Quel est l'impact du greenwashing sur le comportement d'achat des consommateurs de cosmétique durable?

Abstract

In recent years, sustainable development has become a major issue for Belgians. Indeed, it has had a significant impact on the purchasing behavior of the country's citizens. Today, they want to consume with full knowledge of the facts and make more responsible purchases with regard to the environment, well-being and health, by adopting more ethical practices. Unfortunately, every action has a reaction. In this case, the attraction of this new consumption mode has prompted companies to review their offer. However, to do so, some have decided to take a more direct route and use deceptive practices such as greenwashing.

Consequently, the aim of this thesis is to highlight the impact of various greenwashing techniques on the purchasing behavior of Belgian consumers in the field of sustainable cosmetics. To this end, exploratory qualitative research was carried out with several Belgian consumers. This provided an overview of Belgians' motivations for consuming sustainable cosmetics, their purchasing processes in this area, the factors inspiring a feeling of confidence or distrust towards product sustainability, etc. Based on this information, the greenwashing techniques that have the greatest impact and work best on these consumers were identified.

The results of this survey are indisputable: Belgians appear to be highly influenced by greenwashing. They tend to trust a product when it features several factors, such as a label, sober, minimalist colors, a component made of glass or cardboard, the place where the product is sold, illustrations reminiscent of nature, a short list of ingredients, mentions such as "organic", "100% sustainable", etc.