Impacts of health and environmental consciousness on young female consumers’ attitude towards and purchase of natural beauty products ijcs_817 627 638 Soyoung Kim and Yoo-Kyoung Seock Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, US Keywords Health consciousness, environmental consciousness, natural beauty products, importance of product attributes, product attitudes. Correspondence Soyoung Kim, Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors, 315 Dawson Hall, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, US. E-mail: soyoung@uga.edu doi: 10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009.00817.x Abstract This study investigated young female consumers’ beauty product shopping behavioural patterns, their perceived importance of product attributes, and their attitude towards and purchase of natural beauty products. This study also examines whether consumers’ product attitudes and shopping behaviours are influenced by their health and environmental con- sciousness. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 210 female college students enrolled at a south-eastern university in the US. In order to examine the impacts of both health and environmental consciousness on other selected variables, the respondents were divided into four groups based on their scores on the two variables, and a series of analysis of variance were conducted to compare characteristics of the four groups. The results showed that health and environmental consciousness significantly influenced the impor- tance placed on beauty product attributes. Additionally, those with a high level of both health and environmental consciousness were significantly more positive in their evalua- tions than those with low scores on both variables in their perceptions of natural beauty products. Those with low scores on both variables were significantly less willing than the other groups to pay more for natural beauty products. Analysis of variance results also indicated that the two groups with a high level of environmental consciousness purchased natural beauty products more frequently than those with a low level of health and envi- ronmental consciousness, indicating a relatively stronger impact of environmental con- sciousness than health consciousness on frequency of natural beauty product purchases. Health and environmental consciousness were both significantly related to a respondent’s perceived level of knowledge of beauty products and ability to distinguish natural from conventional beauty products. Introduction Researchers of consumer culture suggested that appearance, body shape and physical control have become central to an individual’s sense of self-identity in a highly visual consumer culture (Feath- erstone, 1991; Domzal and Kernan, 1993; Shilling, 2003, 2007). According to the corporal theory of body proposed by Domzal and Kernan (1993), the human body is the most visible expression of one’s self and bodily behaviour or maintenance is a means of interpersonal presentation in social activities. They suggested that being well groomed, while yielding the personal satisfaction of somatic well-being, reflect social motivations as well, as evi- denced by the desire to be attractive to others (particularly in the use of cosmetics and other beauty-related products and services). More recently, Shilling (2003) suggested that the body is a ‘project’ that is worked on and accomplished as part of the devel- opment of one’s self-identity. He also noted that the body is often considered as a form of physical capital in modern society. Such concepts may help to explain such behaviours as eating, dressing and wearing make-up. Furthermore, with the body being consid- ered as a visual self, a heightened concern with one’s body and appearance leads to an increase in consumption of beauty products (Gimlin, 2006) and the emergence of many new styles of body modification (Pitts, 2003). Existing evidence from the research also shows that perceptions of body and physical appearance influ- ence people’s behaviour in their role as consumers (Debevec et al., 1986; Bloch and Richins, 1992; Reingen and Kernan, 1993) and alter their behaviour in the use of make-up (Miller and Cox, 1982) and clothing (Solomon and Schopler, 1982). As beauty and fame have increasingly been celebrated in American culture, the pressure to look stylish has become stronger than ever. According to a survey by The Nielsen Company (2007), 30% of consumers worldwide spend more on beauty products and treatments today than they used to. The report also indicates that International Journal of Consumer Studies ISSN 1470-6423 International Journal of Consumer Studies 33 (2009) 627–638 © The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 627 two-thirds of US consumers feel that the pressure to look good is much greater now than ever before. In 2007, three out of four men aged 18–64 years in the US wore fragrance and 9 out of 10 women aged 18 years and older used skin care, make-up or fragrance, accounting for over 170 million beauty users in the US (The NPD Group, Inc., 2008). The Nielsen Company (2007) also reported that the largest beauty expenditure for US consumers is on hair care, skin care and facial treatment products. Alongside a growing emphasis on external appearance and the consumption of beauty products, concern both with the health of the body and with the external physical environment has emerged as a recent consumer trend (Shilling, 2007). Over the past few years, consumers have turned their interests towards a more natural way of living, often called ‘green living’, a trend that has amplified concerns for overall health and wellness with an ever increasing interest in protecting the environment as well as an awareness of the potential harm caused by chemicals in products (Invest in France Agency, 2007). People trying to pursue a sus- tainable lifestyle are likely to consider the health and environmen- tal impacts of their daily routines (Spaargaren, 2002). From a sociological perspective, researchers have suggested that consumers’ concern for socio-environmental goodness has been the moral basis of some consumption practices (Ellen, 1994; Minton and Rose, 1997; Shaw and Newholm, 2002). This can be observed in the market by the proliferation of environmentally friendly products, services, and package designs and the commer- cialization of a fair-trade industry (Caruana, 2007). In earlier research Baudrillard (1981) has framed consumption in postmod- ern society in the context of a theory of sign value. He viewed consumption as an active manipulation of signs, indicating sign as a representation of morality and ethics in the social context. He also noted that the sign value leads the consumer to a series of complex choices and explains why particular commodities and brands become alluring and desirable. According to his theory of sign value, environmentally friendly or sustainable consumption turns out to be an outcome of a sign of morality in current society. In the marketing literature, such moral concerns that consumers bring to their environmentally friendly consumption practices were explained in the context of a theory of rational choice behav- iours. The theory posits that rational consumers maximize utility from their preferences, anticipating the future consequences of their choices (Becker and Murphy, 1988). Researchers consider morality as a process of rational individual decision making, focusing on ‘right’ and ‘good’ consumption for society and indi- viduals (Carrigan and Attalla, 2001; Caruana, 2007). Keeping pace with the trend of green living and sustainable consumption, global sales of natural and organic cosmetic prod- ucts grew to about $7 billion in 2007, according to a report by Organic Consumers Association (2007). With the growing con- sumer demand for healthy and environmentally friendly products, consumers have become more interested in beauty product ingre- dients (Invest in France Agency, 2007), causing the natural beauty market to expand much faster than the beauty market as a whole. Today, the natural and organic beauty product market has expanded significantly and is expected to reach $5.8 billion by 2008 from about $3.9 billion in 2003, with approximately 9% of an average annual growth rate, according to a report by the US Market for Natural Personal Care Products (Decision News Media, 2004). Organic Monitor, the British consulting firm, projects global natural cosmetics market revenues to surpass US $10 billion by 2010, and the market share of natural and organic products of total cosmetics is projected to reach nearly 10% in some countries including Germany and the US (Organic Consum- ers Association, 2007). The NPD Group’s study showed that 42% of US female skin care users 18 and older look for products that are made from natural ingredients and 28% of female skin care users 18 and older prefer brands that have a physician/doctor endorsement (The NPD Group, Inc., 2008). Moreover, the study also showed that 77% of female skin care users aged 18 years and older reported that they do not mind paying more for a skin care product that works. In fact, in response to the increased demands for natural and organic beauty products, many companies have been either in- creasing their use of natural ingredients in existing product lines or else creating new lines that specifically cater to this trend (Deci- sion News Media, 2005). For example, established cosmetic com- panies such as Estee Lauder and Revlon increasingly look to ‘organics’ as a new marketing concept (Phillabaum, 2003). Even large retailers like Wal-Mart Stores in the US have started to offer their own natural and organic product lines such as body scrub, face cleanser, lip balm and shampoo (Kolesnikov-Jessop, 2008). Despite the growing concerns for ‘green living’ and the demands for healthy and environmentally friendly beauty products, little research has been conducted to investigate consumers’ beauty product shopping behaviours and attitude towards natural beauty products. Thus, this study attempts to investigate young female consumers’ beauty product shopping behavioural patterns, their perceived importance of product attributes, and their attitude towards and purchase of natural beauty products. This study also examines whether consumers’ product attitudes and shopping behaviours are influenced by their health and environmental con- sciousness. In the NPD study (2005), skin care products were the most used beauty product among young women (89%), followed by make-up (84%), shaving products/hair removers (84%), bath products (82%) and fragrance products (77%). The beauty prod- ucts in this study included skin care and make-up items. This study focused on consumers in their late teens and early 20s because teens and consumers in their 20s represent a substantial market for beauty products, spending more than older generations in this product category, according to Shuchi Sethi, vice president of Nielsen Customized Research (The Nielsen Company, 2007). Environmental consciousness Today, environmental consciousness is not only a political cause pursued by environmental organizations and activists but also an issue bearing significant impact on marketing and sales in the corporate world (Arvanitoyannis et al., 2003). Consumers’ con- cerns about environmental issues influence their attitudes towards a product and purchase behaviours, especially for ecological or environmentally friendly products (Oude Ophuis et al., 1992; Bohlen et al., 1993). Such attitudinal and behavioural changes towards environmentally friendly products have opened a strategic opportunity for companies to compete in this new market. In response to a growing concern over environmental issues, a wave of consumer products has recently appeared on both store shelves and on the Internet boasting eco-friendly or green labels. However, eco-friendly, green and organic labels do not create automatic Natural beauty products S. Kim and Y-K. Seock International Journal of Consumer Studies 33 (2009) 627–638 © The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 628 sales opportunities despite the substantial rise in environmental consciousness among consumers. For some, environmental concern has become a way of life guiding their consumption on a daily basis. For others, environmental concerns are not always translated into green consumerism (Hussain, 2000) because of the conflict between environmental soundness and other benefits such as prices and convenience (Wandel and Bugge, 1997). In other words, many consumers are not yet willing, or perhaps cannot afford, to forego financial and other advantages offered by conventional products to pursue environmental causes. Researchers found that consumers’ concerns for the environ- ment influence their organic food consumption (Kyriakopoulos and van Dijk, 1997). Studies have found that better-educated con- sumers and female consumers are both more interested than less- educated and male consumers in purchasing food produced in an environmentally sound manner (Wandel and Bugge, 1997; Tiili- kainen and Huddleston, 2000). Tiilikainen and Huddleston (2000) also found that those with a higher income and young to middle- aged persons tend to be more environmentally concerned. Wandel and Bugge (1997) observed that younger respondents gave envi- ronmental welfare a high priority in their evaluations of food quality, whereas the oldest group of respondents, aged 60 years and over, considered health to be the most prominent reason for their purchase of ecologically produced food products. While con- sumers’ environmental concerns clearly influence their attitude towards and purchase of environmentally friendly products, no known research is available to date that investigates environmental consciousness in the consumption of eco-friendly beauty products. Health consciousness Health consciousness refers to ‘the degree of readiness to under- take health actions’ (Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis, 1998, p. 122). Health-conscious consumers may adjust their consumption pat- terns because they believe that their actions affect their health (Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis, 1998). Consumers buy eco- friendly or environmentally sound products not only because of their concern for environmental conservation but also out of concern for their own health (Wandel and Bugge, 1997; Padel and Foster, 2005). Individuals’ concern for food safety and health issues have often been discussed in relation to organic food con- sumption. As mentioned above, Wandel and Bugge’s (1997) study revealed that older consumers purchase ecologically produced food primarily because of concerns for their own health rather than for environmental protection. In a study of Greek consumers, Arvanitoyannis et al. (2003) found that the large majority of organic food buyers believed that organic food is healthier than conventionally grown food and that about half of them were willing to pay more for the organic version. Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis (1998), in their study of Dutch consumers, also found a significant level of health consciousness among organic food buyers. Among those who buy organic food at organic food stores, health and environmental issues are mentioned equally often as reasons for buying organic food. Although several studies have found health to be a more important motive than environ- mental protection for organic food buying (Worner and Meier- Ploeger, 1999; Chryssohoidis and Krystallis, 2005), the results may be compounded by other factors such as consumers’ level of organic food buying and age. Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis (1998) stated that health is a more important motive for incidental buyers of organic food, whereas heavy buyers consider both health and environmental issues equally important. They further argued that both health and environmental consciousness often coincide and that it is therefore difficult to identify which is the more dominant motive for organic food buying. While a substantial number of studies have examined organic food buying in relation to health and environmental conscious- ness, no attention has been directed at exploring the consumption of eco-friendly beauty products. Considering that a significant portion of organic food buyers also buy other environmentally friendly or sound products such as green detergents and recycled paper towels (Chryssohoidis and Krystallis, 2005), it is reasonable to expect that both health and environmental consciousness may serve as driving motivations for the purchase or selection of eco- friendly beauty products. Given the scarcity of published informa- tion on the topic, this research was designed as an exploratory rather than a theoretical study to examine young female consum- ers’ perceptions and their purchase behaviour of eco-friendly beauty products and to identify and compare different determi- nants of their eco-friendly beauty product buying behaviour. Beauty products shopping behaviours Purchasing beauty products may be a complex and thoughtful decision because these decisions affect the overall appearance of an individual. Researchers argue that the importance consumers place upon various product attributes reflects their personal atti- tude regarding consumption of the product (Spieker, 1988). Con- sumers use product attributes as the basis for evaluating a product, and those attributes promise benefits that consumers seek when purchasing a product (Puth et al., 1999). An early study done by Keller (1993) suggested that beauty product attributes, including the ingredients necessary for performing the product function, price, product appearance or packaging and usage information, are the most significant factors for increasing the purchases and con- sumption of a beauty product. More recently, The Cosmetic Toiletry and Perfumery Association, LTD (2006) identified basic and enhanced product functions, ingredients, packaging design, fragrance and price as product attributes considered important by consumers when choosing a beauty product. The Nielsen Company (2007) report revealed that a product’s ‘promise’ is one of the most important aspects that US consumers placed on beauty products. Most consumers considering the purchase of a beauty product first smell the item, which is why many synthetic cosmet- ics contain synthetic fragrances. In addition to smell, beauty prod- ucts can be characterized by unique features such as absorbency, moisturization, appearance on the skin when used, thickness and residue; its characteristics and performance are the result of the ingredients of the product and their physical formulation (Wortel and Wiechers, 2000). These attributes may offer motives to select one beauty product over another. With growing concerns about health and the environment, many consumers today are notably interested in what they put on their bodies. They try to control their health by looking for healthy skin care and cosmetic products. As people believe that natural ingre- dients make the beauty products better and healthier, the use of the term ‘natural’ on the label is becoming a key sales-driving force (Decision News Media, 2004). According to the consumer insights S. Kim and Y-K. Seock Natural beauty products International Journal of Consumer Studies 33 (2009) 627–638 © The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 629 report by Organic Monitor (2007) regarding consumer behaviour towards natural and organic personal care products in the UK, consumers’ concern about synthetic chemicals in beauty products is the major driver of growth in the natural personal care market, with 89% of beauty product buyers stating this as a critical factor in their purchase decisions. The report also indicated that more than one-third of consumers answered that they look for symbols and logos of certification, and 79% of consumers said that they would be willing to pay more for certified products. Retailers also noted that many consumers already read the labels very carefully because they want to know whether a product is 5% or 90% natural. This observation consequentially leads to a significant adjustment in sales and marketing strategies (Decision News Media, 2004). Labelling may reinforce the perception of product quality, conveying messages from the company, and encourage consumers to purchase a product. As many consumers today rec- ognize the differences between natural and conventional beauty products and prefer to purchase natural products, differences in natural ingredient compositions and labels may dampen consumer confidence in beauty products. Product packaging has the power to draw consumers’ attention as they browse the retail shelves and lead them to take a closer look at the product (The Cosmetic Toiletry and Perfumery Asso- ciation, LTD 2006). In the face of the evolution of green living along with increased environmental awareness, ‘eco-friendly’ and ‘green’ packaging have become popular concepts in advertising. Existing evidence from the earlier study (Smith, 1990) shows that people select one product over another because of its environmen- tally friendly packaging. Consumers’ interests in green living may not be satisfied only with naturally derived ingredients. Instead, they are pursuing a new lifestyle through the choice of materials in packaging and the appearance of products (Bird, 2008). As more consumers are looking for products and brands that are positioned to be as green as possible and explore more eco-friendly alterna- tives in packaging, companies have begun looking beyond product formulations and looking more at eco-friendly packaging using biodegradable plastics or recyclable glass (Edgar, 2008). Like- wise, increased concerns about health and the environment led consumers to consider eco-friendly ingredients and packaging as important features of beauty products as well. In this vein, it is necessary to explore the influence of consumers’ health and envi- ronmental consciousness on their beauty product shopping behav- iours and attitude towards and actual purchase behaviour of natural beauty products. Perceived self-competence in purchase decisions Self-competence is defined as the evaluation of one’s ability to successfully bring about desired outcomes, often being considered as one of the important constructs of global self-esteem (Bosson and Swann, 1999). According to Tafarodi and Swann (1995), self-competence comprises an individual’s feelings of being capable, competent, efficacious and in control. They also noted that self-competence results from the successful manipulation of one’s environment and from the realization of goals. It is internally calibrated in that a person knows what he or she wants to do through behaviour (intentions) and then sees what results from that behaviour (outcomes). Researchers suggest that high self- competence plays a major role in offering motives for purposive behaviour (White, 1959; Smith, 1968). Low self-competence, on the other hand, is associated with stunted motivation, anxiety and depression (Gecas, 1989; Mearns, 1989). Perceived self-competence in purchase decisions reflects the self-perceived capability to recognize and understand the differ- ences of one product over another in order to make a choice (Kapferer and Laurent, 1983). Self-competent consumers may have greater subjective and objective confidence in their ability and capacity to treat information (Miled and Esparcieux, 1997). In general, consumers with higher self-competence exhibit better recognition, analysis and logic abilities than those with lower self-competence. Choosing a new product may require a certain level of confi- dence. Someone who has more confidence in his or her knowledge about the products and purchase decisions will choose a new product on the shelf instead of the product he or she already knows. In other words, the reason for choosing a natural product might be that they know about the products. Such perceived self- competence, which may differentiate the consumers who actually purchase natural beauty products from those who do not, can be influenced by what kind of psychological cues consumers use when making a purchase decision. Based on the literature, this study was designed to investigate how health and environmental consciousness were associated with beauty product shopping behaviours, importance of various beauty product attributes, attitudes towards natural beauty products and perceived self-competence in shopping for natural beauty products. Methods Data collection The population for this study consisted of female college students. A structured self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a convenience sample of 250 female college students enrolled at a south-eastern university in the US. The convenience sampling method is defined as ‘a non-probability sampling procedure, involving selection of the most available subjects for study’ (Portney and Watkins, 2000, p. 742) and often used in exploratory studies for cost and convenience reasons. Although the use of student samples has sometimes been criticized, students are con- sidered valid respondents if the study involves a topic relevant to them (Shanahan and Hyman, 2003). Even with the recognition that the use of a non-random sample limits the generalizability of the results, a student sample was deemed acceptable for the current study, given the exploratory nature of the study and its topical relevance. Additionally, college students correspond well in age to the target population for this study – late teens and young women in their 20s, an age group representing a key consumer market for beauty products (The Nielsen Company, 2007). Besides, using a student sample from only one geographic area it was possible to maintain a relatively high degree of homogeneity for the sample, reducing the potential for random errors and variability in the findings. The researchers first contacted instructors in different majors on campus and a time was arranged to visit each class for the purpose of administrating the surveys. The students’ participation in the Natural beauty products S. Kim and Y-K. Seock International Journal of Consumer Studies 33 (2009) 627–638 © The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 630 survey was voluntary and no incentives were given to those who completed the survey. Of the 250 questionnaires distributed, 210 were returned and used in the data analysis, resulting in a response rate of 84%. Survey instrument Health consciousness was measured with the nine-item scale developed by Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis (1998, p. 131). Two examples of the scale items included, ‘I think that I take health into account a lot in my life’ and ‘I really don’t think often about whether everything I do is healthy’. Responses were scored on a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.79. Environmental consciousness was measured using seven ques- tions developed by Grunert and Juhl (1995) and three questions created by the researchers. Examples of Grunert and Juhl’s scale items included the following: ‘I often discuss environmental issues with my friends’ and ‘I become incensed when I think about the harm being done to plant and animal life by pollution’ (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) (p. 50). Three items were constructed based on the description of environmentally conscious consumers contained in articles written by Heimlich (2008) and Wandel and Bugge (1997): ‘I am concerned a lot about environmental problems’, ‘I prefer to buy products produced in an environmentally sound manner’ and ‘I try to make environmen- tally correct purchases’ (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.89. Ten questions measuring involvement in the beauty product purchasing process were adapted from Chryssohoidis and Krys- tallis’s (2005, p. 590) study of organic food purchase behaviour. The original scale, developed to determine the level of involve- ment in organic purchasing process, was modified to reflect beauty product shopping behaviours. Examples of the scale are as follows: ‘I prefer to examine various beauty products before my final choice’, ‘I am very demanding regarding the beauty products I purchase’ and ‘I’m willing to devote much time in beauty product purchasing’ (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). In order to measure the importance of natural beauty product attributes, respondents were asked to rate the level of importance attached to 11 product attributes such as ‘non-allergic reaction’, ‘pure organic ingredients’ and ‘recyclable or biodegradable pack- aging’ (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). The items were either modified from Chryssohoidis and Krystallis’s (2005, p. 590) study or created by the researchers. Perceived self-competence in shopping for natural beauty prod- ucts was measured by three questions (‘I know a lot about natural beauty products’, ‘I know how to distinguish natural from conven- tional beauty products’, ‘Before I purchase beauty products I know how to look at the differences between products’) adapted from Chryssohoidis’s (2000, p. 722) study (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.86. Attitude towards natural beauty products was measured by 11 questions either adapted from studies by Soler et al. (2002, p. 682) and Chryssohoidis and Krystallis (2005, p. 590) or developed by the researchers. The scale items were designed to determine a respondent’s perceptions of natural beauty products compared with conventional products (e.g. ‘I believe that natural beauty products are better for health’, ‘I believe that natural beauty products are more effective than conventional beauty products’, ‘I believe that there are substantial quality differences between natural and conventional beauty products’). Responses were scored on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Finally, the respondents were asked two questions as to how often they purchased (1) natural beauty and skin care products and (2) natural colour cosmetics (1 = never, 2 = occasionally, 3 = often, 4 = regularly, 5 = always). The correlation between the two items was 0.62. Results Correlation results Pearson’s correlation analyses were used to examine relations among the selected variables (Tables 1–4). The Pearson correla- tion coefficient is a common measure of the degree of linear relationship between two continuous variables (Howell, 1992). The results revealed that health consciousness was positively cor- related with environmental consciousness (r = 0.15, P < 0.05). Both variables were also positively correlated with perceived self- competence (r = 0.19, P < 0.01 for health; r = 0.34, P < 0.001 for environmental) but not correlated with beauty product shopping patterns with one exception: the only item significantly correlated with the two variables was ‘reading articles and other materials regarding beauty products to get informed’ (r = 0.15, P < 0.05 for health; r = 0.18, P < 0.01 for environmental). Both health and environmental consciousness were also significantly correlated with frequency of natural beauty product purchases (r = 0.17, P < 0.05 for health; r = 0.25, P < 0.001 for environmental). As for the importance of product attributes, health conscious- ness was significantly correlated with ‘pure organic ingredients’ (r = 0.25, P < 0.01), ‘no use of chemical ingredients’ (r = 0.17, P < 0.05) and ‘use of a relevant sign or mark on the label’ (r = 0.14, P < 0.05). On the other hand, environmental conscious- ness was significantly correlated with ‘pure organic ingredients’ (r = 0.48, P < 0.001), ‘no use of chemical ingredients’ (r = 0.15, P < 0.05), ‘no use of preservatives’ (r = 0.21, P < 0.01), ‘use of a relevant sign or mark on the label’ (r = 0.14, P < 0.05) and ‘recy- clable or biodegradable packaging’ (r = 0.53, P < 0.001). As for attitude towards natural beauty care products, health consciousness was positively correlated with seven items. Health- conscious individuals were more likely to believe that there were Table 1 Correlation analysis results (health consciousness, environ- mental consciousness, perceived self-competence and frequency of natural beauty product purchases) V1 V2 V3 V1: Health 1.00 V2: Environment 0.15* 1.00 V3: Self-competence 0.19** 0.34*** 1.00 V4: Purchase frequency 0.17* 0.25*** 0.43*** *Significant at P < 0.05 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). **Significant at P < 0.01 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). ***Significant at P < 0.001 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). S. Kim and Y-K. Seock Natural beauty products International Journal of Consumer Studies 33 (2009) 627–638 © The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 631 Table 2 Correlation analysis results (health consciousness, environmental consciousness and involvement in beauty product purchasing process) V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V1: Health 1.00 V2: Environment 0.15* 1.00 V3: Buy at stores near house -0.05 0.07 1.00 V4: Examine various products 0.04 0.09 -0.22** 1.00 V5: Visit different outlets 0.03 0.12 0.01 0.33*** 1.00 V6: Buy spontaneously 0.05 0.07 0.16* -0.09 -0.08 1.00 V7: Very demanding 0.01 -0.08 0.02 0.17* 0.18** -0.18** 1.00 V8: Consider many things 0.03 0.12 -0.07 0.45*** 0.40*** -0.03 0.41*** 1.00 V9: Devote much time 0.11 0.02 0.05 0.20** 0.33*** -0.20** 0.57*** 0.57*** 1.00 V10: Consult salespeople 0.05 -0.08 0.16* 0.07 0.19** -0.12 0.31*** 0.24*** 0.31*** 1.00 V11: Read to get informed 0.15* 0.18** 0.05 0.19** 0.31*** -0.33*** 0.36*** 0.42*** 0.48*** 0.31*** 1.00 V12: Consider others’ opinions -0.09 0.00 0.11 -0.17* -0.19** 0.24*** -0.16* -0.23*** -0.27*** -0.24*** -0.43*** *Significant at P < 0.05 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). **Significant at P < 0.01 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). ***Significant at P < 0.001 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). Table 3 Correlation analysis results (health consciousness, environmental consciousness and importance of natural beauty product attributes) V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V1: Health 1.00 V2: Environment 0.15* 1.00 V3: Unscented -0.02 -0.03 1.00 V4: Non-allergic 0.05 -0.01 0.35*** 1.00 V5: Pure organic ingredients 0.25*** 0.48*** 0.01 0.15* 1.00 V6: Dermatologist tested 0.11 0.12 0.09 0.44*** 0.25*** 1.00 V7: Free of skin irritants -0.02 0.02 0.15* 0.54** 0.13 0.68** 1.00 V8: No chemical ingredients 0.17* 0.15* 0.15* 0.24*** 0.35*** 0.36*** 0.38*** 1.00 V9: No preservatives 0.13 0.21** 0.11 0.27*** 0.39*** 0.36*** 0.35*** 0.67*** 1.00 V10: Relevant sign/mark 0.14* 0.15* 0.11 0.29*** 0.33*** 0.40*** 0.35*** 0.39*** 0.40*** 1.00 V11: Recyclable packaging 0.07 0.53*** -0.01 0.10 0.46*** 0.19** 0.20** 0.24** 0.34*** 0.33*** 1.00 V12: Appropriate appearance 0.09 -0.03 -0.05 0.16* 0.18** 0.32*** 0.23*** 0.09 0.15* 0.37*** 0.20** 1.00 V13: Appropriate scent 0.02 0.04 -0.05 0.19** 0.12 0.26*** 0.24*** 0.06 0.14* 0.25*** 0.15* 0.35*** *Significant at P < 0.05 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). **Significant at P < 0.01 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). ***Significant at P < 0.001 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). Natural beauty products S. Kim and Y-K. Seock International Journal of Consumer Studies 33 (2009) 627–638 © The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 632 substantial quality differences between natural and conventional beauty products (r = 0.15, P < 0.05) and that natural beauty products are better for health (r = 0.16, P < 0.05), more fashion- able (r = 0.20, P < 0.01), technologically advanced (r = 0.19, P < 0.01), cause no secondary effects (r = 14, P < 0.05), and work better than conventional products (r = 0.19, P < 0.01). They were also more willing to pay more for natural beauty products (r = 0.19, P < 0.01). On the other hand, environmental conscious- ness exhibited a positive correlation with nine items of attitude towards natural beauty care products: environmentally conscious people were more likely to believe that there were substantial quality differences between natural and conventional beauty prod- ucts (r = 27, P < 0.001) and that natural beauty products were more effective (r = 0.19, P < 0.01), better for health (r = 0.20, P < 0.01), of higher quality than conventional products (r = 0.15, P < 0.05), technologically more advanced (r = 0.25, P < 0.001), cause no secondary effects (r = 0.26, P < 0.001), and would work better than conventional products (r = 0.15, P < 0.05). They were also more willing to pay more for natural beauty products (r = 0.27, P < 0.001). Neither variable was correlated with the belief that natural beauty products were environmentally more friendly. Analysis of variance results In order to examine the impacts of both health and environmental consciousness on other selected variables, the respondents were divided into four groups, using the median-split method, based on their scores on the two variables. The four groups were named as follows: low health/low environmental, high health/low environ- mental, low health/high environmental and high health/high envi- ronmental (Table 5). In order to compare characteristics of the four groups, a series of analysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted. The purpose of ANOVA is to test for significant differences in average scores among independent groups (Howell, 1992). In this study, ANOVA was used to compare the four consumer groups for significance differences in group means for the following vari- ables: importance of beauty product attributes, attitude towards natural beauty products, and perceived self-competence and beauty product shopping behaviours. Importance of beauty product attributes The high health/high environmental group placed a significantly higher level of importance on pure organic ingredients than the two groups with low health environmental consciousness (Table 6). The high health/low environmental group was signifi- cantly higher on that attribute than the low health/low environ- mental group [F (3, 206) = 21.16, P < 0.001]. The high health/ high environmental group assigned a significantly higher level of importance to ‘no use of chemical ingredients’ than the two groups with low environmental consciousness [F (3, 206) = 5.50, P < 0.01]. The high health/high environmental group was signifi- cantly higher than the low health/low environmental group in its Table 4 Correlation analysis results (health consciousness, environmental consciousness and attitude towards natural beauty products) V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V1: Health 1.00 V2: Environment 0.15* 1.00 V3: Substantial quality difference 0.15* 0.27*** 1.00 V4: More effective 0.07 0.19** 0.58*** 1.00 V5: More fashionable 0.20** 0.09 0.18* 0.26*** 1.00 V6: Better for health 0.16* 0.20** 0.52*** 0.51*** 0.33*** 1.00 V7: No secondary effects 0.14* 0.26*** 0.43*** 0.36*** 0.11 0.39*** 1.00 V8: Higher quality 0.13 0.15* 0.47*** 0.45*** 0.25*** 0.50*** 0.42*** 1.00 V9: Work better 0.19** 0.15* 0.42*** 0.65*** 0.25*** 0.44*** 0.33*** 0.61*** 1.00 V10: Technologically advanced 0.18** 0.25*** 0.31*** 0.30*** 0.23*** 0.32*** 0.26*** 0.40*** 0.43*** 1.00 V11: Environmentally friendly 0.06 0.12 0.29*** 0.25*** 0.26*** 0.47*** 0.35*** 0.37*** 0.18* 0.30*** 1.00 V12: Willingness to pay more 0.21** 0.27*** 0.40*** 0.44*** 0.33*** 0.44*** 0.25*** 0.40*** 0.49*** 0.29*** 0.23*** *Significant at P < 0.05 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). **Significant at P < 0.01 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). ***Significant at P < 0.001 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). Table 5 Comparison of health and environmental consciousness Low health/ High health/ Low health/ High health/ F-value low environment low environment high environment high environment (n = 57) (n = 50) (n = 46) (n = 57) Health consciousness 2.98 b 3.92 a 3.05 b 3.89 a 110.81*** Environmental consciousness 2.74 b 2.83 b 3.83 a 3.96 a 117.63*** ***Significant at P < 0.001 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). a, b Cell means that do not share a letter in their superscripts differ at P < 0.05 according to Scheffe test. S. Kim and Y-K. Seock Natural beauty products International Journal of Consumer Studies 33 (2009) 627–638 © The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 633 perception of the importance of ‘no use of preservatives’ [F (3, 205) = 4.12, P < 0.01]. The two groups with high environmental consciousness scored significantly higher than the two groups with low environmental consciousness in the importance of recyclable or biodegradable packaging [F (3, 206) = 20.12, P < 0.001]. Attitude towards natural beauty products The two groups with high environmental consciousness perceived more strongly than the low health/low environmental group that there were substantial quality differences between natural and conventional beauty products [F (3, 205) = 6.76, P < 0.001] (Table 7). The high health/high environmental group believed more strongly than the low health/low environmental group that natural beauty products were fashionable products [F (3, 205) = 3.60, P < 0.05], were better for health [F (3, 205) = 0.3.95, P < 0.01], did not have secondary effects [F (3, 204) = 3.78, P < 0.05], would work better than conventional products [F (3, 205) = 3.36, P < 0.05], were technologically advanced [F (3, 205) = 3.89, P < 0.05] and were significantly different from con- ventional beauty products [F (3, 205) = 3.01, P < 0.05]. Finally, the low health/low environmental group was significantly less willing than the other three groups to pay more for natural beauty products [F (3, 205) = 7.39, P < 0.001]. Perceived self-competence and beauty product shopping behaviours The high health/high environmental group exhibited a signifi- cantly higher level of perceived self-competence than the low Table 6 Comparison of importance of beauty product attributes Low health/ High health/ Low health/ High health/ F-value low environment low environment high environment high environment (n = 57) (n = 50) (n = 46) (n = 57) Unscented 3.16 3.04 2.96 3.11 0.31 Non-allergic reactions 3.95 4.02 3.96 4.18 0.47 Pure organic ingredients 2.39 c 2.94 b 3.33 ab 3.60 a 21.16*** Dermatologist tested 4.12 4.06 4.20 4.40 1.17 Free of skin irritants 4.44 4.26 4.46 4.54 1.32 No chemical ingredients 3.32 b 3.46 b 3.61 ab 4.00 a 5.50** No preservatives 3.00 b 3.20 ab 3.42 ab 3.56 a 4.12** Relevent sign or label 3.42 3.78 3.89 3.89 3.27* Recyclable packaging 2.51 b 2.42 b 3.48 a 3.46 a 20.12*** Appropriate appearance 3.56 3.64 3.61 3.88 1.14 Appropriate scent 3.58 3.71 3.85 3.82 1.07 *Significant at P < 0.05 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). **Significant at P < 0.01 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). ***Significant at P < 0.001 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). a, b, ab, c Cell means that do not share a letter in their superscripts differ at P < 0.05 according to Scheffe test. Table 7 Comparison of attitude towards natural beauty products Low health/ High health/ Low health/ High health/ F-value low environment low environment high environment high environment (n = 57) (n = 50) (n = 46) (n = 57) Substantial quality differences 3.12 b 3.39 ab 3.70 a 3.70 a 6.76*** More effective 2.98 3.08 3.37 3.33 2.94* More fashionable 3.30 b 3.61 ab 3.50 ab 3.70 a 3.60* Better for health 3.63 b 3.86 ab 3.91 ab 4.11 a 3.95** No secondary effects 2.96 b 3.12 ab 3.27 ab 3.32 a 3.78* Higher quality 3.25 3.45 3.50 3.65 2.47 Work better 3.04 b 3.29 ab 3.26 ab 3.49 a 3.36* Technologically advanced 3.02 b 3.29 ab 3.33 ab 3.53 a 3.89* Environmentally friendly 3.81 3.94 3.93 4.16 2.29 Willing to pay more 2.60 b 3.22 a 3.15 a 3.44 a 7.39*** *Significant at P < 0.05 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). **Significant at P < 0.01 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). ***Significant at P < 0.001 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). a, b, ab Cell means that do not share a letter in their superscripts differ at P < 0.05 according to Scheffe test. Natural beauty products S. Kim and Y-K. Seock International Journal of Consumer Studies 33 (2009) 627–638 © The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 634 health/low environmental group [F (3, 205) = 7.05, P < 0.001] (Table 8). The two groups with high environmental consciousness purchased natural beauty products significantly more frequently than the low health/low environmental group [F (3, 205) = 4.56, P < 0.01]. The four groups did not significantly differ in any of the selected beauty product shopping behavioural patterns. Discussions Whereas a significant amount of attention has been directed towards organic food buying in relation to health and environmen- tal consciousness, there has been no academic research to date that has shed light on how consumer concerns for health and environmental issues are associated with their consumption of eco-friendly beauty products. The current study was designed as an exploratory study to gain insight into young female consumers’ perceptions and their purchase behaviour of eco-friendly beauty products, particularly with a focus on comparing the influences of health and environmental consciousness on those variables. It should be noted that in this sample health and environmental consciousness were not independent variables. The two variables were marginally and positively correlated, suggesting that health- conscious individuals also tended to care about environmental issues and to strive to make environmentally sound purchases. In previous studies of organic food buying (e.g. Wandel and Bugge, 1997; Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis, 1998; Chryssohoidis and Krystallis, 2005), health and environment were often mentioned as two important reasons for buying organic. Wandel and Bugge, 1997, for example, found that Norwegian consumers purchase food produced in an environmentally sound manner not only for reasons of environmental protection but also for their own health. A similar observation was also made among Dutch (Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis, 1998) and Greek consumers (Chryssohoidis and Krystallis, 2005). The results of the current study may suggest that health and environment issues are often mentioned together as motives for buying environmentally friendly products not only because consumers perceive such products as both healthy and environmentally friendly but also because health and environmen- tal consciousness are significantly interrelated. In other words, environmentally conscious consumers are also health conscious to some degree and therefore may often consider health and environ- ment as two critical reasons guiding their consumption. This finding is understandable because as Schifferstein and Oude Ophuis (1998) pointed out, concerns for the well-being of the individual and the state of the environment are derived from the same ideology. Health and environmental consciousness were both signifi- cantly related to a respondent’s perceived level of knowledge of beauty products and ability to distinguish natural from conven- tional beauty products. Individuals who are concerned about health and environmental issues are aware that their consumption behaviours have a major impact on health and the environment and thus may actively seek information regarding product attributes that could potentially be harmful to health and the environment. Their knowledge of and attention to different beauty product attributes naturally results in heightened confidence in their ability to distinguish differences between natural and conventional beauty products. It is interesting, however, that those who were health and environmentally conscious did not significantly differ from others in their shopping patterns for beauty products, particularly pertain- ing to deliberate decision making and comparison shopping. It appears that health and environmental conscious consumers are not relatively more deliberate nor active comparison shoppers when it comes to beauty products. In other words, those individu- als did not spend more time and effort than others on comparing alternative purchase options, perhaps because of their confidence in their knowledge and ability to discern differences between products. While health and environmental consciousness were related to many of the same variables (perceived self-competence, frequency of natural beauty product purchases, tendency to read about beauty products to get informed, importance of several product attributes, many items associated with attitude towards natural beauty care products, willingness to pay more for natural beauty products), a few variables appeared to be associated with only one of the two but not both. For example, the importance given to the absence of preservatives and the use of recyclable or biodegradable packaging was related only to environmental consciousness. Although both health and environmental consciousness were significantly corre- lated with the belief that natural beauty care products were better for health and work better than conventional products, only health consciousness exhibited a significant correlation with the belief that natural beauty products were more fashionable. In order to examine how a combination of health and environ- mental consciousness affected other selected consumer variables, it was determined that the respondents should be divided into four groups based on their scores on health and environmental con- sciousness and that group differences should be examined using a series of ANOVA. The results indicated that the two groups with a high level of environmental consciousness (the high health/high environment group and the low health/high environment group) purchased natural beauty products more frequently than those with Table 8 Comparison of self competence and purchase behaviour Low health/ High health/ Low health/ High health/ F-value low environment low environment high environment high environment (n = 57) (n = 50) (n = 46) (n = 57) Self-competence 2.35 b 2.72 ab 2.81 ab 3.11 a 7.05*** Natural beauty product behaviour 2.02 b 2.49 ab 2.58 a 2.57 a 4.56** **Significant at P < 0.01 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). ***Significant at P < 0.001 (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). a, b, ab Cell means that do not share a letter in their superscripts differ at P < 0.05 according to Scheffe test. S. Kim and Y-K. Seock Natural beauty products International Journal of Consumer Studies 33 (2009) 627–638 © The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 635 a low level of health and environmental consciousness. It is also noteworthy that among those with a low level of health conscious- ness, individuals with a high level of environmental consciousness purchased natural beauty products significantly more frequently than those with a low level of environmental consciousness. This result indicates a relatively stronger impact of environmental con- sciousness than health consciousness on frequency of natural beauty product purchases. This finding was also confirmed by the correlation results revealing a stronger association of environmen- tal consciousness with natural beauty product purchases. The finding that environmental consciousness was a better indicator of natural beauty product purchases is particularly interesting, given prevalent marketing efforts by natural beauty product companies emphasizing health benefits such as absence of chemical ingredi- ents and preservatives such as paraben. Although it is difficult to come to a general conclusion based only on one study, the results from this study suggest that concerns about environmental issues may serve as a more enduring motive for changing consumption patterns of beauty products than health consciousness. In order to provide better insights into the relative importance of the two motives, future studies may compare incidental buyers and heavy users of natural beauty products for their dominant motives. Additionally, ANOVA results showed that health and environ- mental consciousness significantly influenced the importance placed on beauty product attributes. Significant impacts were shown for pure organic ingredients, absence of chemical ingre- dients and absence of preservatives. It is particularly interesting to observe that the low health/low environment group considered use of organic ingredients significantly less important than the other three groups. Although no clinical studies have proven that use of organic ingredients results in improved medical or cos- metic benefits, health-conscious consumers may believe that organic ingredients in beauty products are healthier, just as with organic food. Not surprisingly, only environmental conscious- ness was associated with the importance given to recyclable or biodegradable packaging. Health and environmental conscious- ness were not related to such attributes as ‘no scent’, ‘no allergic reaction’, ‘dermatologist tested’, ‘free of skin irritants’, ‘appro- priate appearance’ and ‘appropriate scent’. The results suggest that health- and environment-conscious consumers do not pay particular attention to hypoallergenic labels nor seek for a par- ticular kind of product appearance or scent. They are mostly interested in organic or natural ingredients without the presence of chemicals. This finding is consistent with the observation made in a previous survey of UK consumers, conducted by Organic Monitor (2007), that consumers’ major concern in their purchase decision on natural and organic beauty products is the absence of synthetic chemicals. Overall, those with a high level of both health and environmen- tal consciousness were significantly more positive in their evalu- ations than those with low scores on both variables in their perceptions of natural beauty products. Additionally, those with low scores on both variables were significantly less willing than the other groups to pay more for natural beauty products. This finding is in line with the observation of Arvanitoyannis et al. (2003) that both health and environmental consciousness resulted in a willingness to pay more for organic food among Greek con- sumers. The researchers also suggested that healthiness must be combined with environmental consciousness to serve as a strong motive to purchase organic food, a finding that appears to be supported in the current study of natural beauty products. The finding also supports previous studies that indicated that consum- ers who are concerned about the environment are more willing to pay a premium for green products (Bang et al., 2000; Tanner and Kast, 2003). The significant group differences, as revealed by the ANOVA results, suggested that health and environmental consciousness could be used as effective segmentation variables for the natural beauty product market. When studied in conjunction with other consumer characteristics such as favourite shopping venues (e.g. health food stores, traditional grocery stores, department stores, Internet), price sensitivity and loyalty behaviours, a market seg- mentation based on health and environmental consciousness can help marketers construct meaningful consumer profiles and sub- sequently help them develop effective sales and promotional strategies. It is interesting to note that environmental consciousness was not significantly correlated with the belief that natural beauty products were more environmentally friendly. This finding may be because most people believe that natural beauty products are undoubtedly more environmentally friendly. In other words, you do not have to be environmentally conscious to believe that these products are more environmentally friendly and sound. As dis- cussed earlier, however, environment- and health-conscious con- sumers believed more strongly than their counterparts in other benefits of natural beauty products, including their fashion value. The growing population of health- and environment-conscious consumers and their positive attitudes towards natural beauty products as well as their willingness to pay higher prices for these products may prompt companies to aggressively market natural beauty products through misleading labels and unsupported claims about their health and environmental benefits. Recently, under the constant pressures from consumer advocate groups such as the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), the US Department of Agriculture has acknowledged that there are problems with its monitoring and reinforcement of the national organic certification programme. Additionally, a recent study commissioned by the OCA indicated that many leading natural and organic branded products contain toxic ingredients that may cause cancer, a finding that partly contributed to a lawsuit filed by the state of California against several leading beauty care companies (OCA, 2008). Alongside such efforts to influence consumer and marketing poli- cies and practices, consumer advocate groups need to find efficient ways to educate consumers about current labelling policies and regulations and also to make them aware of common myths and misconceptions about the benefits of different ingredients used in natural beauty care products. Through such efforts, consumers will become less vulnerable to inaccurate and misleading information and marketing tactics used by beauty care companies. This study had several limitations that should be considered when interpreting its results. First, this study used a convenience sample and was limited to female college students at a single university in the US. Therefore, the results of this study cannot be generalized to women of different age groups and in different geographic locations. Second, because there was no published research on natural beauty products to guide the development of a systematic research model, this study was designed simply to be exploratory in nature. Based on the findings from the current Natural beauty products S. Kim and Y-K. 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Impacts of health and environmental consciousness on young female consumers’ attitude towards and purchase of natural beauty products ijcs_817 627 638 Soyoung Kim and Yoo-Kyoung Seock Department. impact of environmental con- sciousness than health consciousness on frequency of natural beauty product purchases. Health and environmental consciousness were both significantly related to a respondent’s perceived. substantial rise in environmental consciousness among consumers. For some, environmental concern has become a way of life guiding their consumption on a daily basis. For others, environmental concerns are