EXPRESS: Does Beauty Truly Matter? Examining the Impact of Beautiful Images in Service Operations Using Deep Learning Analytics

The beauty industry has experienced concurrent growth alongside an increased societal emphasis on aesthetics. The advent of digital platforms has not only propelled the expansion of the cosmetic sector but has also provided an avenue for in-depth scrutiny of cosmetic services. Digital platforms dedicated to discussing and analyzing cosmetic procedures offer unprecedented opportunities for researchers to examine service dynamics. This study explores the impact of information embedded in images on digital platforms on business performance in the cosmetic industry. Employing a deep learning framework, we extract beauty information from post-treatment images shared by consumers and scrutinize its relationship with the performance of cosmetic services. Drawing on data from an online-to-offline cosmetic platform, our empirical findings reveal a positive association between beauty information and the performance of cosmetic services. Furthermore, we identify service variety and service risk as moderating factors that influence the correlation between beauty information and performance on digital cosmetic platforms. The outcomes of this research carry significant implications for the beauty industry and stakeholders in digital cosmetic platforms.