Figure 1.
Frequency distributions (in percent) for sociodemographic variables according to the countries (the numbers of respondents in parentheses)
| Czechia (230) | Slovakia (175) | Poland (325) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| sex | |||
| men | 10.4% | 12.0% | 8.9% |
| women | 89.6% | 88.0% | 91.1% |
| age | |||
| 24 or less | 52.2% | 37.7% | 39.7% |
| 25–44 | 27.8% | 42.9% | 45.8% |
| 45 or over | 20.0% | 19.4% | 14.5% |
| education | |||
| basic or secondary | 55.2% | 68.0% | 47.7% |
| higher or university | 44.8% | 32.0% | 52.3% |
| status | |||
| employed or self-employed | 48.7% | 58.9% | 59.4% |
| other status | 51.3% | 41.1% | 40.6% |
Frequency distributions (in percent) for net income according to the countries
| CZK (Czechia) | Percent | EUR (Slovakia) | Percent | PLN (Poland) | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| no income | 9.1% | no income | 16.0% | no income | 13.5% |
| less than 10,000 | 17.0% | less than 400 | 9.7% | less than 2,000 | 11.4% |
| 10,000–20,000 | 22.2% | 400–800 | 14.9% | 2,000–3,500 | 32.3% |
| 20,001–30,000 | 19.1% | 801–1,200 | 23.4% | 3,501–5,500 | 16.6% |
| 30,001 or more | 19.1% | 1,201 or more | 25.1% | 5,501 or more | 10.5% |
| I don’t want to answer | 13.5% | I don’t want to answer | 10.9% | I don’t want to answer | 15.7% |
The values of Cramér’s V (Slovak respondents; significant dependencies are in bold)
| Explanatory variable | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target variable | sex | age | education | status | residence | income | shopping frequency |
| shopping_frequency | 0.129 | 0.161 | 0.321 | 0.172 | 0.027 | 0.193 | --- |
| higher_quality | 0.034 | 0.152 | 0.183 | 0.12 | 0.172 | 0.169 | 0.246 |
| easy_recognition | 0.011 | 0.215 | 0.139 | 0.024 | 0.198 | 0.312 | 0.095 |
| assumed_expensiveness | 0.025 | 0.234 | 0.047 | 0.272 | 0.038 | 0.319 | 0.163 |
| criterion_of_selection | 0.141 | 0.129 | 0.084 | 0.083 | 0.114 | 0.172 | 0.171 |
| reason_for_shopping | 0.098 | 0.238 | 0.242 | 0.093 | 0.130 | 0.263 | 0.05 |
| healthy_lifestyle | 0.039 | 0.113 | 0.205 | 0.052 | 0.247 | 0.098 | 0.102 |
The values of Cramér’s V (Polish respondents; significant dependencies are in bold)
| Explanatory variable | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target variable | sex | age | education | status | residence | income | shopping frequency |
| shopping_frequency | 0.153 | 0.062 | 0.128 | 0.052 | 0.119 | 0.185 | --- |
| higher_quality | 0.068 | 0.237 | 0.098 | 0.188 | 0.160 | 0.146 | 0.119 |
| easy_recognition | 0.105 | 0.074 | 0.003 | 0.096 | 0.102 | 0.156 | 0.090 |
| assumed_expensiveness | 0.051 | 0.073 | 0.064 | 0.030 | 0.144 | 0.136 | 0.176 |
| criterion_of_selection | 0.192 | 0.107 | 0.074 | 0.101 | 0.047 | 0.082 | 0.164 |
| reason_for_shopping | 0.108 | 0.081 | 0.029 | 0.132 | 0.131 | 0.161 | 0.149 |
| healthy_lifestyle | 0.068 | 0.269 | 0.150 | 0.178 | 0.153 | 0.228 | 0.019 |
The values of Cramér’s V, square root of the Goodman and Kruskal tau, square root of the uncertainty coefficient (UC), and maximum of p-values for dependencies of core variables on a country
| Target variable | Cramér’s V | Square root of tau | Square root of UC | Max p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| shopping_frequency | 0.197 | 0.197 | 0.170 | < 0.001 |
| higher_quality | 0.132 | 0.134 | 0.114 | 0.002 |
| easy_recognition | 0.133 | 0.134 | 0.118 | 0.002 |
| assumed_expensiveness | 0.130 | 0.130 | 0.114 | 0.002 |
| criterion_of_selection | 0.152 | 0.126 | 0.152 | < 0.001 |
| reason_for_shopping | 0.082 | 0.095 | 0.089 | 0.042 |
| healthy_lifestyle | 0.102 | 0.100 | 0.089 | 0.022 |
The values of Cramér’s V (Czech respondents; significant dependencies are in bold)
| Explanatory variable | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target variable | sex | age | education | status | residence | income | shopping frequency |
| shopping_frequency | 0.185 | 0.202 | 0.047 | 0.132 | 0.085 | 0.210 | --- |
| higher_quality | 0.001 | 0.115 | 0.009 | 0.009 | 0.160 | 0.159 | 0.263 |
| easy_recognition | 0.034 | 0.040 | 0.016 | 0.014 | 0.053 | 0.168 | 0.078 |
| assumed_expensiveness | 0.177 | 0.083 | 0.027 | 0.020 | 0.105 | 0.136 | 0.026 |
| criterion_of_selection | 0.093 | 0.130 | 0.146 | 0.084 | 0.139 | 0.142 | 0.168 |
| reason_for_shopping | 0.098 | 0.145 | 0.143 | 0.033 | 0.046 | 0.183 | 0.078 |
| healthy_lifestyle | 0.125 | 0.050 | 0.048 | 0.034 | 0.034 | 0.066 | 0.087 |
Frequency distributions (in percent) for core variables
| Variables and categories | Czechia | Slovakia | Poland |
|---|---|---|---|
| shopping_frequency | |||
| often | 28.7% | 30.3% | 48.6% |
| occasionally | 71.3% | 69.7% | 51.4% |
| higher_quality | |||
| yes | 33.5% | 47.4% | 47.7% |
| no | 7.4% | 3.4% | 4.0% |
| it depends on the case | 59.1% | 49.2% | 48.3% |
| easy_recognition | |||
| yes | 59.1% | 74.9% | 70.5% |
| no | 40.9% | 25.1% | 29.5% |
| assumed_expensiveness | |||
| yes | 37.4% | 46.3% | 30.5% |
| no | 14.3% | 4.6% | 19.4% |
| it depends on the case | 48.3% | 49.1% | 50.2% |
| criterion_of_selection | |||
| declared product composition | 60.0% | 57.7% | 70.2% |
| brand | 16.5% | 24.6% | 7.1% |
| certification of the product | 13.9% | 9.1% | 15.7% |
| another | 9.6% | 8.6% | 7.0% |
| reason_for_shopping | |||
| effect on my health | 65.7% | 58.9% | 71.1% |
| nature protection | 21.7% | 25.7% | 15.4% |
| another | 12.6% | 15.4% | 13.5% |
| healthy_lifestyle | |||
| yes | 74.3% | 62.3% | 65.5% |
| no | 25.7% | 37.7% | 34.5% |
The core questions used, their abbreviated forms, and possible answers
| Question | Abbreviated form | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| How often do you buy natural cosmetic products? | shopping_frequency | often; occasionally |
| Do you agree with the statement that natural cosmetics are of higher quality than conventional cosmetics? | higher_quality | yes; no; it depends on the case |
| Can you easily distinguish natural cosmetics from conventional ones (e.g., on the basis of packaging)? | easy_recognition | yes; no |
| Do you agree with the statement that natural cosmetics are more expensive than conventional cosmetics? | assumed_expensiveness | yes; no; it depends on the case |
| Which criterion do you follow most when choosing natural cosmetics? | criterion_of_selection |
|
| State the main reason for buying natural cosmetics compared to conventional cosmetics. | reason_for_shopping |
|
| Do you practice a healthy lifestyle? | healthy_lifestyle | yes; no |
Answers to the formulated research questions
| Number | Wording of the RQ | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| RQ1 | People prefer natural cosmetics over conventional cosmetics primarily due to environmental and health concerns. | Yes |
| RQ2 | The sociodemographic profile of the consumers has a significant influence on the perception of the price level of natural cosmetics. | No |
| RQ3 | The sociodemographic profile of the consumers has a significant influence on the frequency with which they buy natural cosmetics. | Yes |
| RQ4 | The frequency with which people buy natural cosmetics does not depend on health consciousness. | Yes |
| RQ5 | Awareness about natural cosmetics does not depend on age. | Yes |
| RQ6 | Awareness about natural cosmetics does not depend on the level of education. | Yes |
| RQ7 | Consumers associate natural cosmetic products with higher quality. | No |
| RQ8 | There is no prevailing decision criterion when consumers choose natural cosmetics. | No |
Frequency distributions (in percent) for permanent residence according to the countries
| Czech region | Percent | Slovak region | Percent | Polish region | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prague | 19.1% | Region of Košice | 18.9% | Masovian Voivodeship | 20.9% |
| Středočeský Region | 53.5% | Region of Prešov | 43.4% | Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship | 22.2% |
| other Czech regions | 27.4% | other Slovak regions | 37.7% | other Polish regions | 56.9% |