Generational perceptions of pro-environmental packaging advantages

This study aims to find out, if the pro-environmental advantage of a sustainably packaged personal care product can be the distinctive factor in a consumer’s buying decision. The special case of Unilever’s ‘compressed’ deodorants was used in order to examine consumers’ motivators and barriers when buying a pro-environmental good. An additional key aim of the study was to explore, whether this newly packaged deodorant is seen as a trustworthy measure to promote sustainability or as being a greenwashing ‘portion-shrink’. 22 qualitative interviews were conducted, involving respondents from Berlin (Germany) belonging either to the Babyboomer generation (born 1945–1959) or the Generation Y (born 1980–1995), also known as Millennials.

The data revealed that the main influencing factors in selecting a sustainably packaged deodorant were not pro-environmental advantages of the product’s packaging, but aspects such as quality, convenience and price.

Furthermore it was found that consumers needed additional information in order to be able to evaluate the correctness of the statement claimed ‘same effect—smaller size’. If sufficient information is not provided, the smaller packaging cannot function as a more reliable measure to promote sustainability.