Promoting the Diffusion of Sustainable Innovations through Customer Education—A Case of the Cosmetic Industry

Abstract

This article investigates whether customer education about the sustainability advantage of a sustainable innovation helps promote the diffusion of such innovation using a survey and an experimental study in the cosmetic industry. Educating customers to equip them with awareness, know-how, and principal knowledge about sustainability promotes their motivation toward adoption and thus facilitates the diffusion of sustainable innovation. Specifically, results show that educating customers about cosmetic product ingredients, sustainability definition, and green certification increases the customers’ intention towards checking cosmetic products for ingredients, avoiding products that contain harmful ingredients, and purchasing a sustainable product in the next two years. Customers will also have more trust and intention to adopt certified sustainable products, and they will regard whether a product is truly sustainable as a factor more important than its price in their purchase decisions. Finally, a comprehensive list of factors that contribute to a customer’s perception and adoption of a sustainable product, as well as the ranking given by the study participants, are discussed.