Personal care products can be categorized differently depending on the definitions used by the target market.
It is unwise to assume that a cosmetic product in one territory, will automatically be defined as a cosmetic in another. The complexities of legislation and consumer perception mean the same product may reclassified as a drug or interface.
When developing personal care products, manufacturers must understand the way their product will be defined in the target market to ensure consumer acceptance and compliance.
The same personal care product can be categorized differently in different markets. It is important to understand the way the target market will define the product, in order to ensure acceptance by consumers and compliance with regulations, such as labeling.
To understand how the product will be received by the target market, manufacturers must view their personal care products from three distinct angles. They must consider:
- Definition
- Consumer perception
- Active Ingredients
In many cases, using these three criteria for assessing a product will help the manufacturer define and market their product. In some cases, however, the complexity inherent in the product means that classification is not always straight-forward. In this article we will consider definition, consumer perception and the active ingredients, along with some borderline products where classification can be difficult.
DEFINITION
In the European Union (EU),