The global rise of Korean skincare products (K-beauty) has transformed the beauty community and heavily impacted the Western market. These products have gained massive popularity amongst American consumers and are easily accessible in major retailers and online stores, where they are often featured in designated K-beauty sections. This study employs a mixed-methods survey to examine whether consumers can accurately distinguish K-beauty from American skincare products based on packaging and branding cues by implementing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). 180 female- identifying U.S. skincare consumers recruited via Prolific responded to measures related to Theory of Planned Behavior constructs (attitudes, perceptions, subjective norms, behavioral intentions). Participants then viewed skincare packaging images, identified the perceived country of origin, and indicated which design cues informed their decisions. After preliminary data analysis, the results indicated that the constructs were all positively correlated and statistically significant. The data showed that participants were less accurate in identifying Korean packaging (38.5% accuracy) compared to identifying U.S. packaging (70.6% accuracy). This difference likely reflects greater familiarity with the visual design conventions used in domestic skincare brands. Participants identified visual cues that contributed to their country-of-origin guesses. However, given the frequent inaccuracies in identifying K-beauty, these cues more likely reflect culturally influenced assumptions about design rather than accurate knowledge of international brand aesthetics. This study contributes a creative and applied dimension to TPB-based consumer research by exploring design elements as intentional components of the study. The results advise K-beauty brands that their designs can be more reflective of Korean culture, further allowing them to succeed. The findings informed development of an in-store design experience that demonstrates Korean cultural aesthetics.
