Sensory marketing in the world of social media : A qualitative study to examine if companies can attract girls in generation Z by using sensory marketing on their social media platforms

Abstract: The beauty industry has been around for centuries and keeps growing and developing daily. The industry has not been slowing down during the spread of the virus covid-19 but has had a fast platform change. Most brands today are available online and promoted by influencers on social media platforms. However, the question remains if it is achievable to get an equivalent experience of beauty products that one would get in-store online as when scrolling on social media.The purpose of this study was to see how beauty companies work with sensory marketing on their own and through influencers' social media platforms, with the effect of captivating young women's interest in their products and brand. The question of whether the effect of sensory marketing and the persona that influencers effuse on beauty products was a new gap. It was also interesting to see if customers are affected by sensory marketing and influencers when making an online beauty purchase decision. Beauty products are personal and specific and often seen as complex to buy online since they have particular formulations, scents, and colors. The empirical findings are conducted through a pilot interview with an extensive beauty company in the Swedish beauty sector. The interview with the head of sales gave the ground information and peeked into the workaround influencer and sensory marketing. Then that information could be used as a base for the questions in structured customer interviews. The findings were then presented and analyzed with the literature review to make a final result and answer the question.The conclusion of the thesis showed that the young women in generation Z were a part of the online beauty movement. Considering that most young women followed influencers where they got to learn, explore and get an insight, they could easily make purchase decisions. The result showed a positive effect on the combinations of influencers and sensory marketing on generation Z due to their perception. The result also showed a more significant effect on the trust of a persona than sensory marketing, as getting to know the influencer's personality had a more significant impact than something being aesthetically pleasing.