Abstract
The purposes of this study were to investigate the social instrumentality of appearance, appearance orientation, and cosmetics purchasing behaviors of Chinese male consumers, and to find differences in the cosmetics purchasing behaviors of the male consumer groups, which were segmented by the social instrumentality of appearance and appearance orientation. The subjects were 400 adult males in their 20s to 30s from Gillim province in China. The measurements consisted of the social instrumentality of appearance, appearance orientation, cosmetics purchasing behavior, and the subject' demographic attributes. The data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, $x^2$ test, multiple response analysis, cluster analysis, ANOVA, and Duncan's multiple range test, using SPSS program. The results were as follows. First, young Chinese male consumers had a high sense of the social instrumentality of appearance, but the tendency to invest time and effort to enhance their looks was still low. Second, on the basis of the social instrumentality of appearance and appearance orientation, young Chinese male consumers were classified into four groups (high involvement group, instrumentality group, orientation group, and low involvement group). Third, the four male consumer groups revealed many significant differences in various cosmetic purchasing behaviors (purchasing items, information sources, product selection criteria, purchasing motives, purchasing locations, store selection criteria, purchasing price, purchasing frequency, and cosmetics improvements). Therefore, the social instrumentality of appearance and appearance orientation are seen as significant variables to effectively segment the Chinese male consumer market. The cosmetics companies targeting young Chinese men need to establish differentiated marketing strategies, considering the characteristics of each segment of the consumer market.
