How do women consumers view organic cosmetics? What do they expect from them, how can these expectations be met? Laurence Zemrani, founder and Director of Greenfox research firm, presented the answers she received to these questions at the Eco-Experts Congress last December 3, 2013, in Saint-Denis, France.
Greenfox, a qualitative research institute founded in 2008, has specialized in the organic segment and in sustainable development.
They conducted an ad hoc study in April and May 2012 to identify what curbs the consumption of organic cosmetic products: it was carried out on 10 women consumers who did not necessarily use organic cosmetics. The survey consisted in one-hour individual interviews at consumers’ homes. It was terminated and updated in November 2013 with five one-hour interviews of five consumers that had already been polled.
Of course, the panel can be considered limited, but its conclusions match those already released by other experts, and confirm that if the organic segment has suffered from a growth decline since the financial crisis, consumers’ expectations in terms of efficacy are not to be neglected: neither formulation, nor presentation, and certainly not communication.
How are organic cosmetics viewed?
First, Laurence Zemrani explained that on the whole, “organic cosmetics are considered too expensive, rare and/or inefficient. Consumers are interested in them, but they represent a market that does not grow.”
Three approaches towards organic cosmetics stood out from what the women interviewed explained.
The organic-sceptics
For these women, organic cosmetics are not as good as …
