Sustainable Choices in Health and Beauty: What Today's Consumer Expects

By Chrissy Brogan , Nicole Sullivan , Tori Chen . This article was written in collaboration between Glow and CarbonBetter .

Health and Beauty is an industry vertical with unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to incorporating sustainability. Consumers have demands and preferences, and terms such as “green” and “clean” are being utilized by brands to indicate products that are better for both the planet and the body. In this three part series of LinkedIn articles, written in collaboration between Glow and CarbonBetter , we will be evaluating the intersection of sustainability and Health and Beauty under the lens of consumer demands, company challenges + environmental opportunities, and we will close out by sharing some industry case studies + making impactful claims. Growing revenue and brand loyalty while also trying to scale environmental initiatives can be tricky, and some brands are ahead of the curve in getting it right! Whether you’re an ESG, marketing, or operations professional in the Health and Beauty space or you’re looking to scale a Health and Beauty brand with learnings from your consumer base, there will be insights for all. In our first post, we are taking a deep dive into what today’s consumer expects.

Exploring the evolving landscape of eco-conscious beauty products and how consumer preferences are driving a revolution in sustainable health and beauty choices.

Sustainability isn’t just good for the planet–it’s good for business as well. In 2021, the global clean beauty market was valued at around $6.5 billion, and is forecasted to grow to around $15.3 billion by 2028 . This projected growth is partially driven by shifting consumer preferences, as most consumers report being willing to pay 35-40% more for a sustainable version of their usual Health and Beauty products. Revenue growth isn’t the only value lever for Health and Beauty companies investing in sustainability–there are various risk mitigation and cost savings benefits as companies build their resilience against the impacts of climate change. In this context, we define Health and Beauty as including, but not limited to, haircare, oral care, skincare, cosmetics, feminine hygiene, and over-the-counter medications.

Consumer Demands and Preferences

There is now substantial data to support that consumers are factoring sustainability into their purchase decisions. NielsenIQ’s most recent Sustainable Beauty report confirms that sustainability importance is increasing, with 62% of respondents finding sustainability more important than two years ago.

Despite this increase, sustainability is still only one of many factors that impact a consumer's purchase decision. Within Health and Beauty, Glow’s consumer research shows price and quality remain dominant decision drivers for most consumers, but sustainability is in the top 3 decision criteria for 1 in 4 consumers and even more important for younger consumers. Furthermore, 8% of consumers rank sustainability as their top consideration for Health and Beauty purchases.

So consumers won't choose an inferior, overpriced, or inconvenient product just because it's sustainable. However, they are increasingly seeking sustainable choices within a specific price and/or quality range, with sustainability becoming an "and" choice not an "or."

Clearly, the importance of sustainability is rising and there is a good portion of the market within Health and Beauty that are actively seeking sustainable products and are willing to switch from less sustainable brands. Glow’s research also shows that 3 in 10 consumers claim to have stopped using a Health and Beauty brand in the last 12 months due to the brand’s social and environmental performance.

Challenges and Opportunities for Brands

With increasing consumer demands and their willingness to switch brands based on sustainability perceptions, there is a significant opportunity for brands who are investing in sustainability to focus on effective storytelling and messaging to differentiate and capture a larger portion of conscious consumers. Glow estimates that the size of the prize for Health and Beauty brands based on sustainability related churn in the US Health and Beauty sector is $2.9 billion annually.

The consumer expectations are rising and the commercial impact is sizable which stands as a strong call to action for Health and Beauty brands. But there is a lot of work to be done… Based on Glow’s Social Responsibility Score , which tracks consumers’ perception of social and environmental performance for 51 industries in the US, beauty and cosmetic brands rank 40th, scoring 26% below the average for all industries. As a relevant benchmark, food and grocery brands rank 5th and are perceived as performing 54% above the overall industry average.

Top 5 Concerns for Health and Beauty

To effectively improve consumer perception, it is critical to understand what drives that perception. The Social Responsibility Score drivers diagnosed that the top 5 concerns for Health and Beauty are:

1. Reducing emissions and climate change
2. Respecting and protecting natural resources
3. Caring for my health & wellbeing
4. Reducing plastic and managing waste
5. Supporting education and employment programs

Drivers of ESG Category Performance in Health and Beauty

As depicted in the chart below featuring Glow’s 13 Drivers of ESG Category Performance in Health and Beauty, 4 in 10 consumers feel that brands are not meeting their expectations when it comes to reducing emissions and climate change. As brands face the challenge of prioritizing which sustainability programs to invest in, the data shows that focusing on progressing initiatives related to reducing emissions and climate change and effectively communicating to consumers along the way will have the most substantial impact on consumer perception and thus commercial return on investment.

Conclusion

In this initial post, we wanted to level-set on what consumers desire from Health and Beauty brands. While consumers are demanding that brands reduce their impacts on the planet and behave transparently, what does that mean for Health and Beauty brands as they navigate trying to generate revenue while simultaneously delivering quality products and meeting customer demands? In our next post, we will dig into the opportunities brands have to quantify, reduce, and disclose their impacts.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Chrissy Brogan is a leader at Glow , who is responsible for managing clients within the US market. With her expertise in data, research, and consumer goods industries, she is dedicated to empowering businesses with actionable consumer insights for impactful decision-making.

Nicole Sullivan is the Director of Climate Services at CarbonBetter . When she’s not working on sustainability reports and helping clients to decarbonize, she’s busy reading about the environment or is outdoors exploring it.

Tori Chen is a Climate Analyst at CarbonBetter . She joined the company in June 2023, concentrating on analyzing climate data to assist clients in understanding and addressing their environmental impact.

ABOUT GLOW

Glow is a best-in-class on-demand consumer research platform, offering direct access to over 100 million consumers and 6 million B2B audiences globally. The platform empowers businesses to make better decisions by providing robust and affordable market research in real-time. Glow is utilized by brands, consultancies, market research agencies, and marketing agencies worldwide to gather actionable human insights. Their research-tech model delivers high-quality research three times faster than traditional methods, making survey design, deployment, analysis, and collaboration simple and efficient.

Learn more at glowfeed.com .

ABOUT CARBONBETTER

We're a privately held firm focused on sustainability & decarbonization services, clean energy & carbon offset project consulting, and energy logistics services for Fortune 1000 companies, utilities, and other organizations that seek to make a positive impact. We're a creative and diverse team tackling the complex climate challenges that are changing our world by helping organizations transition to a net-zero future—accelerating the societal shifts that will save our planet.

We're proud to be the largest minority-owned business in Austin and the 7th largest privately-owned business headquartered in Austin.

Learn more at carbonbetter.com/about/ .