From uri.edu/news
Research finds pride—not guilt—a stronger motivator
KINGSTON, R.I. – Aug. 20, 2026 – Major cosmetics retailers such as Sephora, Ulta, and Amazon now feature sections aimed at socially conscious consumers, highlighting products that are sustainable, eco-friendly, cruelty-free, or packaged with recycled materials. This shift reflects changing consumer preferences.
Consumers are increasingly mindful of their purchases—often seeking out products that are ethically aware—and manufacturers have responded by incorporating related claims into product webpages and labels designed to appeal to them.
“Today, consumers may choose certain lifestyles not only to show who they are, but also to express their values through what they buy,” said Mona Safizadeh, a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Rhode Island’s College of Business, who is studying this trend.
The cosmetics industry has seen a surge in vegan and sustainable products in recent years. Globally, the market for vegan cosmetics is in the billions of dollars. Yet despite growing demand, research that examines the motivations, psychological processes, and conditions that influence consumers’ preferences for these products has been limited.
Even basic questions, such as whether consumers are more influenced by animal-welfare or environmental-benefit messages, have remained largely unanswered.
“Although vegan cosmetics are growing in popularity, we still know relatively little about what influences consumers’ decisions to buy them,” said Safizadeh.
Safizadeh’s research focuses on how brand messages influence consumers’ decisions to buy vegan cosmetics.
While most previous research on vegan consumption has focused on food, research examining non-food products such as cosmetics remains limited, especially in developed markets like the United States.
In her research paper, “Taking Pride in Vegan Consumption: A Construal Level Theory Account of Ad Message Appeal and Future Self Connectedness,” published earlier this year in the peer-reviewed journal Psychology & Marketing, Safizadeh says that animal-welfare messages generally lead to stronger preferences for vegan cosmetics than messages focused on environmental benefits.
She demonstrated this through three experiments. Participants viewed advertisements for vegan sunscreen, shampoo, and hand lotion featuring messages focused on animal welfare or environmental benefits. The researchers measured participants’ interest in buying the products, their product choices, and how much pride they expected to feel from buying vegan cosmetics. They also measured how much guilt participants expected to feel from buying nonvegan products.
Researchers found that feelings of pride played a stronger role than feelings of guilt. Animal-welfare messages were more effective partly because they made consumers expect to feel proud about choosing vegan cosmetics.
The findings suggest that brands may be more successful when they help consumers feel good about choosing vegan products instead of trying to make them feel guilty about choosing nonvegan products.
“Animal-welfare claims such as ‘cruelty-free’ and ‘no animal testing’ focus on more immediate concerns, while claims such as ‘recyclable’ and ‘eco-friendly’ focus more on long-term environmental benefits,” said Safizadeh.
The research also shows that the way consumers think about the future and how they connect to their future selves can affect how they respond to advertising.
People who focus more on the future are more likely to respond to messages about long-term environmental benefits, while those focused more on the present are more likely to respond to animal-welfare messages that focus on more immediate effects.
Safizadeh said companies marketing to consumers who care about ethical and environmental issues should focus on creating positive feelings around their purchases rather than relying mainly on guilt. It is also important for marketers to understand how consumers think about the future versus simply grouping consumers by age.
“Companies should create messages that help consumers feel proud about choosing vegan products,” said Safizadeh. “They should also consider whether their audience responds more strongly to immediate animal-welfare concerns or long-term environmental benefits.”
As interest in vegan cosmetics continues to grow, the findings suggest that one advertising message may not work equally well for everyone. Brands may get better results by matching animal-welfare and environmental messages to the way their target consumers think about the present and the future.
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