UK consumers still confused over sun care

Despite innumerable public awareness campaigns and considerable advertising campaigns by sun care providers, it may come as a surpirse that consumers in a country with one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world are still not in the know about sun protection.

A new market research report commissioned by Tesco, one of the country’s leading retailers and providers of sun care protection products, indicates that 23 per cent of British people cannot identify what UVA and UVA rays are, let alone explain why sun care products should incorporate this kind of protection.

UK consumers clueless about sun care​

According to the survey findings, this invariably means that UK consumers often have very little idea that sun care products can help prevent skin cancer or help prevent signs of ageing associated with excessive sun exposure.

The survey also showed that 40 per cent of those interviewed could not distinguish between UVA and UVB rays, while 13 per cent said they believed that of the two types of rays, only UVAs are potentially harmful to the skin.

The survey findings will come as a blow to both sun care providers and cancer organisations, who have been battling to educate consumers regarding the dangers of unprotected sun exposure and the specific impact UVA and UVB rays can have.

The campaigns have focused on trying to convey to consumers that UVA rays can have longer-term impact on the skin, including skin damage that can lead to wrinkling, while UVB are the rays that are responsible for the discomfort associated with burning.

Cancer causing​

Likewise the campaigns have also focused on the fact that both types of rays can cause malignant cancer to the epidermis, or outer layer of skin.

Perhaps even more worrying for sun care manufacturers is the fact that over half the survey respondents did not know what the acronym SPF (Sun Protection Factor) stood for, while one in six people actually never buy sun cream.

The survey findings are particularly pertinent given that the rise in the number of cases of skin cancer, largely attributed to excessive exposure to sun during overseas holidays, means that skin cancer is now the most common cancer in the UK, according to Cancer Research UK.

“It is clear from this research that consumers are still confused. UVA and UVB rays both cause damage, even when the sun is not shining, which is why consumers should seek broad spectrum sun protection that offers both UVA defence and SPF protection against UVB rays,”​ said Tesco spokesperson, Duncan Graham.

Although similar survey results have already been discovered before, this latest research points to a recurring problem for the sun care history, indicating that the industry still has some way to go in order to convey the message about sun care protection in the most amenable manner.