Hannah Schmittler

CONTENT ANALYSIS ON CONSUMER REVIEWS

My product category chosen is Makeup. Makeup is a leading category that is purchased

again and again by woman and others as a product used to enhance one’s appearance.

Specifically, I have chosen Mascara. Mascara is used to drawn attention to the eyes. With its

use the eyelashes can lengthen, darken, and be more defined. Consumers find it very important

to purchase a Mascara that benefits them with its use. Consumers may turn to consumer

reviews before their purchase to single out the best product. I have chosen this product

category because it stimulates my interest. I love makeup, and it is one of the main product

categories that I look closely at consumer reviews for. My “good brand” is Too Faced Better

Than Sex Mascara. I have selected this as my good brand because it is a fan favorite in makeup

stores like Sephora and Ulta. Many people also trust this brand, as they offer quality products.

For my “bad brand” I have selected the E.l.f Cosmetics Volumizing and Defining Mascara. This

is because of its brand recall of being low-costing, and perhaps much lower quality compared to

competition. My research question for the content analysis is which attributes do consumers

positively and negatively evaluate for both my good and bad brand. For my content analysis for

consumer reviews, I have gathered 15 reviews from both brands to use as data. The reviews

were selected from Ulta and Sephora’s websites, along with Google reviews.

Which attributes do consumers positively/negatively evaluate for your good brand?

In the consumer reviews for Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara, the attributes being

evaluated are the following: Easy application, doesn’t clump, lengthening, long-lasting,

packaging, price, natural, volume, and after-effect. Consumers find it very important that their
product can be applied easily, meaning that the brush is easy to use and does not smudge on

the face. With mascara, it is extremely crucial that the product does not clump together. When

the lashes clump together, the lashes look spider-like. Nobody wants to achieve that kind of

look with Mascara. Lengthening is one of the main reasons for the purchase of mascara, so the

function of it is held in high regard by consumers. Consumers also find it very important that

the product is long-lasting, and can make it through the day without any wear or flaking. The

packaging of the product is also important to the consumers as they do not want it to be bulky

in their makeup bags, and they appreciate a sleek, nice design. The price is also very vital to the

consumer, and although the product is expected to be more expensive than others it is

expected that the product is worth the money. Consumers of this product found that is

important for it to appear natural after application, they do not want it to appear as fake-

looking. Volume is another attribute that is sought after when purchasing mascara, the ability

for the product to boost lashes is very crucial. The after-effect is one of the most important

attributes as it refers to the way the lashes look overall after application. Consumers want to

feel happy about their purchase.

Which attributes do consumers positively/negatively evaluate for your bad brand?

For the E.l.f Cosmetics Volumizing and Defining Mascara the following attributes were

evaluated by consumers: Application, Price Value, Long-lasting, Volume, Length, Removal,

doesn’t clump, natural, and packaging. Most of the attributes were explained in the good

brand. However, I will further explain those not mentioned. Price value, refers to the fact that

the product was cheap ($2), but is the product even worth buying. Was it a complete waste?

Does it adhere to its price value? This was evaluated by the 15 consumer reviews. The removal
of the product was also evaluated by consumers because it is an important final step in the

product. Consumers want a product that works well, and is easy to come off when chosen to.

 Emergent coding book for a good brand- TOO FACED BETTER THAN SEX
MASCARA ($24)
Attributes #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6
Easy Application QA. 1 2 1 1 1 1

QB. 1 4 2 1 1 1

Doesn’t clump QA. 2 1 1 2 1 1

QB. 4 2 2 4 1 1

Lengthening QA. 1 1 2 1 1 1

QB. 1 2 4 1 1 1

Long lasting QA. 1 2 1 1 1 1

QB. 1 4 2 1 1 1

Packaging QA. 2 2 1 2 2 2

QB. 4 4 2 4 4 4

Price QA. 2 2 1 2 2 2

QB. 4 4 2 4 4 4

Natural QA. 2 2 1 1 1 1

QB. 4 4 2 1 1 1

Volume QA. 1 1 2 1 2 1

QB. 1 2 4 1 4 1

After look effect QA. 1 1 1 1 1 1

QB. 1 1 2 1 1 1

 Emergent coding book for a good brand (continued)

 Attributes #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12
Easy application QA. 2 1 1 1 1 1

QB. 4 1 1 1 2 2

Doesn’t clump QA. 1 1 1 1 1 2

QB. 2 1 1 1 2 4

Lengthening QA. 1 1 1 1 2 1

QB. 2 1 1 1 4 1

Long-lasting QA. 1 2 1 2 2 1

QB. 1 4 1 4 4 1

Packaging QA. 2 2 2 1 2 1

QB. 4 4 4 1 4 1

Price QA. 2 1 1 2 2 1

QB. 4 1 2 4 4 2

Natural QA. 1 1 2 1 2 1

QB. 3 1 4 1 4 3

Volume QA. 1 1 1 1 2 2

QB. 1 1 1 1 4 4

After-effect QA. 1 1 1 1 1 1

QB. 1 1 1 1 1 1

 Emergent coding book for a good brand (continued)

Attributes #13 #14 #15
Application QA. 1 1 1

QB. 1 1 1

Doesn’t clump QA. 2 2 1

QB. 4 4 1
 Lengthening QA. 1 1 1

QB. 1 2 1

Long-lasting QA. 1 1 1

QB. 1 1 1

Packaging QA. 2 1 2

QB. 4 1 4

Price QA. 2 2 1

QB. 4 4 1

Natural QA. 1 1 1

QB. 1 1 1

Volume QA. 1 1 1

QB. 1 1 1

After-effect QA. 1 1 1

QB. 1 1 1

 Emergent coding book for E.L.F COSMETICS VOLUMIZING AND DEFINING

MASCARA ($2)
Attributes #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6
Application QA. 1 1 1 1 1 1
QB. 1 2 2 2 1 2

Price Value QA. 1 1 1 1 1 2

QB. 1 1 2 2 1 4

Long-lasting QA. 2 1 2 1 1 2

QB. 4 2 4 2 1 4

Volume QA. 2 2 1 1 1 2

QB. 4 4 2 2 1 4
 Length QA. 2 2 1 2 1 2

QB. 4 4 2 4 1 4

Removal QA. 2 1 1 2 2 1

QB. 4 2 2 4 4 2

Doesn’t clump QA. 1 1 1 1 2 2

QB. 1 2 2 2 4 4

Natural QA. 2 1 2 2 1 1

QB. 4 2 4 4 1 1

Packaging QA. 1 2 2 1 1 2

QB. 1 4 4 2 1 4

 Emergent coding book for a bad brand (continued)

Attributes #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12
Application QA. 1 1 1 1 1 2

QB. 1 1 1 2 1 4

Price Value QA. 2 1 1 2 1 1

QB. 4 1 1 4 1 1

Long-lasting QA. 1 1 1 1 1 1

QB. 2 2 1 2 1 1

Volume QA. 2 2 1 2 2 1

QB. 4 4 1 4 4 1

Length QA. 1 2 1 1 2 1

QB. 1 4 1 1 4 1

Removal QA. 2 1 2 2 2 2

QB. 4 1 4 4 4 4

Doesn’t clump QA. 1 1 1 1 1 1

 QB. 2 1 1 1 1 1

Natural QA. 1 2 2 2 1 1

QB. 1 4 4 4 1 1

Packaging QA. 2 1 2 2 2 1

QB. 4 1 4 4 4 1

 Emergent coding book for a bad brand (continued)

Attributes #13 #14 #15
Application QA. 1 1 1

QB. 1 1 1

Price Value QA. 1 1 2

QB. 2 1 4

Long-lasting QA. 2 2 1

QB. 4 4 1

Volume QA. 2 2 1

QB. 4 4 1

Length QA. 2 2 2

QB. 4 4 4

Removal QA. 1 1 2

QB. 2 2 4

Doesn’t clump QA. 1 2 2

QB. 2 4 4

Natural QA. 1 1 2

QB. 2 1 4

Packaging QA. 2 2 2

QB. 4 4 4
  Cross tabulation table for TOO FACED
Positive Neutral Negative Not Total
mentioned
Easy 10 0 3 2 15
application
Doesn’t clump 6 0 4 5 15

Lengthening 10 0 3 2 15

Long-lasting 10 0 1 4 15

Packaging 3 0 1 11 15

Price 2 0 3 10 15

Natural 8 2 1 4 15

Volume 10 0 1 4 15

After-look 14 0 1 0 15
effect
Total 73 2 18 42 135

 Cross tabulation table for E.L.F

Positive Neutral Negative Not Total
mentioned
Application 9 0 5 1 15

Price Value 8 0 3 4 15

Long-lasting 5 5 0 5 15

Volume 4 0 3 8 15

Length 5 0 1 9 15
 Removal 1 0 5 9 15

Doesn’t clump 6 0 5 4 15

Natural 6 0 2 7 15

Packaging 4 0 1 10 15

Total 48 5 25 57 135

Good Brand Results

For my good-brand, Too Faced, I found mostly positive results. Consumers of the product

positively rate the application, lengthening, long-lasting wear, natural, volumizing , and after-

look effect attributes. Consumers are very happy with these attributes, and they all hold a high

function of importance. It was found that although the price is much higher than the bad brand,

it often was not mentioned by consumers. 10 found that price was not important to mention,

and two of the reviews noted it as “worth the cost”. The packaging of the product was also

founded to not be of high significance, although the convenience of a small packaging is highly

regarded it is not vital. Only one person had a problem with the design, while 3 others found it

to be sleek and pretty.

Bad Brand Results

For my bad brand, E.l.f Cosmetics, I found a disbursement of results amongst positive, negative,

and not mentioned. Consumers found that the application of the product was easy to use,

however 5 mentioned that it often led to smudging and was difficult to dry after application.

The price value was very important to consumers of this product, because many are looking for

a drugstore or cheaper alternative to their expensive brands or people who cannot afford want
good quality too. The removal of the product was found to be rather negative because of the

difficulty that came it. Many consumers wrote that they went through several efforts for

removal, and were still left with flakes of mascara on their eyes.

Through my content analysis on consumer reviews, I have found that for Mascara consumers

find specific attributes to dictate their purchase and satisfaction with a product. Consumers

want most a Mascara that is easy to apply, without smudging and an easy to use brush. In

addition, they want a product that is long-lasting for their day. Consumers want a product that

does not flake off in the middle of the day, or wear off after an hour of use. Consumers also find

it very important that the Mascara is natural for daily use, many consumer reviews referred to

the raccoon-look and no consumer wants that from their product. Lastly, the performance of

the product to not clump and instead lengthen is very crucial. Many consumer reviews talked

about the product making the lashes stick together, that is not a look that is sought for.

Mascara consumers want a product that is lengthening, long-lasting, does not clump, looks

natural, and can be applied easily.