Bridging digital tools and human skills: A sustainable competence framework for implementing digital product passports in the cosmetics industry

The twin transition – combining digitalisation with sustainability – has emerged as a strategic driver of competitiveness and resilience within industrial systems. Digital product passports (DPPs) constitute a key instrument in this transformation, offering life-cycle data facilitating transparency, traceability and circular strategies. The present study explores the implementation of DPPs in the cosmetics industry – a sector marked by complex formulations and global supply chains, with direct implications for human health and consumer safety. The methodology contributes to the advancement of SDG12 by evaluating both producer and consumer perspectives through multi-criteria decision-making methods (i.e., AHP, TOPSIS, VIKOR) and an online survey. The results reveal that familiarity with digital tools significantly influences consumer behaviour: digitally literate consumers ascribe to the DPP a value that transcends technical information, viewing it as a symbol of transparency, sustainability and social responsibility. This perception enhances brand trust and informs more conscious, value-driven purchasing decisions. In this light, the DPP emerges not merely as an informational resource but as a strategic lever for cosmetics companies, capable of aligning technological innovation with the ethical expectations of digital consumers. The findings indicate that managers should invest not only in digital infrastructure, but also in the human competencies required to interpret, communicate and capitalise on the DPP, thereby transforming it into a strategic asset promoting transparency, consumer trust and competitive advantage.