The Symbol of Cosmetic Products as Social Distinction and the False Needs of Shopping for Cosmetics at Department Stores Aroused by Women’s Magazines

Abstract

Cosmetic industry is a dynamic sector, which changes fast with the emergence of new products that are advertised glamorously, and they take place on colorful pages in women’s magazines, which imply to the average female consumer that they can always create a new self by purchasing these cosmetic products. In other words, in the consumer culture, the products that they purchase define consumers, and consumption is seen as an everyday activity, which is done quite frequently (Paterson, 2006). The cosmetic products that women decide to buy carry symbolic meanings, and these meanings are transferred when they consume these products (Iqani, 2012). The consumer culture promises to the female consumer that by buying a variety of goods she can achieve self-enhancement, which will help her to stand out among other people, and she can preserve her self-esteem this way as she will be superior to others (Mooij, 2004). Therefore, this paper aims to make a critique of the consumer culture from the perspective of cosmetic products by showing how women, in fact, use cosmetics as a symbol of distinction and do hedonic shopping at department stores, and how women’s magazines indeed create false needs in their readers for purchasing more cosmetic products by putting a literature review forward.