- 06/02/2017
- Category: Commentaries
The beauty industry is a recently rising industry which managed to earn more than 62.46 billion USD in 2016.[1] This number has significantly increased in the last decade. With product and market development rapidly entering and targeting new consumers, along with merging itself with the technology sector, the industry showed its capability to adapt. Technology has an important impact towards consumption behavior and societal interactions within the beauty industry. It’s important to understand the role of beauty-communities, global communities which are emerging from all over the world that is molding a new consumption behavior through a series of interactions.
For a long time, the beauty industry and its products have always been known for its exclusiveness—it targeted limited customers, and their products were focused on women, at the time cosmetics were seen as a sign of professionalism and aesthetic that complements women. Little information about beauty products can be obtained unless people paid a visit to beauty counters or consultants.[2] However, as the new beauty communities emerged digitally, it affected the beauty industry not merely in what they produce but in their consumers’ pool as well. The online community shapes a rather inclusive environment that normalizes the use of beauty products such as makeup on a daily basis. In the last half decade, we have witnessed how beauty products are not limited to women anymore; men became part of the trend and could equally enjoy the products. The extent of the pattern could also be seen from the age range of consumers. Nowadays, by the data given, beauty products consumers could be as young as 11 to19 years old and the numbers of these young consumers have been rising.[3]
These changes made it necessary for us to understand how online beauty communities revamped the industry. Beauty communities are creating a platform that mediates beauty enthusiasts. These platforms serve the purpose of information sharing among beauty enthusiasts and the general public. It could be easily accessed through a variety of blogs, Instagram accounts, and YouTube, which shows that social media took a footing in channeling the creativity of these communities. Their topics which they represent range diversely, from health and beauty lifestyle, makeup tutorials, fashion advice, to personal reviews on beauty products. The message which the community upholds is how beauty belongs to everyone and transforming the idea of exclusivity into a way to express oneself or a personal statement. This transformation creates a more inclusive space for the society, with this worldwide shared enthusiasm being rebranded as a form of artistry. According to Rheingold, this unity of these grassroots’ groups rediscover the power of cooperation, turning cooperation into a game, a way of life–a merger of knowledge capital, social capital, and communion.[4]
The community removes current restrictions on how people perceive beauty products; these largely growing communities illustrate how beauty products—whether it is makeup or skin treatment—are also part of everyday consumption. This definition of consumption changes were defined by Featherstone as how the rapid flow of signs and images which saturate the fabric of daily life in contemporary society reconstructed the notion of what could be categorized as everyday needs.[v] In Indonesia, it can be seen how active these communities are, by engaging in discussions or through promotion on social media. These communities discuss large varieties of beauty products and the information is published on social media platforms.[vi] It creates a navigation forum to inform future buyers regarding the quality of certain products.
The emergence of online communities is a phenomenon that illustrates the widening of human interaction space. This online beauty community becomes what was described by Toffler as a prosumer society which is a condition where there is no clear distinction between producers and consumers at the same time.[vii] They are the representation of this beauty community or the beauty influencers who are both consumers but play an important part in the distribution of beauty products. The existence of these communities, which profoundly affect the activities outside of the Internet, is a step towards the formation of what Sociologist Zygmund Bauman defined as Liquid Modernity, a liquid chamber that follows the flow of the technology sector in human activities.[viii] Liquid modernity is being used to describe the rapid movement of globalization and involvement of technology. Instead of using the term postmodern to explain modernization, Bauman emphasized on the liquidity of modernization, a fluid world of globalization, deregulation and individualization, as well as the lack of formality from these informal unions which can be seen from the rising prosumers.[ix]
However, Bauman does not fully see the alteration as a positive transformation. He criticized the involvement of the market as how it is one of the sectors which benefited the most from the establishment of Liquid Modernity. In line with Marxist perspective, the market driven condition is lacking structure, not to mention it is consistently overthrowing the economy, culture, and relationship.[x] Bauman expressed how the consumption behaviors of these liquid identities—that include the prosumers society, represent the exploitative economic model where its actors are unaware of their economic roles. People unknowingly had lost the boundaries between market space restrictions, buyers, and sellers. According to him, this is a mechanism of capitalism that changes how humans’ unconscious interactions are beyond their control. [xi] Hence, the proliferation of the prosumers – beauty communities – are actually redefining the borders in economic activities, especially consumption; according to Bauman. Despite such contesting debates on whether it brings more harm than good, we can grasp a better idea on the transitioning process of consumption in the economy which results from the emergence of beauty communities.
However, through Indonesia’s emerging market lens, these communities formed a new identity that represented their enthusiasm of the people in making more informed choices. The advent of these communities in Indonesia could potentially affect the rise of digital entrepreneurial ideas as the condition provides opportunities for businesses to grow. Many of these prosumers beauty influencers became part of the chain of production as they started to take part in producing their products under their brands. Talib pointed out that in the development perspective, the pattern of arising prosumer has been used by emerging markets to enlarge its market and promote economic growth through creating a pro-consumer environment.[xii] It can be seen from the economic activity of local companies such as Martha Tilaar which has recorded a rise in net worth since 2016. In recent years, the beauty industry has shown promising growth as it utilized the momentum of the expansion of local beauty communities.[xiii] Moving towards Indonesia’s economic diversification in society-oriented entrepreneurial business, the emergence of the prosumer supported by the existence of online communities became a distinct advantage for Indonesia.
Picture: pexels.com
References
[1] Statista. (2016). Beauty industry: revenue. 2002-2016 | Statistic. [online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/243742/revenue-of-the-cosmetic-industry-in-the-us/ [Accessed 29 Jan. 2017].
[2] Herlinda, W. (2017). Indonesia: ‘Hot Spot’ Pasar Kosmetika Global pada 2019. [online] Bisnis.com. Available at: http://lifestyle.bisnis.com/read/20170114/220/619447/indonesia-hot-spot-pasar-kosmetika-global-pada-2019 [Accessed 27 Jan. 2017].
[3] Shapouri, B. (2017). The Way We Buy Beauty Now How millennial skepticism is revolutionizing the beauty industry, one purchase at a time. [online] Racked. Available at: http://www.racked.com/2016/5/26/11674106/buying-beauty-sephora-department [Accessed 27 Jan. 2017].
[4] Rheingold, H. (1993). The virtual community. 1st ed. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., p.113.
[v] Featherstone, M. (2007). Consumer culture and postmodernism. 1st ed. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, p.67.
[vi] Herlinda, W. (2017). Bangkitnya Label Makeup Independen di Indonesia. [online] Bisnis.com. Available at: http://lifestyle.bisnis.com/read/20160625/220/561249/bangkitnya-label-makeup-independen-di-indonesia [Accessed 27 Jan. 2017].
[vii] Toffler, A. (1984). Future shock. 3rd ed. New York: Random House, p.56.
[viii] Bauman, Z. and Bauman, L. (2011). Culture in a liquid modern world. 1st ed. Cambridge, UK: Polity. p. 20
[ix] Jacobsen, M. and Poder, P. (2008). The sociology of Zygmunt Bauman. 1st ed. Aldershot, England: Ashgate. p.19
[x] Beilharz, P. (2000). Zygmunt Bauman: Dialectic of Modernity. 1st ed. London: Sage, p.74.
[xi] Bauman, Z. (2000). Liquid modernity. 1st ed. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, p.31
[xii] Talib. R, and Tan, C. (1995). Dimensions of tradition and development in Malaysia. 1st ed. Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications, p.35.
[xiii] Investments (2016). Cosmetic Industry: Martina Berto, Mandom Indonesia & Mustika Ratu | Indonesia Investments. [online] Indonesia-investments.com. Available at: http://www.indonesia-investments.com/id/news/todays-headlines/cosmetic-industry-martina-berto-mandom-indonesia-mustika-ratu/item6793 [Accessed 27 Jan. 2017].
