Beauty. It has often been said to lie in the “eye of the beholder.” But does beauty also lie in part, in its origin? Do our individual concepts of beauty shift based where we think it comes from? According to recent relevance research at Brodeur, it does. Quite a bit, actually.

1. The Eye of the Beholder: Beauty Relevance Research
Summary
Recently we were asked by a cosmetics firm to have a discussion about the concept of beauty. They posed a curious question. Is there
such a thing as “Asian beauty?”
That got us thinking (we do that a lot at Brodeur). we asked Americans to think about “beauty” from five parts of the world – America,
Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. We then asked them to select among eight attributes, the one attribute that most
characterized beauty from that particular region. The attributes were:
 Chic
 Classic
 Complex
 Exciting
 Exotic
 Innocent
 Refreshing
 Seductive
What we found was that beauty was not just in the eye of the beholder, it is also in region and culture of origin. Click through to see
some of the research.

2. American
beauty
Classic 31%
Seductive 14%
Refreshing 14%
Complex 11.5%
Exciting 11.5
Innocent 8%
Chic 8%
Exotic 2%
Asian beauty
Exotic 39%
Innocent 25%
Complex 8.5%
Refreshing 6.5%
Classic 6%
Exciting 6%
Seductive 7%
Chic 3.5%
European beauty
Classic 33
Chic 19
Seductive 11
Complex 9
Refreshing 8
Exciting 7.5
Exotic 7.5
Innocent 5
African beauty
Exotic 42.5
Complex 17.5
Chic 7.5
Classic 7
Seductive 7
Exciting 6.5
Refreshing 6
Innocent 6
Latin beauty
Seductive 40.5
Exotic 26.5
Exciting 8
Chic 7.5
Classic 5.5
Refreshing 4.5
Complex 4.5
Innocent 3
For each attribute pick the ONE that BEST describes beauty from these different parts of the world.
American women (n=200)
American
beauty
Classic 27%
Seductive 16%
Refreshing 15%
Complex 14%
Exciting 14
Innocent 5%
Chic 5%
Exotic 4%
Asian beauty
Exotic 37%
Innocent 17%
Refreshing 12
Seductive 11
Exciting 9
Complex 5
Classic 5
Chic 4
European beauty
Classic 32
Chic 16
Exciting 13
Seductive 12
Refreshing 9
Complex 9
Exotic 6
Innocent 3
African beauty
Exotic 29
Complex 21
Chic 10
Classic 10
Exciting 10
Refreshing 9
Innocent 7
Seductive 4
Latin beauty
Seductive 33
Exciting 17
Exotic 15
Chic 12
Classic 9
Innocent 6
Refreshing 6
Complex 2
For each attribute pick the ONE that BEST describes beauty from these different parts of the world.
American men (n=100)
For American women
• Asian beauty balances exotic with
innocence
• African beauty is highly exotic but
complex
• Latin beauty is highly seductive with
complexity
• European beauty is classically chic
• American beauty is classically
seductive
• Non American and European beauty is
perceived in less multi-dimensional
terms
For American men
• In general, men view beauty in more
multi-dimensional frames
• They are more likely to see Asian
beauty as “refreshing”
• They are more likely to see Latin
beauty as “exciting” and “chic”
• They are more likely to see European
beauty as “exciting”
• They are more likely to see American
and African beauty in multi-
dimensional terms.

3. METRICS for measuring brand relevance
• I associate it with values that are important to me
• It stands for the same things I do
• Being associated with it makes me feel
better about myself
• I want people to know that I am
associated with it
• It helps me meet my needs
• It makes my life easier
• It is not for everyone but it is for people like me
• It inspires me
BRAND
Thinking
Values
Sensory
Community

4. Women’s relevance attachment to cosmetics
the RELEVANT BRAND “egg”
Q. Thinking about your favorite line of cosmetics, how
applicable are the following statements? (percent saying
“completely applies”)
It makes life easier
22%
It meets a need others can’t
15%
I can’t imagine life without it
6%
Using it just “feels right”
24%
I want people to know I use it
10%
It is for people “like me”
10% It stands for the same things I do
8%
I associate it with values important to me
4%
37%30%
12%20%