Assessing the quality of new product candidates in the mascara category has been done by asking consumers to try them and rate their overall performance. In addition to this overall rating, consumers answer specific questions about which performance-related characteristics of the product drive their preference. Understanding the relationship of these ratings to overall preference helps product researchers set priorities regarding which attributes to focus on as they plan future research. Our research group collaborated across internal evaluation divisions and with a research agency to field a large online survey in four countries that measured consumers' preferences for popular mascara products. The survey questionnaire was finalized in June 2016 with fieldwork conducted from late June through the following month of July. The products included were a mix of popular mascara brands sold in normal retail channels as well as department stores. Results were analyzed using the lavaan package in R to build a structural equation model (SEM) that explains the relationship between mascara preference and performance. The modeling results ranked the performance-related attributes by their influence on overall preference within the mascara products surveyed. As a result, researchers have prioritized the most impactful product attributes for improvement.
Journal of Japan Cosmetic Chemists Association
