Increasing awareness of beauty products, rising personal grooming premium, changing consumption patterns, and improved purchasing power of women are forecasted to boost the Indian cosmetic industry by 25% to $20n billion by 2025 (Economics Times,2019). Through this paper, the authors attempt to analyse and understand how psychological, social, and economic factors have influenced the consumer behaviour of women, in terms of cosmetic products, and contributed to this boost. Approaching the topic from an intersectional perspective, the study analyzes the role heteronormative beauty norms have played in establishing a culture that rewards ‘femininity’, and its consequent impact on the psychology and cosmetic buying behaviour of women. Our research serves the purpose of interpreting how the intersection of colour, caste, race, religion, and other social characteristics creates variability in the cosmetic purchase behaviour of women while simultaneously analysing the inclusivity of the cosmetic industry. The paper provides evidence of how the cosmetic industry capitalises on women’s insecurities and contributes to gender socialisation and inequality. The direct correlation between the profitability of the cosmetic industry and the manipulation of women is substantiated by the gender-based pricing of products. The paper delves into how beauty standards and patriarchal norms have willed women into paying a higher price than men for the same cosmetic product, thereby aiding their own economic subjugation. Therefore, through this research, the authors aim to understand the cosmetic consumer behaviour patterns exhibited by women, the role intersectionality plays in these consumption patterns, and the additional premium paid by women to be deemed attractive

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Audhkhasi A. & Arora P. (2021). Women and Consumer Behaviour in the Cosmetics Industry: Analysing the Impact of Intersectionality. International Journal of Policy Sciences and Law, 2(2), 3362-3396. 

https://ijpsl.in/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Women-and-Consumer-Behaviour-in-the-Cosmetics-Industry-Analysing-the-Impact-of-Intersectionality-merged.pdf 

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