SURF Final Paper_JasminJoseph_MarketinginBlackHairCare_REVISED

Running Head: MARKETING TO NATURAL CONSUMERS 1
The Changing Climate of Black Hair Care: Marketing to Natural Consumers
Jasmin Joseph with Professor Melissa Bradley
McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University
September 1, 2015
Author Note: This research was supported in part by a grant from the McDonough School of
Business Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Correspondence concerning this article should be
addressed to Jasmin Joseph, Contact: jjj40@georgetown.edu

Abstract
This study is a comprehensive analysis of the black hair care industry and the changes within it
as a result of an increase in consumers with “natural hair,” that is, those embracing their natural
hair texture as opposed to manipulating it permanently by chemical means. Rapid changes in
technology have changed the way consumers engage with product offerings and lowered barriers
to entry for new brands. As a result, the historical points of parity and overall branding
methodology within black hair and beauty products have drastically changed and manifested in
the form of declining sales for over 75% of the sales share leaders in ethnic hair and beauty.
Using analysis of discussion with consumers, consumer influencers, product development
experts, and retail owners, this study has found that the future of black hair care relies on an
integrated marketing strategy which relies heavily on the digital for awareness and primarily on
brick-and-mortar for consumption. In summary, the black, female consumer is increasingly
health and socially-conscious. She prioritizes product content over price or availability, and for
the first time in a while, seeks to highlight and embrace natural features rather than manipulate
them. Opportunities for further exploration include consumer’s reasons for going natural,
challenges with maintaining transitioning or early-stage (<5 years) natural hair, barriers for
consumption and major influences on purchase decisions.
Keyword: ethnic consumers, black hair care, natural hair, natural hair care

Introduction
Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche was thrust into the main-stream spotlight about a year ago
when her voice recording of a spoken-word poem on feminism was featured on track “Flawless”
a single released from Beyoncé’s eponymous 2013 surprise album. To many, Adiche was
already a household name, at least among the literary enthusiasts familiar with her extensive
body of award-winning fiction. Most recently, her work Americanah was the winner of the
National Book Critics Circle Award (2013), hailed by the New York Times Book Review as one
of the 10 Best Books of 2013 and short-listed for the Bailey Women’s Prize for Fiction in the
UK in 2014. While I would love for this paper to be a discussion on Adiche and her work, it
sadly is not. However, much of this work was not insignificantly catalyzed by apart from
Americanah, where narrator and protagonist Ifemelu is searching in a drugstore to purchase her
first chemical relaxer after deciding to perm1 her hair:
“Relaxers had grown in their range, boxes and boxes in the ‘ethnic hair’ section of the
drugstore, faces of smiling black women with impossibly straight and shiny hair, beside
words like ‘botanical’ and ‘aloe’ that promised gentleness” (250 Adiche).
What struck me most about this quote was that less than a decade after the context in
which this anecdote was written—it is no longer true. From my experience first as a consumer,
and secondly from the perspective of a business analyst, it appears that relaxers are on a rapid
decline and steady on their way out. In many drugstores identical to the one visited by Ifemelu,
relaxers have lost their prime, eye-level, shelf real-estate to be relegated to the bottom shelves
1 “Perm”- (v.) a colloquial term used by African-Americans/blackswhich refers to the usageof a chemical
straighteningsolution called a “relaxer”to achieve consistently straighthair for up to 4-6 weeks.

and sought after by the remnants of their once-loyal (some may even say, addicted) users. The
numbers do not lie, Mintel reports that relaxer sales are down nearly 26% since 2013.
Since then, many women have sworn off the “creamy-crack” forever. Some have
transitioned out, that is, let virgin, unrelaxed hair grow from the scalp without cutting off
previously relaxed hair and then cutting the relaxed hair off when they consider the natural hair
long enough. Others, simply cut all chemically processed hair off leaving only a thin crop of hair
remaining. This methodology appears in Junot Diaz’s short story “Boyfriend” from Drown,
Dominican-American narrator describes the “big chop” of beautiful, elusive girl that lives above
him:
“At the end of the month she got her hair cut short. No more straighteners, no science
fiction combs. I like that, I told her. Makes you look fierce. She smiled. That’s exactly
what I wanted.”
As the natural hair revolution seems to be picking up and not slowing down, it could be
more accurately termed a “turning point” in social, cultural and cosmetic norms in the segment
of “ethnic consumers” and, by sheer magnitude of adoption, an intentioned challenger of
Western-constructed standards of beauty. From this point on, it is realistic to expect a consistent
decline in relaxer sales and decline in acceptance of irreversible chemical hair processing by
consumers. It is this social change that impacts the behaviors of consumers when shopping
for/selecting products. This study was designed to examine the implications of this change in
behavior and industry norms in product development, distribution and digital marketing strategy
and the opportunities natural-haired consumers present for both start-up and established
hair/beauty brands.

Literature Review
This topic can be summarized as a discussion—from broadest to narrowest context—of
ethnic economies, black entrepreneurship and black hair care as a segmented market of the
hair/beauty, packaged goods industry. In turn of the millennium publication, Ethnic Economies
(Light &Gold, 2000), the authors explore the rise and role of ethnic-owned enterprises, the
definition of ethnic expansively inclusive of all and any immigrants and transports (Italians,
Irish, Jewish, Korean, Japanese, and all racially black people, to name a few). They highlight the
entrepreneurial spirit of ethnic and minority citizens, particularly the advantage they incur when
serving co-ethnics and providing products/services for their own people. However, it is argued
that these populations are “too small in number and too limited in power to support major ethnic
economies of their own” 2.Light & Gold devote a portion of their analysis to the ethnic segment
of blacks, which is assumed as inclusive of African, Caribbean, Hispanic nationalities, as well as
ancestral derivatives of slaves. Bates asserts that black-owned retail and service business directed
at their co-ethnic contemporaries have little earning potential, whereas African-American firms
that service other businesses, governments and the general market are more profitable (Light &
Gold 2000). They stress the point of an “ethnic advantage,” that is multi-ethnics are often experts
in a certain field applicable only to contemporary co-ethnics3. This expertise allows ethnic
people to set up specialized businesses that offer services consumed by each other, but also
outside of their own ethnic group; in and of itself, this dichotomy sets up a resistance to the
limiting claim regarding black business. One such industry with market size to share for
ambitious, ethnic entrepreneurs is black hair. Mintel’s 2015 Report on Black Hair Care reports
2 Light & Gold.(2000). Ethnic Economies

that black hair care expenditures reached $2.7 billion dollars in 2014, up 7%, marked primarily
by an 18% decrease in relaxer sales and 27% increase in styling product since 2013.
Hair Matters examines the political, social and
societal conditions surrounding the black female’s
relationship with her hair and industry beauty
standards. She examines the refutation of one’s natural
hair type to centuries of systematic racist structures
which equated whiteness (and all characteristics of it)
with goodness, acceptability, and by extension,
beauty4. This tension was foundational in historical
marketing campaigns in which “product
advertisements promised that changing one’s hair to
the desired texture would ‘contribute to [one’s] success—both socially and commercially.’”
Early beauty companies adopted notions of black Americans as inferior and unattractive for their
marketing strategies, and professed that straight, smooth, long hair would in turn lead to social
mobility, success and of course, beauty.5
Early black female entrepreneurs (Madames Perkins, Smith, Newell and Nelson)
confronted this directly and did not use rhetoric of racial inferiority to sell their products. They
cited biblical passages extolling the virtue of long hair on women, used themselves as models to
illustrate the success of their products, and most importantly, emphasizes potential career options
4 Banks,Ingrid.(2000) “Hair Matters: Beauty, Power, and Black Women’s Consciousness”
5 Wingfield,Adia Harvey. (2009) Doing Business with Beauty: Black Women, Hair Salons and The Racial Enclave
Economy, 30-32

for black women within the hair industry, often offering other black women work at their
companies. In an effective marketing technique, Madame Annie Turnbo Pope Malone sent
saleswomen who used her hair-growth product, Poro, door-to-door in black communities. They
laid the groundwork for Madame C.J. Walker’s business enterprise. However since Madame C.J.
Walker’s international success in selling shampoos, pomades and straightening solutions, the
industry of black hair care has changed yet again. Elle Morris, VP of LPK Beauty, notes that as
“ethnic” consumers revert to embracing natural hair textures, they’re looking for natural/organic
products. The front-runners in this category of product production and marketing are the
“boutique brand owners and African-American entrepreneurs…whose organic positioning has
helped many brands win market share from tradition formulations”6. The article also notes, that
innovation is majorly driven by ingredient selection in product formulation. Brands that have
made a commitment to iterating toward more natural ingredients have fared better in the face of
declining sales in leading ethnic hair care providers (Figure 7). Mass retailers have taken note as
well and increased dedicated shelf space for ethnic consumers, as well as introduced niche
brands previously attainable only through specialty retailers, such as Miss Jessie’s Curls, the
Jane Carter Solution, Camille Rose Naturals, etc. Black hair care is a rapidly evolving and
growing industry, which will only continue with increased collaboration between socially-
minded consumers, entrepreneurs and marketers.
6 Morris,E. (2011). Eco Attributes Reinvent the Ethnic Hair CareSegment. Global Cosmetic Industry, 179(5),28-30

Methodology
This study was designed in order to examine the implications of natural hair as a major
agent of change in product development, distribution and development within the black hair care
industry. More broadly, it is intended to project advised marketing and branding strategy for
hair/beauty brands looking to compete in an industry which has entirely changed due to
consumers’ deeply entrenchment in and commitment to the “Natural Hair Revolution.” The
following questions were addressed: (1) How are these “new” consumers engaging in the
marketplace? What are the marketing and branding implications of these behaviors for brands
manufacturing product for them? (2) How has product distribution changed in independent
beauty supply stores and large, chain retailers? (3) How are established brands investing in new
research and product development processes?
Consumer Behavior and Marketing Responses
The Consumer Sample
A sample of 68 women, from ages 17-56, 90% from a racially black or “African-American
background, of 9 ethnicities, and 5 countries filled out the surveys through both direct invitations
and shared across various social networking platforms, particularly Facebook, YouTube and
various natural hair blogs. Seven Caucasian respondents with textured, curly, hair also filled out
the survey including one respondent who was mixed ethnically (Italian/Cuban) but not racially.
One respondent was identified as Pacific Islander of Samoan ethnicity. Five consumers from the

DC region ranging from 17-50+7 were interviewed in person, to elaborate on in-store purchase
behavior. Two consumer opinion leaders, blogger and founder of Un’Ruly.com, and “You Can
Touch My Hair” New York City interactive art installation, Antonia Opiah and Social Media
Influencer and student, Rekik “The Dopest Ethiopian” Neway were interviewed to weigh in on
the role of social media in the hair care industry from their professional and personal
experiences. 48% of the sample had been natural for 5 years or less and only 18% reported never
having gotten a perming or relaxing treatment. 10% of the sample was still relaxed.
Data Collection and Analysis
To collect quantitative consumer insights, I employed an extensive survey questionnaire which
solicited results through several response methods including multiple choice, ordered choice
selection, and a gradated Likert Scale to measure intensity of commitment to choice selections.
These results were then visually summarized and can be examined in further detail in the
Appendix.
Production Distribution
Location and Sites
For the purposes of this study, we limited the sample do the District of Columbia (DMV) region,
which demographically serves general swath for metropolitan cities with the largest African-
American populations: New York, Atlanta, Chicago, DC and Philadelphia (source: Census
Bureau 2010). The examination was limited to 5 independently owned-and-operated beauty
7 Exact age not given

supply stores (3 Asian-owned, 2 Black-owned) and 4 chain-retailers (2 Walmarts and 2 CVS
stores).
Data Collection and Analysis
For the independent suppliers, we sought an interview-conversation with the store owner to
inquire about store-buying procedure, brand self-selection, and personal entrepreneurial motives.
For the chain retailers, I conducted an analysis of brand offerings, ethnic hair care shelf space,
and if possible, interviewed the sectional manager. He/she was able to elaborate on the evolution
of the section in terms of shelf-space, brand density, product line extensions in his/her individual
store as a proxy for the chain’s response in stores within similar demographic conditions.
Product Development and Innovation
Location and Data Collection
I recently visited the L’Oréal’s Research and Innovation labs, based in Clark, New
Jersey. I met with senior chemists, Balanda Atis and Barbara Mitchell to discuss the need for
research investment in hair and beauty, and how using science can better serve ethnic consumers
and their respective vision for the future of multicultural hair care and beauty specifically. I then
received an in-depth tour of the Women of Color Lab to help frame my perspective when
reporting on the role of research in product creation.

Findings
The Natural Hair Movement started primarily through online forums and blogs and is
now perpetuated through iterations of these media including social networking communities,
Meetup groups and open-source data platforms for two-sided information exchange. Many
brands which cater explicitly to natural hair have been championed by entrepreneurial members
of the community, such as Camille Rose Naturals, Miss Jessie’s Curl Solutions, TGIN (Thank
God I’m Natural), Heat Free Hair Movement, Big Chop Hair, et. al. Many of these brands were
able to generate and grown initial customer base by utilizing their online networks; while many
of them have grown, they do not (yet) have the budgets to cash out big dollars for mass, national
advertising campaigns or celebrity endorsements. In lieu of these, specifically in black hair care,
enter “the blogger” and “the social media influencer” to act as a medium of conversion for
various consumers.
Consumer Survey
The survey employed was designed to mimic the decision-making process for consumers
with natural hair when purchasing hair products. Respondents were primarily asked to rank on a
gradated scale (strongly disagree-strongly agree) what were their main sources of hair and beauty
information (Figure 1), order criteria most important in hair products (Figure 2), preferred
methods of procurement (Figure 3), and finally, their propensity to be influenced by peers to
consume new products (Figure 4). To further explore pre/post purchase behavior, we asked
consumers to rate the likelihood of purchasing a product after a single exposure in various retail
channels (Figure 5) and finally, when going to replace a product, estimate how brand loyalty (or

lack thereof) influences future purchase decisions (Figure 6). There are a few points which
would be clarified through further exploration. First off, in Figure 2, it was highly probable that
there was confusion in definition of “value” vs “cost.” The study had intended "value" to be
more related to a kind of external validation through either friends, peers or fellow consumers
and “cost” being the literal economic price. Regardless, the sample displayed uniform
consistency in placing it as 2nd or 3rd in ranked importance, so for evaluative purposes cost and
value were counted as the same thing. Secondly, in analyzing customer retention in Figure 6, it
would have been helpful to inquire on a consumer’s satisfaction with the original product
purchase. From the results, it seems that it respondents operated under the assumption that the
hypothetical leave-in conditioner was a satisfactory to well-performing product, as the majority
said it was some magnitude of likely they would replace that exact. The variation between
“somewhat likely” and “very likely” is contingent on intensity of positive feelings toward the
(hypothetical) product.
Antonia Opiah, Founder Un’Ruly, Blogger/Producer
The role of the blogger in black hair care is varied. Primarily, they serve as a means for
information distribution. Often individually (or with a small team), they aggregate opinion and
insights from consumers around the Internet regarding a trending topics and stories. More
importantly to the marketer, however, they perform this same task for products and associated
brand content. Opiah who I learned of through a live art installation which garnished significant
press last year called “You Can Touch My Hair”, a literal attempt to demystify black hair by
allowing people of all races to openly voice their inquiry and curiosity about black hair in a safe
space. The video of this event presently has about a half-million views on YouTube. Since then,

Opiah has started another video serial called “Pretty” which explores the definition of “pretty”
for black women in various countries around the world. Since its conception black Women from
Italy, France and England have all been interviewed to weigh-in on their respective nation’s
standards of beauty.
While the “Un’Ruly” brand does not necessarily stand alone in the same way as some of
its peers, Opiah presently is growing the beginning of a web platform that integrates information
distribution, entertainment, and commerce in a way that makes sense to the ‘digital native’
consumer base. From her experience working in marketing/advertising and now as a successful
creator and curator of online content, I asked her to weigh in on the role of the blogger in black
hair care consumer goods. Opiah offered that because of social media, there are “no longer
‘informal’ forms of marketing,” that is, even word-of-mouth (definitively, the sharing of
information from one peer to another) can be monitored if it is happening online. Now, more
than ever, brands have ready (and free) access to two-sided communication with their customers
and are expected to optimize accordingly. The prominence of natural hair itself, she argues, is a
testament to the role online influencers have in driving industry change. Mainstream brands are
now creating products specifically for naturally curly hair. Opiah says that in her daily scours
through the natural hair online spheres, she sees “girls that have these huge followings. This
imagery driven by individuals has saturated social media [and the greater Internet]. They aren’t
necessarily ‘celebrities’ but they do have influence…and influence is a powerful thing. As a
result, people really want to look like them—a lot of the people are more accessible and
believable, and therefore more likely to be taken seriously than a celebrity [endorsement].” The
blogger, the social media influencer will “only continue to have an effect on [hair, beauty and
fashion] business.” Because of the novelty of this method for reaching consumers, the way it is

employed now is still more of an art than a science. In order to capture the dimensionality of this
multi-faceted relationship between the brand, the influencer and the consumers, this study
proceeded by going straight to the source.
Rekik “The Dopest Ethiopian” Neway and Social Media Influencer
It seems as if every day a brand adds another mainstay to their social media arsenal.
Companies are running to recruit millennials and now young-adult Generation Yers to run the
company social media accounts, and by extension, craft and maintain their brand identities. This
group is targeted for this role specifically because they are the first generation endemic to
utilizing online media to grow their most beloved brand—themselves. Rekik Neway is one such
example. I contacted her via a phone interview to discuss the evolution of her online popularity,
maintaining the individual brand across several media and using that brand to promote product.
During our conversation, she seemed to
have industry insight far beyond her
years, probably due to the fact that she
has been independently maintaining her
personal brand and a consistently
growing following for about five years.
To avoid falling into the fad life cycle, she stressed the importance of two main keys to success
in digital marketing/branding: one, keeping your brand consistent across various media and two,
delivering entertaining content which is congruous with the given “demeanor” or voice of a
given social platform. Over the years, Neway has mastered this. Her Instagram is tongue-in-
cheekily braggadocios without being outright conceited, her Tumblr repeats images from

Instagram while praising the beauty of others, her unique voice offering commentary to
humorous posts or images, and most recently, a Snapchat, invites her followers into her life and
home. For 24-hours, her 14k snapchat followers can watch her rant about a bad date, join her at a
family dinner or her hair regimen before going out. Her internet fame (she’s weary of using this
word, as she considers her multitude of “followers”, “friends or homies” rather than “fans”
which implies that she be superior to them which “isn’t at all the case”) stemmed from self-
made, relatable GIFs on her Tumblr, is now spread across Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, and
Snapchat. A fifteen-second Instagram video of the now-controversial #Don’tJudgeChallenge,
accumulated over 30,000 likes (a 1000% premium on her average likes per photo8) and went
definitively viral over the course of 48 hours. The video appeared in both positive and negative
perspectives on Huffington Post, Good Day New York and Houston, Good Morning America, to
name a few domestically; and internationally, appeared in various Danish and French national
print news channels.
8 Statistic calculated usingMinter.io

But what’s the point of bringing this all up? In the course of our discussion, Neway
revealed that on her Tumblr
she recieves 1000s of
messages per day, the unread
count often tipping 100,000.
On average, she estimates,
about 90% of these are about
hair, make-up, and/or
beauty. Female followers of
all ages, ask her to elaborate
on where to purchase a lip
color, how she gets her curls a certain way, applies false eyelashes, etc. As a result, she has been
asked to promote over 35 brands including, the RPG Show Wigs, who happened to provide
Neway with the honey-blonde bob she wore in the #DontJudgeChallenge video. Having
absorbed the cost of one wig plus shipping, their product was exposed to at least Neway’s 85k
followers, 1000s of viewers on domestic and international news, and readers of print publications
as shown above. When Neway revealed in a subsequent post that the hair in the video was, in
fact, a wig from RPG many of the comments expressed shock that it was not her real hair. RPG
Show Wigs, indirectly, had viral internet presence and credibility from a breadth of potential
consumers, that —when applied correctly—these wigs were indistinguishable from one’s natural
hair. RPG Show Wigs increased a jump in Instagram followers after the video. I was able to
reach staff from RPG who informed me that “although they are not sure of the exact [magintude]
of orders [that came] from her [Neway’s] fans, … we are sure that many fans of hers came to our

website the same day she posted the picture.” Brown and Hayes (Brown, et. al. 2008) define an
influencer in this way: “[they] significantly shape the customer’s purchasing decsion but may
never be accountable for it.”9It’s possible the negative press which began surrounding the
movement as being contradictorily judgemental and shaming those with unibrows, acne, etc.
RPG chose not to capitalize on its virallity the way they could have, Neway was mentioned only
twice on the page after, and the #DontJudgeChallenge was not mentioned at all. To them,
perhaps, the influencer marketing intiative had done its office—increased brand awareness,
gained followers, and increase in overall (and unit-specific) sales.
Product Development and Innovation
L’Oréal Research and Innovation Department, Clark, NJ
With the proliferation of technology as a means of communication and commerce, global
companies like L’Oréal are forced to become increasingly so, as physical distance is no longer an
excuse for a lack of information or failure to utilize relevant physical, intellectual and/or cultural
resources. The Women of Color and Multicultural Task Force at L’Oréal address this challenge
daily. The division is divided into a make-up and hair (termed “texture”) department, which
works inclusively for all women of color within their distribution markets, including the US,
South Africa, Brazil, India, etc. (to name a few leaders). While this was all interesting, I turned
my focus mainly to the “Textures” division, in order to get a feel for how L’Oréal was
responding to the natural hair movement in the United States and abroad.
9 Brown, Duncan and Hayes,Nick (2008). Influencer Marketing: Who really influences your customers? 105-113.

Both managers agreed that while women with natural hair were causing a notable and
quantifiable industry change, relaxers were “not declining to the point of extinction” and could
even be deemed a “trend more than anything else.” In fact, in emerging markets outside of the
US—specifically Brazil and South Africa—relaxer sales are on the incline as racially-African
consumers look for ways to permanently straighten thick, curly/coily hair. Texture department
manager, Barbara Mitchell offered the perspective that she does not “…think we’ll ever get to a
point where it [relaxers] will be completely extinct—[while there is] a trend and a cognizance
around natural hair, women will always want to have straight hair or the option for going
between straight and curly.” The hair texture and product department at L’Oréal has made a firm
commitment to serving this segment of consumers who still want a consistent straight look.
Mitchell and her team concede that there are a limited number of chemical formulations that
produce straightening results, i.e. sodium hydroxides, et. al. As a result, their main focus is
innovating in the elements that can be changed, like the relaxer base, for example, and
integrating chemistry such as cationic polymers and other solutions that would be more
protective, reparative and conditioning in the straightening process. The departmental goal is to
innovate as close as possible to making relaxer-product that is more straightening, more
conditioning, better for the hair fiber and scalp all with less breakage and scalp irritation. The
market and current product offerings dictate that this may be a far-off reality. For the natural
curly-haired consumers, the department seems to have a great grasp on the foundational but
specific needs of these consumers: “defining curls without frizz” and products to “maintain
straightness.” The former is presently addressed through L’Oréal’s Soft-Sheen Carson, Mizani
lines, and the recent acquisition of Carol’s Daughter; the latter, through continued investment in
innovating and developing improved silicon straightening serums.

For L’Oréal, investment in research is the key to addressing consistent consumer needs
and reimagining product possibility. Atis informs me that “research is at the core of what we
[L’Oréal] do, it’s our starting point, [and] it’s our root.” She likens the utility of research to the
roots of a tree, in which in order to grow and flourish as a brand with excellent product offerings
for customers within all markets, it’s absolutely necessary to have a strong foundation. The role
of research is increasingly important for serving natural-haired consumers, as knowledge and
understanding of texture, its behaviors, responses to certain stimuli, etc. is integral in developing
the best version of products that meet their specific needs.
Results and Conclusions
Brick-and-mortar retailers are still the dominant direct-to-consumer channels. If large retailers
continue to diversify product offerings for consumers with natural hair, they will not lose dollars
to independent retailers. Organic and natural ingredient contents are king, and independently-
operated brands will continue to encroach on the market share of current market leaders if they
fail to adjust accordingly.
Survey results showed that it is likely that consumers will make the effort to procure a
product they perceive as valuable. The "where it can be purchased" characteristic of a product
was of least important to about 50% of the sample, which dictates that with acceptable
ingredients, consumers would be willing to put some effort, and possibly, additional cost in
procuring it (Figure 2). Country of origin was overwhelming of the least importance confirming
that branding surrounding "International sourcing" must be consistent with positive performance

of other factors such as ingredients, cost and distribution. While brands should turn their
customer acquisition, product validation, and collection of consumer insights to the digital, to get
it in the hands of as many consumers as possible is not through specialty stores or websites but
the mass market retailers.
Research departments should invest dollars in understanding texture and developing methods for
straight hair maintenance and healthy reversion after straightening.
It is apparent that L’Oréal is leading the charge of addressing the complexity of needs
which comes with a non-straightened, Afro-texture, haired consumer. The company is making an
effort to meet the needs of an ever-growing population of “ethnic consumers,” and the
accompanying continuum of skin tones and hair types. They have pioneered a way for similar
brands by investment in state-of-the-art research facilities domestically and abroad. One
pertinent example would be the in Rio de Janiero facility opened in 2012, with the objective of
reinforcing the company investment in the Brazilian consumers, another, the opening of the
Women of Color in Clark, NJ about an hour and a half from New York City.
One major subject that topic that L’Oréal is researching, which is pertinent to African-
American females from the chemical-perspective taken in a research lab, is the exploration of
straightening-like solutions that minimize damage in reversion. L’Oréal is investigating different
forms and processes of straightening and innovating to create improved ways. Innovation and
discovery in this area would serve as a reconciliatory ground between natural and relaxed hair
consumers. For example, in the Brazilian market, research uncovered that more than half the
woman have long hair, which is “very curly, dry and dull” (L’Oreal.com). The primary need of
these consumers is reparation for damaged caused by the sun, humid climate, frequent washing

and various smoothing/straightening methods. In response, the aforementioned laboratories in
Rio launched Elsève Total Reparação—a complete line to repair texture. It was an immediate
success in Brazil and then quickly spread to Latin America. Since then, the 5 Formula has been
launched in Europe, India and several countries in South East Asia. The L’Oréal brand has set
their own bar: they have the capacity and intellectual capital able to produce product engineered
to meet explicit needs of their consumer.
Another space for exploration is finding reasons for consumers switching from
permanently straightened to natural. We agreed that this was an affirmatively ripe area for
opportunity. Briefly, the three of us discussed individual reasons for going natural (or not), and
as three black women of different ages, experiences, and perspectives—produced different
answers. The reasons as to “why or why not” women go natural is an integral question in product
research and development because a consumer’s answer to this constructs a general framework
of their product needs. From this study’s surveyed sample, 48% of respondents had been natural
for 5 years or less and up to 74% when the benchmark is set for 10 years or less. I would be
excited to see the introduction of something following the Brazilian precedent in the same kind
of need identification/discovery, solution innovation and product delivery for the black, natural-
haired consumer (female or male) in the US.
Influencer Marketing will be an increasingly relevant strategy integrated into any brand looking
to serve black female consumers, specifically those with natural hair. Social media influencers
may be the most cost-effective method of reaching and converting consumers
The role of the influencer is just that to influence and not necessarily serve as a brand
representative in the way of a traditional celebrity endorsement. Rather, it is important to identify

the influencers and what role they have in the decision-making process. Bloggers are clearly the
aggregators/communicators
and while social media
presences like Neway would
be closer to persuaders and
validators, as they show the
complete potential of a
product. This is an important space to navigate now in black hair care as information search
methods are changing, gradually getting away from print and family tradition and are now
heavily driven in the online sphere (Figure 1).

References
Banks, Ingrid. (2000). Hair Matters: Beauty, Power, and Black Women’s Consciousness
Light, I.H. & Gold, S.J. (2000). Ethnic Economies. Cultural Capital, 91-94
Morris, E. (2011). Eco Attributes Reinvent the Ethnic Hair Care Segment. Global Cosmetic
Industry, 179(5), 28-30
Wingfield, Adia Harvey. (2009). Doing Business with Beauty: Black Women, Hair Salons and
the Racial Enclave Economy”, 30-32

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