Key takeaways
- Consumers prioritise personal benefits such as cost savings, health and ingredients when choosing sustainable beauty products.
- EcoVox research shows sustainability is viewed through the lens of economic and personal threat rather than altruism.
- Refills, reduced resource use and water‑saving formulations strongly influence purchase decisions.
- Brands must communicate clear, tangible benefits and avoid framing sustainability as a compromise.
- Creating a sense of community around sustainable choices helps shoppers feel part of a larger movement.
Sustainability remains a tricky topic for many FMCG brands and manufacturers. It’s clear that we need to do more, but how do we ensure we are meeting customer needs – and how do we reach the right people with the right messages?
Ahead of the global cosmetics event Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna this week, we spoke to insights and trends expert Richard Cope, founder of the sustainability‑focused insights company EcoVox.
Cope, who will be speaking on the topic at Cosmoprof this coming Saturday, pointed out the first thing all companies should recognise: when it comes to ecological policies and the decisions made by a business, the public is integral to making a difference.
“While we talk about all the required regulation and systemic change, we recognise that it’s the public who are responsible for household consumption and for about three‑quarters of all the emissions we create. So, anything businesses need to do is sort of wrapped up in that,” he explained.
What motivates consumers to choose sustainable beauty products
Cope outlined a “trio of truths” he has learned from the research he has conducted around sustainability.
“Firstly, we need to think about the economy, which is the idea that people are focused on conserving their own resources,” he said. “So, you’ve got to think about people want to save money and to reduce waste. There has to be a ‘me benefit’ – an economic benefit to environmental action.”
Next, companies need to consider what Cope calls ‘healthy habitats’. “People are concerned about their body, where they live, and not some distant cause or other people,” he said.
“And the third thing is that the communications and messaging you put out has to resonate with people; it has to be very visible and around very tangible things that are sort of immediate.”
EcoVox conducted an in‑depth consumer study on what motivates shoppers to care about sustainability when purchasing a beauty or personal care product. While some care about recycling or environmental impact, the three most important factors were: ingredients, health benefits and price savings.
“You’ve got to tick those me benefit boxes first of all,” he explained. “We call it the ‘me economy’. People do care about climate change, but this is because they think about it as an economic threat to them.”
EcoVox’s research involved 6,000 people – 1,000 each in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and the US – based on a representative population sample.
How economic and health concerns drive purchasing decisions
As Cope prepares to present the research at Cosmoprof in Bologna, he noted that the message is likely to resonate strongly in Italy. For example, one‑quarter of Italians surveyed said they had experienced damage to their car or property due to extreme weather in the previous month.
“I want to really emphasise to people, this is happening,” he said. “This is something people are experiencing it, but they’re experiencing it as an economic threat and/or as a health threat.”
He added that sustainable beauty and personal care products therefore need to speak directly to these concerns.
“People care about it, but they don’t care about it as a nice, altruistic thing to do with the environment. They’re asking: is this a threat to me and is this costing me money.” His advice? Talk about it in those terms.
The research also asked respondents to name the top three things that make them feel happy and free, and a notable response was saving money and reducing everyday costs. “People enjoy this and get a buzz out of that,” said Cope.
“So what I’m saying to people in the beauty industry is, it should be about the enjoyment of: I’ve got a good deal, I’ve saved money because I’m buying refills. Not about a compromise; instead about the buzz of saving money.”
Sustainability as a personal benefit
Cope also challenged the idea that consumers don’t care about sustainability. “You have to remember that sustainability is water shortages, food shortages, escalating costs, supply chain shortages and people are getting hit by that more than ever,” he said. “True sustainability is not wasting things. It’s making sure things are going to be affordable and available. People care about like that more than ever. There are shortages and we are more resource conscious; we’re living this.”
EcoVox’s data showed that around one‑third of respondents regularly buy refills, with saving money being the number one reason. According to Cope’s research, 69% of refill buyers say they do so to save money.
He highlighted Kiehl’s as a strong example: “They do a really good job of saying if you subscribe to these pouches, you’re going to save yourself, you know, 70 plus dollars every year,” he said. “And they’re going to reduce your plastic usage by about 80% in that order, so they’re doing a good job of quantifying the economic benefits.”
Cope also emphasised water as a key sustainability issue for the beauty sector. His research showed growing concern in countries such as Spain and Italy.
Across all markets, 21% of respondents said a responsible company should reduce its water usage.
“You know, that’s one of the things that come through very highly,” he said. “Many beauty products are made with a lot of water, right? So the need here is to sell in the efficacy of the water-free formulation. And, again there mustn’t be any compromise on results or usage experience.”
Based on the findings, Cope believes beauty and personal care brands should reject the myth that people don’t care about sustainability. Climate impacts are becoming unavoidable and financially consequential.
“All of that’s going to activate us to be more resource conscious, and people will expect beauty brands to be more resource conscious as well,” he said.
He also stressed that brands must make sustainable choices feel positive and rewarding for potential customers.
“It’s got to be fun and a positive thing,” he said. He also highlighted the need for a sense of community: “Because 22% of people tell us when I try to help the environment, I often feel like I’m acting alone,” he explained. “It’s about how can you make people feel part of a bigger movement without it being greenwashing.”
Richard Cope will be speaking on this topic live at Cosmoprof on Saturday 28 March. Find out more here.
