements. Additionally, thematic analysis has been used to identify the useful information from the collected data in this research. Findings show that the perception of different races in Malaysia on sexual appeal advertisement might differ due to the differences of religions and sexual appeal advertisement does not influence Malaysian buying behaviour of cosmetic products. Keywords: Sexual Appeal Advertisement, Buying Behaviour, Malaysia, Perception, Cosmetic product. ii DECLARATION I declare that the material contained in this paper is the end result of my own work and that due acknowledgement has been given in the bibliography and references to ALL sources be they printed, electronic or personal. Name : LAW TSU PIN Student ID: 16AAB03440 Signed : ____________________ Name : JASMINE KOH CHIA MIN Student ID: 18AAB03783 Signed : ____________________ Name : LIM JOO HONG Student ID: 18AAB05699 Signed : ____________________ Date : 14th APRIL 2020 Table of Contents Page Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... v Declaration …………………………………………………………………………………...ii Chapter One: Introduction 1.0 Background of Study ......................................................................................................... 1 1.0.1 Advertising .................................................................................................................... 1 1.0.2 Sexual Appeal in Advertising ....................................................................................... 2 1.0.3 Sexual Appeal Advertising in Cosmetic Product .......................................................... 4 1.1 Problem Statement............................................................................................................. 5 1.2 Research Objectives ........................................................................................................... 9 1.3 Research Questions ............................................................................................................ 9 1.4 Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................... 9 1.5 Significance of the study .................................................................................................. 10 1.6 Terms of definition ........................................................................................................... 11 1.6.1 Sexual appeal advertising ............................................................................................ 11 1.6.2 Buying behaviour ........................................................................................................ 11 1.7 Limitation ......................................................................................................................... 12 1.8 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter Two: Literature Review 2.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 14 2.1 Sexual Appeal Advertising .............................................................................................. 14 2.2 Sexual Appeal Advertising in Malaysia ......................................................................... 16 2.3 Buying Behaviour............................................................................................................. 18 2.4 Theory of Planned Behaviour Theory ........................................................................... 19 2.4.1 Behaviour Beliefs (Attitude) ....................................................................................... 20 2.4.2 Normative Belief (Subjective Norms)......................................................................... 21 2.4.3 Control Belief (Perceived Behaviour Control)............................................................ 21 2.4.4 Limitation & Solution ................................................................................................. 22 2.4.5 Inclusion of Emotion Towards Advertisement ........................................................... 23 2.4.6 Inclusion of Perceived Value ...................................................................................... 23 2.5 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................... 23 2.6 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 24 Chapter Three: Methodology 3.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 26 3.1 Research Design ............................................................................................................... 26 3.2 Sampling ........................................................................................................................... 29 3.2.1 Sampling Method ........................................................................................................ 29 3.3 Instrumentation................................................................................................................ 30 3.4 Procedure of Data Collection .......................................................................................... 32 3.5 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 33 3.5.1 Thematic Analysis ....................................................................................................... 33 3.5.2 Familiarization with The Data..................................................................................... 33 3.5.3 Generation of Initial Codes ......................................................................................... 34 3.5.4 Searching for Themes.................................................................................................. 34 3.5.5 Reviewing Themes ...................................................................................................... 35 3.5.6 Defining and Naming Themes .................................................................................... 35 3.5.7 Producing the Report ................................................................................................... 35 3.6 Pilot Test ..........................................................................................................................