In recent years, the number of Japanese companies that have launched or want to launch their products on Amazon in the U.S. has been increasing, and we have received many inquiries from clients wanting to understand potential customers there. In order to see what U.S. consumers value, Koeeru Global conducts overseas omnibus surveys. In this case, we were interested in how U.S. consumers viewed skincare products, an area in which we have received many inquiries recently.

High Income U.S. Consumers Value Effectiveness and Reviews More Than Brand or Place of Production

Q: What do you look for when purchasing skincare products online?

Excluding those who do not purchase skincare products online (35% of men and 23% of women), the most important factors for U.S. skincare buyers are product effectiveness and reviews from other customers. This is particularly true among women and high-income earners, who are more likely to purchase products online. On the other hand, famous brand names, places of origin, and organic products do not seem to be as important.

Forget Made in Japan! The Key Words for U.S. Consumers are Moisturizing and Anti-Aging

Q: When purchasing skincare products online, which keywords motivate you to buy them?

Understanding the keywords that capture the consumer’s mind is very important in web marketing. The results of the survey show that the top choices for women are moisturizing, anti-aging, and oil-free. In comparison, for men, the keywords were formulated for men, moisturizing, and high quality. Men, in particular, were more likely to choose “other”, suggesting that there are more effective keywords than the choices on hand. On the other hand, keywords such as luxurious or made in Japan were less important, regardless of gender, age, or income. This suggests that U.S. consumers tend to place more importance on actual effectiveness than on luxury or just being made in Japan.

What is Important for the U.S. Skincare Market?

The above two questions alone give us an idea as to what U.S. consumers are looking for, regardless of gender, age, or annual income. Based on this, we can make the following hypotheses:

(1) Descriptions of ingredients or place of origin are clearly not as important as those related to the effectiveness of the product (moisturizing: 15-17%, anti-aging: 21-24%). Therefore, landing pages and product descriptions that emphasize how effective the ingredients are in these two categories may be better than just listing out what’s inside.

(2) Similarly, products that are made in Japan are just not that important for Americans (0-4%), but high quality is of much greater importance (12-15%). Therefore, it might be a good idea to emphasize Japan’s commitment to quality in its products.

(3) Compared to other categories, product reviews and word of mouth information seems to be quite important (21%), so for new companies entering the market, it might be a good idea to try to get as many reviews as possible quickly.

Survey Design

• Target Country: U.S.A.
• Target Population: Male and female consumers, aged 18-79
• Number of people surveyed: 1,000
• Survey time: August 20, 2018 – August 23, 2018
• Survey Method: Internet Survey (Koeeru Global Omnibus Survey)

Koeeru Global Trends regularly presents the results of global surveys conducted by Koeeru and Koeeru’s partners using our international research system.

If you have any questions about the data or would like to request a reprint, please contact us.

First Published: 2018-09-07

Revised: 2023-06-29