Sustainable agriculture and no-food production: An empirical investigation on organic cosmetics

Organic cosmetics represent an interesting case study of the links between sustainability and the agricultural system beyond food production. Organic agriculture is rapidly growing not only as a segment of the food industry but also as a producer of ecosystem services, and row materials for, among the others, the cosmetic industry. This growth is mainly due to the development of an important trend of environmental consciousness among costumers. This study presents an application of choice experiments to analyze the preferences of costumers between organic and conventional cosmetic products. Our results pointed out that environmental consciousness, especially among young people, was one of the main drivers in determining their purchase behavior toward organic cosmetics. Moreover, the results shown respondents were willing to pay a premium price also for cosmetic products that respect animal welfare.