Investigation of bathing habits and consumer's needs for bathing towel - Focusing on aged from the 20's to 50's women in urban area -

목욕습관실태 및 목욕타올에 대한 요구도 조사 - 20대에서 50대까지의 도시여성을 대상으로 -

The purpose of this study is to investigate bathing habits and behaviors, and to find out consumers' needs for washcloth, which in this case refers to Korean exfoliating cloth for bathing purpose. Subjects of this study were females of 20s to 50s living in urban area. Four hundred and twenty-six (426) women were interviewed with a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed by ANOVA, factor analysis, correlation analysis, MDS. The results of this study are briefly summarized as follows: The most popular bathing type was shower (84.9%). Personal hygiene was one of the commonest purpose of bathing, and other purposes included health maintenance, stress alleviation, and beauty in order. Dimensions of consumer needs for washcloth were extracted from factor analysis as following properties: tactile, tough, aesthetic, constructive, and hygienic. The preference for washcloth type was related to skin type. "Non-skin damage property" was the most important parameter to choose washcloth and the other parameters included massage effect, tactile property, foaming property, and easy-to-use property.