Research Journal of Recent Sciences _________________________________________________ ISSN 2277-2502 Vol. 4(10), 16-24, October (2015) Res.J.Recent Sci. International Science Congress Association 16 Scrutiny Analysis on Consumer Buying Behavior and Integrated Marketing Communication Strategy in Iranian Cosmetic Sector Miremadi Alireza, Ranjbar Toutouee Shirin, Mozafari Oghani Rosa and Mohammadrashidi Sheida Graduate School of Management Sharif University of Technology, International Campus, IRANAvailable online at: www.isca.in , www.isca.me Received 21st January 2014, revised 5th May2014, accepted 18th December 2014Abstract Today’s Mascara of eye makeup products is a popular cosmetic item for all generations because it can greatly change the impression of eye look by applying it to eyelash directly. So in this paper for the first time we focus on the increasing trendtowards buying more different types of cosmetics, and more specifically Mascara in Iran in the recent years. Furthermore we focus on integrated marketing communication concept, in order to provide assessment of Iranian consumer buying behavior along with the best configuration of promotional package for mascara product which in turn has influential impact on consumer satisfaction, branding, improving sales and gaining further market share. The main purpose of this exploratory is to gain comprehensive frame work for marketers in cosmetic industry, this frame work could guide marketers about the proper promotional activities about mascara product and aware us from the most influential factors of Iranian consumer buying behavior.this study have initiated with exploratory research which use qualitative data and then gradually shifted to descriptive research with respect to the quantitative data. The instruction method for collecting the primary data was questionnaire. However, having a website and online shopping for a business is important and it could help to bring products or services to the right people and to reach the target audience, but according the survey, there is not much interest in online shopping in Iran Empirical studies have shown Quality, reliability, packaging and price are the most important factors that impact on consumer satisfaction about the Mascara. Keywords: Cosmetic, mascara, Iran, IMC, consumer satisfaction, consumer buying behavior, online shopping. IntroductionTwo factors in today’s society which are considered as desirable and admirable traits are beauty and physical attractiveness1,2. One of the innate traits of the most people is considering to one’s physical attractiveness and improving it as much as possible3,4. In contemporary consumer culture, physical appearance seems to be one of the powerful forces for judgments. In personnel and social psychology, some studies have been conducted focusing on physical attractiveness. According to the findings of previous studies related to physical attractiveness, people who are found attractive are behaved better in the society than those who are unattractive. Some studies have shown that there is a positive relationship between personal appearance and positive reactions of the other people towards the attractive ones such as friendship preference as well as romantic attraction. As having friendship preference, romantic attraction, and treating well socially are crucial for most of the people, many individuals seek to enhance their physical appearance and enhance their popularity as an attractive one. Special industries like cosmetics and grooming consider this desirable and admirable factor for aesthetic improvement. To experience social achievement and feeling of success in job and professional situation is one of the common interest among most of the people. To be sexually attractive and to have sensorial pleasure and get rid of dissatisfaction cause individual to pay more attention to their personal appearance8-10. In this regard make up has been a noticeable cosmetic resource in the history11,12. In some studies which have been conducted by R. Mulhern and G. Fieldman cosmetic products helped individuals to appear more attractive and beautiful. In this case, sex differences were also observed. Among the vast numbers of cosmetic products eye make-up has been worn more than others. The attractiveness of the eyes is really important to appear beautiful and attractive. This factor is true for both men and women13. The significance of facial beauty causes individuals to use indispensable makes up products especially mascara, since it changes the impression of eye look remarkably14. As the people ask more for using cosmetics the profits of the cosmetic companies raise yearly around $20 billion, as Kaye L stated in 2010. Cosmetic industry is one of the biggest industries in the world which is growing every day. It has strong effects on personal appearance and social reputation. Egyptians were the first civilizations that used cosmetics in history. Humans are interested in beauty and attractiveness especially the females who are the mass users of cosmetic products particularly mascara. Mascara is one type of eye makeup that makes the eye look more attractive and beautiful. According to this inherent factor we have conducted a research project relating to the use of mascara among Iranian women. As the marketers focus on enhancing strategies to catch the consumers’ attention to their products and make them happy Research Journal of Recent Sciences _____________________________________________________________ ISSN 2277-2502Vol. 4(10), 16-24, October (2015) Res.J.Recent Sci. International Science Congress Association 17 and meet their needs, this study has emphasised on the following matters to find out the best answer by conducting the exact statistical test. What are the key factors that influence on consumer satisfaction of mascara product in Iran market?, To what extent, each elements of promotional activities influence on consumers?, E- Selling or online shopping is appealing to the Iranians?, Which Critical Factors influence on Consumer Buying Behaviour and Attitudes towards Cosmetic Product? Literature Review: Actually, the economy of the communities has been survived and developed over the years because of purchasing beauty care products by both male and female individuals. As the incomes of the consumers rise, they care of their facial appearance more. So the consumer incomes have been spent more to buy beauty care products. The greatest markets of the care products and There are some factors which are significant to have more information about them such as the usage of cosmetics and how much cosmetics effect on the consumers’ attitude and behaviours and the type of cosmetic products which the consumers wear a lot. Marketing strategies play an important role in this industry. Actually, marketing enhances the marketers’ information about the facts that have effects on consumers’ attitude and satisfaction. So, they can provide and meet the consumers’ needs and achieve to the aims of the company to make more profits. History of cosmetic: Beauty, art, fashion, design and poetry have been focused and considered in Persian culture for many years. Famous brands have been used in Iran a lot especially the ones which have been imported from European countries. After Saudi Arabia, the biggest cosmetic market is Iran. Iranian people mainly use cosmetic products made of china, Korea and Turkey although it has got a domestic cosmetic industry. Making and producing cosmetic products referred to 6 thousand years ago. in early modern civilizations making and wearing cosmetics were common among people especially among royal and high class families. Some cosmetic products like face cream, perfumed oils, eyeliners, hair paints, castor oil, lipsticks and lip gloss are ones those individuals enjoyed putting them. However, low class women such as prostitutes started using cosmetics products. Between late 17th and mid 19th century nothing has been changed15. Mascara is a cosmetic product which was originated from ‘kohl’ that had been used by ancient Egyptian and Arabian for clear look of eyes. full understanding of the needs of customers and development of formula appropriate to their needs are essential for the increase and maximization in sales of mascara16. Original definitions of IMC: Four A’s which stands for American Association of Advertising Agencies explained IMC base of the Four A’s agencies’ point of view by generating a combination of task force. To provide clarity, having the same standard, and having the highest communication affect the disciplines of strategic roles which have been assessed by the added value of an understandable plan have been combined. The communication disciplines consist of general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations17. It is significant to know that a concept of marketing communications planning recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan18. Promotion: To convince consumers and give them information and recall them the mix marketing of the products, goods and services are called promotion19. To make products and goods more attractive to the consumers by offering some additional benefits is called sales promotion which is defined as techniques and devices commonly used on a temporary basis. To provide more benefits in cash, in kind, and to offer the services immediately or at a later time, freely or conditionally make the consumers satisfied20. Caring of the customers and consumers satisfaction is one of the crucial factors that must be paid attention to increase sales and other components of marketing mix21. Purchase Behaviour Process: As the picture illustrated three major factors have impact on purchase decision which they are; psychological variables, social influence and purchase situation, the point which we like to mentioned is that among these factors interpersonal variables that drives from both social influence factor and psychological variables has major impact on consumer decision making process which in following we interpret it in detail. Psychological variables Social influences Purchase situation Motivation Perception Learning Attitudes Family Social class Reference group Culture Personality Time Surroundings Figure – 1 Purchase Behavior ProcessThe Importance of Interpersonal Influence on Consumer Behaviour: Social class and subcultures are commonly significant to recognize the consumer behaviour. Actually interpersonal influence is mainly considered in sociological level of group membership. We can divide the psychological studies in three types of individual process level: Direct group pressure and product assessment have been evaluated by the first type. In the second type of the study, perceived characteristics of the products have been determined by indirect social influence as interpersonal determinants. Fishbein and Aizen introduced attitude model which is associated with the third type. In this belief, people state their opinions towards what the consumer should do such as social norms. These Problem Solving Process Person does or does not purchase response Research Journal of Recent Sciences _____________________________________________________________ ISSN 2277-2502Vol. 4(10), 16-24, October (2015) Res.J.Recent Sci. International Science Congress Association 18 beliefs come with behaviour and attitude and they are connected to the social compliance. Social rewards and costs are two terms that individuals have been influenced by them10,22-28Two theoretical points of view have been stated by Kelley, Jones, and Davis. In both perspectives, behaviour is considered as internal, personal causes or external forces. There are some problems in those three types. Social influence effects have related to group pressure and product attribute. A psychological basis for the influence of social norms is suggested by Fishbein Model. Generally speaking, this approach considers individuals as a social actor connected to each other base on different kinds of role relationship29-32. Satisfaction: If the consumers and customers get the value of the products, services and goods which have been offered by the company and they are happy of the products and they get their expectations of the products, services, and goods, we can call this process the customer satisfaction33. What the consumer receives which is called benefits and what he is given which is called price and other costs assess and evaluate the consumers’ satisfaction. This emotional point of view is a positive feeling resulting from the consumption experience34. How Online Trade Is Significant Today: Cosmetic products can be introduced to the people through media, TV programmes rather than face to face interaction35. Online trade and online competitions are common and more effective in today’s marketing. Cosmetic companies can be able to make necessary changes whenever is possible to catch the consumers attention to their products and offer them especial services. Methodology The main aim of this research is to ascertain of the objectives that result could help us to providing comprehensive frame work for marketing of cosmetic products in Iranian market. This framework could guide marketers about the precise and promotional activities about mascara products and aware us from the most influential factors of Iranian consumer buying behavior. This study seeks to address the following questions: What are the key factors that influence on consumer satisfaction of mascara product in Iran market?, To what extent, each elements of promotional activities influence on consumers?, E- Tailing or online shopping is appealing to the Iranians?, Which Critical Factors influence on Consumer Buying Behaviour and Attitudes towards Cosmetic Product? Survey is the method which has been used in this study. A convince sampling method has been conducted as well36. Data were gathered by 1 library method 2-field research37. Interview and distributing questionnaires were two methods for collecting data (primary and secondary data). Five points likert scale has been utilized in the distributed questionnaire. The questionnaire has been rated or scaled from 1 indicates very weak and 5 indicates very good. Furthermore, to find out more about the consumers view and opinions, some open ended questions have been designed. There are 61 questions which have been stated in the questionnaire. The pilot testing has been used by the researcher with 50 questionnaires to find out respondent comprehension from the question. In three big cities such as Tehran, kerman, and Hormozgan, 434 questionnaires have been distributed. SPSS 21.0 has been conducted to manage and analyse data. Measurment: For measuring reliability, Variables derived from test instruments are declared to be reliable only when they provide stable and reliable responses over a repeated administration of the test. The test results showed high reliability when ( �0.7) for our research, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated for all the constructs which resulted shows in table-1. Construct validity of the questionnaire was utilized by exploratory factor analysis which measured by KMO and Bartlett test on an average for all indexes included38. Table – 1 Reliability and Validity AnalysisConstruct Number of Items Cronbach`s Alpha KMO and Bartlett Satisfaction 11 0.772 0.515 Website Satisfaction 8 0.836 0.654 Promotion 14 0.771 0.841 According to the literature, the concept of satisfaction classified from two factors: i. cognitive which compared the value received by consumer with the value perceived, so if the reception value exceed the value perceived results in satisfaction; in this case we help from some factors to evaluate the influence of such factors on consumer satisfaction like: quality, price, superiority, packaging, after selling service, distribution channel, product originality, accuracy of information of company`s website and update information of website by applying the proper statistical inferential reveals the dependency of these factors with consumers satisfaction and about the other factors of satisfaction. ii. Emotional element such as design that can be seen in the product design, packaging and website design or the extent of website user friendly could be effect on the promotional aspect of product overall satisfaction; at the end could say that both aspect of satisfaction concept must be consider from marketers in order to successfulness. Results and Discussion Data Analysis And Interpretation: The results obtained from respondent profile are presented in table-2, the majority of our respondents are placed between ages 18-34, they have B.A educational background and use foreign products and brands such as Bourjois, L’Oreal and Maxfactor which are placed at Research Journal of Recent Sciences ______ ______________________________ Vol. 4(10), 16-24, October (2015) International Science Congress Association the top level of respondents interests taken from the (Arcanciel, Astra, Bourjois, Classic, Clinique, Dior, Evershine, Golden rose, Isadora, Lancom, L’Oreal, Maxfactor, Nivea and Shiseido) brands, furthermore some of respondent have shown int in Iranian mascara such as Cinere, My and Diana. already declared almost 94% of respondent prefer to use the foreign products rather than the domestic products. Table – 2 Profile of Respondent Age Between 18-24 Education BA Product country of origin Iranian brand Foreign brand Mascara brand Bourjois L’Oreal Maxfactor Conceptual Model for Product Accuracy of Information in Website Website Design Website User Friendly ______________________________ __________ _______________ International Science Congress Association the top level of respondents interests taken from the (Arcanciel, Astra, Bourjois, Classic, Clinique, Dior, Evershine, Golden rose, Maxfactor, Nivea and Shiseido) brands, furthermore some of respondent have shown int erested in Iranian mascara such as Cinere, My and Diana. As we have already declared almost 94% of respondent prefer to use the foreign products rather than the domestic products. Percent 45.6 33.2 6.2 93.8 30.9 27.2 12.9 As the statistical inferential proved the majority of Iranian users were attracted by product specifications such brand of foreign products. Table – Market Leader and Follower of Cosmetic brand in Iran Foreign Mascara Brand level Market Leader Bourjois 30.9 Market Followers L`Oreal 27.2 Maxfactor 12.9 isadora 6.9 Table–3 try to introduce market leader and followers of Iranian cosmetic market with respect to the frequency of respondent consumption which the Bourjois capture about 31 percent of Iranian mascara market therefore could name it as market leader of foreign mascara in Iran with f ollower of L’Oreal, Maxfactor and Isadora. Iranian products also have their own market leader and follower which are known as my, as market Leader and Diana, Cinere as market follower respectively Figure-2 Conceptual Model for Product Satisfaction Product Satisfaction Superiority Of Product Quality Price Packaging After Seling Service Distribution Channel Updating Information Of Website Accuracy of Information in Website Product Originality _______________ ISSN 2277-2502 Res.J.Recent Sci. 19 As the statistical inferential proved the majority of Iranian users were attracted by product specifications such as design and 3 Market Leader and Follower of Cosmetic brand in Iran level Iranian Mascara Brand level 30.9 My 3.2 27.2 Cinere 1.6 12.9 Diana 1.4 6.9 market leader and followers of Iranian cosmetic market with respect to the frequency of respondent consumption which the Bourjois capture about 31 percent of Iranian mascara market therefore could name it as market leader ollower of L’Oreal, Maxfactor and Isadora. Iranian products also have their own market leader and follower which are known as my, as market Leader and follower respectively Research Journal of Recent Sciences _____________________________________________________________ ISSN 2277-2502Vol. 4(10), 16-24, October (2015) Res.J.Recent Sci. International Science Congress Association 20 Hypothesis 1: Is there any association between satisfaction and product specification?: To apply regression test, it is advised to use K-S test to find out the distribution of data whether is normally distributed or not. The result indicated that all data’s are normally disturbed since the sig was 0.00., further perquisite statistical test revealed to permit us to run the regression test which is known as Durbin Watson. The Standard Durbin Watson range varies from 1.5 to 2.5 and the model found it as 1.576 which indicates a standard range. The R square indicator shows the power of model that was found was0.968 and proves the substantial confirmation of our model. Hypothesis 2: To investigate the claims of the rankings audience about each of the factors impact on customer satisfaction, Research equip it with Friedman test .The Chi-square test results was found 331.175 and the Sig test was 0.00, therefore researcher can reject the null hypothesis and accept contemporary hypothesis Table - 4 Satisfaction Rank Mean rank Quality Of Product 8.82 Originality Of Product 7.81 Product Packaging 6.92 Superiority Of Product In Comparison With Other Product 6.85 Accuracy Of Information In Website 6.04 Website Design 5.36 Updating Information Of Website 5.20 Website User Friendly Degree 5.08 Distribution Channel 5.06 Price Of Product 4.92 After Selling Service 3.94 In order to rank the satisfaction factors in our model we applied the Friedman test, the statistics inferential shows that from consumer point of view ,by they are moderately satisfied by the quality, originality and design of product .they should mainly commentate more on after selling service , price and distribution channel to gain more market share by applying the cost leadership strategy. It also discovers that the company should improve the company website, online purchasing and online distribution to penetrate in Iranian mascara market. Hypothesis 3: To evaluate the effectiveness lack S of each promotional activity on product:Researcher applied one-sample T test to find out the mean of each variable. As the result of this test illustrate some techniques of advertising have greater and significance impact on mascara product such as informing advertising, sampling, offering free sample and discount methods, these statistics proved that the Iranian consumer are more appealing. It is strongly advised to utilize the discount strategy as one of the vital techniques for fast penetration on each promotional strategy on Mascara product as indicated in table-5. Table – 5 Promotional Techniques on Mascara Product in Iranian Market Variable N Mean t Sig Informing ADV 393 4.00 1.0 19.8 .00 Sponsoring sport event 351 2.70 1.1 -4.9 .00 ADV in important event 342 2.93 1.1 -1.0 .29 ADV by famous person 367 3.48 1.1 7.8 .00 Offering free sample package 371 3.85 1.2 13.7 .00 Sampling 356 4.22 1.0 22.0 .00 Conducting competition 341 3.07 1.1 1.20 .22 Lowering price temporary 355 3.34 1.3 4.9 .00 Introduce product by phone 344 2.52 1.1 -7.6 .00 Discount for special amount of buying 347 3.53 1.0 9.1 .00 Discount for regular client 353 3.63 1.2 9.4 .00 Conduct exhibition 346 3.65 1.1 10.4 .00 Offering coupons 345 3.57 1.3 8.0 .00 Hypothesis 4: To Measure the Factors Impact on Consumer Buying Behaviour in Iranian Mascara Market: The chi-square test was employed for testing and if P value is less than 0.05 it means that the factors like behavior and attitudes of seller has important influence on consumer. Furthermore it indicates that the interpersonal skill is a significant player in marketing of products and successfulness of sales. The factors such as friend, family, reference group and satellite dish are major recommendation roles recommendation n word of mouth as the results are shown in table–6. Research Journal of Recent Sciences _____________________________________________________________ ISSN 2277-2502Vol. 4(10), 16-24, October (2015) Res.J.Recent Sci. International Science Congress Association 21 Table - 6 Chi-Square Tests Value df sig Pearson Chi-Square 174.899 20 .000 Likelihood Ratio 126.447 20 .000 Linear-by-Linear Association 6.946 1 .008 N of Valid Cases 400 As the result shows the hypothesis not accepted therefore alternative is accepted and two variables are dependents. Table - 7 Online Shopping Barriers in Iran Why Internet Shopping Is Less Percent Lack Of Reliable Website 26 Website’s Product Having No Warranty 18 Couldn’t Purchase From Original Website Because Of Sanction 17 Company’s Online Channel Don’t Answer To Complaints 16.5 People Don’t Have Literacy Of Using Internet 5.5 Lack Of Awareness ADV From Company About Its Website 5.3 People Don’t Aware Of Internet As Shopping Channel 4.6 People Don’t Have Acquaintance With English Language 3.8 Don’t Have Internet Bank Account 3.3 Total 100.0 As everybody knows internet opens a new channel for shopping that is so comfortable and affordable, unfortunately it is not common and popular shopping channel in IRAN market yet. This question encouraged us to investigate the barrier of online shopping among the Iranian respondents from cosmetic consumption point of view. Table-7 has shown the respondent state that lack of reliability of websites, warranty for product and accessibility to product`s website due to sanction respectively are the most vital reasons that make online shopping unsuccessful in IRAN. Table - 8 Way of Acquaintance with Website How did you know about the website Percent Randomly 36.2 By Product Manual 19.6 By Friends And Acquaintances 17.2 By Article In Newspaper and Magazine 15 By ADV On The Internet 18.5 Total 100.0 Use of internet as a selling channel has a significant advantages for companies for instance, No need for a physical location, 24 hours and all days of week, developing better relationship with consumer and gain beneficial information, expanding the market with the Low cost and in the shortest time and so on, therefore knowing the ways which consumer aware from website could be useful to reinforce the Strengths and reduce weaknesses in our website informing strategy. according to table- 8, respondent state that they aware from existence of companies website, randomly through their search in the web or Google it, by product manual and ADV in the internet then statistics reveal the lack of informative ADV in this situation that should be considered from marketers and companies. Table-9 Website Appealing Factor Most appealing factors attract visitors to the company`s website percent Special selling program 18 Attractive design 12 Search about product information 12.3 Addressing complaints 3.3 Search for news 30 Search a sales representative 20.3 Search about company 0.1 Purchasing 4 total 100.0 As the percent indicated in table-9, the most appealing factor to use company websites are classified as such as search for sales Research Journal of Recent Sciences _____________________________________________________________ ISSN 2277-2502Vol. 4(10), 16-24, October (2015) Res.J.Recent Sci. International Science Congress Association 22 representative, special selling program and search for product information respectively, hence the marketers should design website with take into consideration those factors who captured less precent in their website appealing and improve it accordingly to sustain or develop the market share.It is extracted from the questionnaire that the most important and effective factors on the way consumers buy and their points of view to cosmetic products are really crucial. In this case, duration of consumption, how often users launch products, product introduction to consumers, just remarkable difference or threshold difference for incremental prices are stated through the questionnaire. Iranian preferences in cosmetic market, points of purchase in Iranian market, the reaction of the cosmetic users towards complains, the points of view of the retailer and sale force to the user request are considered in the data analyses. Table-10 Good Marketing Hints1.Duration of consumption Percent 1-3 years 51.8 2.How often buy a product Every 4-6 month 52.8 3.How the product introduced By Sales person 29.3 4.(JND) or difference threshold %10 26.7 5.Most place for purchasing product Cosmetic stores 49.1 6.point of purchase(pop) in Iranian market Go to shopping center 88.2 7.Sales Force Attitude Barely acceptable 43.3 There is interesting point to know that about half of people states that they buy mascara every 1-3 years while near to 77% respondent showed that they duration of consumption are between 2-6 months and this statistics show that they buy different brands of mascara, but why they do so, one reason t could be addressed in pricing matter, Therefore to gain loyal consumer in Iranian market, Cosmetic producer should equip them self with variety of promotional tools especially informative advertising. The other supportive evidence indicated that the substantial power of interpersonal relationship on consumer behavior which state that near to 57% product introducing were conducted by friends and sales person, hence should be care about the effect of word of mouth and improved the sales person interpersonal skills. How much would be appealing for the consumers, 26% of respondent state 10% discount is enough to attract them and near to 50% says 20-25% discount would be appealing. Which place is the best for selling mascara, about 89% respondent agreed the company`s representative and cosmetic store are the best places to purchase them, therefore expanding of agencies would be great strategy for attracting consumer; hence the companies can apply cross selling and up selling by this strategy. Online shopping is emphasized in this research and the 88% of respondent stated that they like to go to shopping center to buy their product and researcher discovered that places such as supermarket, pharmacies and chain store are not good place for selling mascara because the respondent desired and trusted from companies’ representative and cosmetic stores. the another interesting point is to understand the effectiveness of behaviour and interpersonal skills of sales person to influence consumers’ decision of buying product, the attitude of sales persons according to respondent point of view, it t is barely acceptable it has excellent capacity for further work and instruction on it. Table-11 Customer Reaction about to their Complaint Customer Reaction Toward Their Complains Percent about the product`s disadvantage(Negative WOM) 25.1 I don’t give up foe what i want to buy 7.4 I never buy the product again, but don`t say anything to others 12.7 I won`t lodge a complaint, because I know that No one answer me 14.5 I will lodge a complaint by phone 6.2 I will lodge a complaint in person 34.1 Total 100 Due to negative impact of word of mouth on sales and brand image, every cosmetic company are trying to prevent from such event. The outcome reveals that 34% of people prefer to lodge complaint face to face, 25% of respondents relied more on negative word of mouth and interesting point is that 14.5% of respondent believed that nobody hear their complaint. The study can conclude that more than half of Iranian consumer don`t like to publicity their problems, hence as a marketers should take into consideration the encouragement and being aware from this matter. Research Journal of Recent Sciences _____________________________________________________________ ISSN 2277-2502Vol. 4(10), 16-24, October (2015) Res.J.Recent Sci. International Science Congress Association 23 Conclusion This study focus on the increasing trend towards buying more different types of cosmetics, and more specifically Mascara in Iran in the recent years. This study provides insight into the most influential factors of Iranian consumer buying behavior on cosmetics, mainly mascara. Satisfaction is crucial concern for both customers and cosmetic suppliers. Customer satisfaction is the key aim in selling process. This study measured customer satisfaction levels using survey techniques and questionnaires. In this regard, a variety of measured factors have been taken into account to study the customer satisfaction. These factors are as follow: quality, price, superiority, packaging, after selling service, distribution channel, product originality ,accuracy of information of company`s website and update information of website. The test results indicate that there is a correlation between these factors and the customer satisfaction. According to then statistical inferential, a large fraction of users of cosmetics in Iran are young people between ages18-34, interested in specific foreign-branded product (i.e., Bourjois, L’Oreal and Maxfactor, placed at the top level of the list). Consequently, the design architecture can in fact play an important role attracting young customers. However, according to the test results, quality, originality and design of product can moderately influence consumer satisfaction. Although our empirical results do not provide strong support for the influence of these factors on customer satisfaction, yet quality, originality and product design should still be considered important by companies. On the other hand, according to the empirical results there is a moderate correlation between consumer satisfaction and factors such as price of product, distribution channel and after selling service. Hence, any attempt toward an application of cost leadership or cost focus strategy leads to more successful sales and higher market share. Also, one of the importance’s of having a website for a business is to bring products or services to the right people and to reach the target audience. However, according the survey, there is not much interest in online shopping in Iran. This could be explained by the lack of reliability of websites, warranty for product and accessibility to product`s website as a result of imposed sanctions against Iran. Moreover, this study examines the effectiveness of different methods of advertising on mascara products in Iran. The results indicate that sampling, providing free sample, discount methods and advertising by reference groups can positively impact consumers to purchase products and brands. In addition, this study shows that there is a high correlation between personal attitudinal and behavioral characteristics of salespeople and consumer buying decisions. Thus it is possible to anticipate the beneficial strategy to buy cosmetic products which are selected by friends, media, and advertisement, and salespeople in Iranian market. References Joy V.A.A., Postmodernism, Feminism, The visible and the invisible in consumer research, 333-3357 (1994) H.E.S.S, Mirror ... 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