Exploring Consumer Behavior towards Sustainability of Green Cosmetics

Abstract

The beauty industry is exploding with success right now. It valued 445 billion dollars in the present time and is going to reach 800 billion in the next five years. The biggest reason behind this evolution is mass reach via a social platform, every other brand whether selling chemical or non-chemical products reaching customers through social media. Even on the OTT platform, many documentaries are stating the harmful effects of chemical-based cosmetics. Stink (2015) is a documentary talking about how chemicals used for making cosmetic products are affecting individuals. It's a story of how a father dealing with this problem. Cover-up (2018) stating the harmful effects and how cosmetics brands, banned in Europe, are using chemicals in their products. The Dark Secret Behind Your Favorite Makeup Products (2019) talks about how brands are hiding what they are using. People are blindly following their favorite influencer and not being worried about ingredients used. With the growing pandemic all over the world, sustainability has now become the utmost priority for many businesses. The chemical composition used in cosmetics is tremendously increasing, with the outbreak of booming technologies, rapidly increasing the number of beauty blogs, influencer's charming beauty profiles, promoting consumers to move towards greener alternatives when it comes to cosmetics, and personal care regime. With such an effect, consumers are becoming more and more aware of their health and wellness and demanding products that do not harm their skin and environment. The environmental performance of products and the process of manufacturing raw material has become a key consideration for business houses. The main objective of this paper is to highlight the issues faced by consumers on the sustainable development of green cosmetics and impact on their wellbeing. The study will be conducted on 250 respondents via a structured questionnaire through Google forms. The scope of this study will try to cover all the possible issues and their impact on consumers. The conclusion will be drawn after analyzing the data.