1. Meeting the needs of conscious consumers increases market success
Conscious consumers know that certain ingredients are not good for their body and the environment. That’s why they are specifically looking for products that meet their needs in the best possible way.
Our example from the “Nut Nougat Cream” category shows that products can reach a level of consumer satisfaction that is doubled if the ingredients meet consumer demands. For example, it is important for conscious consumers that the product does not contain palm oil and that the ingredients are organic. In the case of ‘Nut Nougat Creams,’ consumers pay on average 15%* more than for other foods or cosmetics. When companies identify such a consumer need, they can significantly improve the acceptance of their products by optimizing the ingredients.
*Source: CodeCheck user settings
| Product | Overall satisfaction | Ingredient satisfaction | Biological origin satisfaction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product with palm oil (Nutella) | 40% | 30% | 50% |
| Product without palm oil (Nudossi) | 80% | 75% | 98% |
*Source: CodeCheck Insights, ‘Chocolate, Nut, & Milk Cream’ category, based on a time frame of the past 12 months and 2 analyzed products among 1,275 products in the category.
2. Conscious consumers care equally about the environment and their health
Companies have an opportunity to meet the needs of conscious consumers by optimizing the ingredients in the product, the packaging, the sugar content, and respecting biological origin.
That’s what conscious consumers care about:
*Source: CodeCheck Insights, analysis across 420 sub-categories (food, cosmetics, beverages and home products) of the past six months.
| Ingredients | Understandable ingredients list | Contains critical additives | Contains environmentally harmful ingredients (microplastics, palm oil, nanoparticles) |
| Packaging | Use of plastic | Unnecessary double packaging | Recyclable packaging |
| Sugar | Alternatives with artificial taste | Unnatural sugar alternatives | High level of fructose content | Added sugar |
| Biological status | CO2 emissions | Origin and production method |
3. Plant-based products are more readily accepted
The ‘vegan’ label has a significant impact on the level people are satisfied with a product . On average, products bearing the ‘vegan’ label achieve 93% overall consumer satisfaction while products without it barely reach 23%.
*Source: CodeCheck Insights, analysis of the past six months based on 250 products among food, beverages and cosmetics categories.
The trend is clearly ‘plant-based / vegan.’ For both environmental and health reasons, conscious consumers particularly like the vegan alternative, including the following products:
- – Meat and milk substitutes
- – Substitution of carbohydrates (keto diet): e.g. vegetable spaghetti, carrot/zucchini fries, cauliflower rice
- – Recyclable packaging material
4. Quality despite sustainable ingredients
While it is important to conscious consumers that products are good for them and the environment, this should not affect performance. Hygiene products shall keep on providing a good cleansing power, and food should taste good. Conscious consumers want healthy and sustainable products without having to compromise on performance. The low-performance dishwashing detergent achieves around 30 percent less overall consumer satisfaction than the higher-performance product.
Comparison of two organic detergents of different brands:
| Product | Overall satisfaction | Ingredient satisfaction | Biological origin satisfaction | Performance satisfaction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product 1 (Ecover dishwashing detergent Lemon & Aloe Vera) | 88% | 80% | 92% | 95% |
| Product 2 (Planet Pure Bio dishwashing detergent) | 54% | 100% | 92% | 29% |
*Source: CodeCheck Insights, dishwashing detergent category of the past six months. Two analyzed products among 103 products within the category.
5. Conscious consumers demand transparency
Complicated lists of ingredients and lack of information on the production method and origin of ingredients lead to a lack of consumer trust. Conscious consumers want to have as much information as possible about the entire supply chain of a product. Thus, products that provide no or incomplete information about the ingredients only receive a satisfaction rating of 32 percent. Companies or products that contain natural ingredients and information about the origin reach up to 92 percent approval of conscious consumers. Once consumers lose confidence in a company, the company’s past reputation will be severely impacted.
*Source: CodeCheck Insights, analysis across 420 sub-categories (food, cosmetics, beverages and house products) of the past six months.
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