COSMETICS ADOPTION AMONG YOUNG MALE ADULTS IN MALAYSIA
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Problem Background
Personal identity is increasingly sought by consumers and one is recognized based on what one consumes (Firat & Venkatesh, 1993). People try to become the being they desire to be by consuming the items that they imagine will help to create and sustain their idea of themselves, their image and their identity (Bocock, 1993). Judgements about individuals are no longer made upon occupation or role in production but rather on what is consumed and how individuals present themselves (Firat, 1993). Through the possession of products, consumers can display their successes reflecting their personal achievement (Mitchell, 1983).

Postmodern consumerism is obsessed with appearance and consumption, where style is a substitute for identity and presentation overshadows essence. This concept is part of a culture that have feminized men (Brod, 1995) and considers women and men as equally involved in the practices of consumption (Bocock, 1993). Masculine and feminine differences have been abolished by the postmodern patterns of consumption (Kacen, 2000) and these patterns of consumption are both determined and enhanced by the types of products consumers invest in (Seabrook, 1999).

The construction of the male consumer of who they are, of their identity as men, is now achieved as much through style of dress, body care, image and having the right look, as do their female counterparts (Bocock, 1993). Prior to the nineteenth century, men were considered the fashionable sex and young male bodies were eroticized as much as the female ones (Tseelon, 1995). The rise of advertising and marketing aimed at young men is part and parcel of the current enterprise boom in the service sector and media industries. Young men are being sold images that rupture the traditional icons of