Consumer Perception of Fine Lines and Wrinkles Assessed by Qualitative Methods

By: Rosanna Mootoo, Stephanie Basile, Cristina Stroever and Christian Oresajo, L’Oréal USA

Posted: January 4, 2013, from the January 2013 issue of Cosmetics & Toiletries.

The ways in which consumers individually identify their skin are invaluable to product development. In particular, consumer perception toward aging descriptors is of paramount importance to the category of anti-aging skin care. Within this segment, there appears to be a trend for pairing specific aging descriptors with consumers of a certain age, especially where marketing is concerned. The older consumer is associated with formulas to address deep wrinkles, whereas the younger consumer is associated with minimizing fine lines and more general types of skin maintenance.^1-4

Marketing campaigns for various anti-aging portfolios share a common vocabulary. Wrinkles are correlated to either “loss in skin elasticity,” “dryness” and/or “lack of firmness,” to name a few. Moreover, formulas geared toward wrinkles often are described as “rich creams” versus lotions, gels or other product forms. In contrast, formulas addressing fine lines are more ambiguous in nature, and not necessarily branded specifically to address fine lines. Instead, advertising cues such as “renews lackluster skin,” “lightweight formula” and/or “nourishes skin” describe them. They also typically are presented as moisturizers or lotions rather than creams, which suggests a lightweight, less viscous composition.

This is only an excerpt of the full article that appeared in Cosmetics & Toiletries, but you can purchase the full-text version.