Impact of Environmental Awareness on Customer Satisfaction Towards Green Cosmetics in Kerala

Abstract

Awareness about environmental issues is becoming a significant determinant of consumer behavior in the consumer goods sector, especially in the case of green cosmetics that are made using natural components, do not involve animal testing, and use eco-friendly packaging. In the case of Kerala, a state known for its high literacy rate and rising interest in adopting sustainability practices, knowledge about the influence of environmental awareness on consumer satisfaction becomes necessary for devising an effective marketing strategy. The present paper seeks to fill this existing research gap by studying the effect of environmental awareness on consumer satisfaction in relation to green cosmetics. The uniqueness of this study is that it focuses on the influence of environmental awareness on consumer satisfaction and not on purchase intentions in Kerala. Data were collected using questionnaires from 200 randomly selected respondents on a Likert scale. The data analysis process entailed tests of reliability (Cronbach’s alpha test), correlations, and regression analysis using SPSS. High internal consistency is revealed by Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.929 for environmental awareness and 0.925 for customer satisfaction. A strong positive correlation (r = 0.714; p < 0.01) is found, and regression analysis proves that there is a significant influence of environmental awareness on customer satisfaction (β = 0.714; p < 0.001), accounting for 51% of the explained variance (R² = 0.510; F = 206.010, p = 0.000). It can be concluded that consumer environmental awareness can positively impact consumer satisfaction from green cosmetics when increased by means of proper education and labeling. Therefore, companies should make their operations more sustainable to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.