New legislation has banned the sale of animal-tested makeup and skincare after a report revealed more Australians than ever are against the practice. July will see the sale of cosmetics and other personal products tested on animals prohibited in Australia after the ALP, the Greens and the Animal Justice Party backed the Coalition’s legislation.
A Roy Morgan study found that 46% of Australian women take an anti-animal testing when buying makeup. This figure is up from 2012’s 41%, with the study announcing that the cruelty-free label is the third most important feature women look for when buying cosmetics, knocking sun protection into fourth place with 42%.
Despite coming in behind value for money and natural look elements, the ‘not tested on animals’ movement has gained the most ground. Skincare has gained a proportional increase of 13% since 2012’s result of 39%.
‘Moisturising benefits’ tops the list, considered by 59% of women to be important when buying skincare (up from 57%), followed by ‘Value for money’, unchanged at 52%. Besides the growing demand for products that aren’t tested on animals, the other big shift in priorities when purchasing skincare has been a trend towards Australian-made products (26%, up from 20%).
This is excellent news for brands such as Ultraceuticals, Sukin, Edible Beauty, Nutrimetics and more as they are both made in Australia and have a strong anti-animal testing stance. It was announced last year that the Australian Government had legislated the ban, finally bringing in line with similar policies in place in New Zealand and the European Union.
“Given this growing preference for cruelty-free products, the pending ban on personal products that are tested on animals (or contain ingredients that are animal-tested) couldn’t be better timed,” says Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director of Roy Morgan Research.
“Brands that already fulfil these conditions stand to benefit immediately from the new law; others may need to overcome lingering associations with animal testing so as to thrive in this evolving market and attract consumers who may have avoided them for this reason in the past.”
“Roy Morgan’s deep consumer data is an invaluable resource for cosmetics and skin-care brands that wish to better understand the women who buy their products, as well as those who buy their rivals’ products. Insights into the demographics, psychographics and behaviour of these women will then allow them to create a more relevant and targeted marketing strategy.”
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