The 550-Word Research Question (Including Justification)

Week 7 (09/19-09/25)

Research Question: "Do consumers who prefer the natural makeup brands Burt's Bees and Bare Escentuals over the unnatural brands L'oreal and Clinique do so due to actual sensed quality superiority of the natural brands or due to emotional perceptions of the natural brand names themselves?"

Scope: My scope is narrowed down by researching only 4 brands of makeup, and I will only be studying lipstick (which I will justify in the methodology section of my paper), so the type of makeup I am researching is limited.

Key terms:

• Natural Makeup Brands: Makeup consisting of ingredients that are not synthetically created in a lab. 
• Unnatural Makeup Brands: Makeup that contains ingredients, sometimes called chemical additives,  that are synthetically created in a lab.
• "Actual sensed quality superiority": During consumption, actually sensing the difference between the brands and preferring one over another
• "Emotional perceptions of brand names": mental associations that consumers make with certain brands and products (e.g. consumers perceive natural ingredients to be healthier than unnatural ones)

Variables: The criteria by which the participants of my study will be ranking the lipsticks will be based off of color quality, texture/consistency, and lasting ability. I will also ask participants to report any irritability, as one of the current arguments for natural ingredients is that they are less harsh on the skin.

Researchability: The method I plan on using, comparing the rankings of the makeups in blind consumption trials with the rankings of the makeups in trials where consumers see the brand names, was used in a different context by researchers Maison, Greenwald, and Bruin. If the results of both the blind and the normal study are similar, then it is likely that consumers prefer their makeup brands based on actual sensed quality superiority, but if they are different, then it is likely consumers are making choices based off of brand name perceptions, as opposed to actual sensed quality differences between brands.

Gap: There is a debate as to whether or not the rise in size and popularity of the natural makeup market is due to natural ingredients actually making higher quality products. While there are claims that natural ingredients provide benefits such as more brilliant colors, better textures for the skin, and less irritability, there are also studies showing the great range and flexibility of unnatural ingredients, which can be altered in order to achieve optimal textures and effects. I have not found any other research using a blind consumption study to compare consumer reactions to natural and unnatural makeup brands, and such research would be useful to reveal whether or not consumers sense a quality difference between natural and unnatural makeups, and, if so, which they prefer of the two.

Significance: Not only will my study address the questionable quality difference between natural and unnatural makeup, but it will reveal the extent to which consumers are influenced by perceptions of natural ingredients and brands in the cosmetic market. For example, if consumers claim to prefer natural brands but then prefer unnatural makeup in the blind consumption study, the results would indicate that consumers are highly influenced by societal pushes to consume natural products. My results will likely also beg questions outside of the makeup industry altogether. Applying my research to different industries can answer to what extent consumers make choices based on emotional perceptions versus actual sensed quality differences.

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Lit Review Outline

Week 6 (09/12-09/18)

Lit Review Outline

Opening Paragraph Significance

The cosmetic industry makes up a huge global market and is rapidly expanding as standard of living improves in countries around the world. Specifically within the cosmetic industry, consumer demand for natural makeup has increased. (Source: Rajput discusses general makeup market trends from 2014 to 2016, and predicts trends through 2022 in a market research report).

Overall Summary → The increase in consumption of natural makeup has occurred in tandem with both misleading health studies publicized by various cancer/health organizations and producer marketing strategies that potentially overstate the quality/benefits of natural makeup. Since consumers have been shown to buy natural/organic products primarily because they perceive them to have certain health benefits and higher quality/effectiveness, consumers may be tending toward natural makeup products not based on their actual quality, but a false perception of superiority due to misleading information. One of the primary ways through which consumers identify and differentiate products is brand names. Consumers develop brand perceptions and loyalty based on either emotional distinctions or actual sensual distinctions between brands. Emotional distinctions involve choosing brands because of what consumers believe about the product, which would align with consumers choosing makeup because of perceived, but false, health and quality superiority. Sensual distinctions involve choosing brands based off of quality differences actually felt during consumption, which would be the case if consumers were choosing natural makeup because of actual noticed quality superiority. If consumers have difficulty distinguishing between brands during blind consumption, or favor a different brand than their identified favorite brand, it is likely that they have made emotional distinctions between brands, as opposed to actual sensual ones. Therefore, through blind testing, one can answer questions about the makeup industry by determining whether consumers actually detect superior quality in natural makeups.

Premise 1: Consumers are influenced by a variety of factors when buying a product, primarily by societal influences and their own personal beliefs regarding how the product will affect them.

• Sources: Crane explains that consumers buy organic/natural products primarily because they believe that they are beneficial for their health or perceive them as higher quality. Vietoris et al. also reviewed the motivations for consumers buying more organic food products and found that consumption reasoning was mostly based on perceived health benefits.

Premise 2: Misleading health studies concerning chemical additives have permeated throughout the makeup market.

• Sources: Ross and Juhasz & Marmur both cite a multitude CDC, FDA, and CIR studies that have shown chemical additives in makeup to have negative health effects. They explain that various cancer and health organizations have cautioned consumers on the use of unnatural cosmetics on the basis of animal studies that test the chemical additives in much larger concentrations than are actually found in cosmetics. Palliser provides an example of a less academic source (a elementary school science teacher journal) that uses hypothetical language and misrepresentative studies to caution consumers away from unnatural additives in cosmetics.

Premise 1 + Premise 2 → Conclusion 1: Consumers may be turning towards natural makeup products due to fears about how unnatural makeup affects their health.

Premise 3: The rise in green consumerism in the late 1990s and early 2000s influenced companies to use natural/organic ingredients and to emphasize the quality/effectiveness of these ingredients to expand their consumer base.

• Sources: Todd explains the process above in an academic journal entry. Geraghty, in a magazine article, provides quotes from CEO's of current natural makeup companies preaching the greater effectiveness of makeup products in terms of color, texture, and reaction with the skin.

Premise 4: Use of synthetic chemical ingredients in cosmetics allows for flexibility in the creation of different textures and effects suitable to different consumer demands. The ability to manipulate chemical compounds may actually give unnatural makeup an advantage over natural makeup. 

• Source: van Reeth discusses how different types of silicone (a chemical additive) makeups can be made to create different textures and cater to different aspects of consumer demand.

Premise 1 + Premise 3 + Premise 4 → Conclusion 2: Consumers may be tending towards natural products based on marketing techniques exaggerating the effectiveness/quality of natural ingredients over unnatural ingredients.

Conclusion 2 + Conclusion 2 = Conclusion 3: Considering the misleading health information and the potentially exaggerated quality benefits of natural makeup, consumers that prefer to buy natural makeup may do so based on a false perceptions of natural makeup superiority. 

Premise 5: One of the primary ways through which consumers identify and differentiate products is brand names.

• Sources: Thomas et al. found that consumers responded faster to brand-name items than no-name products when products were paired with positive and negative words, suggesting that consumers tend to associate certain product qualities with brand name items. Pettek & Ruzzier explain how business marketing strategies help build up their brand identity and influence how consumers perceive the brand. 

Premise 6: Consumers develop brand perceptions and loyalty based on either emotional distinctions or actual sensual distinctions between brands (each distinction defined in summary section above). If consumers have difficulty distinguishing between brands during blind consumption, or favor a different brand than their identified favorite brand, it is likely that they have made emotional distinctions between brands, as opposed to actual sensual ones.

• Source: Maison, Greenwald, and Bruin conducted blind testing on different brand-name products. 

Premise 5 + Premise 6 + Conclusion 3 = Conclusion 4: Through blind testing, one can answer questions about the makeup industry by determining whether consumers actually detect superior quality in natural makeups.

Research Question: “In the absence of marketing and branding during blind consumption, do consumers tend to prefer natural makeup products over unnatural ones?”

What I am missing/need advice on: At the end when I describe my method, I think I will need to explain and justify what types/brands of makeup I will be using in my study. I still need to find what type/brands of makeup I am going to use, but I don't know the basis upon which I should choose them. For the type of makeup (e.g. foundation, mascara, eyeshadow), I will probably be able to justify the choice based on practicality (e.g. different skin tones require different foundations while mascara is a more universal product, so I will test mascara in my study). For choosing brands, I think it will be more challenging. I could go based off of popularity, but just based on market share, most of the top brands are just drugstore (probably because the stats account for all socioeconomic statuses), which all contain chemical additives for the most part. The only other ideas I had were to choose a natural brand like BareEscentuals/bareMinerals because the brand name indicates that it is a natural product, and then choose an unnatural makeup brand in similar price or perceived quality range (perhaps something like MAC or Clinique). There are also a few natural drugstore makeup brands that I could put up against unnatural drugstore makeups. Any advice would be appreciated!! 

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The Gap in the Conversation

Week 5 (09/05-09/11)

It's been a fun week in AP Research recking John Oliver's "argument" against charter schools. I'm excited to make the official competition video at the beginning of next week. :)

Although class this week has been devoted to dissecting the Oliver video, we have all still been working on the sidelines to gather sources and piece our academic conversations together. In order to demonstrate how my specific subtopics are coming together to form a gap, I'm going to put several pivotal authors in the same room and allow them to "converse":

Cast:

1. Margit Lai Wun Juhász and Ellen S. Marmur from the Department of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and New York

2. Anne Marie Todd, a professor of Communication Studies at San Jose State University who teaches courses in environmental communication

3. Diana Crane, PhD in Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania

4. Maison, Greenwald, and Bruin, Psychology professor at the University of Warsaw, professor of Social Psychology at the University of Washington, and manager of a medical data group respectively


Setting: All 7 authors sit at a round table at one of those pretentious parties where smart people come together and discuss academic issues


Script:


Todd: Cosmetic companies have been promoting the quality effects of natural ingredients in their products since the environmental movements of the early 2000s. It's a pretty smart move - this way, the companies do not only appeal more to environmentally conscious consumers, but they also attract consumers who could care less about the environment and simply want a quality product.

Juhasz and Marmur: Interesting...in general, consumers have also been pushed toward natural cosmetic products because of some misleading health studies attacking chemical additives in unnatural makeups. Cancer foundations and health administrations have released warnings concerning ingredients such as parabens, lead, and formaldehyde in cosmetics when, in actuality, agencies like the FDA, CDC, and CIR have all found the additives to produce no negative health effects in the small quantities found in makeup products.

Todd: So consumers have been mislead about lead? How lucky for the natural makeup companies. They have been able to reel in consumers with environmental concerns, those with personal health concerns, and those with merely product quality concerns.

Crane: I see your point Todd, but it's likely that the natural makeup companies are benefitting primarily only from the latter two types of consumers you mentioned. My studies have shown that consumers buy natural and organic products primarily for the perceived personal benefits, usually related to health.

Juhasz and Marmur: If that is the case in the makeup industry, consumers are splurging on natural products for illogical reasons.

Todd: There is also some debate as to whether or not the natural makeup companies are exaggerating the quality effects of their ingredients. For example, the CEO of Bare Escentuals claims that natural makeup has less tendency to become cakey and dry out one's complexion, but, with the larger variety and manipulability of unnatural makeup ingredients, there is a large range of makeup textures that can be achieved.

Crane: So...consumers are psychologically drawn to the phrase "natural" because of perceived health benefits and greater effectiveness, but these things may not be true?

[Todd, Juhasz, and Marmur nod]

Maison, Greenwald, and Bruin: It would be interesting to see how consumers of natural makeup products judged different makeup brands during blind consumption, or, using the makeup without knowing what brand it is. Consumers choose different brands based off of either emotional distinctions or actual sensual distinctions. Emotional distinctions involve choosing brands because of what consumers believe about the product, which would align with consumers choosing makeup because of perceived, but false, health and quality superiority. Sensual distinctions involve choosing brands based off of quality differences actually felt during consumption, which would be the case if consumers were choosing natural makeup because of actual noticed quality superiority. If consumers have difficulty distinguishing between brands during blind consumption, or favor a different brand than their identified favorite brand, it is likely that they have made emotional distinctions between brands, as opposed to actual sensual ones. Through blind testing, we can answer your questions about the makeup industry by determining whether consumers actually detect superior quality in natural makeups.

Everyone else [in unison]: Brilliant! If only we had someone to do that....

Maison, Greenwald, and Bruin: We already have the girl for the task.

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Piecing the Picture Together

Week 4 (08/29-09/04)

With August now behind us (where did all the time go?!), we are continuing to piece together our lit reviews, both through finding relevant sources and becoming familiar with the current academic conversation surrounding our topics. Throughout this week in class, we honed in on what exactly we need to accomplish in our lit reviews - we need to provide historical context, significance, information on the current agreements and disagreements in the field, and hone in on a specific gap that our research question will hope to fill.

For me specifically, I will need to contextualize for the reader the rise in popularity of natural cosmetics through green consumerism and the release of flawed health studies that criticized unnatural makeup. Society's move toward being more environmentally minded in the late 1990s and early 2000s led to companies being pressured to use natural/organic ingredients less harmful to the environment, and this in turn led to a change in advertising that promoted the effectiveness or high quality aspects of natural ingredients to attract both environmentally conscious and non-environmentally conscious consumers. Flawed health studies criticizing certain chemical additives in unnatural makeup have also turned consumers towards natural products, even though the FDA, CDC, and CIR have found that unnatural cosmetics have negligible health effects. Nevertheless, companies producing natural products still use the fears of cancer and health detriments to steer consumers away from other brands.

Thus, the significance of studying how marketing natural makeup affects consumers lies in that the recent increase in sales of natural makeup have happened alongside of misleading information, coming in the form of exaggerating both the effectiveness of natural ingredients and the harmfulness of unnatural ones. Without the marketing, would consumers make different choices?

As far as the current academic conversation, most of the debate lies in how consumers are currently making decisions in the cosmetic industry. The most pivotal source I found this week, authored by Diana Crane, evaluated green/responsible consumerism (the theory that consumers partially base their choices on whether or not products will hurt the environment/society) and tried to determine whether consumers make ethical consumption decisions for themselves or for the greater good. She found that consumers make decisions not based on the supposed ethical ramifications of their actions, but instead based on two main factors - societal norms/fads (i.e. what is fashionable) and personal fulfillment (i.e. the idea that the product will benefit them). For example, in her study, consumers primarily bought organic food products not because of the environmental benefits associated with organic food production, but because they believed these products were beneficial for their own health. Applying her study to the cosmetic industry, consumers could very well be buying natural makeup either because they believe it is beneficial for their health or because it is a societal fad to do so, given the history of criticizing unnatural makeup. However, (and my goal is to explore sources on this side of the debate next) some believe that natural makeup brands are actually higher quality than unnatural brands. This presents the main gap in the field that I am hoping to solve: Without marketing describing makeup as "natural," a word that has come to, perhaps falsely, characterize products as healthy or high quality, would consumers still choose natural makeup products over unnatural ones?

Next week, I hope to continue to find sources on consumer theory and sources that aim to either preach or refute the higher quality of natural makeup products. With each source that I read, I am gaining a clearer picture of how I am going to build my argument and set up my research question. :)

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