Abstract

The market for natural makeup has been substantially increasing, primarily because many consumers believe that natural makeup is healthier and higher quality than unnatural makeup. However, perceived health hazards of unnatural makeup have been debunked, and, while there is no evidence disproving the perceived quality superiority of natural makeup, the manipulability of chemical ingredients suggests that unnatural makeup would be superior. Therefore, the question arises as to whether consumers choose natural makeup not because it is actually superior in quality, but because society has led them to believe it is healthier and more effective. A blind consumption test involving four popular brands of lip gloss - two natural and two unnatural - was conducted to determine whether consumers actually prefer their self-identified favorite makeup brands and how influence from the natural product movement affects how closely their self-identified preferences match their blind consumption preferences. Ultimately, it was found that consumers’ self-identified preferences rarely matched their preferences under blind consumption conditions, regardless of how influenced they were by the natural product movement. Thus, the results suggest that makeup consumers make decisions predominantly based on their emotional perceptions of certain brands, as opposed to actual sensed quality differences between makeup products; and, while the natural product movement may be one factor that affects consumers’ perceptions of makeup brands, it is by no means a sole or primary influence in forming consumer opinions.

Friday, September 2, 2016

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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2 comments:

  1. mrslyndsayhaagSeptember 6, 2016 at 2:25 PM

    Audrey, you are literally descending from the heavens, being carried by little cherubs. This is perfection. Every week, I look forward to seeing the focus and specificity with which your research is growing. I think that you're starting to pick up on the nuances of your topic (this gap between "natural" for the environment and "natural" for the consumer's own interests) and how that translates into the current conversation surrounding "natural" makeup. I am obsessed.

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  2. UnknownSeptember 6, 2016 at 9:49 PM

    Audrey! Loving the progress! I really think that you have found a good focus for your project -- hopefully alleviating a lot of stress.

    The way you used Crane's study and applied it to your research was really well done. It is always important to look beyond the main subject (in your case cosmetics) for nuanced research. Will you be looking at the aesthetic presentation of the product or the environmental information associated with it? This is a key distinction or connection that you may want to consider.

    Also, I think that you're on to something when you talk about the word "natural" and its effects. Certain words may prime someone unconsciously to make future decisions regarding product choice. For example, the word "natural" may prompt someone to think or look for the words "healthy" or "clean" as opposed to "dirty" or "chemical".

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