An Exploratory Study of Consumer Attitudes toward Green Cosmetics in the UK Market

Yifeng Lin, Shaohua Yang, Haniruzila Hanifah and Qaisar Iqbal
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Yifeng Lin: Business School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Shaohua Yang: Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia
Haniruzila Hanifah: Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia
Qaisar Iqbal: School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia

Administrative Sciences, 2018, vol. 8, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: People’s health awareness has extended from the food industry to the personal beauty industry. Consumers have increased their interest in natural ingredients, sustainable packaging, and other green elements of cosmetics. This research explores consumer attitudes toward green cosmetics. Data were collected through qualitative research instruments (focus groups) since the research aimed to discover in-depth consumer attitudes and feelings. There were 30 British females who agreed to be respondents in five focus groups. They were divided into five focus groups. The key findings of this research were the prevailing neutral attitudes toward green cosmetics due to the lack of knowledge and confusing market standards. The majority of respondents viewed price and performance as the most important factors when choosing cosmetics instead of green elements. However, given the growing awareness of natural and organic ingredients and green production, most respondents admitted the potential change of present neutral attitudes to be more supportive in the future. Green cosmetics is a new trend in the personal beauty industry. This study ascertains the consumer attitudes toward green cosmetics and calls for clearer green standards and regulations in the industry as well as advanced biotechnology to extract natural ingredients.

Keywords: consumer attitudes; green cosmetics; affective cognitive components (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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