Stat: UK beauty consumers uneasy about brands’ woke campaigns

New research commissioned by beauty and health agency The Pull Agency reveals that 68% of UK beauty consumers are uneasy or unsure about health and beauty brands teaching and promoting ‘woke’ causes.

Some 41% of respondents say the amount of woke-washing or green-washing among health and beauty brands is becoming noticeable, highlighting concerns such as brands faking sustainability credentials or being superficial in their support of social movements. A quarter (26%) think those brands come across as inauthentic as a result, while one in seven (14%) deliberately avoid the brands they see as behaving this way.

In turn, more than half of respondents (58%) say all they want is for health and beauty brands to ‘pay their taxes, treat people fairly, respect the environment and not use it as a PR opportunity’. The same number (58%) want to see support for climate change, 56% are eager to see support for female body positivity, and 52% want brands to back diversity and inclusion.

When it comes to future marketing and communications, beauty and wellness brands should focus on betterment over bandwaggoning to avoid seeming inauthentic.