The Cost of Creating Desire: Practitioners’ Lived Experiences of Ethics, Pressure, and Responsibility in Beauty Marketing
Keywords:
marketing communication,; marketing ethics, consumer vulnerability, overclaim
Abstract
This article examines how Indonesian marketing communication practitioners make meaning of their practical experiences in the beauty industry. Beauty marketing does not operate only through product promotion, but also through claims, visual ideals, influencer work, and persuasive narratives that shape consumer desire. Using hermeneutic phenomenology, this study draws on in-depth interviews with six practitioners who had worked as brand and marketing communication specialists, product developers, strategic marketers, creative directors, brand strategists, and clinic marketing specialists. The findings show that practitioners understand their work through three interrelated meanings. First, professional identity is formed through the capacity to read consumers, translate products into meaningful messages, and negotiate brand visibility. Second, ethically ambiguous practices become normalized under industrial pressure, including sales targets, trend speed, claim adjustment, KOL management, and competitive visibility. Third, ethical discomfort emerges when practitioners recognize that beauty messages can affect consumers’ hopes, bodies, money, trust, and vulnerability. The article argues that beauty marketing should not be read merely as commercial persuasion, but as a moral practice in which practitioners create desire while carrying the consequences of that desire.
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References
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Kohlberg, L. (1981). Essays on moral development: Vol. 1. The philosophy of moral development. Harper & Row.
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (14th ed.). Pearson.
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (15th ed.). Pearson.
Lovejoy, K., & Saxton, G. D. (2012). Information, community, and action: How nonprofit organizations use social media. Journal of Communication Management, 16(3), 298–319.
Luangrath, A. W., Peck, J., & Barger, V. A. (2016). Textual paralanguage and its implications for marketing communications. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 34, 255–262.
Manen, M. van. (2003). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. State University of New York Press.
McMullen, R. L. (2023). Natural ingredients in cosmetics. Cosmetics (MDPI).
Mills, A., & John, J. (2021). Brand stories: Bringing narrative theory to brand management. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 33(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/0965254X.2020.1853201
Mills, J. S., Shannon, A., & Hogue, J. (2017). Beauty, body image, and the media. In Perception of beauty. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.68944
Monesa, F., & Rinawati, E. (2024). The impact of soft-sell appeal in TikTok on the attitude towards the ads. WSEAS Transactions on Business and Economics, 21, 1890–1900. https://doi.org/10.37394/23207.2024.21.154
Morelli, N., & Dahlmann, F. (2024). Virtue ethics in marketing: The art of crafting tragic brand stories. Journal of Business Ethics, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05838-1
Mui, S., et al. (2011). Introducing COBRAs: Exploring motivations for brand-related social media use. International Journal of Advertising, 30(1), 13–46. https://doi.org/10.2501/IJA-30-1-013-046
Nair, T. R. G., & Subramaniam, K. (2012). Transformation of traditional marketing communications into paradigms of social media networking. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 27(5), 356–366.
Nasrullah, R. (2017). Blogger dan digital word of mouth: Getok tular digital ala blogger dalam komunikasi pemasaran di media sosial. Jurnal Sosioteknologi, 16(1), 1–16.
Novianti, R. (2023, Oktober 2). Fakta di balik klaim Scarlett tampil di Paris Fashion Week. Kompas.com. https://www.kompas.com/
Parvin, M. A., & Malik, M. (2024). Understanding the applicability of utilitarianism ethics to business practices with special emphasis on the problem of consumer deception and product safety. Prajñā Vihāra: Journal of Philosophy and Religion, 25(2).
Permata, F., & Nadia, N. S. (2024). Online advertising and digital marketing law: How influencers can impact the e-commerce market and its legal implications in Indonesia. Notaire, 7(2), 199–218. https://doi.org/10.20473/ntr.v7i2.57176
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Peterson, M. (2013). The dimensions of consequentialism: Ethics, equality and risk. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139519243
Pinto, M. M., Prins, S., & Padmanabhan, P. (2021). Meaning-making in digital advertising: Audience interpretation and brand narrative. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 29(4), 420–437.
Populix. (2023). Skincare usage and purchase behavior report 2023. Populix Indonesia. https://www.populix.co
Putritamara, et al. (2021). Brand behaviour applied to Indonesian millennial consumers in the leisure economics era: A meta-analysis study.
Rest, J. R. (1986). Moral development: Advances in research and theory. Praeger.
Richardson-Greenfield, P., & La Ferle, C. (2021). Insights about the ethical and moral state of advertising practitioners. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 42(2), 197–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/10641734.2020.1780998
Sanetra-Połgrabi, S., & Tetlaka, Z. (2022). Consumer protection in advertising of the future in the context of economic instability. Futurity Economics & Law, 2(3), 25–45. https://doi.org/10.57125/FEL.2022.09.25.02
Santiago, E. A. (2020). Hermeneutic phenomenological human science research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, 160940692. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940692011047820
Setyaningsih, I., & Palupi, A. (2022). Beauty representation in Scarlett Whitening advertisement: Roland Barthes’ semiotic analysis. ISETH Proceedings.
Skålén, P., & Hackley, C. (2011). Marketing-as-practice: Introduction to the special issue. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 27(2), 189–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scaman.2011.03.004
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SSEK Legal Consultants. (2025). Indonesia’s financial services authority issues regulation on influencer collaborations. SSEK.
Statista. (2024). Revenue growth in the Beauty & Personal Care market in Indonesia (2018–2029). Statista Research Department. https://www.statista.com
Suprakisno, S. (2015). Analisis multimodal iklan “Indomie”. Jurnal Bahasa dan Seni (BAHAS), 26(1), 78–384. https://doi.org/10.24114/BHS.V26I1.5532
Tjandra, N. C., Aroean, L., & Prabandari, Y. S. (2020). Public evaluation of the ethics of tobacco marketing in Indonesia: Symbiotic ethical approach. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 23(4), 603–626. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-01-2020-0011
Tresna, et al. (2025). Fear of missing out (FOMO) in consumer behavior: A systematic review on antecedents, consequences, and moderating factors. Journal of Information Systems Engineering & Management, 10(36s), Article e6542. https://doi.org/10.52783/jisem.v10i36s.65
Wijayanti, A. P. (2020). Colorism in Indonesian skincare products advertisement. Universitas Brawijaya.
Atika, N. (2024). Digital advertising professionals’ imagined audience in Indonesia: A qualitative study.
Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan Republik Indonesia. (2022). Peraturan Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan Nomor 22 Tahun 2022 tentang Persyaratan Teknis Klaim Kosmetika. BPOM RI.
Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan Republik Indonesia. (2024). Peraturan Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan Nomor 18 Tahun 2024 tentang Penandaan, Promosi, dan Iklan Kosmetik. Badan POM Republik Indonesia.
Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan Republik Indonesia. (2025). Siaran pers: BPOM cabut izin edar 14 produk kosmetika dengan klaim menyesatkan. BPOM RI.
Brokalaki, E. (2024). Virtue ethics and marketing practice. Journal of Business Ethics.
Chaudhri, S. K. (2009). History of cosmetics. Asia Pacific Journal.
Cook, G. (2001). The discourse of advertising (2nd ed.). London and New York: Routledge.
Creswell, J. W. (1994). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. http://www.revistacomunicacion.org/pdf/n3/resenas/research_design_qualitative_quantitative_and_mixed_methods_approaches.pdf
Drumwright, M. E., & Murphy, P. E. (2004). How advertising practitioners view ethics: Moral muteness, moral myopia, and moral imagination. Journal of Advertising, 33(2), 7–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2004.10639158
Dwivedi, Y. K., et al. (2021). Setting the future of digital and social media marketing research. International Journal of Information Management.
Edelman. (2019). Edelman Trust Barometer: In brands we trust? Edelman.
Fioravanti, G., Bocci Benucci, S., Prostamo, A., Casale, S., & Hartmann, T. (2022). How the exposure to beauty ideals on social networking sites influences body image: A systematic review of experimental studies. Adolescent Research Review, 7, 419–458. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-022-00179-4
Frith, K. (2014). Globalizing beauty: The cultural history of the beauty industry.
Fuster Guillen, D. E. (2019). Qualitative research: Hermeneutical phenomenological method. Propósitos y Representaciones, 7(1), 201–229. https://doi.org/10.20511/pyr2019.v7n1.267
Gifari, A., & Fadilla, R. (2022). Etika periklanan: Definisi dan praktik. Jurnal Periklanan Indonesia.
Godin, S. (2018). This is marketing: You can’t be seen until you learn to see. Portfolio.
Graham, G. (2004). Eight theories of ethics. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA67640873
Gregory, T. (2025). The real statistics behind influencer marketing in Indonesia: 2025 analysis.
Hackley, C. (1998). Social construction and research in marketing and advertising. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 1(2), 125–131. https://doi.org/10.1108/13522759810235188
Hackley, C. (1999). The meanings of ethics in and of advertising. Business Ethics: A European Review, 8(1), 37–42. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8608.00123
Halim, M., & Halim, R. (2023). Analisis gaya bahasa dalam iklan kosmetik halal Wardah di televisi. Jurnal Ilmiah Komunikasi dan Linguistik, 12(1), 45–54.
Hietanen, J., & Sihvonen, A. (2021). Catering to otherness: Levinasian consumer ethics at Restaurant Day. Journal of Business Ethics, 168(2), 261–276. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04421-3
Hochschild, A. R. (1983). The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling. University of California Press.
Ismael, A. S. (2025). Relationship between social media marketing and young consumers’ purchase intention. Cogent Business & Management, 2025, Article 2459881. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2025.2459881
Jones, T. M. (1991). Ethical decision making by individuals in organizations: An issue-contingent model. Academy of Management Review, 16(2), 366–395.
Kemp, S. (2024). Digital 2024: Indonesia. DataReportal. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-indonesia
Kent, M. L., & Taylor, M. (2002). Toward a dialogic theory of public relations. Public Relations Review, 28(1), 21–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(02)00108-X
Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299305700101
Kode Etik Pariwara Indonesia. (2020). Kode Etik Pariwara Indonesia (KEPI). Persatuan Perusahaan Periklanan Indonesia.
Koerniawan, I., Sulartopo, W. T. M., & Miftahurrohman, M. (2023). Cultural dimensions and ethical decision-making: A case study of multinational corporations operating in Indonesia. Journal of Management and Informatics, 3(2).
Kohlberg, L. (1981). Essays on moral development: Vol. 1. The philosophy of moral development. Harper & Row.
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (14th ed.). Pearson.
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (15th ed.). Pearson.
Lovejoy, K., & Saxton, G. D. (2012). Information, community, and action: How nonprofit organizations use social media. Journal of Communication Management, 16(3), 298–319.
Luangrath, A. W., Peck, J., & Barger, V. A. (2016). Textual paralanguage and its implications for marketing communications. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 34, 255–262.
Manen, M. van. (2003). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. State University of New York Press.
McMullen, R. L. (2023). Natural ingredients in cosmetics. Cosmetics (MDPI).
Mills, A., & John, J. (2021). Brand stories: Bringing narrative theory to brand management. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 33(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/0965254X.2020.1853201
Mills, J. S., Shannon, A., & Hogue, J. (2017). Beauty, body image, and the media. In Perception of beauty. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.68944
Monesa, F., & Rinawati, E. (2024). The impact of soft-sell appeal in TikTok on the attitude towards the ads. WSEAS Transactions on Business and Economics, 21, 1890–1900. https://doi.org/10.37394/23207.2024.21.154
Morelli, N., & Dahlmann, F. (2024). Virtue ethics in marketing: The art of crafting tragic brand stories. Journal of Business Ethics, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05838-1
Mui, S., et al. (2011). Introducing COBRAs: Exploring motivations for brand-related social media use. International Journal of Advertising, 30(1), 13–46. https://doi.org/10.2501/IJA-30-1-013-046
Nair, T. R. G., & Subramaniam, K. (2012). Transformation of traditional marketing communications into paradigms of social media networking. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 27(5), 356–366.
Nasrullah, R. (2017). Blogger dan digital word of mouth: Getok tular digital ala blogger dalam komunikasi pemasaran di media sosial. Jurnal Sosioteknologi, 16(1), 1–16.
Novianti, R. (2023, Oktober 2). Fakta di balik klaim Scarlett tampil di Paris Fashion Week. Kompas.com. https://www.kompas.com/
Parvin, M. A., & Malik, M. (2024). Understanding the applicability of utilitarianism ethics to business practices with special emphasis on the problem of consumer deception and product safety. Prajñā Vihāra: Journal of Philosophy and Religion, 25(2).
Permata, F., & Nadia, N. S. (2024). Online advertising and digital marketing law: How influencers can impact the e-commerce market and its legal implications in Indonesia. Notaire, 7(2), 199–218. https://doi.org/10.20473/ntr.v7i2.57176
Peterson, M. (2013). The dimensions of consequentialism: Ethics, equality and risk. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139094245
Peterson, M. (2013). The dimensions of consequentialism: Ethics, equality and risk. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139519243
Pinto, M. M., Prins, S., & Padmanabhan, P. (2021). Meaning-making in digital advertising: Audience interpretation and brand narrative. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 29(4), 420–437.
Populix. (2023). Skincare usage and purchase behavior report 2023. Populix Indonesia. https://www.populix.co
Putritamara, et al. (2021). Brand behaviour applied to Indonesian millennial consumers in the leisure economics era: A meta-analysis study.
Rest, J. R. (1986). Moral development: Advances in research and theory. Praeger.
Richardson-Greenfield, P., & La Ferle, C. (2021). Insights about the ethical and moral state of advertising practitioners. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 42(2), 197–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/10641734.2020.1780998
Sanetra-Połgrabi, S., & Tetlaka, Z. (2022). Consumer protection in advertising of the future in the context of economic instability. Futurity Economics & Law, 2(3), 25–45. https://doi.org/10.57125/FEL.2022.09.25.02
Santiago, E. A. (2020). Hermeneutic phenomenological human science research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, 160940692. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940692011047820
Setyaningsih, I., & Palupi, A. (2022). Beauty representation in Scarlett Whitening advertisement: Roland Barthes’ semiotic analysis. ISETH Proceedings.
Skålén, P., & Hackley, C. (2011). Marketing-as-practice: Introduction to the special issue. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 27(2), 189–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scaman.2011.03.004
Smith, J. A. (2015). Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. In Interpretative phenomenological analysis as a useful methodology for research on the lived experience of pain. British Journal of Pain, 9(1), 41–42. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4616994/
SSEK Legal Consultants. (2025). Indonesia’s financial services authority issues regulation on influencer collaborations. SSEK.
Statista. (2024). Revenue growth in the Beauty & Personal Care market in Indonesia (2018–2029). Statista Research Department. https://www.statista.com
Suprakisno, S. (2015). Analisis multimodal iklan “Indomie”. Jurnal Bahasa dan Seni (BAHAS), 26(1), 78–384. https://doi.org/10.24114/BHS.V26I1.5532
Tjandra, N. C., Aroean, L., & Prabandari, Y. S. (2020). Public evaluation of the ethics of tobacco marketing in Indonesia: Symbiotic ethical approach. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 23(4), 603–626. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-01-2020-0011
Tresna, et al. (2025). Fear of missing out (FOMO) in consumer behavior: A systematic review on antecedents, consequences, and moderating factors. Journal of Information Systems Engineering & Management, 10(36s), Article e6542. https://doi.org/10.52783/jisem.v10i36s.65
Wijayanti, A. P. (2020). Colorism in Indonesian skincare products advertisement. Universitas Brawijaya.
Published
2026-10-17
How to Cite
Amalia, A., & Lasse, F. (2026). The Cost of Creating Desire: Practitioners’ Lived Experiences of Ethics, Pressure, and Responsibility in Beauty Marketing. Jurnal Ilmiah Ilmu Komunikasi Communique, 9(1), 12-26. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.62144/jikq.v9i1.791
Section
Articles