A research made by focus group interviews, which deals with working women's perceptions and behaviors towards consumption of cosmetic products

This study has been conducted to gain information about the perceptions and behaviors of working women, who form the large part of the target group of cosmetic products market, towards consumption of cosmetic products. This research focuses solely on working women. Since they are seen as constituting the best sample group because of the time constraint and shortage of money, women working in 78 different sectors in and around Istanbul were chosen for this study. Eight focus group interviews were done in total by asking the questions prepared before. The answers given to the questions were analyzed and displayed on tables, figures and graphics. The study consists four chapters. The first chapter introduces consumers' perceptions, the second chapter shows consumers' behaviors while the third chapter was included to give information about the developments in the history of cosmetic industry and its current situation. In accordance with the standards an academic paper requires, the information was obtained from the literature review we have made using the data from Turkey and from all around the world. The last chapter gives information about the study at hand and explains findings obtained in the light of this information. In recent years, the global cosmetics market has reached 500 billion USD while the market in Turkey is still around two billion USD. Considering that the average expenditure in European countries is around 25 billion USD now, the cosmetic market in Turkey is expected to continue to grow. Recent studies have shown that 90 percent of the women living in European countries put on makeup every day whereas this rate sinks to 10 percent in Turkey, which gives rise to an expectation that the rate is going to increase in Turkey as well. The statistics produced by TÜİK (Turkish Statistical Institute) reveal that there were more working women in the rural area whereas the rate of working women in urban area has risen in the past 20 years and the rate of women working in the rural area has declined. Therefore we expect make-up to gain importance and become a current issue. The results of the researches on working women point out that there is a relation between demographic characteristics and the perception towards cosmetic products. It has been proven that the interaction between women was a determining factor for consumer behaviors. The reason for this interaction is thought to be the communication between women at work. According to their answers, they generally prefer to buy products with natural, herbal and organic ingredients. Keywords: Consumer Perceptions, Consumer Behaviors, Cosmetics Product Sector,Focus Group Discussi