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Glow Recipe & Crisis Communication:Effectively Handling Unmotivated Employees
and Earning Customers’ Loyalty
Ariel Tenebruso
College of Communication & Creative ArtsRowan University
Phone: [email protected]
Submitted toThe 2019 Rowan University Student Scholars Symposium
Glow Recipe & Crisis Communication
Korean skincare has hit the market and is becoming increasingly
popular in America. The Korean-inspired skincare company, Glow Recipe,
which was created in 2014 by the CEOs, Sarah Lee and Christine Chang have
been a catalyst in the growth. Upon researching further into the topic, I
found that their employees are unhappy working for them and consumers
are saying their products are a hit or a miss and pricey for the effectiveness.
The purpose of this research is to examine how Glow Recipe reacts to
employee complaints and how it advertises its brand.
Crisis communication is essential when becoming a successful
business who rely on making their customers and employees satisfied.
According to, “Crisis Communication and Social Media” by Institute for PR,
“social media are a useful way to identify warning signs that a crisis is
developing...managers should be observing the social media relevant to their
industry.” (Paz-Soldan, 2018)1. Considering such fact, Glow Recipe should
focus time on what people are saying about them on social media platforms
to understand their issues, respond to them, and assert the necessary
changes (RQ1).
In order to effectively address employee and customer concerns, a few
ideologies should be taken into consideration. According to the book, Risk
and Crisis Communication: Methods and Messages by Pamela Walaski, “the
interactive process between the communicator and the audience is a
fundamental part of risk communications, a process that takes time to
1 Getting Emotional: Emotions’ Role in Crisis Communication, 2018
develop and mature.” (Walaski, 2011)2. With this said, the boss must gain
their employees’ trust; incase crisis occurs, they will be able to communicate
efficiently. According to another study conducted “by Peters, Covello, and
McCallum, there is a correlation between the organization’s perception of
concern, care, commitment, and credibility with the audience’s trust”
(Walakis, 2011)3. There are some concerns with the CEOs’ credibility as their
knowledge is mostly from working in South Korea which performs much
different strategies than in America. This study suggests that for the CEOs of
Glow Recipe, they should acknowledge these factors to effectively persuade
their employees [and consumers] they care and can be trusted (RQ2).
Upon my research, I found they do not advertise enough about their
brand or products. As mentioned in Gearing up for Mobile Advertising: A
Cross-Cultural Examination of Key Factors That Drive Mobile Messages Home
to Consumers, “Perceived interactivity (of advertising in new media
environments) …the ad offers two-way communication, and the ad operates
in real time without delay. (e.g., Hwang, McMillan, & Lee, 2003).” (Yung Kyun
Choi; Jang-Sun Hwang; Sally J. McMillan, 2008)4. If Glow Recipe implemented
this philosophy in their business, consumers will feel much more valued and
closer to the company (RQ3). When customers feel valued, it creates a
commitment and loyalty to that brand.
2 Risk and Crisis Communication: Methods and Messages by Pamela Walaski, 2011, p.20-213 Risk and Crisis Communication: Methods and Messages by Pamela Walaski, 2011, p.23-244 Gearing up for Mobile Advertising: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Key Factors That Drive Mobile Messages Home to Consumers by Yung Kyun Choi; Jang-Sun Hwang; Sally J. McMillan, 2008, p. 759
For sampling, I am focused on targeting teens, young adult, and adults
(people aged around 17-40) who use social media and are interested in or
use skincare, as well as Glow Recipe employees and consumers. My research
methods would be to survey them. The specific sampling methods I will
conduct are snowball (non-probability), simple random sample (probability),
and stratified sample (probability). My procedure will be to ask open-ended
questions and conduct a poll on other questions on social media sites such
as Instagram, and an app that focuses on Korean skincare as well as a
subreddit focusing on skincare.
Importance of Crisis Communication
Crisis communication is key when becoming a successful business who
rely on making their customers and employees happy. According to, “Crisis
Communication and Social Media” by Institute for PR, “social media are a
useful way to identify warning signs that a crisis is developing...managers
should be observing the social media relevant to their industry.” (Paz-Soldan,
2018)5. This article further discusses that they should be focused on blog
posts or online videos about their brand. YouTube has a growing beauty
community. Myself and thousands of others on the YouTube platform review
skincare for companies and give honest opinions about the products. With
this said, Glow Recipe should focus time on what people are saying on these
5 Getting Emotional: Emotions’ Role in Crisis Communication, 2018
platforms to assert the necessary changes. Social media have become the
medium people, especially of the younger generation, use to communicate
opinions with one another. With this said, matters should be addressed in
ways this audience can understand and respect.
Addressing Employee & Customer Concerns
In order to effectively address employee and customer concerns, there
are a few things that should be taken into consideration. According to the
book Risk and Crisis Communication: Methods and Messages by Pamela
Walaski, “the interactive process between the communicator and the
audience is a fundamental part of risk communications, a process that takes
time to develop and mature.” (Walaski, 2011)6. With this said, the boss must
gain their employees’ trust so that if crisis occurs, they will be able to
communicate effectively. As seen by Glow Recipe’s reviews on
glassdoor.com, their rating is a 2.77. There were many reviews explaining
how they felt disrespected by the CEOs. Those labeled as “interns” had the
most positive reviews for Glow Recipe. It is probable that these former
employees with negative reviews have not received trustful expectations
from their bosses and CEOs. It would be challenging or perhaps impossible
for the CEOs to gain their trust back. Regarding a study done “in 1997 by
Peters, Covello, and McCallum” they “tried to answer the question of what
factors could reliably be used to predict an audience’s perception of trust
6 Risk and Crisis Communication: Methods and Messages by Pamela Walaski, 2011, p.20-217 glassdoor.com
and credibility (Peters et al. 1997).” (Walakis, 2011)8. The study found that,
“an increase in the audience’s perceptions of concern and care provides for
the largest increase in trust and credibility by the public of the
organization...an increase in audience’s perceptions of commitment provides
for the largest increase in trust and credibility...an increase in public
perceptions of knowledge and expertise provides for the largest increase in
trust and credibility.” (Walakis, 2011)9. This study suggests that for the
CEOs. of Glow Recipe, Sarah Lee and Christine Chang, to effectively
persuade their employees [and consumers] they care and can be trusted,
they must acknowledge the employee and customer concerns, deal with
them in a mannerly way, show their commitment to them, and show that
they are knowledgeable about the skincare industry, public relations, and
customer service.
The question of what is considered “mannerly” now comes into play.
First, we must take into account the audience and alter each crisis
communication method according to the receiver of the message. Glow
Recipe’s audience ranges from former to present employees, other
corporations who may want to work with them, skincare consumers from
young to mid-adult ages who are middle-class to upper-middle class, and live
around the world. They should consider a different strategy to deliver their
message in the most effective manner. One in a crisis should respond quick
but thoughtfully, acknowledging the issue and offering a resolution. In this
8 Risk and Crisis Communication: Methods and Messages by Pamela Walaski, 2011, p.219 Risk and Crisis Communication: Methods and Messages by Pamela Walaski, 2011, p.23-24
book, it says, “ Sandman...suggests adopting the attitude of trying to
understand, allowing the basic level of caring and concern come through in
the messages, helping to audience to realize that the communicator is
making a sincere effort, even if the ability to understand the feelings of the
audience isn’t there at the moment.” (Walakis, 2011)10. Since one of the
former employees who reviewed Glow Recipe on glassdoor.com mentioned
the CEO’s will talk about you behind your back, Sandman’s argument may be
valid in this situation. When it seems, the CEOs lack the empathetic point of
view, they should still acknowledge the issue of an unhappy employee who
feels disrespected, and try understanding their point of view, call them in to
a one-on-one meeting addressing the issue to make it more personal, and
apologize, providing feedback for how you made the affected employee feel
even if the understandability aspect is not there. This would relate to “The
Mental Noise Model” discussed in this book which claims, “any risk or crisis
situation produces stress in an audience….Whether or not the crisis situation
is voluntary and/or escapable” (Walakis, 2011)11. An employee may feel they
will be fired if they address their concerns which will negatively impact other
aspects of their lives. That said, it is crucial for anonymity to occur when
informing such matters to avoid bias and acknowledge the problem for a top-
down approach to better the company as a whole and justify the credibility
of the organization. In addition, “…it is assumed that job dissatisfaction
represents a short-term stress reaction…. A negative association between
10 Risk and Crisis Communication: Methods and Messages by Pamela Walaski, 2011, p.2511 Risk and Crisis Communication: Methods and Messages by Pamela Walaski, 2011, p.28
job insecurity and work motivation (defined as willingness to work) was
found…. a direct link between employee dissatisfaction with how their work
tasks were organized and job dissatisfaction” (Storseth, 2006)12. A former
employee of Glow Recipe mentioned the company was very disorganized to
work with and this caused frustration, and job dissatisfaction. If they can
figure out ways to be more organized, less employees will be dissatisfied and
will be more motivated to work.
Credibility
As mentioned above, credibility is essential when discussing trust for
communicating. Lee and Chang’s knowledge of the skincare industry came
into effect when, “they were in the beauty industry at L’Oréal in Korea for a
really long time and then in the U.S...We’ve seen the best of the best in
Korea...we know what works best for U.S. women” (Paniogue, 2018)13. Also
on glowrecipe.com, they claim to have over twenty years of experience in
the global beauty industry who, have worked with thousands of women from
around the globe to understand and learn from their beauty rituals” (Lee,
Chang, 2019)14. These seem to be reasonable and trustworthy claims for an
employee and consumer. As a consumer, we want to buy from a brand who
knows their way around the industry and has knowledge such as an expert
about what would be safest and best to put on our skin. The skincare market
12 “Changes at Work and Employee Reactions…” by Fred Storseth, 200613 “Watermelon for the skin: That’s how K-beauty brand Glow Recipe proposes to get you ready for spring” by Tara Paniogue, 201814 glowrecipe.com, 2019
value of skincare in the United States is expected to increase by .5% in 2020
and, “In 2015, Facial Care was the largest category in the US skincare
market, accounting for 66.93% of the total market…” (“Skincare Market in
the United States: Market Snapshot to 2020”, 2016)15. This is an important
statistic to mention because Glow Recipe focuses on facial care and by
knowing this, they can determine what exactly consumers are most
interested in purchasing. This can affect their strategies of advertising.
Currently, Glow Recipe’s ads only claim to do healthy things for the
consumer’s skin such as “softening”, “brightening”, “minimize the
appearance of dark spots”, or “smoothing” their skin. However, some may
consider this misleading. “A television advertisement promoting a skincare
product based on ‘snail slime’...for Celltone said it could be used on areas of
skin that suffered from blemishes, stretch marks, scars, wrinkles and spots,
with its rejuvenating properties giving the ability to repair skin…. A viewer
took offense at the claims, complaining to the Advertising Standards
Authority that the statements were misleading” (Dominion Post, 2013)16.
From the research I have conducted, customers with products from Glow
Recipe said the effectiveness was questionable and that they were “pricey”.
Advertisements on Social Media & Communication
When discussing this related to their advertisements and their claims,
some would say even their ads are misleading. I was still skeptical about Lee
15 Skincare Market in the United States: Market Snapshot to 2020 by Canadean Company Reports, 2016, p.1216 “Skincare Advertising Deemed Misleading” by Dominion Post, 2013
and Chang’s credibility after reading a statistic from Developing a Crisis
Management Index: Applications in South which claimed, “…about 44% of
South Korean firms have never developed a crisis management program.
(Activating corporate crisis, 2003).” (Yungwook Kim; Heewon Cha; Jangyul
Robert Kim, 2008)17. This could be the reason why they are unsure of how to
correctly handle crises taking into account that they both worked in South
Korea for “a really long time”. Korean and American work strategies are very
different. South Korea is a collectivist country whereas America is an
individualistic one. So, perhaps they did not receive the necessary training to
run a business in America, when it would potentially work better in South
Korea. According to this article, Lee and Chang have responded to crises of
employee and customer complaint as this article expected by overlooking
them when they should, “carry out various crisis communication plans with
relevant publics, in addition to safety measures and media relations…
(Coombs, 1999; Y. Kim, 2002).” (Yungwook Kim; Heewon Cha; Jangyul Robert
Kim, 2008)18. With social media consuming the millennial generation, the
prime consumers of Glow Recipe, the brand should attend to this. They have
only posted four advertisements on Instagram (2 of each the same ad).
Although I believe their delivery of the dominant-strategy with more
information below it is effective, they should be posting more. In my primary
research, I found that out of 15 people, only 4 have heard of them. If they
17 Developing a Crisis Management Index: Applications in South Korea by Yungwook Kim Ph.D., Heewon Cha, and Jangyul Robert Kim, 2008, p.32918 Developing a Crisis Management Index: Applications in South Korea by Yungwook Kim Ph.D., Heewon Cha, and Jangyul Robert Kim, 2008, p.329
implement more ads on social media, this could greatly increase sales. As
mentioned in Gearing up for Mobile Advertising: A Cross-Cultural
Examination of Key Factors That Drive Mobile Messages Home to
Consumers, “Perceived interactivity (of advertising in new media
environments) …the ad offers two-way communication, and the ad operates
in real time without delay. (e.g., Hwang, McMillan, & Lee, 2003).” (Yung Kyun
Choi; Jang-Sun Hwang; Sally J. McMillan, 2008)19. If Glow Recipe implemented
this philosophy in their business, consumers will feel much closer to the
company and feel valued to be able to have such communication. When
customers feel valued, it creates a commitment and loyalty to that brand.
Furthermore, that article read, “Korean consumers’ attitude towards mobile
advertising was largely explained by entertainment (49%), credibility (8.4%),
and advertising value (2.2%)” (Yung Kyun Choi; Jang-Sun Hwang; Sally J.
McMillan, 2008)20. As these statistics show, it greatly caught the audience’s
attention in a positive way. Relating this back to Glow Recipe, their ads can
excite viewers with the colors, claims, and discounts. In order for them to
reach a wider consumer base, they should incorporate more ads on social
media to grab the attention of those who are interested in skincare but do
not know much or at all about them. Another article suggests that it can also
prevent a crisis from occurring. An article titled “Crisis Communication and
Social Media” says, “We should start by noting that social media are a useful
19 Gearing up for Mobile Advertising: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Key Factors That Drive Mobile Messages Home to Consumers by Yung Kyun Choi; Jang-Sun Hwang; Sally J. McMillan, 2008, p. 75920 Gearing up for Mobile Advertising: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Key Factors That Drive Mobile Messages Home to Consumers by Yung Kyun Choi; Jang-Sun Hwang; Sally J. McMillan, 2008, p. 763
way to identity warning sign that a crisis is developing” (Institute for PR,
2008)21. This is a crucial fact since it recognizes there is two-way feedback
accessible on social media. This is the medium used for people to express
their opinions on any topic and share, disagree or agree with one another.
This could seriously help Glow Recipe prevent any further crises.
Glow Recipe must figure out strategies to promote what their company
is trying to convey. The have issues in management and product awareness,
effectiveness, and prices. I have come up with some reasons as to what they
are lacking and what they can improve. My first hypothesis is that there will
be a positive relationship between one-on-one communication between
employees and upper-level management and job satisfaction and motivation.
My second hypothesis is that there will be a positive relationship between
more ads on social media continuing to personally acknowledge comments
by consumers and customer loyalty.
Method of Sampling
To reiterate the issues Glow Recipe if facing, they include employees
and consumers. The employees expressed their frustrations with working for
Glow Recipe and did not feel valued. On the other hand, customers are
saying they think their products are a hit or miss, and can be too pricey for
their products to not work that well. These issues concern how management
21 “Crisis Communication and Social Media” by Institute for PR, 2008
and the CEOs are handling crisis communication, advertising, and their
credibility.
For sampling, I am focused on targeting teens, young adult, and adults
(people aged around 17-40) who use social media and are interested or use
skincare, as well as glow recipe employees and consumers. I will contact
them by posting polls and open-ended questions on my stories, as well as on
an app focused on Korean skincare, and a subreddit focused on skincare in
general. My research methods would be to survey them. The focused
population is lower-middle to upper-middle class, Americans, but focusing on
if those knowledgeable about Korean beauty brands can relate Glow Recipe
to other Korean brands since it is inspired from them. I myself noticed
similarities to other Korean brands compared to just generic Western brands
from my experience of living and studying in South Korea. Moreover, I will
survey people of all skin types, who use social media often and are careful
and knowledgeable about their skin, those who appreciate healthy
ingredients, effective skincare, and against pollution. It is important to also
mention packaging as this has come up a lot about Glow Recipe, and most of
the population will be females.
The specific sampling methods I will conduct are snowball (non-
probability), simple random sample (probability), and stratified sample
(probability). My procedure will be to ask open-ended questions and conduct
a poll on other questions on social media sites such as Instagram, and an
app that focuses on korean skincare as well as a subreddit focusing on
skincare. For the simple random sample, I will recruit about 25 people (more
women than men), assign them a number, pull the numbers written on a
piece of paper out of a bag and ask those who have been chosen the same
questions as written on the other sites. Questions will include: “have you
heard of them [Glow Recipe]?, Do you own any of their products? Do you like
them? Which products are your favorite? What do you think they need to
improve, add, or change? Have you ever worked for them? What was the
experience like? Any other thoughts?”. I will focus on more qualitative
questions to ask. I have decided that a margin of error size of +/- 20% will be
reasonable for this research making the sample size 25 people.
Research Objectives
The purpose of this study is to first understand why Glow Recipe’s
Employees are unhappy working for the CEOs, Sarah Lee and Christine
Chang. Additionally, it is imperative to know the reason why customers are
not loyal to the brand and why some have negative thoughts on products
and prices. Furthermore, the purpose of this research is to examine how
Glow Recipe reacts to employee complaints and how it advertises its brand.
Research Procedure
I conducted a poll on an app where people of interest in K-beauty can share
their thoughts and opinions with one another22. I asked the following
22 “Korean Beauty Amino”; Korean Beauty | Aminoapps.com
questions: “Have you heard of them? Do you own any of their products? Do
you like them? Which products are your favorite? What do you think they
need to improve, add, or change? Any other thoughts?” I received six likes
on the post with only three replies. Someone said “I see girls obsessing over
it - watermelon sleeping mask and the new avocado one. I was looking into it
and wanted to buy it.” This received a like from another user. Another
comment said “Glow Recipe is a great brand but their products are
personally a hit or miss for me. But the watermelon pink juice is my absolute
favorite.” This also received one like from another user. The last comment
said, “The scents are extremely strong and I did not think the cleanser rinsed
cleanly. Despite rave reviews, this brand is a pass for me”. All the comments
had a negative connotation to them with some good reviews of their
watermelon products.
I did the same study on my Instagram story where my following is 152
people and this account only focuses on skincare23. I asked questions in the
form of a poll. For example, if I asked “Have you heard of them?” I put the
two options of “yes” or “no”. It was seen by 10 viewers with only one
respondent who answered only a couple questions. She knew about them,
liked them, owned at least one product from them. The rest of the questions
in the form of short answers where not completed by the user. I did the exact
same questions and in the same format on my personal Instagram account
with a following of 711 people24. For the first question of “Have you heard
23 @arielsaranghae on Instagram; 29 January, 201924 @imarielmermaid on Instagram; 17 February, 2019
of/Do you know Glow Recipe?”, 11 people voted “no” and 4 voted “yes” out
of 87 viewers (27% yes; 73% no). 6 were female and 4 were male. 4 females
and all 4 of the males voted “no”. For the next question of “Do you like
them?” 4 voted “no” and 5 voted “yes” out of 82 viewers (56% yes; 44% no).
3 females voted “yes” and 1 male who did not participate in the first
question voted “yes”. 2 females and 2 males voted “no”. Both the females
and males who answered “no” said they did not know the brand in the first
question. For the third question of “Do you own any of their products?” 9
voted “no” and 1 voted “yes” out of 79 viewers (10% yes; 90% no). The one
who voted “yes” is a female. However, even people who voted they did not
know the brand, took part in this question. The next question was open-
ended and asked, “Which products are your favorite?”. One female out of 76
viewers answered, “moisturizer is really good, just pricey” talking about Glow
Recipe’s Watermelon Pink Juice Moisturizer selling at Sephora for $39.00 for
60mL and on glowrecipe.com for the same price. The final open-ended
question of “What should Glow Recipe improve, add, or change” was left
unanswered by 74 viewers. I also conducted a survey on the Reddit app
under the subredddit “r/SkincareAddiction” where those interested in
skincare can share their thought or questions on all types of skincare
products. I asked the questions of, “1. Have you heard of them, 2. do you
own any of their products, 3. do you like them, 4. which products are your
favorite, 5. what do you think Glow Recipe needs to improve, add, or change,
6. have you ever worked for them, 7. what was the experience like, and 8.
any other thoughts?”. Unfortunately, my post was taken down shortly after;
however, I managed to get one response. The respondent answered “yes”
for the first question, “yes” for the second including which product they own
[Watermelon Pink Juice Moisturizer”, “eh” for the third question saying “I was
pretty ambivalent about it. It was cosmetically elegant, but didn’t seem to do
much for my skin. I had a mini size and decided not to purchase the full size.
My feelings seem to be fairly common to this particular formula when I
looked at the reviews”, “N/A” for question 4, for question 5 they wrote,
“Focus less on the aesthetics and more on the formula. There are other
light moisturizers that work better, but it’s a fairly slim market, and
those of us with combo sensitive skin would love more options in that
area. However, at this price point, it’s just hard to justify purchasing
something with relatively mediocre reviews” (Lilin_unite42).
For the remaining questions, they wrote “no”25. From this one review it is
evident that Glow Recipe must work on the effectiveness of their products
and adjust prices accordingly and gain consumers’ trust and loyalty.
In my own experience, I had purchased Glow Recipe’s Watermelon
Glow Sleeping Mask at Sephora for $45 for 85mL. I noticed the product would
separate the gooey consistency with a more liquid-type one. They posted a
video of this on their Instagram on January 26th, 2018, addressing the
issue26. I commented my concerns on their Instagram post of it, and the CEO,
25 reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction; https://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction/comments/axe7od/thoughts_on_glow_recipe/26 @Glowrecipe on Instagram; https://www.instagram.com/p/BebxDgYBdcP/.
Sarah Lee, replied saying “Some watermelon lovers have noticed the
separation that sometimes occurs with our Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask!
To get the most out of your mask, give it a good mix (or even a shake if you
don't have a spatula!) to ensure the texture is uniform, gelatinous, and
bouncy 〰 ” I replied myself by announcing that I” noticed this separation.
Thank you so much for this. I think it’s such a unique and creative idea for a
mask. I use it quite often”. Sarah Lee, the CEO liked my comment and
replied, “@”-ing me, saying, “so happy to hear! Thanks for the kind words”
with a smiley emoji. This is very effective in communicating with one’s
audience. By using my username, and having the actual CEO reply back to
me made me feel noticed and special. It made me know they value what
their customers are saying. Looking at their most recent post the company
“@glowrecipe” is replying to a handful of comments posted out of 52
comments and 3,166 likes. Perhaps, they hired a team to monitor this as the
CEO have grown busier with their growth of the brand. They also claim to
have a “3-month probation time” for every product to evaluate customer
feedback. However, many of their customers still seem unhappy about
pricings and effectiveness. According to glowrecipe.com27, all of their
products are rated 4.5 – 5 / 5 stars ranging from 174 to 836 reviews. Almost
all of the more negative reviews or the cause of 4 stars instead of 5 was due
to the scent of the product or the feel of it. Looking on Sephora.com, Glow
Recipe’s products range from 3 to 5 / 5 stars28. Most of the negative 27 https://www.glowrecipe.com/collections/glow-recipe-skincare28 https://www.sephora.com/search?keyword=Glow%20Recipe
comments here were due to the actual type of material of the product and
the effectiveness of the product.
In order to effectively address employee and customer concerns, there
are a few things that should be taken into consideration. According to the
book Risk and Crisis Communication: Methods and Messages by Pamela
Walaski, “the interactive process between the communicator and the
audience is a fundamental part of risk communications, a process that takes
time to develop and mature.” (Walaski, 20-21)29. With this said, the boss
must gain their employees’ trust so that if crisis occurs, they will be able to
communicate effectively. As seen by Glow Recipe’s reviews on
glassdoor.com, their rating is a 2.7. About a month later after finding this
data, their rating has gone down to 2.530. One of the comments titled
“Unprofessional” read,” pros: free beauty products I guess. Cons:
unprofessional, low pay, disorganized, feel pressured to work OT (overtime)”.
Another titled, “Awful job, awful people” and read,
“the worst experience...and I’ve been around the block. The owners
were extremely disorganized and shady. I got paid meager dollars
which actually added up to be less than minimum wage I realized (too
late), and was expected to work late hours every day. The owners are
extremely controlling over your life, including what you post on your
personal social channels. They will also talk smack about everyone
behind their backs…” (anonymous).
29 Risk and Crisis Communication: Methods and Messages by Pamela Walaski, 2011, p.20-2130 https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Glow-Recipe-Reviews-E1497099.htm
She goes on to explain how she felt disrespected as a full-time worker for
them. There were many reviews similar to this one. Those labeled as
“interns” had the most positive reviews for Glow Recipe. It is probable that
these former employees with negative reviews have not received trustful
expectations from their bosses and Coe’s. It would be challenging or perhaps
impossible for the CEOs to gain their trust back.
Currently, Glow Recipe is advertising with dominant-style ads on social
media platforms, with more detail in the description part. For example, on
Instagram, they have an ad on their story with the product, contrasting
colors next to each other with similar colors on top of each other, and
elements in the background against a solid color to showcase what that
product is about (watermelon and avocado slices in the back of their
Watermelon and Avocado Sleeping Mask kits)31. Underneath this picture,
they include a short description of what is included, what the use is, the
price, and have a “shop now” option to bring consumer right to the product
on their website. Once on the Glow Recipe website, a popup comes up of
another dominant-styled ad with similar colors used in the background,
offering 10% of your first purchase. Their ads only claim to do healthy things
for the consumer’s skin such as “softening”, “brightening”, “minimize the
appearance of dark spots”, or “smoothing” their skin. However, some may
consider this misleading. Furthermore, since I researched this about a month
prior to my new findings, I have personally been seeing much more attention
31 @glowrecipe on Instagram
to how they advertise their brand. For example, having a painted billboard
for Instagram users to take pictures by in Brooklyn, New York, or running
more ads on Instagram and YouTube, as well as posting more pictures on
Instagram to bring awareness to new products and even creating live videos
on Instagram answering any viewers’ questions or concerns about the
products. This is showing more dedication to the consumers.
Research Instruments
For sampling, I conducted surveys including, snowball, simple random
sample, and content analyses.
Participants
The surveys were targeted towards teens, and young adults (those aged
from 17 – 40 years old), who use social media and are interested in or use
skincare. The content analyses were targeted towards the employees as well
as some of the consumers. The participants were recruited voluntarily by
completing my polls and open-ended surveys.
Findings and Conclusions
According to the research I have conducted, Glow Recipe has a few
problems. One of the most important factors in a business is brand
awareness. Without this, you will not have success as not enough people
know about the brand and will not be buying from it. As mentioned in the poll
I conducted on Instagram, only 27% knew who Glow Recipe is. By providing
more ads on more social media platforms, awareness will increase.
Furthermore, without employees who feel respected, it will be difficult-to-
impossible to keep them motivated to work for the company. As my research
shows, Glow Recipe has very poor ratings from previous employees.
Exhibit A: Graph of Glow Recipe Brand Awareness Survey
This chart shows how many females to males answered “yes” or “no” to the
questions included in the polls I conducted on Instagram. As seen by this
chart, Glow Recipe is most known by females, but still, many are not buying
their products.
Exhibit B: Graph of Glow Recipe Former Employees Opinions
The data for this chart is from glassdoor.com. As shown, most of the former
employees did not enjoy working there and did not feel a loyalty to the
company or CEOs. Some former employees on glassdoor.com say the reason
for this is how they are treated unprofessionally and in a rude way, no
benefits, feeling pressured to work overtime, disorganization, lack of
transparency, lack of knowledge in what a business needs to be successful
(hiring an HR representative, accountant, IT person), and too much
multitasking required32.
In conclusion, Glow Recipe should emphasize a top-down approach and
figure out ways to motivate their employees such as having one-on-one
meetings at least once a week, and giving feedback while remaining
supportive and professional. Lastly, they should work on gaining their
customers’ loyalty by listening to what they want and performing such
necessary actions. They should also be engaging with the customers more
by providing more ads to allow for 2-way communication and brand loyalty.32 https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Glow-Recipe-Reviews-E1497099.htm
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