Effect of Deceptive Marketing on Women's Buying Behavior: Evidence in the Nigeria Cosmetics Industry

Abstract

In recent times, the cosmetics industry has continued to grow, with women being the major players and consumers, driven by their active buying behavior. This buying behavior has made the business environment in this industry increasingly competitive, as organizations now need to shift from traditional marketing practices to digital marketing. This is a way to continue to improve women's buying behavior in the cosmetics industry. Based on this premise, the study investigates the effect of deceptive marketing on women's buying behavior in Ilorin Metropolis. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design, which was used to conveniently select 85 women at the Chupet Store located in Ilorin Metropolis. A self-designed questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents, and the data were analyzed using IBM AMOS version 27. The results indicated green washing significantly predict consumer buying behavior (β = .26; C.R = 2.10; p<.05). The result also revealed that social washing did not predict consumer buying behavior (β = .20; C.R = 1.38; p>.05), the result also revealed that diversity washing predict consumer buying behavior (β = .30; C.R = 2.14; p<.05). The study concluded that deceptive marketing in form of green washing and diversity washing play a significant role on women buying behavior.  Based Based on this conclusion, the study recommends that organizations should incorporate deceptive marketing practices, such as green washing and diversity washing, into their marketing strategy, as this will help strengthen the buying behavior of women in the Nigerian cosmetic industry.