Customer Sustainability Awareness in the Service Sector: An Explorative Study Built on a Survey at a Hair Salon in Germany

The awareness of sustainability has increased in the last years. Sustainability is for most consumers related to aspects of private life. When having shopping preferences, they consider sustainability aspects of ingredients, production and packaging of consumer goods. However, sustainability can also play a role in the service sector. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyse how customers evaluate sustainability in relation to services. It examines sustainability awareness among customers of a German hair salon. Based on a literature review the awareness of sustainability of customers in the service sector, especially in SMEs as hair salons, is analysed. In order to gain new insights into the significance of sustainability when visiting a hair salon, a quantitative explorative survey of customers of a German hair salon, which is known for its sustainability orientation, is conducted. The study is able to show that the major part of the customers of this hair salon are al-ready strongly sensitized to the issue of sustainability. Findings shed also light on the fact that there are differences in sustainability awareness of customers with respect to purchase decisions and service utilization. It is clearly important for more people to pay attention to sustainability in purchasing; whereas the survey participants seem to be less sensitized to sustainability in the area of services or the hairdresser's visit. The study contributes to better understand the awareness of sustainability in the service sector and it derives practical recommendations for the service sector; with a focus on SMEs as hair salons. A lack of sustainability knowledge and communication skills may impact marketing and customer awareness on sustainability communication and sustainable practices in the hairdressing sector. Providing relevant skills could be an essential task for salon owners, trade unions and education institutions. This shows the need to integrate sustainability aspects in the training of hairdressers. Received: 6 December 2024 / Accepted: 26 February 2025 / Published: 02 March 2025