Team:Manchester/Media Analysis
YouTube Analysis
- Individually analysed 34 videos.
- Focused analysis of 7 videos representing key stakeholders.
- Grouped thematic analysis using Nvivo software.
- Identified a changing perception of sunscreen among young people, shifting from a health product to a beauty product.
- Analysed discussions about the unique experience of people of colour when using sunscreen.
- Identified online community who share our concerns for coral bleaching.
- Identified cases of consumer confusion and miss-leading information about sunscreens, in particular confusion over the definition of SPF.
- Saw stakeholder conversations happening in real time in the comment section allowing us to select key consumer values.
- Confirmed the existence of an online community who shared our concern for coral bleaching.
The full PDF version can be found here.
Purpose of analysis
The coronavirus pandemic has had a crucial influence on every aspect of business planning. Social distancing and contact measures, as well as economic disruption has made it difficult to contact potential stakeholders directly. To get around this we had to be creative and utilise the materials immediately around us - THE INTERNET!
- Since its launch in 2005, YouTube has become an irreplaceable resource on the internet. In almost two decades of its existence, the website became an effective marketing and information tool for numerous companies trying to settle their position on the market, and for entrepreneurs aiming to deliver their message to a broader audience. This includes the sunscreen market.
- YouTube allows for world-wide sharing of media without having to “follow” or already know the creators as you do with other social media platforms. This means that the content on YouTube is freely available to any potentially interested person, which allows unrestricted access to information.
- Over 300 hours of video content are uploaded to YouTube every minute, 5 billion videos are watched, over 30 million people visit the site every day (Flahive, 2017). Therefore, through YouTube we have access to a massive range of stakeholder opinions.
- Creators on YouTube are capable of reaching celebrity statuses and can heavily influence the behaviour of viewers.
- Users can also interact and discuss opinions on any particular content through the comment section, which gives numerous possibilities for marketing, advertisement, and product placement through the interaction with other users.
We believe that YouTube serves as an important tool in reaching an audience of interest. The availability of global visual representation, freedom of creative content, large audience and the ability to receive feedback are the main advantages to using YouTube within our human practices.
In this report, we provide 3 types of video analysis with respective examples that would assist us in our aim: individual analysis of videos, a focused analysis of 7 videos with hosts representing key stakeholders, and a grouped thematic analysis. Including important aspects of sunscreen use, individual-specific products, as well as deep analysis of visual representation and information delivery.
Analysis methods
- Selected videos based on search terms relating to our project. Our search terms included: “sunscreens”, “reef safe sunscreens”, “sun cream”, “education sunscreen”, “beauty sunscreen”, “sunscreens men”, “sunscreens dark skin” and “coral bleaching sunscreens”. This resulted in a total of 34 videos.
- Watched each video from beginning to end making notes to answer two key questions: how was the host presenting and using sunscreen? What does the video show about the creators' opinions of sunscreen?
- Identified any cases of internal bias or mis-information within the content.
These notes were written up into short individual discussions about each video, please see below for two examples taken from our final report.
Example 1 - "Lucky Bastard Co: Mineral-based, reef-safe sunscreen" by ProductHype:
This video promotes a very unique representation of sunscreen compared to other videos. The host speaks clearly using bold phrases and hard facts to get information across as quickly as possible. Use of dramatic music throughout the video evokes sympathy from the viewer for coral reefs making the issues of bleaching feel like a personal one, this is enhanced by shots of people using sunscreen on the beach. The speaker makes multiple comparisons between coral and humans, “coral is a living thing just like us”, “if [sunscreens are] toxic for coral, just imagine how it could be damaging our body as well”, in doing so the speaker humanises coral creating guilt and distress in the viewer. Furthermore, the video is filled with shots of young adults surfing among beautiful beaches in the sun. These types of shots are typically attractive to a millennial audience by appealing to the rebellious nature of that age group. This is enhanced by strong language such as “disrupt corporate cosmetic companies”, this makes the viewer feel that by buying the Lucky Bastard sunscreen they are “sticking it to the man” and making a rebellious mark. This encourages the viewer to buy their reef-safe sunscreen and glamorises ethical consumerism by giving it a radical aesthetic. Overall, this video promotes the use of reef-safe sunscreen as a tool young people can use to fight corporations and make a real and quantifiable effect on the world.
Example 2 - "SUNSCREEN in UV" Physics Girl:
This is an educational video on the mechanics of sunscreen and UV light that aims to also debunk common misconceptions about sunscreen. In this video the host presents sunscreen as a necessity and suggests without it we will not be able to protect our skin from the deleterious effect of UV rays. She convinces the viewer of this by using a UV camera to demonstrate the different effectiveness of SPF levels. This approach provides a strong visual aid that supports her argument by allowing the audience to see sunscreen in a new way, because we cannot see in UV light we can sometimes distance ourselves from the function of sunscreen and forget what it is actually doing on our skin. By providing this new way to look at sunscreen, as a black physical barrier across the skin, she reinforces its protective properties and successfully encourages regular sunscreen use. The closing statement “put on sunscreen” becomes impossible to rationalise against and the viewer is left feeling compelled to use sunscreen.
Analysis methods - continued
- Selected videos that represented key stakeholders and analysed these videos more closely.
- The videos were labelled to highlight key points, see below for an example from our report on “A Guide to Korean Sunscreen, What You’ve Been Doing Wrong” by Teen Beauty Bible:
Figure 1. Report key point visualization example. Images for the figure taken from a video by Teen Beauty Bible, 2018.
- Compared every video in our report against each other using the software Nvivo. Video transcripts were marked with the relevant thematic codes. A coding comparison and word frequency query were applied.
Based off emerging trends in our report we created the following thematic codes:
- Functionality - This refers to any language describing the cosmetic elegance and functioning of the sunscreen.
- Aesthetic - Language referring to the beauty benefits of sunscreen.
- Instructions - Tutorial like explanations of topical application of the products.
- Environmental Awareness - Discussion about environmental impacts of sunscreen.
- Reducing Cancer - Any specific mention of carcinogenesis.
- People of Color - Issues relating to the unique experiences of people of colour.
- Parents need Sunscreen - Any language attempting to convince parents they need to use sunscreen on their children.
- Sunscreen as Personal - Any mention of altering sunscreen habits depending on skin type or immediate environment.
- Sunscreen as Everyday - Promoting the daily-use of sunscreen.
- Makeup - Refers to SPF makeup products.
- Men - Any specific mention of men using sunscreen.
- Emotional - Emotional language used in reference to sunscreen, these are strong statements that clearly identify the speakers internal thoughts about sunscreen.
Below we summarise our key findings. Please see the embedded PDF of the final report for the full analysis of each video.
The most commonly used code was “functionality” see figure 1 which can be explained because the majority of the videos were review videos in which creators tried different sunscreen products and described how they felt or worked in order to inform their viewers on which ones to buy. “Aesthetics” was the second most commonly used code; this suggests that a high number of videos are presenting sunscreen as a beauty product and were dedicated to discussing the cosmetic and aesthetic benefits of sunscreen. This new representation of sunscreen was not found in videos produced by older creators. It is a new, generational shift in the perception of sunscreen. This will modify how people interact with sunscreen and thus will impact the implementation of our project in the world. It is likely sunscreen will be increasingly used everyday and media emphasis will be placed on the anti-aging and cosmetic benefits of sunscreen. As creators use sunscreen increasingly like makeup products these same behaviours may become apparent in the real world. We found evidence of this behaviour in the Generation Z group of our surveys. Younger creators are also more popular on YouTube, with the beauty-review style videos receiving higher numbers of views. This is an important finding because it clearly shows the perception of sunscreen is evolving and our unique HippoSol product contributes to this exciting new chapter in the sunscreen market.
We noticed that people of colour have a unique experience when using sunscreen. Words such as “burning” and “aging” comprised 0.20% and 0.12% of the total words. Although small percentages this is significantly higher than words describing issues faced by people of colour such as hyperpigmentation and dark spots. The majority of creators on YouTube were fair-skinned individuals and one commenter expressed frustration for having to type the word “black” into the search bar to yield video results relevant to her skin tone. It is clear that people of colour have a reduced presence in the sunscreen media. From this It is apparent that we must design a product suitable for all skin tones, including a large range of shade options that leaves no white cast. Using this theme to drive our design process will open HippoSol to a new market of consumer groups who currently have reduced representation in the field.
We noticed that a lot of videos took the time to explain the definition and function of SPF. This might imply that consumers are confused by common sunscreen labels and sunscreen concepts. This trend made us think about how we use our Wiki to talk about sunscreens differently. We have responded to this by clarifying sunscreen labels and producing advice on different sunscreen products for various skin types in our Behaving Responsibly page.
The least used code was “Men”, it was identified only 5 times across all 34 videos. This suggests that beauty and aesthetics are correlated with femininity. Videos that showed men using sunscreen went to great lengths to challenge typical gender roles such as using pink backgrounds. As men using makeup becomes increasingly normalised, we may see a rise in male presence in the sunscreen media. When presented as a health product sunscreen is un-gendered therefore, media aiming to remove the stigma around men caring for their skin is needed to ensure their skin is adequately protected.
Figure 1. Graph representing the use of each code. In this graph the area of each box is proportional to the amount of times that code was identified with the transcript of each video. "Functionality" is the most commonly used code while "Men" is the least commonly used code. "Environmental Awareness" is one of the lesser used codes implying media dedicated to coral bleaching and sunscreens is low. Furthermore, "Aesthetics" is the second most commonly used code evidencing the recent generational change in the perception of sunscreen on YouTube.
YouTube comments
One recurring theme we identified in the YouTube comment section was a resentment for the price of sunscreen products. For example: “CAN’T believe none of these products are $10 and below” (John Tungol, 2020), “I wish sunscreens weren’t so expensive for an itty bitty bottle” (Kiwi 123,2020) and “Maybe recommend more affordable physical sunscreens for skin of colour” (Nora Razaai, 2020). These comments mirror conversations in our interviews with Angus Elliman and Louise Laing. This repeated discussion shows it is important that our project values include a dedication to affordable products.
We also noticed a trend of commenters rejecting scientific evidence presented in videos. In particular we focused on a comment by Shea Durry 2020 which stated that sunscreens do not contribute to coral bleaching. We realised that in order to be truly responsible inventors we have to ensure that our project has a positive effect on the world, even if sunscreens do not impact coral bleaching. To do this we are including information on our Wiki about climate change and using our project as a platform to promote ethical consumerism. This will have long-term positive impact by driving demand for sustainable products in other retail areas.
Conclusion
- Gained a strong understanding of how sunscreen is presented in social media. The behaviours identified within this analysis are likely to reflect behaviours in the real world allowing us to visualise the implementation of our project.
- Seen how people’s cultural and interpersonal experiences have affected their perception of sunscreen, these influences are likely to have similar effects on the perception of our project preparing us for future design discussions.
- Identify major social media trends such as the generational shift in perception of sunscreen as a health to a beauty product which will alter how people use sunscreen.
- Confirmed the existence of an online community that shares our concern for coral bleaching.
- Seen how stakeholders interact with sunscreen all across the world without being limited by the coronavirus pandemic and other social media restrictions. This information is particularly useful when it comes to defining our project values.
- Provided Insight on how to market our product by seeing what videos are successful but also allowed us to identify important gaps in education, such as miss-leading information about SPF.
