Korean and U.S. Female College Students Attitudes toward Apparel Advertisement in Magazines According to Physical Self-concept

한.미 여대생의 신체적 자아개념에 따른 의류잡지 광고태도

The present study attempted to compare the behavioral patterns and attitudes of American and Korean female students toward apparel ads in magazines in relation to their physical self-concept. The study used a self-administered questionnaire. The sample consisted of 730 female students majoring in the fields related to clothing and textiles : 310 American students at six colleges and universities located in the west, northeast and southwest parts of the U.S., and 412 Korean students at four Seoul-based universities. Likert scales were used for most measures with 1=never or very unimportant and 5 =always or very important. Physical self-concept was measured on the basis of W. S. Jung's Standardized Self-concept Test and Tennessee Self-concept Scale. Surreys were back translated for validity. Percentage, t-test, Contingency Tables and Chi-square were used for the analysis of the data. Results are as follows : (1) Korean students read more magazines than U.S. students, however, Vogue was the most popular for both groups. (2) Those with a high sense of Physical self-concept read more magazines. for both countries. (3) American students'attitudes toward apparel ads in magazines were similar, regardless of whether their sense of physical self-concept was high or low. For Koreans, those with higher sense of physical self-concept showed greater interest in magazine ads, consulted magazines for fashion trends, found ads more useful, and more often expressed satisfaction with the ads, than the lower self-concept group. (4) Korean students cited a lack of information in ads while American students felt body types of models were unrealistic. Both Koreans and Americans in the higher self-concept group expressed a greater level of dissatisfaction with apparel ads in magazines. (5) Advertisers should attempt to again a deeper understanding of the socio-psychological characteristics of their readership as self-concept appears to be related to several magazine readership attitudes and behaviors. Magazines targeting Americans might consider the importance of coordination and merchandising. Apparel ads targeting Korean should consider the importance of company ads.