The Impact of Multilingual Cosmetic Product Labels on Purchase Intentions and Product Evaluations Among Taiwanese College Students

Jui-Jung Tsao；Ling Chi；Ying-Jie Huang；Pin-Syuan Chen；Yin-Wei Hsu

Cosmetic product labels ； purchase intentions ； product evaluations ； language preferences

應用英語期刊

18卷（2024 / 06 / 01）

37 - 78

英文

The cosmetics industry is experiencing rapid growth and heightened competition, with an ever-increasing number of cosmetic stores and brands worldwide presenting consumers with a vast selection of products. Consequently, effective labeling strategies are crucial for businesses to differentiate themselves and attract customers. Despite this, the impact of using different languages in labeling on consumer perceptions, product evaluations, and purchase intentions within this industry remains underexplored. Thus, this study aimed to fill this gap by examining the effects of cosmetic product labels in different languages on Taiwanese college students' purchase intentions and product evaluations. The study recruited 107 Taiwanese college students and employed both qualitative and quantitative methods to gather data. The findings revealed that participants perceived cosmetic product labels in traditional Chinese as most reliable and practical. Korean cosmetic product labels were viewed as most purchase-stimulating, popular, satisfactory, influential, and cost-effective. Cosmetic products with English labels were considered most attractive. Moreover, participants' purchase intentions were generally at a moderate level, while their product evaluations were medium-to-high; both purchase intentions and product evaluations were positively and moderately correlated. Furthermore, the amount of money spent on purchasing cosmetic products showed a positive and moderate correlation with the number of apps used by Taiwanese college students to understand cosmetic product labels. The present study provides practical suggestions for cosmetic companies regarding marketing strategies, particularly the choice of language, to enhance consumers' purchase intentions. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of the languages used in labeling in the cosmetics industry and suggest that companies should consider language preferences when targeting specific consumer markets.