A Friends of Glass survey of 2,030 European millennials found that the vast majority (91%) have become more conscious of their own consumer impact on the environment over the last 12 months. Crucially, glass is clearly seen as the best packaging material for beauty, fragrance and medical products, with over 3 in 4 consumers preferring it over any other packaging materials.
This comes down to its environmental friendliness, its health benefits by not leaching chemicals into the contents and its ability to preserve quality and scent of contents better.
Conducted via InSites, the 2018 survey covers 5 European countries – France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain – and provides insights on consumer perceptions of glass flaconnage packaging for beauty, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
Overwhelmingly, consumers find glass to be the safest packaging, the best at preserving the quality and scent of perfumes of cream fragrances, as well as giving the most premium feel to the product. Perfumes top the list of likely products to be bought in glass, while 1 in 2 consumers also state they want to see perfumes and creams / skincare products packaged more in glass.
Overall the vast majority of consumers aged 18-34 (91%) claim to have become more conscious of their impact on the environment as consumers. When it comes to general packaging, glass is seen as the most recyclable and ocean friendly (with 69% ranking it first compared to plastic/PET and metal), while it also viewed as the most likely to be recycled. When it comes to perfumes, beauty products and pharmaceuticals, over 7 in 10 consumers recognise that their glass packaging can be recycled together with household glass bottles and jars.
Consumers know glass is the best option, however to drive purchases of products in glass wider availability is needed (brands still come first) as well as targeting information to the actual decision moment and countering the price gap (perception).
For further results including a breakdown by country, please download our official release of the report here.