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.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

The Yeah!, the Meh, and the Bleh

Week 8 (09/26-10/02)

With October already here (seriously, where is senior year going?!) and the lit review due date only 3 weeks away, we have all spent the last week working hard to create quality outlines from our annotated bibliographies and put all the pieces of our research together. For this week's post, I will be outlining the assured, the neutral, and the intimidating feelings I have been having:

1. The Yeah!: I am still super excited about my methodology, and I am happy that I have my brands (MAC, L'oreal, Bare Escentuals, and Burt's Bees) and the type of makeup I am testing (lipstick!) down. I am personally familiar with each of these brands, so I am really interested in learning what consumers actually think of each, both in terms of their current perceptions of the brands and their actual rankings during blind testing. Each week, the picture of my actual research is becoming more and more clear, and I am becoming more and more enthusiastic about conducting my study. :)

2. The Meh: I know that I have all (or at least the vast majority) of the pieces I need to put together my line of reasoning. Still, it has been a little bit tedious stringing everything together and creating quality transitions. I also need to find a couple more sources justifying the use of the unnatural makeup brands I chose for my study, MAC and L'oreal. While I feel confident that all of these things are doable, I am not particularly excited about them. (However, I know that they are necessary for the full project, which I am excited about, so I will put in a quality effort for the sake of the big picture.)

3. The Bleh: As always when writing complex arguments, I have a nagging feeling that I am missing a link and will lose the reader somewhere, or that my logic is circular, or that there is just some major flaw that I am not seeing because I am overly familiar with my argument. I am especially concerned with the portion of my argument that transitions from explaining my methodology into justifying the use of my 4 brands. I try to argue that popularity and, for the two natural brands, the general consumer understanding that the ingredients are natural are the most important factors, but I don't know if I have justified it enough, and I don't know of any source that could help me with the transition.

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3 comments:

  1. mrslyndsayhaagOctober 3, 2016 at 8:59 AM

    Audrey, I love the title of this blog! I wish I were as clever as you and would have thought of it.

    I can see that you're super excited about your method, and honestly, I am too! I think it'll be so clear and interesting, and I'm eager to see what your results are.

    As far as your argument, I understand your concerns. However, we're going to have so many opportunities for peer review and feedback that I think you'll be able to catch all of the places that you lose your audience. It'll be tedious, but it'll happen.

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  2. UnknownOctober 3, 2016 at 7:39 PM

    Your project and progress sound amazing! I am also happy to see you decided on the brands, so that's a big step and that's great! I think you always do a really good job of making your points and argument very clear and logical so I would not worry too much about it, especially because we still have time to peer review and edit for the final thing.

    For your concern about the transition, I think it sounds like you have a logical flow to say "this is what I am doing" and then "these are what i will be using." I see your concern with the justification section, but I think the use of popularity and familiarity are really important factors in cosmetic consumerism. So have you found any sources that mention these as "top rated" or even in magazines could you look at whether or not their products are featured? Also, in your limitations you can say that there are so many products but you had to chose 4 out of all of them.

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  3. Catherine O'NeillOctober 3, 2016 at 10:11 PM

    Audrey, I'm so happy that you have a great handle on your research topic and I'm so excited to see what you will find. Don't stress you probably aren't missing a link and if you are you it will be easily discoverable as you further delve into your literature review. For justifying the brands you could find consumer reports listing those brands as one of the tops in their fields or the most recognizable. For your upcoming research have you though about how you are going to find out customer opinions? You could link the brands you chose to the results of the opinions to show the significance of the brand? Good job. You are doing great.

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