Beauty Industry Essay

Beauty industry may seem to be quite a paradoxical phenomenon. On the one hand, many believe that beauty is something that comes naturally, but, on the other hand, there is a large number of goods and services, let alone professions, that strive to make a person more beautiful. If one was to provide a broad definition of the beauty industry, one would mention a wide range of good and services that help people improve their appearance. This paper will try to achieve the following goals. First of all, it will present a brief, yet detailed of the beauty industry. Secondly, it will outline the existing industry categories, identifying the structure of it. Finally, it will reflect on marketing tactics, evaluate them and determine if they could be reversed. In order to achieve all this, the paper will engage data that was obtained from reputable sources, such as North American Industry Classification System, a report that was prepared for Committee on finance of the US Senate, and findings of Bureau of Labor Statistics. All professions that will be analyzed in this paper are covered by 812112 NAICS code. This paper will feature the following structure: the first part will be devoted to the overview of beauty industry, focusing on the current performance of it; the second part will outline the structure and determine how different parts influence the performance; the third part will examine the current trends and discuss whether they can be reversed.

Overview of beauty industry

Many might assume that beauty industry is relatively young and weak in that sense that the goods and services that it supplies are not universally demanded. That is why from a financial perspective it may not be successful. However, the reality is quite the opposite: beauty industry is not one of the most stable and successful sectors, but it is also exceptional in several ways. Thus, a report prepared by Professional Beauty Association for the Committee on Finance showed for a decade and a half there has been a continuous growth of the employment in the industry which was not interrupted by the Great Recession of 2008 (“Economic Snapshot of the Salon and Spa Industry”). This is quite remarkable since it shows that even under difficult conditions people were able to afford goods and services that are not of the first necessity.

Speaking of the perspectives of the performance of the industry in question, one might notice that they are quite positive. For example, according to the Bureaus of Labor Statistics, as of 2015 there were more than 710,000 employed in this industry which means that almost three-quarters of a million are a part of this industry that is often overlooked in terms of financial performance. Moreover, the Bureau points out that the prognosis regarding these jobs in the next decades is positive: they are likely to increase by 11% which is higher than average (“Barbers, Hairdressers, and Cosmetologists”) (“Skincare Specialists”).

Industry categories

One of the best ways to learn the basic categories of the beauty industry is to access NAICS website and look for 812112 code. The latter covers all professions that are related to the industry. A brief look at them will reveal the following: there are professions that have a general approach and those which employ a specific approach. If one considers the former, one will have to mention such profession as a beautician and such facilities as beauty parlors and salons (“NAICS Code Description”). As one can easily guess, they provide a broad range of services that are designed to improve one’s looks.

Another category that should be mentioned adopts a different approach which is more specific. This includes cosmetology, skin care products and facilities, hairstylists of different types, and cosmetics. As one can easily see, each of these sub-categories has a particular purpose; for example, skin care professionals work with the skin of the clients, hairstylists – with one’s hair. One should specifically mention cosmetics since it is a good that can be used by a professional or by a person who has only general knowledge.

It is rather obvious that this division into general and specific categories has a significant impact on the performance. Thus, given the general nature of many goods and products, it would not be a mistake to assume that their consumption in the future will increase due to a growing demand for beauty. Therefore, it is quite likely that more beauty parlors will be opened all over the country with the population of beauticians increased.
In addition to that, as people become more and more aware of the need to improve their looks, they will ship from general services to more specific ones. For example, instead of going to a beautician, a person may arrange a visit to a skin care specialist, a hairdresser and buy a line of professional makeup. Therefore, this category will generate a considerable amount of money due to the fact that the competition will be quite intensive; moreover, the products and the services provided will be charged accordingly, as the clients would not want to utilize goods or services that seem to be of low quality.

Marketing tactics and existing trends

Finally, it may be useful to examine the existing marketing tactic and trends in order to understand the driving forces of this industry. Some would make no mistake pointing out that the current standard of beauty is not realistic. Indeed, the models that are thought to represent the ideals of beauty do not have a common constitution. That is why there is a gap between what women actually look like and how they want to be perceived.

Furthermore, one should not forget about the fact that these unrealistic views on beauty are often supported by adjusted images of women. For example, all advertisements feature images that were edited by Photoshop. As a result, the real proportions of a female body are distorted. This results in the situation when women feel that they are not beautiful because they are not able to comply with the rules that were designed by the companies. It leads to the situation when real beauty becomes an ideal that can hardly be achieved. That is why people tend to pay more and more to achieve it.

It is worth pointing out that there have been attempts to reverse this process. For example, Dove design “Campaign for Real Beauty” which was a marketing campaign that features models that were looking similar to average women. The company wanted to celebrate the beauty that can be found everywhere and make sure that women feel more confident even though they do not adhere to the standards that were designed by the leading companies. In spite of the fact that this campaign was quite popular and successful, it did not have to have a long-lasting impact on the industry.

Summary

The evidence shows that beauty industry is quite stable and successful: it was able to avoid negative effects of the recent recession. In addition to that, it can be broadly divided into two categories: goods and services that have general as well as specific nature. It is supposed that the first appeal to a large public; when a client is experienced enough, one is able to move to a different category. Finally, it appears that the companies promote unrealistic images of models and the clients are expected to try to achieve those images with the help of more goods.

Conclusion

Having examined all the points that were mentioned in the paragraphs above, one is able to come to the following conclusion: beauty industry is a peculiar area since it has often been overlooked as not important, but it turns out that it has grown considerably and it quite successful. What is even more important is that while the majority of other industry was struck heavily by the Great Recession of 2008, beauty industry does not seem to be affected by it which implies that people were willing to buy these goods and services even under such difficult conditions. While there are numerous aspects that can be identified, they can be divided into two broad categories: general and specific. The general ones appeal to people who would like to improve their looks, but do not have a sufficient amount of experience; so, they trust the professionals to make their choices for them. The other category, the specific one, feature good and services that are more precise and are suitable for those who are able to make conscious decisions themselves. Finally, the examination of the existing marketing tactics revealed the following trend: companies tend to promote images that feature unrealistic people. As a result, the consumers are expected to buy more products and pay for more services in order to achieve the ideal of beauty. There have been attempts to reverse this cycle, but they have not been successful in that sense that they did not have a long lasting effect on the industry. Therefore, one might assume that this relationship may not be reversed.


Works Cited

“Barbers, Hairdressers, and Cosmetologists.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <https://www.bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/barbers-hairdressers-and-cosmetologists.htm>.

“Economic Snapshot of the Salon and Spa Industry.” N.p., 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Professional%20Beauty%20Association-%202014%20Economic%20Snapshot%20of%20the%20Salon%20Industry.pdf>.

“NAICS Code Description.” NAICS Association. N.p., 2017. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <https://www.naics.com/naics-code-description/?code=812112>.

“Skincare Specialists.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <https://www.bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/mobile/skincare-specialists.htm>.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

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"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

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"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

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"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

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