Factors affecting attitudes and consumer behaviour in the case of animal-tested products

Abstract

In recent years, an increase in demand for ethical products has been well-documented, with clear implications for companies which need to adapt their production and marketing activities to reflect this shift in consumers’ buying behaviour. To do so successfully, they must be well attuned to which consumer groups are more or less likely to be driving this shift in demand. This study utilises a survey carried out among a sample of University of Malta students, in order to identify which factors affect attitudes and consumer behaviour in the case of animaltested shampoo products. Employing both qualitative and quantitative tools, the study utilises both descriptive analysis as well as statistical tests and regression analysis, finding that gender is the most prominent driver of differences in attitudes towards animal-tested products among the sample, whilst factors such as altruism levels, price and brand importance, pet ownership and attitudes towards animal testing statistically significantly affect respondents’ probability of switching to non-animal-tested alternatives in different scenarios. Moreover, an experimental design embedded in the survey allows for consumers to be assigned different conditions, namely whether or not their shampoo purchases are constrained by specific purchase needs, which is not found to consistently affect respondents’ decisions. Within the study’s disclaimed limitations, these results carry significant implications for marketers, both in order to determine consumers with particular characteristics that can more successfully be targeted in order to effectively satisfy increased demand for ethical products, as well as which consumer groups would be likely to need more awareness and initiative in order to switch towards such products.