How Emotional Branding by Beauty Influencers Affect Buying Behaviour of Gen Z Women?

Sharma, Sonia (2025) How Emotional Branding by Beauty Influencers Affect Buying Behaviour of Gen Z Women? Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

The way beauty influencers emotionally connect with audiences on platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube is changing how Gen Z women shop, especially for skincare and cosmetics (Pan et al., 2025). This study focuses on how emotional branding, through elements like storytelling, vulnerability, trust and relatability, shapes the buying behaviour of Gen Z women. While influencer marketing is well-established, fewer studies explore the emotional dynamics within influencer content that impact how young women feel and decide. This research helps fill that gap by looking at how emotional responses translate into actual purchase decisions.

Being rooted in prior research (Shah et al., 2023; Racine, 2021; Kim and Sullivan, 2019), this study used a quantitative method through a structured online survey. Respondents were women aged 18 to 28 who actively follow beauty influencers. The questionnaire explored emotional responses like trust and persona connection, alongside behaviours like clicking on links, using promo codes, and repeat purchases.

Key findings revealed that most Gen Z women engage regularly with influencer content, follow several influencers, and feel emotionally connected to at least one. Emotional storytelling, especially content that showed real struggles like acne or self-doubt, was found to build higher trust and influence. Many participants admitted to purchasing not just because of product quality, but because some of their emotions got moved with the way an influencer was promoting it. Also, micro-influencers were viewed as more relatable and trustworthy compared to celebrities. However, it has also been found that emotional branding backfires when it feels fake or overly commercial. When influencers lacked consistency or authenticity, it results in drop in trust, supporting previous claims by Buckley et al. (2024) and Knoll and Matthes (2017) on the importance of emotional credibility in digital influence.

This research shows that emotional branding is a core driver in Gen Z’s beauty purchasing behaviour. It offers a strong foundation for both academics and marketers to better understand how trust, identity fit, and emotional resonance impact consumer choices, and how in the world of beauty marketing, genuine emotional stories can hold more power than polished advertising.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Supervisors:	Name Email Sands, Stephen UNSPECIFIED
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > Psychology H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Marketing > Consumer Behaviour H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > Specific Industries > Cosmetics Industry H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Marketing Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > ZA Information resources > ZA4150 Computer Network Resources > The Internet > World Wide Web > Websites > Online social networks T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering > Telecommunications > The Internet > World Wide Web > Websites > Online social networks
Divisions:	School of Business (- 2025) > Master of Science in Marketing
Depositing User:	Ciara O'Brien
Date Deposited:	14 Feb 2026 12:35
Last Modified:	14 Feb 2026 12:35
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/9150

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