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Provenance's 'Skin Deep Beauty' report explores sustainable beauty’s trust problems

Published on
October 17, 2022
The Provenance Team

Click here to download your copy of Skin Deep Beauty: Shopper expectations and the truth behind sustainability claims

The beauty and wellness industry faces a major challenge. It is no longer enough to promise high-performing or competitively priced products. Modern consumers now want to know that the feel-good factor and benefits they experience don’t come at the expense of the natural world, or to the detriment of people working within the sector or supply chain.

After years of focusing almost exclusively on how their ingredients improve a customer’s wellbeing, there is now both a moral and commercial imperative for brands to win over buyers who have become significantly more environmentally conscious and socially aware in recent years.

However, the information many brands supply is so full of buzzwords and unsubstantiated claims that consumers can often feel confused, meaning they yearn for greater transparency and clarity around environmental and social claims.

Just how skeptical are beauty and wellness shoppers when it comes to brands' sustainability claims? What do they expect from brands when it comes to social and environmental impact? And what steps can brands take to assure their customers that claims are facts, not greenwash?

Provenance commissioned London Research to explore how important sustainability is to consumers in the beauty and wellness market, perceptions around industry transparency, and where any confusion or lack of trust emanates from. We wanted to understand how shoppers are navigating this new world of claims and buzzwords, and what kind of information they seek out relating to environmental and social impact.

After speaking to a broad range of beauty brands – including Cult Beauty, Elemis, Douglas, Noble Panacea and B Corp Beauty Coalition – and carrying out an international survey of 1,500 consumers, we discovered a major disconnect between how the industry is operating and the expectations of consumers.

Amongst the key findings, we discovered that whilst 90% of consumers consider sustainability when buying beauty and wellness products, a staggering 79% have difficulty trusting brands’ sustainability claims.

Click here to download your copy of Skin Deep Beauty: Shopper expectations and the truth behind sustainability claims

The Provenance Team

Provenance powers sustainability claims you can trust. The global leader in sustainability marketing technology, Provenance helps brands and retailers share credible, compelling and fact-checked social and environmental impact information at the point of sale. Provenance’s technology is already increasing conversion rates, brand value and market share for customers including Cult Beauty, Napolina, Arla and Unilever.

The Provenance Team

Provenance powers sustainability claims you can trust. The global leader in sustainability marketing technology, Provenance helps brands and retailers share credible, compelling and fact-checked social and environmental impact information at the point of sale. Provenance’s technology is already increasing conversion rates, brand value and market share for customers including Cult Beauty, Douglas, GANNI, Napolina, Arla and Unilever

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