Regulatory compliance of skincare product advertisements on Instagram

Abstract

Introduction: Significant progress has been shown in the selling of cosmetic products. The number of companies working in this industry increased from 153 in 2017 to 760 in 2018. The National Agency of Drug and Food Control (NA-DFC) of Indonesia (BPOM) is authorised to supervise circulating cosmetic products, including cosmetic advertisements. BPOM issues regulations on Technical Guidelines for Supervision of Cosmetic Ads which are updated regularly. Skincare products are the type of cosmetics that are advertised on social media. Instagram is one of the most widely used social media platforms for the advertisement of skincare products in Indonesia Objectives: To determine the regulatory compliance of skincare product advertisements on Instagram. Method: The study was conducted by collecting data online via Instagram from 30 November to 6 December 2020. All advertisements of skincare products that were found in the most popular search menus and that were uploaded in 2020 were used. A checklist of regulatory compliance based on recent regulation was made as an instrument of study. Result: There were 135 samples of skincare product advertisements. They consisted of cleansing (58 products), moisturiser (66 products), sun protector (five products), and peeling (five products). The average regulatory compliance was 91.44%. Conclusion: The regulatory compliance of skincare product advertisements is close to 100%. However, some points of assessment need improvement.