Over the past five years, the global natural personal care market has experienced strong growth across all major markets of the world, at a CAGR of about 11%. However, companies can no longer count on unbridled growth, and must dig deeper into how to influence new customers to buy natural products.
A previous Kline study from the Consumer Insights series, focused on consumer perceptions of innovations in personal care products, has shown that awareness of environmental responsibility is perceived as lacking in companies.
The same research concludes that more natural products remain a popular desire, as evidenced in the following sample quotes from respondents:
- “Organic but effective: I would like effective products that don’t feel so chemical laden and fake. For example, my night cream is highly effective but I worry about what I’m putting on my skin. I would like something just as effective, but not so granola and ineffective.” [sic]
- “Environmentally responsible: I would ask that their product to be cruelty free, meaning not made from animal products and not tested on animals. I would also ask that the packaging be used from recycled materials and is biodegradable.” [sic]
Based on these responses, it might be easy for some marketers to say, “We’ve already got that!” But clearly, many consumers are either unaware of the details of the product offering, or are unsatisfied with what is on the market.
The new research, now focused on consumer perceptions of natural “non-edible” products, takes up where other consumer research on naturals has left off. This study, Inside the Minds of Natural Consumers: Consumer Insights of Natural Home and Personal Care Products, will provide must-have consumer insights that go beyond what has been done in the past on this topic, to help industry professionals understand what consumers think about the labels and the concepts behind them. Kline’s extensive expertise in natural personal care and household cleaning products markets will be combined with the exclusive approach of Cognitive Edge, to enable our clients to gain a new understanding of consumer behavior relating to “natural” home and personal care products. The methodology, based on cultural anthropology, cognitive science, and complexity theory, helps understand motivation, intent, and other aspects of human behavior that are not obvious or easily articulated. The material gathered will contain not only the experiences of respondents, but also nuanced insights into their views, in the context of real experiences.
What images comes to mind with “natural personal care “or “green cleaning”? How does it affect perception and behavior? The study looks at how consumers perceive natural and organic claims, the functionality of natural versus “regular” products, options affecting their decision-making process and under what circumstances they become more frequent natural buyers. While companies may already have a grasp of what the “fully green” consumers like and want, there is a wealth of opportunity in the other segments of the population, i.e. the “partially green” and “not-yet-green” consumers. The scope of the study provides clients with useful insights to enable them to design products and marketing messages for a larger proportion of the population, and to gain a higher market share by attracting more new customers.
For more information see Inside the Minds of Natural Consumers: Consumer Insights of Natural Home and Personal Care Products.
