Matea Matić, Barbara Puh: Consumers’ purchase intentions towards natural cosmetics

Matea Matić Barbara Puh UDK: 658.89:159.94

University of Dubrovnik University of Dubrovnik Preliminary communication
Department of Economics and Department of Economics and
Business Economics Business Economics Received: October 22, 2015
Lapadska obala 7, Lapadska obala 7, Accepted for publishing: December 23, 2015
20000 Dubrovnik, Croatia 20000 Dubrovnik, Croatia
matea.matic@unidu.hr barbara.puh@unidu.hr
Phone: +38520445939 Phone: +38520445935

CONSUMERS’ PURCHASE
INTENTIONS TOWARDS NATURAL
COSMETICS

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to determine which variables influence consumers’ intentions towards pur-
chasing natural cosmetics. Several variables are included in the regression analysis such as age, gender, con-
sumers’ purchase tendency towards organic food, consumers’ new natural cosmetics brands and consum-
ers’ tendency towards health consciousness. The data was collected through an online survey questionnaire
using the purposive sample of 204 consumers from the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in March and April
of 2015. Various statistical analyses were used such as binary logistic regression and correlation analysis.
Binary logistic regression results show that gender, consumers’ purchase tendency towards organic food
and consumers’ purchase tendency towards new natural cosmetics brands have an influence on consumer
purchase intentions. However, consumers’ tendency towards health consciousness has no influence on
consumers’ intentions towards purchasing natural cosmetics. Results of the correlation analysis indicate
that there is a strong positive correlation between purchase intentions towards natural cosmetics and con-
sumer references of natural cosmetics. The findings may be useful to online retailers, as well as marketers
and practitioners to recognize and better understand the new trends that occur in the industry of natural
cosmetics.
Keywords: Consumer purchase intentions, consumer tendencies, natural cosmetics

1. Introduction The cosmetic industry is a very important industry

and the use of personal care products and cosmetic
products has always been an essential part of con-
During the last years, the cosmetic industry has
sumers’ lives. In 2013, the global cosmetics market
dramatically diversified its managerial and market-
grew by an estimated 3.8 % compared to the pre-
ing orientation towards customer requirements due
vious sales year and it is expected that global sales
to the growth in response to the customer trends
of natural and organic cosmetics will achieve an
towards a healthier lifestyle and requirements for
amount of 14 billion US$ in 2015 (Beauty Industry
natural cosmetics (Dimitrova et al., 2009: 1156).
Analysis 2015 - Cost & Trends).

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Matea Matić, Barbara Puh: Consumers’ purchase intentions towards natural cosmetics

Regardless of this positive growth trend in the consciousness were included in order to understand
world, the natural cosmetics market is still an un- the motives that could enhance consumer purchase
der-researched area. Mintel (2013: 6) stated that of intentions towards natural cosmetics products.
all beauty and personal care new product launches Following the introduction, the second section
from January till October 2012, 37% claimed that provides a selected literature review on purchasing
they are botanic or herbal. Also, the most often behaviour, with a special emphasis on consumers’
stated reason for consumers not to buy natural or online purchase intensions towards natural cosmet-
organic personal care products is that “so many ics. Data and research methodology are discussed
products claim to be natural or organic that it’s hard in the third section, while the fourth presents re-
to tell which ones are the most natural”. Moreover, search results and the discussion of findings. The
European standards for ecological products were final section of the paper draws certain conclusions
defined in Standard COSMOS (Cosmetics Organic and directions for future research.
and Natural Standard) published in 2013 but such
standards depend on the cosmetics manufacturer
or country of origin. This confusion has led to an
increasing distrust in the labels “organic” and “natu-
ral” which is likely to stem from lacking regulation 2. Literature review
within the industry allowing a multitude of products
claiming to be organic and natural to flood the mar- The market for green products is expanding world-
ket (Yu-Shan and Ching-Hsun, 2013: 489). Despite wide in a variety of industries, such as food, fashion
such conditions on the cosmetics market, natural and cosmetics (Cervellon and Carey, 2011). There
cosmetics have grown to be a great trend in recent is little research about consumer behaviour regard-
years. While consumer behaviour towards organic ing natural cosmetics, or consumers’ purchase de-
products, especially food products, has been exam- cisions and attitudes towards natural personal care
ined in academic research, little has been published products and cosmetics products. However, the
on consumer behaviour towards natural cosmetics. rising popularity of natural cosmetics raises impor-
Interest in natural cosmetics has grown remarkably tant questions for marketers, retailers and industry
as consumers and marketers react to popular media planners. The number of papers that have been re-
with regard to healthy lifestyles. The technological lated to the study of natural cosmetics has increased
advances and constant innovation are the main fea- (Johri and Sahasakmontri, 1998; Kim and Seock,
tures of the modern cosmetic industry. Production 2009; Dimitrova et al., 2009; Cervellon et al., 2011;
and usage of natural cosmetics has grown in recent Rybowska, 2014).
years and today, consumers have become more In the past, chemicals were used to substitute ex-
concerned about a youthful appearance, health and pensive natural ingredients making the cosmetics
the quality of cosmetics. Also, with a better under- available and widely used. Today, the trend for a
standing of consumers’ attitudes and behaviour to- healthier way of living is increasing consumers’ per-
wards natural products, better conditions and de- ceptions and interest towards mainly natural prod-
velopment for the natural cosmetics market will be ucts, including cosmetic products. Some studies
provided. However, consumers’ indications of posi- found that, in choosing cosmetics, natural aroma,
tive attitudes towards environmental issues do not high quality, hydration, skin protection, medical ad-
necessarily lead to actual environmentally friendly vice, long lasting, good promotion, hypoallergenic
purchasing behaviour (Laroche et al., 2002). This re- and not tested on animals’ are the most important
search provides an insight into the consumer‐deci- motivating factors for the customers in Bulgaria,
sion making process with regard to natural cosmet- Montenegro and Italy. Natural cosmetics are bought
ics and the complexity of that process. by people who practice an environmentally friendly
The purpose of this paper is to determine which lifestyle and care about their health, beauty and ap-
variables influence consumer purchase intentions pearance (Dimitrova et al., 2009: 1158).
towards natural cosmetics. Several variables such as Chen (2001) defined green purchase as a specific
age, gender, consumers’ purchase tendency towards kind of eco-friendly behaviour that consumers per-
organic food, consumers’ new natural cosmetics form to express their concern for the environment.
brands and consumers’ tendency towards health Along the primary motivations to purchase green

54 God. XXIX, BR. 1/2016. str. 53-64

 UDK: 658.89:159.94 / Preliminary communication

there are three main types of green consumers: Health conscious consumers care about the desired
the health-conscious consumer who purchases for state of well-being and try to have a healthy life
his own health benefits; the environmentalist who (Newsom et al., 2005). Consumers with high health
buys green as a contribution to the protection of consciousness will seek to engage in activities that
the environment and the quality hunter who is per- promote a healthy life (Kim and Seoch, 2009; Kim
suaded that green products have a superior taste or and Chung, 2011). Also, Foster (2004) investigated
superior performance (Cervellon et al., 2011). Also, female consumers’ beauty product shopping behav-
purchase intentions are a critical factor that pre- ioural patterns, their perceived importance of prod-
dicts consumer behaviour regardless of the prod- uct attributes, and their purchase attitude towards
uct category selection. Green purchase intention is natural beauty products. Results show that con-
conceptualized as the probability and willingness sumers’ product attitudes and shopping behaviour
of a person to give preference to products having are influenced by their health and environmental
eco-friendly features over the traditional products consciousness. Generally, people who strongly de-
(Rashid et al., 2009). Tsakiridou et al. (2008) high- sire to maintain a youthful look and improve their
light the huge gap between the intention to pur- appearance look for chemical-free personal care
chase and actual purchase of green products, due products. In the context of skin/hair care product
to the trade-off benefits – higher prices. These con- purchases, consumers with high health conscious-
sumers perceived eco cosmetic products as luxury ness may consider whether a product is safe for the
items because they are hardly available and, in their skin and body; therefore they may be more seri-
opinion, expensive (Rybowska, 2014). ously concerned with the types of ingredients used
Many studies found that demographic factors are to make the product than the consumers with low
one of the most influencing factors in predict- health consciousness (Johri and Sahasakmontri,
ing consumer behaviour towards natural products 1998). However, Tarkiainen and Sundqvist (2005)
(D’Souza et al., 2007). Straughan and Roberts (1999) show that health consciousness does not influence
indicated that the demographic variables such as age consumers’ beauty product shopping behavioural
and gender were significantly correlated with eco- patterns. Kim and Chung (2011) found that health
logically conscious attitudes. Foster (2004) suggests consciousness partially supported the consumers
that over 45-year-old female consumers have a ten- purchase intention towards organic care products.
dency to be more open towards green information. Likewise, Michaelidou and Hassan (2008) found
Finisterra do Paco et al. (2009) found no significant that the health consciousness appeared to be the
relations between age and green attitudes. Results least important motive for consumer purchase in-
are also inconsistent in terms of gender differences. tention towards natural products.
Ruiz et al. (2001) argued that gender plays an im- Because natural products are viewed as promoting
portant role in being an environmentally conscious a healthy lifestyle, there should be some similarities
consumer. Banerjee and McKeage (1994) found that in consumers purchase behaviour between organic
female consumers tend to be more ecologically con- food and natural personal care products. Kim and
scious than men. Several studies found that women Chung (2011) found that consumer’s attitude, and
are more concerned about green issues than men past experience with other organic products such as
and are more likely to engage in pro-environmental organic food, will positively impact on purchase in-
behaviours (Zelezny et al., 2000; Tikka et al., 2000). tention towards organic and natural care products.
Women are more likely to buy a green product be- It can be concluded that consumers who purchase
cause they believe the product is better for the en- organic food will also be inclined towards purchas-
vironment (Mainieri et al., 1997; Pillai, 2013). Also, ing organic and natural personal care products.
this gender difference seems to emerge also in the Today, physical appearance is becoming very im-
youngest group of population and in a cross-cultur- portant to modern consumers. Existing evidence
al context (Hunter et al., 2004). However, Mihic and also shows that perceptions of the body and physi-
Kursan (2014) show that demographic characteris- cal appearance influence people’s behaviour in their
tics of Croatian consumers such as marital status, role as consumer (Debevec et al., 1986; Reingen and
age and household income have a significant impact Kernan, 1993). Laroche et al. (1996) found that con-
on the intention to purchase organic food. sumer’s brand attitude and purchase intention will
be higher when a product has high preference im-

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Matea Matić, Barbara Puh: Consumers’ purchase intentions towards natural cosmetics

age and familiarity. The study shows that familiar- H1 - Consumers who are inclined to purchase or-
ity with a brand influences a consumer’s confidence ganic food have a higher intention towards purchas-
towards the brand, which in turn affects his/her ing natural cosmetics.
intention to buy the same brand. Gan et al. (2008) H2 - Consumers who are inclined to purchase new
found that consumers who are brand conscious are brands of natural cosmetics have a higher intention
less likely to purchase green products if they are towards purchasing natural cosmetics.
not from a brand that they are familiar with. Beauty
products gain a level of familiarity and comfort for H3 - Health conscious consumers a have higher in-
the consumer, and switching to a new product often tention towards purchasing natural cosmetics.
takes some extra incentive. Thus, Radman (2005) H4 - There is a strong and positive relation between
found that Croatian consumers are not very familiar consumer purchase intentions and consumer rec-
with the supply of ecologically‐grown products on ommendations toward natural cosmetics.
the market. Nevertheless, growing consumer con-
In order to broaden the understanding about vari-
cern for health and environment issues has resulted
ables that influence consumer purchase intentions
in increased attention towards the purchase and
towards natural cosmetics, a binary logistic regres-
consumption of natural cosmetics.
sion was used. Binary logistic regression is similar
to linear regression except that it is used when the
dependent variable is nominal and dichotomous.
3. Research methodology It assumes that the dependent variable is dichoto-
3.1 Research instrument mous and that outcomes are independent and mu-
tually exclusive, that is, a single case can only be
The data was collected through an online survey represented once and must be in one group or the
questionnaire using purposive sample of 204 con- other (Tabachnich and Fidell, 2007). The model can
sumers from the Dubrovnik-Neretva County. An be expressed as follows:
online survey questionnaire was used due to its

simplicity and also reduced time of data collection

The dependent variable is an odds ratio where P
(Vranešević, 2014). The empirical study was carried
(purchase) is the predicted probability of the event
out in March and April of 2015. The questions were
which is coded with 1 (in this case the intention of
based on the review of literature and the question-
purchasing natural cosmetics). Predictor variables
naire consisted of two parts. The first part includ-
are age, gender, purchasing new brands, health con-
ed statements on a five- point Likert scale, where
sciousness and purchasing organic food (categories
respondents were asked to express the degree of
of these variables are given in Table 1). The binary
their agreement (1 – strongly disagree, 5 – strongly
logistic regression is performed with the support of
agree) relating purchase intentions towards natu-
the computer program SPSS 20.0 as well as correla-
ral cosmetics and one statement (“I intend to buy
tion analysis.
natural cosmetics”) with dichotomous (Yes/No)
answers. The second part of the questionnaire in- The results obtained from the survey were analysed
cluded demographic variables of the respondents using different analytical tools, including methods
(e.g. gender and age). of analysis and synthesis, inductive and deductive
methods, method of generalization and specializa-
tion, and different statistical methods - binary logis-
tic regression and correlation analysis.
3.2 Research hypotheses

Based on scientific problems and research objec-

tives the following hypotheses are proposed:

56 God. XXIX, BR. 1/2016. str. 53-64

 UDK: 658.89:159.94 / Preliminary communication

3.3 Research sample As shown in Table 1, the sample consists of 204

respondents form the Dubrovnik-Neretva County,
of which 30% are male and 70% are female. The re-
Table 1 presents the characteristics of the analysed
sults show that half of the respondents intend to buy
sample.
natural cosmetics, and 23.5% are inclined towards
purchasing new brands of natural cosmetics. More
Table 1 Characteristics of the analysed sample than half of the respondents (56.3%) are inclined to-
wards health consciousness, and 41.2% are inclined
towards buying organic food.
Percentage
Variable Categories
(%)

Gender Male 30 4. Results and discussion

Female 70
The model diagnostics and the results of the model
18-24 30.9 testing by binary logistic regression analysis are pre-
25-34 19.6 sented in Table 2. The first part of the table shows
the model diagnostics and the second part shows
Age 35-44 20.6
the coefficients and odds ratios of the regression
45-54 16.0 equation.
55- 12.9 In the Classification Table, the overall percentage
shows the per cent of cases for which the dependent
I intend to Yes 50.5
purchase natural
variable was correctly predicted given the model.
cosmetics No 49.5 So, the overall percentage of 71.6% shows that in
71.6% of the cases the intention to purchase natu-
Strongly disagree 19.1
ral cosmetics (purchase/ not purchase) is correctly
I am inclined Disagree 22.5 predicted by the model. Sensitivity and specificity
towards of the test show that 79.8% of the occurrences are
Neither disagree
purchasing new 34.8 correctly predicted as well as 63.2% of the non-oc-
nor agree
brands of natural
currences.
cosmetics Agree 15.2
The Hosmer – Lemeshow tests the null hypothesis
Strongly agree 8.3
that the data fit the model well, i.e. that there is a lin-
Strongly disagree 8.3 ear relationship between predictor variables and the
Disagree 6.9 log odds of the criterion variable. A Chi square sta-
I am inclined tistic is computed comparing the observed frequen-
Neither disagree
towards a healthy 28.4 cies with those expected under the linear model. A
nor agree
way of living non-significant chi square indicates that the null hy-
Agree 33.8 pothesis is accepted and the data fit the model well.
Strongly agree 22.5 Since the significance of the Hosmer and Lemeshow
test is greater than 0.05, the data fit the model. Pre-
Strongly disagree 18.6
dictors that met the conventional 0.05 standard for
Disagree 13.7 statistical significance (Table 2) are going to be in-
I am inclined terpreted:
Neither disagree
towards purchasing 26.5
nor agree
organic food • 2.262 odds ratio for Gender means that there is a
Agree 24.5 higher probability for women to purchase natural
Strongly agree 16.7 cosmetics than men;
• Odds ratios for all categories of Purchasing new
Source: Research findings (N= 204) brands mean that there is a higher probability of
purchasing natural cosmetics for those respond-
ents who disagree, neither disagree nor agree,

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Matea Matić, Barbara Puh: Consumers’ purchase intentions towards natural cosmetics

Table 2 Model diagnostics and results of estimation

Model diagnostics
Classification of table results
Overall percentage correct 71.6%
Sensitivity 79.8%
Specificity 63.2.%
The cut value is 0.500
Hosmer and Lemeshow test
Chi-Square 7.015
Sig. 0.535
Results of estimation
Coefficient β Odds Ratio Sig.
Gender 0.816 2.262 0.037
Age 0.859
18-24 (RC) --- --- ---
25 -34 0,181 1,198 0.721
35-44 0,536 1,709 0.278
45-54 0,061 1,062 0.915
55 - 0,251 1,285 0.668
Purchasing new brands 0.009
Strongly disagree (RC) --- --- ---
Disagree 0.790 2.203 0.166
Neither disagree nor agree 1.326 3.768 0.012
Agree 2.396 10.980 0.001
Strongly agree 1.503 4.497 0.043
Health consciousness 0.931
Strongly disagree (RC) --- --- ---
Disagree -0.860 0.423 0.392
Neither disagree nor agree -0.536 0.585 0.493
Agree -0.612 0.542 0.452
Strongly agree -0.715 0.489 0.434
Purchasing organic food 0.007
Strongly disagree (RC) --- --- ---
Disagree 1.529 4.612 0.023
Neither disagree nor agree 1.171 3.226 0.055
Agree 2.048 7.756 0.002
Strongly agree 2.752 15.675 0.001
Constant -2.769 0.063 0.001
Source: Research findings
*Notes: RC – Reference category

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 UDK: 658.89:159.94 / Preliminary communication

agree and strongly agree with the statement “I am to those who strongly disagree with the statement.
inclined towards purchasing new brands of natu- As the results of the study show, if the consumers
ral cosmetics” compared to those who strongly have a stronger tendency towards purchasing new
disagree with the given statement. brands of natural cosmetics they will also be more
• Odds ratios for all categories of Purchasing or- inclined towards purchasing natural cosmetics
ganic food mean that there is a higher prob- products. Based on these findings, the hypothesis
ability of purchasing natural cosmetics for those H2 is supported. These consumers will probably be
respondents who disagree, neither disagree nor more open towards innovation in natural cosmet-
agree, agree and strongly agree with the state- ics and therefore will be more likely interested in
ment “I am inclined towards purchasing organic purchasing a different brand of organic and natural
food” compared to those who strongly disagree products. Also, they have probably higher aware-
with the given statement. ness of the positive impact of using natural cosmetic
products such as quality and health benefits.
As shown in Table 2, except for variables health
consciousness and age, the variables in the model Respondents who agree that they have a tendency
(gender, purchasing new brands and purchasing towards purchasing organic food have a 7.75 times
organic food) have a statistically significant impact higher probability of purchasing natural cosmet-
on the probability of purchasing intention towards ics, and those who strongly agree, a 15.67 times
natural cosmetics products. The probability of pur- higher probability compared to those who strongly
chase intention towards natural cosmetics is 88.69 disagree with this statement. As it was expected,
per cent if the respondent is a woman, aged between there is a higher probability that consumers who
25 and 34, who has a tendency for purchasing new are more inclined towards organic food will have
brands of natural cosmetics, a tendency towards a greater tendency of purchase intentions towards
health consciousness and a tendency towards pur- natural cosmetics products. Based on these find-
chasing organic food. Considering the fact that ings, hypothesis H1 is supported. These consumers
purchase intentions towards new brands of natural purchase for their own health benefits, and they are
cosmetics and organic food are coded on a 5-point persuaded that natural or organic products have
Likert scale, it is evident from the coefficients (Ta- superior taste or superior performances and are
ble 2) that with higher purchase intentions towards probably more aware of the benefits which differ-
new brands of natural cosmetics and organic food, ent categories of organic or natural products pro-
the probability of intention to purchase natural cos- vide. It can be concluded that these consumers have
metic products increases. Also, consumers who are concerns about their consumption and tend to pre-
more inclined towards purchasing natural cosmetic fer organic and natural products due to health or
products probably will be women regardless of their beauty benefits.
age. Results of regression for variable age show that
As it was expected, there is a 2.26 times higher there is no statistical significance between the age of
probability for women to purchase natural cosmet- respondents and consumer purchase intention to-
ics compared to men. These findings are in accord- wards natural cosmetics products. These results are
ance with previous researches (Ruiz et al., 2001; consistent with the research of Finisterra do Paco et
Banerjee and McKeage, 1994; Zelezny et al., 2000; al. (2009) who found out that there was no signifi-
Tikka et al., 2000) which indicates that women are cant relation between age and consumer green at-
more concerned about green issues than men. titudes and behaviour. It can also be concluded that
findings of regression analysis are consistent with
Respondents who agree that they have a tendency literature background except for the variable health
of purchasing new brands of natural cosmetics have consciousness. It is interesting to emphasize that
a 10.98 times higher probability for purchasing the result for the variable health consciousness is
natural cosmetics compared to those who strongly not statistically significant i.e. consumers who have
disagree with the statement “I am inclined towards a tendency towards natural cosmetics products are
purchasing new brands of natural cosmetics”. Those not inclined towards a healthy lifestyle. Therefore
respondents who strongly agree with the men- hypothesis H3 is not supported. In addition, re-
tioned statement have a 4.49 times higher prob- sults of regression analysis for the variable health
ability of purchasing natural cosmetics compared consciousness are inconsistent with the literature

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Matea Matić, Barbara Puh: Consumers’ purchase intentions towards natural cosmetics

background because consumers who are aware of Table 3 Correlation between consumer purchase
the benefits that natural cosmetics products could intentions towards natural cosmetic products
provide, have a greater and stronger tendency to- and consumer recommendation towards natural
wards natural products especially for personal care cosmetics
and beauty products. Previous studies (Kim and
Seoch, 2009; Kim and Chung, 2011) assumed that Correlation
greater health consciousness leads to more favour-
able attitudes towards purchasing organic personal I would
always
care products. However, these studies reveal that
recommend
consumers who are not health conscious will also be natural
more inclined towards purchasing natural cosmetic cosmetic
products and will have a positive attitude towards products
natural products regardless of consumers’ age
Correlation
(Tarkiainen and Sundqvist, 2005). However, despite .610**
I intend to Coefficient
increased consumer interest for their health and ap- Spearman’s purchase
pearance, there is also an increased distrust among Sig.
rho natural .000
(2-tailed)
consumers towards natural products which can be cosmetics
ascribed to the lack of market regulation. Therefore, N 204
consumers who are health concerned will not have
a tendency to purchase natural personal and beauty **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level
care products because of the lack of regulation in Source: Research findings
the cosmetic industry. It can be assumed that these
consumers have a lack of trust in natural cosmet-
ics products because the cosmetics market is still Therefore, they will definitely recommend purchas-
under-researched and national labels give legiti- ing natural cosmetic products to consumers who
macy to these products. Companies should provide are not inclined towards natural products or who
clearer information about what is natural and what are not aware of the benefits that natural products
type of health benefits consumers would gain by us- could provide. Based on these findings, hypothesis
ing personal care and beauty products. H4 is supported.
The next table shows the relation between consum-
ers’ intentions towards purchasing natural cosmet-
ics and consumer recommendation towards natural 5. Conclusions
cosmetics.
Relation between consumers’ intentions towards Production and usage of natural products has grown
purchasing natural cosmetic products and consum- in recent years because consumers have become
er recommendation towards natural cosmetics was concerned with health, quality and beauty appear-
examined by using Spearman’s rank correlation. ance. As environmental concerns have increased,
The further processing of data is approached by us- consumers prefer to purchase natural cosmetics
ing the Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Table 3 products that could lead to an increase in the im-
shows that the correlation is significant at the 0.01 portance of understanding consumers’ purchasing
level and Spearman’s coefficient is 0.610, showing behaviour towards natural cosmetics products as
a strong positive relation between variables. These well as the factors that affect consumers’ purchase
results indicate that respondents who have higher intentions towards natural cosmetics products. This
intentions towards purchasing natural cosmetics has driven to an increase in the number of studies
have positive attitudes towards recommendation aimed at understanding the motivations behind
of natural cosmetic products. Also, regarding the consumer purchase behaviour towards natural
relation strength, these consumers have a strong cosmetics products. In that context, this study dis-
tendency towards purchasing and recommending cusses the issues of consumers’ intentions towards
these products. natural cosmetic products and factors which influ-
ence their purchase intentions towards natural cos-
metic products.

60 God. XXIX, BR. 1/2016. str. 53-64

 UDK: 658.89:159.94 / Preliminary communication

Respondents who agree that they have a tendency fore, this study has made a contribution to existing
of purchasing new brands of natural cosmetics have knowledge about the industry of natural products
higher probability for purchasing natural cosmetics by indicating variables that impact consumers’ pur-
compared to the reference category. These consum- chase intentions towards natural cosmetic prod-
ers will probably be more open towards innovation ucts. In addition, this study was conducted on the
in natural cosmetics and therefore will be more very specific market of natural cosmetic products.
likely interested in purchasing different brands of The findings of this paper suggest that the natural
organic and natural products. Also, as it was expect- cosmetics industry needs to be more assertive and
ed, there is a higher probability that consumers who effective on the Croatian market because Croatian
are more inclined towards organic food will have consumers show a positive attitude towards natural
a greater tendency of purchase intentions towards cosmetic products especially towards new brands.
natural cosmetics products. It can be concluded Cosmetic companies should also focus on the
that these consumers have concerns about their health-related benefits of cosmetics and beauty care
consumption and tend to prefer organic and natural products and create effective strategic tools to gain
products. It can also be concluded that findings of advantages on the new market such as the natural
regression analysis are consistent with the literature cosmetic market. Such specifically oriented mar-
background for all variables, except for the variable keting strategy will provide business success and
health consciousness which was found statistically efficiency as well as satisfy the need to understand
insignificant. This can be ascribed to the lack of mar- and predict consumers’ behaviour towards natural
ket regulation which leads to the increase of distrust cosmetics products in Croatia.
among consumers towards natural products. It can However, the findings should be considered in the
be assumed that consumers have a lack of trust in light of their limitations. First of all, in regards to
natural cosmetics products because the cosmetics the sample selection, the future research sample
market is still an under-researched area. Compa- should be extended by including other Croatian
nies should provide clearer information about what counties. Furthermore, in conducting the research
is natural and what type of health benefits consum- over a longer period of time, it would be interest-
ers would gain by using organic personal care and ing to monitor the development process of Croatian
beauty products. Results of the correlation analysis consumers’ purchase behaviour towards natural
between consumer purchase intentions towards products. In future studies, it would be preferable
natural cosmetic products and consumer recom- to consider a number of additional factors that can
mendation towards natural cosmetics indicate that significantly explain the consumers’ behaviour to-
respondents who have purchase intention towards wards natural products such as price, quality and
natural cosmetics have positive attitudes towards availability as well as different product categories
recommendation of natural cosmetic products. Re- which are not included in this study. Additionally,
garding the relation strength, these consumers have future researches on consumer behaviour towards
a strong tendency towards purchasing and recom- natural cosmetics are essential in order to get a
mending natural cosmetics products. Therefore, more complete picture about the consumer atti-
they will recommend purchasing natural cosmetic tudes and intentions towards natural products es-
products to consumers who are not inclined to- pecially towards beauty and care products.
wards natural products or who are not aware of the
benefits that natural products could provide, espe- Given the fact that researches on the purchasing
cially products in the cosmetic industry. behaviour of Croatian consumers towards natural
cosmetic products are limited, new insights into the
Consumers’ interest in health and environmental topic are required. This calls for more research in
issues is increasing, providing a huge opportunity the field and this paper could be helpful in explain-
for the natural and organic personal care industry ing consumer behaviour towards natural cosmetics
to create a strategy that could motivate many con- products by providing a framework for further re-
sumers to purchase organic or natural personal care search on the issue.
products. Previous research on organic products
has focused on organic food but the second larg-
est sector in the organic industry - organic personal
care products - has received little attention. There-

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Matea Matić, Barbara Puh: Consumers’ purchase intentions towards natural cosmetics

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God. XXIX, BR. 1/2016. str. 53-64 63

Matea Matić, Barbara Puh: Consumers’ purchase intentions towards natural cosmetics

Matea Matić
Barbara Puh

Kupovna namjera potrošača prema

proizvodima prirodne kozmetike

Sažetak

Svrha rada je utvrditi varijable koje utječu na kupovnu namjeru potrošača prema proizvodima prirodne
kozmetike. U okviru regresijske analize uključene su varijable: dob, spol, kupovne tendencije potrošača
prema prehrambenim proizvodima organskoga porijekla, tendencije prema novim markama proizvoda
prirodne kozmetike te tendencije potrošača prema zdravom načinu života. Podatci su prikupljeni u ožujku
i travnju 2015., anketnim upitnikom putem interneta, na namjernom uzorku od 204 potrošača s područja
Dubrovačko-neretvanske županije. Za obradu podataka korištene su različite statističke analize kao što
su binarna logistička regresija te korelacijska analiza. Iz rezultata binarne logističke regresije razvidno je
da spol, kupovne tendencije potrošača prema prehrambenim proizvodima organskoga porijekla, kao i
kupovne tendencije prema novim markama proizvoda prirodne kozmetike, imaju utjecaj na kupovnu nam-
jeru potrošača. Isto tako, rezultati istraživanja su ukazali da tendencije potrošača prema zdravom načinu
života nemaju značajan utjecaj na kupovnu namjeru potrošača prema proizvodima prirodne kozmetike.
Korelacijska analiza ukazala je na postojanje statistički jake povezanosti pozitivnog smjera između kupovne
namjere potrošača prema proizvodima prirodne kozmetike i preporuka potrošača u kupnji prirodne
kozmetike. U konačnici, rezultati istraživanja mogu poslužiti internetskim trgovcima, kao i marketinškim
stručnjacima, sa svrhom prepoznavanja i boljega razumijevanja novih trendova koji se javljaju na tržištu
prirodne kozmetike.
Ključne riječi: kupovna namjera, tendencije potrošača, proizvodi prirodne kozmetike

64 God. XXIX, BR. 1/2016. str. 53-64