Beauty Advertisements on YouTube: An Assessment of EMU Students’ Perception

The present study aims to assess Eastern Mediterranean University students‘ perception towards beauty advertisements on YouTube. The study is based on the Uses and Gratification Theory and seeks to explore the extent to which university students see beauty advertisements on YouTube while using YouTube to gratify their needs. The study employed quantitative methodology. 210 students in the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies were selected for the study. An In-house questionnaire was prepared and in the first section of the questionnaire, demographic information related to the participants were asked; in the second section, information about the use of YouTube was inquired, and in the third section, attitudes of respondents towards beauty advertisements on YouTube were explored. The study concludes that participants are frequent users of YouTube and YouTube is their most preferred Social Networking Sites for watching videos and participants also rely on YouTube for their beauty products and trust YouTube beauty advertisements. Further studies can explore beauty gurus on YouTube; their influences and credibility. Studies can also be done by employing a content analysis between certain beauty products on YouTube. Keywords: YouTube, Advertisement, Beauty, Perception.