Evaluating the Effect of Treatment Satisfaction on Future Spending for Professional Cosmetic Treatments Among Aesthetically Conscious U.S. Adults

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Professional cosmetic treatments are increasing in popularity within the United States, amounting to billions of dollars in annual spending on a wide variety of surgical and nonsurgical treatments combined. Since the decision to seek cosmetic treatment is largely patient-driven, treatment satisfaction is often a proxy for treatment success. Despite billions of dollars spent on treatments, prior research is limited to characterizing motivators to undergoing treatment with less regard to evaluating the spending component. Furthermore, much less is known regarding the relationship between cosmetic treatment spending and potential predictors like satisfaction. OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between treatment satisfaction and future spending among aesthetically conscious U.S. adults receiving professional cosmetic treatments. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study using data collected between October and November of 2018 from the Beauty Image Assessment Survey (also known as "Beauty360”), a global, internet-based survey on aesthetic goals, experiences, and interests with cosmetic treatments. Eligible respondents were aesthetically conscious U.S. adults between 21 to 65 years old who received at least 1 cosmetic treatment in the past year. A regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between treatment satisfaction and future expected spend on cosmetic treatments, adjusted for demographics, past spending, treatment count, treatment type, and media exposure. Stratified and subgroup analyses were conducted for respondents who exclusively received nonsurgical treatments versus those who received at least 1 surgical treatment, and for respondents who received at least 1 wrinkle-relaxing and/or dermal filler injection. An exploratory analysis was conducted to identify significant predictors of treatment satisfaction. RESULTS: A total of 474 aesthetically conscious U.S. respondents (mean age 43, 67.5% female) received cosmetic treatment within the past year prior to survey completion. Most respondents only received nonsurgical treatments (n=393, 82.9%) compared to those who received at least 1 surgical treatment (n=81, 17.1%), and less than one-third of respondents received at least 1 injectable treatment (n= 139, 29.3%). Among all eligible respondents, those satisfied with past treatment planned to spend an average of $272 less on cosmetic treatments in the next year than those dissatisfied, after adjustment (95% CI -926.5 to 382.7, p = 0.415). However, this difference was not statistically significant. Satisfied respondents who exclusively received nonsurgical treatments planned to spend $219 less on cosmetic treatments in the next year than those who were dissatisfied (95% CI -612.4 to 173.8, p= 0.273), while satisfied respondents with at least 1 surgical treatment planned to spend $191 more in the next year than those dissatisfied (95% CI -2179 to 2561, p= 0.872). Satisfied respondents with at least 1 injectable treatment planned to spend $167 less than those dissatisfied (95% CI -2241 to 1907, p=0.874). However, none of the differences noted above were statistically significant. Predictors observed to influence satisfaction included annual household income (p=0.010), discretionary income level (p= 0.034), and total count of past treatments (p=0.026). CONCLUSION: We did not find a statistically significant association between satisfaction with past treatments and plan to spend on cosmetic treatments in the following year. Significant predictors to treatment satisfaction identified included both household and discretionary incomes and number of past treatments received.