TikTok Becomes an Important Channel for Beauty Brands
Social media has become an increasingly important part of how young consumers discover and evaluate beauty and body-care products. Generation Z, in particular, frequently encounters product information, reviews, recommendations, and promotional content through platforms such as TikTok.
The study places this trend within Indonesia’s growing body-care market. It notes that more than 73.8% of Generation Z in Indonesia actively follow beauty and body-care accounts on social media, with TikTok among the platforms receiving strong attention. The Indonesian body-care market was also projected to generate about US$180.03 million in revenue in 2025.
For The Body Shop, maintaining consumer awareness has become an important challenge. The study highlights a decline in the brand’s Top Brand Index for body butter and cream products. The reported figure fell from 45.8% in 2021 to 27.5% in 2025, while competing brands such as Scarlett and Vaseline recorded stronger positions during the same period.
The researchers also observed differences in TikTok live-session engagement. In observations cited in the article, The Body Shop’s official account had around five concurrent viewers, compared with approximately 16 for Vaseline and 193 for Scarlett. The observation provided additional context for examining how social media activity could influence brand awareness and consumer interest.
How the Research Was Conducted
Sabrina Aghni Nurony and Hariyadi Triwahyu Putra used a quantitative approach involving 120 Generation Z respondents in the Greater Bandung area.
The respondents were between 18 and 28 years old, active TikTok users, and familiar with The Body Shop Body Butter or Cream products. Data were collected through a questionnaire using a five-point response scale.
The researchers examined three main factors: social media marketing, brand awareness, and purchase intention. They analyzed the responses using statistical tests, including regression analysis and a Sobel test to determine whether brand awareness mediated the relationship between social media marketing and purchase intention.
The questionnaire also demonstrated acceptable reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.762 for social media marketing, 0.771 for brand awareness, and 0.704 for purchase intention.
Social Media Marketing Strengthens Brand Awareness
The results showed a strong positive relationship between social media marketing and brand awareness.
The social media marketing variable recorded an overall mean score of 3.97, indicating a high level of respondent agreement. The highest-rated aspect was the consistency of information presented on social media with the actual benefits of the product, which received a mean score of 4.07.
The statistical analysis showed that social media marketing had a significant positive effect on brand awareness, with a regression coefficient of 0.801 and a significance value below 0.001.
In practical terms, the findings indicate that informative, interactive, entertaining, credible, and consistent TikTok content can help consumers recognize and remember a brand more strongly.
Brand Awareness Also Influences Purchase Intention
Brand awareness was also positively associated with purchase intention.
Respondents gave brand awareness an overall mean score of 3.98. The highest-rated statement was related to considering The Body Shop Body Butter/Cream as one of the options for treating dry skin.
Purchase intention itself recorded an overall mean of 3.94. Respondents showed the strongest interest in seeking additional product information through TikTok, with a mean score of 4.09.
Regression results showed that social media marketing directly influenced purchase intention, while brand awareness also had a significant positive effect. Social media marketing had a coefficient of 0.445 with a significance value below 0.001, while brand awareness had a coefficient of 0.198 with a significance value of 0.012.
The Sobel test further showed that brand awareness significantly mediated the relationship between social media marketing and purchase intention. The reported Z value was 2.520, exceeding the critical value of 1.9803, with a significance value of 0.0117.
What the Findings Mean for Brands
The findings suggest that TikTok marketing can influence consumers in two connected ways. First, effective social media content can directly encourage consumers to consider purchasing a product. Second, the same content can strengthen brand awareness, which subsequently contributes to purchase intention.
For The Body Shop and similar beauty and body-care brands, the findings highlight the importance of creating TikTok content that is informative, interactive, and entertaining. Authentic customer testimonials may also help strengthen brand recall and credibility.
The researchers recommend that brands monitor engagement indicators such as views, likes, and interactions systematically. Building an active TikTok community through challenges and two-way communication can also help create stronger relationships between brands and consumers.
Sabrina Aghni Nurony and Hariyadi Triwahyu Putra from Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani emphasize the importance of optimizing TikTok content rather than relying solely on product promotion. Their findings indicate that social media communication can become more valuable when it strengthens the way consumers recognize and remember a brand.
The study is limited to Generation Z consumers in the Greater Bandung area and focuses specifically on TikTok. The authors suggest that future research could examine consumers in other regions, compare TikTok with platforms such as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, and consider additional factors such as brand trust, customer engagement, and perceived quality.
Author Profile
Sabrina Aghni Nurony is affiliated with the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani. Her research in this article focuses on social media marketing, brand awareness, and purchase intention among Generation Z consumers.
Hariyadi Triwahyu Putra is affiliated with the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani and served as the supervisor of the research. The article does not explicitly state a specific field of expertise for either author beyond the research area presented in the publication.
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