Studying consumer responsiveness towards organic cosmetics

Abstract

Any industry that caters to a wide section of the society in India will be a huge one primarily because of it billion plus population. Indian cosmetics industry is one such case wherein it caters to the entire spectrum of population right from a Rs 10 packet to a few that venture into 4 digits. Current market size of the industry is estimated to be US$ 1.5 billion. iAccording to a report in 2012 by Assocham, cosmetics market in India has been growing at a rate of 20% and is expected to reach Rs 20,000 crore in 2014. iiAn average consumer is now more aware of the products than his/her counterpart few years back. This has led to a market for organic products be it foods, automobiles, or for that matter even cosmetics. There has been a general rise in awareness levels and benefits of organic cosmetics. Organic cosmetics are manufactured from ingredients that have been harvested without using synthetic chemical compounds. iiiHence it is expected that they might not cause harm to skin and yield similar benefits as their synthetic counterparts. As a result organic cosmetics are fast gaining popularity. As per Transparency Market Research, worldwide demand for organic cosmetics in 2012 was over US$ 7.6 billion. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.6% and become US$ 13.2 billion by 2018.iv The U.S. is the largest market for organic cosmetics followed by Japan and Germany. In India, organic cosmetics is assumed to have a market size of close to Rs 500-600 crores and expected to grow at a rate of 12%.v Some of the leading international organic cosmetics brands are Sephore, Bare Minerals, Afterglow and Physicians Formula. Some of the Indian brands that deal in organic cosmetics are AuraVedic, Biotique, Shahnaz Husain and The Nature’s Cos. We also see a trend in leading cosmetic brands moving towards a “free of” cosmetic category. Leading brands like Garnier demonstrate use of natural extracts in their communications and are shifting to a natural cosmetics path.