This study aims to synthesize and empirically verify the effects of the key attributes of social media (SNS) beauty marketing—entertainment, credibility, and informativeness—on consumers' product purchase intentions through a comprehensive meta-an...
This study aims to synthesize and empirically verify the effects of the key attributes of social media (SNS) beauty marketing—entertainment, credibility, and informativeness—on consumers' product purchase intentions through a comprehensive meta-analysis. While numerous studies have examined the persuasive impact of SNS marketing, their findings have often been inconsistent due to differences in research design, measurement scales, and cultural or platform-specific contexts. Therefore, this study integrates fragmented empirical results to provide a statistically robust understanding of how distinct marketing attributes influence consumer decision-making processes in the context of beauty products.
A total of 82 independent studies published between 2010 and 2025 were included, yielding 97 effect sizes that met the inclusion criteria. The random-effects model was employed to account for heterogeneity across studies, and the Fisher's z transformation method was used for effect size integration. Publication bias and model stability were assessed through Egger's regression test, Trim-and-Fill correction, and leave-one-out sensitivity analyses. The overall model showed excellent convergence and explanatory power, with low Akaike (AIC) and Bayesian (BIC) information criteria values, indicating the robustness of the findings.
The meta-analytic results revealed that all three attributes exerted significant positive effects on product purchase intention, though their relative magnitudes differed. Entertainment exhibited the highest effect (r=0.58, 95% CI[0.51, 0.64]), confirming that enjoyable, emotionally engaging, and aesthetically appealing content promotes greater consumer immersion and persuasive impact. The pooled effect size of credibility was r=0.56(95% CI [0.51, 0.61]), suggesting that consumers' perceptions of authenticity, transparency, and expertise in beauty-related content significantly enhance their intention to purchase. Informativeness, while showing a comparatively moderate effect (r=0.52, 95% CI[0.48, 0.55]), played a crucial cognitive role by increasing consumers' perceived usefulness and product understanding, thus reinforcing rational decision-making.
Heterogeneity analysis indicated substantial variability among studies (I2 values exceeding 80% for all three sub-analyses), reflecting differences in platforms (Instagram, YouTube, TikTok), source types (influencers vs. brands), and measurement dimensions (emotional appeal, expertise, honesty, or content clarity). Nevertheless, the direction of effects remained consistent across all subgroups, demonstrating strong generalizability of the findings. Sensitivity and bias corrections confirmed the robustness of the integrated results, suggesting that no single study disproportionately influenced the overall effect estimates.
The findings of this study suggest that SNS beauty marketing operates through dual persuasive routes, integrating both affective and cognitive mechanisms. Entertainment and credibility primarily engage emotional pathways by fostering enjoyment and trust, whereas informativeness activates rational evaluation processes by delivering useful and reliable information. These dual routes collectively enhance consumers' purchase intentions through emotional resonance, trust-based engagement, and cognitive validation.
From a practical perspective, this study emphasizes the necessity of balancing these three attributes in SNS marketing strategies. Brands should design emotionally engaging and aesthetically rich content, build authenticity-based relationships with followers, and provide concise yet reliable product information. Moreover, future research should extend these findings by exploring mediating mechanisms such as consumer engagement, brand trust, and parasocial interaction, as well as moderating factors including cultural context, platform type, and content format.
In conclusion, this meta-analysis provides comprehensive quantitative evidence that entertainment, credibility, and informativeness are the three foundational pillars of persuasive beauty marketing in social media environments. Together, they form an integrated framework that drives consumer attitudes and purchase intentions in the digital beauty ecosystem.