Kao Bioré.

Corporate consulting project to uncover consumer perceptions about chemophobia.

Role

Research & Insights

Duration

Fall 2021 (6 weeks)

Type

Research, Insights & Design Thinking

The Team

The multidisciplinary team is made up of students with different backgrounds and studies.
Jamie Dee
Lance Entsuah
Haley Rich
Jonathan Raj
Kat Coleman
Industrial Design
Economics
Industrial Design
Biomedical Engineering
Fashion Design

Kao Bioré Brands

Owned by Kao Corporation, the Bioré brand focuses on creating skincare products that leans into their Japanese beauty philosophy of functionality and simplicity with long-term results.

They put a high regard on innovation and their scientific research and development of their products.

How might we uncover new data and distill insights related to chemophobia, greenwashing, and how/where consumers get information that drives purchasing decisions specifically for skincare products?

THE MAIN QUESTION

Process and Methodology

Landscape Research

We analyzed 31 articles, pulling out the most common words and trends. This helped us tag articles for further analysis later.

campaigns

chemophobia

gen z consumers

marketing strategies

social media marketing

misinformation

clean beauty

cancel culture

Scope of Interviews

We interviewed 24 consumers from different backgrounds (students, makeup consultants, and customers). We wanted to understand who they are, what makes them a consumer, and what drives them to purchase their skincare products.

Impactful Interviews

We produced large range of ideas based on the interview insights to test out with students through storytelling the experience they could participate in. We used various ideation techniques to explore different opportunities.

Brainstorming: Making the connections

After we have analyzed landscape research and interviews, extracting quotes, main ideas, and abductive reasoning points, we started to make sense of all the data. We organized points, grouped ideas in unexpected ways and started making connections between clusters.

Kao Bioré Insight Deliverables

We presented insights, conclusions, and concepts to the Research and Development team at Kao (primarily researchers in charge of their scientific developments and marketing team). These insights are grouped into four sections and were each presented with both primary and secondary research to validate them.

Effective Communication

Consumers respond better to authentic recommendations rather than challenges to their current beliefs

A parental tone of voice and ethos resonates with Gen Z consumers.

For the average consumer, stories and personal anecdotes resonate more than scientific data.


In order to change consumers' mindsets, you must first win their trust.

The messaging around a product is just as if not more important than the effectiveness of the product.

Effective Influence

Once an influencer establishes credibility with their audience, future recommendations will be more readily accepted

Influence is earned, not bought.

Many consumers will take information at face value if they feel the source is trustworthy and well-informed.


Demonstrating your brand's social responsibility is a way to avoid being canceled.

A way for a brand to show authenticity is to believe, stand for, and act on a social cause that Gen Z is passionate about.

Gen Z wants to see examples of the actions that brands are taking.

Natural and Clean

'Natural' and 'clean' are buzzwords that create impressions and influence consumer decisions, even if they aren't scientifically accurate.

To a consumer, "clean" may refer to the number of ingredients, not just what the ingredients are.

In addition to that, "clean" may refer to the physical look and feel of the product.


A subset of consumers with specific skin conditions approach skincare products as medicinal rather than beauty products.

These consumers perceive themselves as more "informed" and often have different purchasing criteria.


Consumers who read product contents usually only look for specific, known ingredients.

Consumers are generally looking for products with or without specific ingredients.

Purchasing Habits

Consumers look for easily digestible advice when making purchase decisions.

Consumers don't always perform in-depth research on products and ingredients.

Consumers want direct recommendations for product that would be best for them.

There is a gap between the perceived and actual amount of research that consumers perform when making skincare purchases.


Familiarity and reliability are major factors for customer looyalty.

When a consumer finds something that works, they tend to stick with it.


We discovered that it wasn't about chemophobia and green washing like the Kao team though. It was a complex system about how consumers listen to others, take in information, seek out research, and how they view their own skin.

THE BIG DISCOVERY

Broad Application Ideas

In addition to delivering comprehensive insights, we were asked to deliver high level concepts that reacted to these insights. Here are some of the concepts that we came up with.

Jergens mom
influencer

craft your
custom face

positive chemical
media campaign

hosting events around social cause

Final Thoughts

These factors create engagement opportunities that are likely to be more effective at winning over consumers than just challenging misinformation.

Building an authentic connection with your brands offers greater opportunity to direct the narrative around your products.

Purchase decisions are affected by multiple factors, not just chemophobia.

What's Next

Kao has headed back to present our findings to upper leadership, and they want to continue spreading this information around the company.