The skin care market in Taiwan is extremely competitive with most of the major international players involved in market development. My study is to use brand equity proposed by Aaker as the attributes to depict and analyze consumers’ preference over top 8 department stores skincare brands which are chosen according to the best-selling brands revealed by international magazine “Marie Claire” in 2009. Consumers decide with their purchases, based on whatever factors they think important, which brands have more equity than other brands, thus measuring brand equity provides a useful strategic function and guide marketing decisions to marketers. In my study, respondents are examined how they perceived 8 department store skin care brands by using MDS as my analyzing tool. From the result of my study, SHISEIDO is the market leader, which is also most likely to be the ideal brand in the market. ESTEE LAUDER, LANCOME and KIEHL’S are the market challengers. SKII, BIOTHERM and CLINIQUE are the market followers. Finally, SISLEY which positions itself as premium and high-end skin care brand can be viewed as a market nicher.

The skin care market in Taiwan is extremely competitive with most of the major international players involved in market development. My study is to use brand equity proposed by Aaker as the attributes to depict and analyze consumers’ preference over top 8 department stores skincare brands which are chosen according to the best-selling brands revealed by international magazine “Marie Claire” in 2009. Consumers decide with their purchases, based on whatever factors they think important, which brands have more equity than other brands, thus measuring brand equity provides a useful strategic function and guide marketing decisions to marketers. In my study, respondents are examined how they perceived 8 department store skin care brands by using MDS as my analyzing tool. From the result of my study, SHISEIDO is the market leader, which is also most likely to be the ideal brand in the market. ESTEE LAUDER, LANCOME and KIEHL’S are the market challengers. SKII, BIOTHERM and CLINIQUE are the market followers. Finally, SISLEY which positions itself as premium and high-end skin care brand can be viewed as a market nicher.

Abstract…………..………………………………..…………………......... i
Acknowledgement…………………………..………………………......... ii
Tables of Contents………..…………………………………………........ iii
List of Tables v
List of Figures…………………..………………………………………... vi
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Research Background 1
1.2 Problem Statement 1
Chapter 2 Literature Review 3
2.1 Consumer buying behavior 3
2.2 Brand Positioning 4
2.3 Brand Equity 5
2.4 Industry Review: Taiwan skincare product market 10
2.5 Top 8 Brands 11
Chapter 3 Research Method 15
3.1 Framework 15
3.2 Data collection 15
3.3 Questionnaire Design 15
3.4 Data Analysis Method 17
Chapter 4 DATA ANALYSIS and RESULT 20
4.1 Descriptive Statistical Analysis 20
4.2 Reliability/Validity Test 27
4.3 Brand Equity Measurement Over 8 Brands 27
4.4 Perceptual Map 39
Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS and MANAGERIAL APPLICATIONS 40
5.1 A Summary of Major Findings 40
5.1.1 Market Leaders: SHISEIDO 40
5.1.2 Market Challengers: ESTEE LADUER, LANCOME and KIEHL’S 43
5.1.3 Market Followers: SKII, CLINIQUE and BIOTHERM 50
5.1.4 Market Nicher: SISLEY 57
5.2 Implications of the Findings 59
5.3 Limitations and Future Research 60
Reference 61
APPENDICES: Questionnaire (Traditional Chinese Version) 63

English reference
1. Aaker, David, “Managing Brand Equity”, Free Press New York, 1991
2. Aaker, David, Shansby and J. Gary, “Positioning Your Product”, Business Horizons, 25(3), pp. 56-62, 1982
3. Bates 141, “2010 Change Snapshot A view from the streets of Asia”, 02 March,2010
4. Dubois, Bernard, “Ideal Point Versus Attribute Models of Brand Preference: A Comparison of Predictive Validity”, Advances in Consumer Research, 2, pp.321-334,1975
5. Hsu, Cathy H.C., Powers, Thomas F., Marketing Hospitality, Wiley, 2001
6. Hair, Joseph F. , Black, Jr, William C. , Babin, Barry J. , Anderson, Rolph E., Multivariate Data Analysis, Prentice Hall, 2007
7. Kepferer, J. N., “Strategic Brand Management”, New York: The Free Press, 1992
8. Keller, Kevin Lane, “Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Consumer-based Brand Equity”, Journal of Marketing, 57, pp1-22, 1993
9. Keller, Kevin Lane, Strategic Brand Management, Prentice Hall, 2002
10. Koncept Analytics, “Cosmetics Market in Asia: Favorable Demographics Fuel Sales”, 2007
11. Kotler, Phillip, Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning and Control, Prentice Hall College Div, 1997
12. Kotler, Philip & Armstrong, Gary, Principles of Marketing, Prentice Hall, 1999
13. Myers, Chris A., “Managing Brand Equity: A Look At the Impact of Attributes", Journal of Product & Brand Management, 12, pp39-51, 2003
14. Roll, Martin, Asian Brand Strategy- how Asia builds strong brands, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006
15. Silverstein, Michael J. and Syre, Kate, “The Female Economy”, Harvard Business Review, pp 46-53, September 2009
Chinese reference
1. 行政院主計處(2009)：2009年性別圖像，2009年2月
2. 周文賢，多變量統計分析SAS.STAT使用方法，智盛文化事業，2004年2月。
3. 2008 E-ICP東方消費者行銷資料庫
4. beauty 321.com 化妝品資料庫
5. BIOTHERM official website http://www.biotherm.com.tw/
6. CLINIQUE official website http://www.clinique.com.tw/
7. ESTEE LAUDER official website http://www.esteelauder.com.tw/
8. KIEHL’S official website http://www.kiehls.com.tw/index.do
9. LANCOME official website http://www.lancome.com.tw/_zh/_tw/
10. Marie Claire美妝年鑑，國際亞洲出版社，2009年10月16日
11. SHISEIDO official website http://www.shiseido.com.tw/
12. SKII official website http://skiimf.com.tw/
13. SISLEY official website http://www.sisley.com.tw/?page=accueil