The Impact of Colour on Purchase Intention in the Cosmetics and Personal Care Industry : A Gender-Based Analysis

Background: The packaging design of a product, primarily the design element colour, affects purchase intention extensively. This has been stated in prior studies. However, whether colour has the same effect in the Swedish market has not been researched. Furthermore, there has been limited research on the difference between the genders' perception of gendered colours on product packaging and colours' effect on purchase intention in the Cosmetics and Personal care industry. Therefore, these elements are the focus of this research. Purpose: This research aims to evaluate the effect of product packaging colour on Swedish residents' purchase intention in the Cosmetics and Personal Care industry. Furthermore, the relationship between gendered colours on product packaging and purchase intention will be analysed, comparing females and males. Method: This study is deductive research, and it is based on a positivism paradigm. It uses a quantitative approach of gathering data through an online questionnaire. The sample consisted of 194 Swedish residents gathered through convenience sampling. Moreover, the data was analysed using Cronbach alpha coefficient, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and Ordered logistic regression to test the hypotheses. Findings: The theoretical framework identified a research gap concerning the impact of product packaging colours on purchase intention and how gender-specific packaging colours affect males and females differently. Based on the existing literature, five hypotheses were formulated. The findings confirmed that product packaging colours for all Swedish residents, had a significant positive influence on purchase intention, leading to the acceptance of H1. Moreover, both males and females demonstrated a significant positive effect on purchase intention when exposed to packaging colours associated with their respective genders, resulting in the acceptance of H2 and H4. However, both genders demonstrated a non-significant