Keywords
Scale development
Cosmetics sector
Physical health
Mental health
Social health
How to Cite
Abstract
Objective: This study aims to develop and empirically validate the construct of integral care in the Brazilian context, operationalizing it as a hierarchical construct grounded in three interrelated latent dimensions: physical health, mental health, and social health. In addition, integral care is proposed as a structuring element of the value proposition in the beauty and personal care sector, by linking practices and benefits associated with consumption in this sector to an expanded perspective of well-being.
Methodology: A quantitative survey-based approach was adopted with 2,000 respondents from across Brazil. To ensure rigor in scale development and validation, a split-sample cross-validation procedure was employed. First, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on one subsample (n = 1,000) to identify the dimensional structure and refine items. Next, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on the complementary subsample (n = 1,000) to test the adequacy of the measurement model and to evaluate the proposed factor structure.
Originality: The study makes a novel contribution by proposing, for the first time within the cosmetics and personal care sector, a measurement scale for the integral care construct, supported by theoretical grounding and empirical evidence of validity. It addresses a gap in the consistent operationalization of a multidimensional notion of care applied to this consumption domain.
Main results: The findings provide empirical evidence supporting the validation of an integral care scale comprising three distinct and correlated dimensions, physical health, mental health, and social health. The EFA revealed a multidimensional structure, which was confirmed by the CFA, indicating stability of the measurement model and supporting the interpretation of integral care as a multidimensional phenomenon.
Theoretical contributions: The study advances the consumer well-being literature by introducing and operationalizing integral care as a second order (hierarchical) construct formed by three core dimensions, thereby offering an integrative theoretical lens to explain how benefits associated with the beauty and personal care sector can be articulated as part of a broader well-being system, increasing conceptual precision and the measurability of value-creation mechanisms in this field.
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