I.

Introduction

In today's highly competitive market, it is increasingly difficult for companies to

differentiate and position their products. This is especially true for products in
saturated markets, where many well-known and niche brands compete for consumers'
attention. In such a crowded landscape, standing out and creating unique value has
become a significant challenge for Maybelline. Therefore, using qualitative interview
methods to probe and explore opinions and viewpoints to find insight into issues is
necessary.

Interviews are the most common means of collecting data in qualitative research
projects. It is a widely used technique among human science researchers interested in
understanding the subjective aspects of certain social groups and segments. When an
interview is conducted well, it allows the interviewee to reveal the interviewee's
desires, feelings, biases, and expectations. When they can express their ideas through
interviews, unexplored topics can emerge and shift toward change in a more positive
direction. Additionally, interviews can be used as a research technique when the
research design involves exploring how participants themselves understand certain
issues, in their thoughts and words.

Qualitative interview methods are characterized as those that aim to explore meaning
and generate non-numerical data. These include in-depth interviews to explore
individuals' attitudes and experiences; and focus groups. In this report will use the in-
depth interview method to focus on conducting qualitative interviews to research
customer needs and preferences and identify advantages and disadvantages as well as
product characteristics. In addition, we can find out what features consumers want
from the Fit Me product that the Maybelline New York Matte Poreless Foundation
does not yet.

II. Key principles

Qualitative interviewing requires perhaps rather different skills on the part of the
interviewer from those required for more structured interviewing. Both kinds of
interviewers need social skills in putting the respondent at ease, so that trust is
established, and they feel comfortable in talking about experiences and attitudes.

A key element of a good interview is developing the right questions to ask. Even if
using less structured approaches, it is worth spending some time thinking about the
best ways to elicit the most useful data for your research question. Your respondents
(whether they are patients or professionals) are unlikely to share your perspectives on
the world, your classifications, or your vocabulary, so you need to develop questions
that allow them to frame appropriate answers. Rules of thumb for asking interview
questions:
  Start with general questions. To begin, use a general question both to orientate
your interviewees to the topic and to elicit the kind of language they prefer to
use.
 Ask open questions. These are questions that require more than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’
in answer.
 Ask neutral questions.
 Use appropriate everyday vocabulary, not medical terminology.
 Use concrete rather than abstract questions. Talking about specific incidents
rather than abstract ones is often easier.

Sometimes we need to think more imaginatively about how to elicit particular kinds of
information. Knowledge is sometimes difficult to access and tied to particular
contexts.

In this report, qualitative interviews will use open-ended questions, asking questions
but not providing answer options. Open-ended questions are more demanding of
participants than closed-ended questions because they require participants to come up
with their own words, phrases, or sentences to answer the interview. Using open-
ended questions, active listening, rapport building, and reflexivity during the interview
process is important. This makes it feel more like a conversation than an interview.
Participants will feel more comfortable during the interview process. However, we
can still direct the conversation to gather information from the respondent.

III. Types of Qualitative Interviews

 Structured interview: an interview with questions in a fed order which may be
scripted. Consistency might also be required for the interviewer's posture,
voice, etc. so they are standardized.
 Semi-structured interview: an interview with a fixed list of open and closed
questions. The interviewer can add more questions if necessary
 Unstructured interview: an interview in which most questions (after the first
one) depend on the respondent's answers. A list of topics may be given to the
interviewer

The type of qualitative interview that best suits our research goals is a semi-structured
interview for the following reasons: First of all, semi-structured interviews allow us to
prepare questions in advance to help guide the conversation and keep respondents
focused on the topic. Second, semi-structured interviews allow participants to respond
openly to gain more in-depth information. Third, semi-structured interviews are more
flexible, they feel more like a conversation than an interview. Fourth, semi-structured
interviews provide an opportunity for us to learn the answer to the question and the
reasons behind the answer. Fifth, semi-structured interviews allow respondents time to
open up about sensitive issues. Finally, semi-structured interviews provide qualitative
data to compare with previous and future data.
IV. Interview Design

a. Participant Selection

Criteria for selecting interview participants include gender, age, and appearance.

The chosen gender will be female, male, and other. Prioritize choosing females
because this gender will use the most makeup.

The age range of choice will be teenagers and young adults. Teenagers often have oily
skin and acne because they are in puberty, so they often use foundation to cover up
those flaws. Young adults are often working people and they tend to look for long-
lasting makeup options that can still withstand a whole working day while still
maintaining youthful, smooth skin.

Appearance will be those who like makeup. They will often be more knowledgeable
about makeup products. In addition, they tend to often test different products to
choose the right one.

b. Recruitment and Informed Consent

When approaching potential interviewees and asking them to participate, it is

important to ensure that participants fully understand the purpose of the interview,
their rights, and the confidentiality of their questions. Respond to obtain informed
consent:

Initial approach: Start by introducing yourself and explaining the purpose of the
interview. Let the audience know that their participation is sought, emphasizing that
their insights and perspectives are valuable.

Provide information: Share relevant details about the interview such as the nature of
the study, goals, and expected length. Explain how their participation will greatly
contribute to the research.

Make voluntary participation clear: Emphasize that participation is completely

voluntary and that they have the right to decline or withdraw from the interview at any
time without consequences or negative impact.

Confidentiality and anonymity: Explain the security measures that will be taken to
protect their identity and the privacy of their responses. Assure participants that their
personal information will be kept strictly confidential and that any identifying details
will be removed or anonymized in any reports or publications that result.
Informed consent: Clearly state the purpose of the interview, the intended use of the
data, and any potential risks or discomfort the participant may encounter during the
interview process. Provide opportunities for participants to ask questions and seek
clarification on any concerns they may have.

Follow up: After obtaining consent, express gratitude for their willingness to
participate.

c. Setting up the Interview

Choose a shopping center as the most suitable location to reach potential subjects and
take place the interview. Because shopping centers are places that attract many
customers, the chances of reaching potential audiences and meeting interview criteria
are higher.

To keep the interview professional, at the same time being able to record the
interviewee's most truthful answers.

First of all, choose a peaceful, comfortable setting. Then, the prepared questions will
be asked one after another. The recording system will record questions and answers
throughout the interview process

d. Interview Protocol

Semi-structured qualitative interviews use open-ended questions, asking questions but

not providing answer options. Using open-ended questions, active listening, rapport
building and reflexivity during the interview process is important. Because it feels
more like a conversation than an interview. Participants will feel more comfortable
during the interview process. However, we can still direct the conversation with the
goal of gathering information from the respondent.

The sequence of questions will be:

1. Introduce yourself

2. How do you know about Maybelline Fit Me Foundation?

3. What criteria does Maybelline Fit Me foundation meet?

4. What makes you unsatisfied with this product?

5. What aspects of the product do you want to improve?

6. How do you feel about Maybelline Fit Me Foundation compared to other

foundation brands?
e. Conducting the Interview

Approach interview participants as naturally as possible. Establish a friendly

relationship with them by being cheerful and polite. Make sure the atmosphere is
always comfortable and open. Make it feel more like a conversation between friends
than an interview. Participants should be able to feel comfortable answering the
questions.

V. Data analysis approach:

Use the recording device on your phone to record the interview. Every day,
interview one person, then listen back and write down the interview information
right away that day. Pay attention to noting both the participant's tone and
expressions while answering interview questions. Steps to analyze qualitative data
in interviews:

 Step 1: Prepare data for analysis

Record qualitative data, writing summaries by reducing long statements into

shorter ones, in which the main meaning of what was said or observed is
succinctly restated. Get familiar with the data.

 Step 2: Analyze by themes

Search for themes, or patterns, that occur across a data set (such as a series of
interviews, observations, documents, or websites being analyzed), related to his or
her research question for further analysis

VI. Data analysis

 Codes

Product functions: Codes related to the features that the product brings to customers
during use.

Emotions: codes related to customer emotional expressions during product use such as
confidence, comfort, excitement, and disappointment.

Feedback and suggestions: codes related to customers giving suggestions to improve

the product

 Themes
User experience: This theme is about customer experiences during use including
product functions, emotions, and feedback about satisfaction or dissatisfaction with
the product.

Feedback and suggestions: This theme is about customer feedback and their
suggestions for improving the product.

 Relationship between themes

Relationship between user experience, feedback, and suggestions:

This relationship shows the influence of product quality and customer emotions (user
experience) on making comments and suggestions for products (Feedback and
suggestions).

VII. Conclusion

In short, it is becoming more and more challenging for businesses to differentiate and
position their products in today's fiercely competitive market. This is particularly true
for products in crowded markets, where a large number of well-known and specialized
brands are vying for consumers' interest. For Maybelline, differentiating out and
offering distinctive value in such a saturated market has become a major issue. Thus,
it's essential to go into and examine thoughts and points of view using qualitative
interviewing techniques to get an understanding of problems.
The goal of qualitative interviewing is to produce non-numerical data and investigate
meaning. These consist of focus groups and in-depth interviews to learn about
people's perspectives and experiences. This study will focus on conducting qualitative
interviews to gather information about consumer wants and preferences, as well as to
identify benefits and drawbacks and product characteristics. It will do this by using the
in-depth interview approach. We can also learn what characteristics customers would
like to see included in the Fit Me product that the Maybelline New York Matte
Poreless Foundation does not already offer.
Note that during the data collection interview process, do not abuse the rights of
respondents during the data collection process under the pretext of providing better
quality research. Consumers expect to be sold and surveyed, and they expect to be
able to tell the difference without much difficulty. When a sales or marketing activity
uses the forms and language of survey research to conceal the true nature of the
activity being undertaken, it violates public trust.
Fischer, E., Castilhos, R.B. and Fonseca, M.J. (2014) The qualitative interview in
marketing and Consumer Research: Paradigmatic Approaches and guideline –
doaj, REMark: Revista Brasileira de Marketing. Available at:
https://doaj.org/article/d731a514f34e4ecd812dd00b768add5c (Accessed: 28
October 2023).

Pessoa, A. S. G., Harper, E., Santos, I. S., & Gracino, M. C. da S. (2019)

International Journal of Qualitative Methods. SAGE Publications.