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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"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?"
ReplyDeleteYour question implies that the population in question are people who admittedly prefer natural quality products. Are you only interested in the opinions of those people?
Tell me if I'm wrong, but when I was writing the question I decided to limit the scope just to consumers who admittedly prefer natural makeup (which I would find out from the after-study survey I would give people) because my lit review seems to focus on the fact that consumers are demanding more natural makeup in the midst of misleading health information and questionable quality superiority of natural ingredients. Thus, the question that seems to arise naturally at the end is whether or not this demand (which is coming from people who prefer natural makeup) is warranted by an actual sensed quality superiority or is just due to positive perceptions of natural products/brands induced by society.
DeleteDo consumers brand associations and thus emotional perceptions match with the blind testing and quality?
ReplyDeleteHey Audrey! Sorry for the late comment. Like we were saying in class, I think that opening up your sample population to random people (but do regularly shop such products) and not necessarily just people that prefer natural makeup would give you a true sample size of the current consumer population. This may make your findings more compelling and more true to the current perceptions of the regular consumers.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I would make it clear in your question that you aren't testing the quality of the makeup objectively. Instead, you are testing the perceived quality that the consumers will make apparent to you.
Keep up the good work though! Your research is really coming through and you even seem to be very close to having an amazing experiment.
Hey Audrey! Sorry for the late comment. Like we were saying in class, I think that opening up your sample population to random people (but do regularly shop such products) and not necessarily just people that prefer natural makeup would give you a true sample size of the current consumer population. This may make your findings more compelling and more true to the current perceptions of the regular consumers.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I would make it clear in your question that you aren't testing the quality of the makeup objectively. Instead, you are testing the perceived quality that the consumers will make apparent to you.
Keep up the good work though! Your research is really coming through and you even seem to be very close to having an amazing experiment.