Investigating consumers' perspective and impact on green cosmetics and personal care products in Thailand

Abstract

This study aims to investigate consumers’ perspectives and impact on green cosmetics and personal care products in Thailand. Specifically, it explores the sustainability movement for the cosmetics and personal care industry, analyzes Thai consumer behavioral intention toward the consumption of green cosmetics and personal care products, and evaluates the impact of related policies that may affect green business transitions and consumers’ intention to purchase green cosmetics and personal care products. The movement of industry and related policies were analyzed by means of Life Cycle Thinking approach. Hypotheses were formulated based on The Perceived Value Theory with extended factors of environmental concern and green policy. A mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative studies were conducted through online surveys of 423 consumers and in-depth interviews with 30 consumers, 8 local and international companies, and 4 governmental agencies and NGOs.

The qualitative analysis shows a strong correlation between circular economy practices, green production processes, environmental certifications, and eco-labeling schemes aligned with sustainability objectives. However, the sustainability concepts were not fully embedded and integrated into policy development and business strategies, which resulted in barriers to sustainable practices. In addition, the quantitative results from PLS-SEM show that the perceived functional value and environmental concern have significant impacts on consumer purchase intention. However, the influence of emotional value and social value was not supported. Meanwhile, the green policy is a strong predictor of environmental concern which indirectly correlates to the perceived value and purchase intention of green cosmetics and personal care products.

These findings offer contributions toward extending the knowledge on how multidimensional consumer values coincide and influence behavioral intention. Linking functional value with environmental considerations should be aligned with the proposed policy recommendations in undertaking sustainability impact assessment throughout a product’s life cycle, enforcing codes of practice relating to waste and packaging waste management, regulating sustainability and green-related terms for marketing and communication, making corporate sustainability reporting mandatory, and developing green taxation system to promote green consumption and production and reduce environmental footprints, to move toward a holistic approach to sustainable development.