Inner beauty supplement label information cues, consumer trust, and purchase intentions: cross-sectional evidence from South Korean consumers.

INTRODUCTION

Health supplement labels serve as a critical psychological interface through which consumers process health-relevant information and form trust judgments. This cross-sectional study examines how perceived label information cues are associated with consumer trust and self-reported purchase intentions among inner beauty supplement consumers in South Korea. Drawing on the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) as an information-processing framework and Signaling Theory as a framework for perceived credibility, the study focuses on five label cue types: functional emphasis, outcome-focused expression, scientific evidence expression, emotional expression, and visual label credibility.

METHODS

A quantitative survey was administered to 502 consumers who had purchased and consumed inner beauty supplements within the preceding 6 months. Data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, multiple regression, and both separate and integrated bootstrapped indirect association analyses.

RESULTS

The CFA results supported the seven-factor measurement model, and additional validity diagnostics supported construct reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. All five label cue types were positively associated with consumer trust. Functional emphasis, scientific evidence expression, emotional expression, and visual label credibility were also uniquely associated with purchase intention in the multiple regression model, whereas outcome-focused expression was not. Separate bootstrapped indirect association models showed significant indirect associations through consumer trust for all five cue types. In the integrated model, functional emphasis, scientific evidence expression, and emotional expression retained significant indirect associations through consumer trust, whereas outcome-focused expression and visual label credibility did not.

DISCUSSION: These indirect association findings should be interpreted as statistical indirect associations rather than as evidence of causal pathways, mechanisms, or exclusive indirect effects. Overall, the findings provide cross-sectional evidence that perceived label cues, product credibility, and purchase intentions are closely related in the inner beauty supplement context.