Johnson, Emma ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8990-9621 (2023) Is ethical consumerism an oxymoron? Examining emotions towards cruelty-free products in the beauty industry. In: York Business School PGR Flagships Event, 31 May 2023, York St John University. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Globally, the UK beauty industry is worth £27 billion and is the seventh-largest cosmetics market, with the USA and China taking the two top positions (Johnson, 2020). British women spend on average £400 annually on cosmetics (Read, 2020), the highest in Europe (Statista, 2020). Ethical consumerism has emerged as a social pressure that companies are having to respond to (Carrigan and Attalla, 2001). There has been increasing research into the topic of ethical consumerism, as consumers are becoming more aware of their role and potential effect of changing the products they buy (Gillani and Kutaula, 2018).

Movement towards cruelty free products has gained traction, with many brands changing strategy to alter their core operations towards ‘cruelty free’ (Chitrakorn, 2016; Cruelty Free International, 2020). There remains scope to understand why consumers continue to purchase brands that test on animals. Thus, the underlying aims of this study are to examine gradual trends towards cruelty free products, increasing awareness and acceptability of cruelty free products within society, and to examine views that have contributed towards ethical consumerism amongst some people and groups.

The interviews will be conducted with female participants, with 60% of women wearing makeup on a weekly basis (Waldersee, 2019). The semi-structured interviews will be comprised of open-ended questions, as these permit participants to discuss their feelings, experiences, and suggestions on the surrounding topics. This research will aim to provide an in-depth insight into ethical consumerism, to understand participants buying behaviour towards products that have been tested on animals.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Poster)
Status:	Unpublished
Subjects:	A General Works > AS Academies and learned societies (General)
School/Department:	York Business School
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/14822

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