• International Journal of Costume and Fashion
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.49-62
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• 2015

The purpose of the study was to investigate jean consumption among middle-aged Korean women and the characteristics of consumers as potential jean consumers. The data were collected from the survey of 238 Korean women aged 45 to 64 years old. The respondents prefer outlet store to other retail outlets and wear jeans mainly for travel, grocery shopping, and outing. The main reason for not wearing jeans is body change, which leads to poor fit in abdomen and waist area. The sample was clustered into two groups based on interest in jeans: high-interest and low-interest group. From the examination of group differences, the high-interest group rated conformity/brand reputation, scarcity, and attractiveness of appearance significantly higher compared to the low-interest group among the five clothing benefits pursued. No difference was found in obesity and body satisfaction. Group differences were found in recent purchase, price, number of jeans owned, and frequency of wearing jeans. The results suggest the characteristics of the potential jean market among middle-aged women in Korea. Implications are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.65 no.8
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• pp.1-21
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to investigate the self-image of men and the characteristics of their fashion styles, as they are fast becoming an influential consumer group. Men in the thirties and forties who had a higher-than-average interest in fashion were surveyed online and the results from this study are as follows. In terms of variations of self-image connected to situations, we found that there were strong relationships between the preference of the "charming & romantic" image to private meet-ups with acquaintances, "intelligent & classy" to official events, "rational & realistic" to everyday work in an official setting, and "modest & ordinary" to complex situations including family occasions and customary events. Those who aimed for "urban refinement - sensitive" appeal also preferred a "charming & romantic" self-image, while pursuing a "classic & modern" fashion style for official settings and a "gentle & charming" style in private settings. Those who aimed for "stable elegance - intelligent" youth" image preferred the "intelligent & classy" image, while pursuing a "stable & intelligent" fashion style in official settings, and an "intelligent yet active & young" style in private settings. Those who aimed for "rational practicality - comfortable activity" image preferred a "rational & realistic" self-image, while pursuing a "rational & practical" fashion style in official settings, and a "comfortable & active" style in private settings. Those who aimed for "ordinary modesty - plain simplicity"preferred a modest and ordinary self-image, while pursuing an ordinary fashion style, and a simple style in private settings. The various situational assessments used in this study to analyze the fashion-related circumstances for male consumers can be utilized in upcoming studies, and can be an effective indicator of situational consumer preferences in terms of men's fashion marketing and product planning strategies.

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.173-184
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• 2015

This study examined the impacts of the cultural proximity of Chinese consumers on the image of both country and product, and investigated how they are related to purchase intention of Korea fashion. Subjects were Chinese female consumers in their 20s and 30s, living in Yangtze River delta and Seoul. The results of the study were as follows: 1) The cultural proximity had a significant influence on the country image and fashion product image. Chinese consumers with more emotional proximity had more positive attitude towards country image, such as politics, economics, technology, cultures and people image. And consumers who had higher interest in Korea and Korean culture evaluated the quality, design, value and reputation of Korean fashion more positively. 2) Chinese consumers with positive attitude towards people, technology and culture image seemed to prefer fashion product. Specifically, the dimensions of country image had a different influence on the fashion product image such as product quality, design, value, reputation. 3) The Korea country image and fashion product image had also affected on purchase intention of Korean fashion products. Consumers with positive attitude towards people and technology image had higher purchase intention of Korea fashion products. And consumers with positive attitude towards reputation, value and design of fashion products had higher purchase intention of fashion products.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.799-809
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• 2021

This study aimed to grasp the perceptions and trends in fashion platforms and fashion smart factories using big data analysis. As a research method, big data analysis, fashion platform, and smart factory were identified through literature and prior studies, and text mining analysis and network analysis were performed after collecting text from the web environment between April 2019 and April 2021. After data purification with Textom, the words of fashion platform (1,0591 pieces) and fashion smart factory (9750 pieces) were used for analysis. Key words were derived, the frequency of appearance was calculated, and the results were visualized in word cloud and N-gram. The top 70 words by frequency of appearance were used to generate a matrix, structural equivalence analysis was performed, and the results were displayed using network visualization and dendrograms. The collected data revealed that smart factory had high social issues, but consumer interest and academic research were insufficient, and the amount and frequency of related words on the fashion platform were both high. As a result of structural equalization analysis, it was found that fashion platforms with strong connectivity between clusters are creating new competitiveness with service platforms that add sharing, manufacturing, and curation functions, and fashion smart factories can expect future value to grow together, according to digital technology innovation and platforms. This study can serve as a foundation for future research topics related to fashion platforms and smart factories.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.33-49
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• 2022

In the metaverse, it is important to embellish aesthetics of user with a character called 'Avatar', a virtual representation of the user. This study provides basic data related to the fashion trend of the metaverse by studying 'Zepeto', a representative Korean platform. For empirical research, Zepeto's "Best Items" section were investigated and analyzed in the first pre-survey. Based on this, the second and main survey was conducted using a questionnaire to investigate users' style-specific preferences and purchasing behaviors for virtual fashion, comparing style preferences between virtual and real, brand preferences, and purchasing behaviors of virtual fashion. The survey found that most users were teenage girls with a high preference for pastel-toned, feminine, and cute casual styles who had a much higher interest in brands bearing idol names than in real-world luxury brands. Many responded that they felt burdened by purchasing items that had to be purchased for cash. The same can be assumed to be the reason why they preferred a suit of items that were fully coordinated rather than individual items. These results seem to reflect characteristics of teenage girls who lack cash with a high preference for idols and feminine-cute casual styles. This study suggests considerations when creating virtual fashion items. By providing basic information, more effects and developments in creating virtual fashion items that reflect consumer preferences and reactions are expected in the future.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.1-14
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• 2024

Within the metaverse platform, users engage in communication with others through 'avatars' reflecting their own identities. Users experience various virtual fashion items through avatars, and the fashion industry anticipates avatars wearing virtual fashion items as an emerging business opportunity. Many fashion brands are currently releasing virtual fashion items specifically designed for avatars. In this study, we examined the impact of user identification with their avatar on their perception of the attributes of virtual fashion items (investment attractiveness, scarcity, playfulness, and aesthetics) and its influence on behavioral intentions. The research involved a survey of 250 females with prior knowledge of the metaverse. Structural equation modeling analysis was conducted to examine research hypotheses and validate the model. The results confirmed that as users within the metaverse perceive greater identification with their avatar, they also perceive the attributes of virtual fashion items more favorably. This finding affirms the self-reference effect, where users positively evaluate objects associated with themselves. Additionally, perceiving the attributes of virtual fashion items was found to be positively linked to purchase intentions for virtual products and actual interest in the brand. Lastly, a higher intention to purchase virtual fashion items was associated with forming a more favorable attitude toward the respective brand. Consequently, this study provides academic and practical implications for marketing strategies within the metaverse, emphasizing the active utilization of avatars and elements that facilitate user-avatar identification for effective engagement.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.1647-1657
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• 2010

This study examines underwear purchase behaviors and the attitude of male consumers based on the degree of interest in appearance. Data research was conducted on 296 males in their 20s and 30s located in Seoul & Gyeonggi province. The SPSS 17.0 software program was used to conduct data analyses such as descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, factor analysis, cluster analysis, t-test, and $\chi^2$-test. The results of this study are as follows: The degree of interest in appearance was identified with four factors; outfit management, confidence of figure, interest in clothing, weight control, and disinterest in appearance. Customers were segmented into two subdivisions: high and low interest in appearance. The factors derived from the factor analysis of underwear purchase motive included aesthetic, impulsiveness, and practicality. The purchase behavior of the group with high interest in appearance was highly motivated by aesthetics and impulsiveness. The factors derived from the factor analysis of underwear attitude included fashionability, comfortableness, and quality. Customers were segmented into the following three subdivisions: pursuit of comfortableness, pursuit of diversity, and normal. The type of high interest in appearance regarded fashionability and quality highly. Finally, the degree of interest in appearance showed significant relevance in purchase motive and underwear attitude for underwear.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.30
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• pp.167-181
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• 1996

Towards the second half of 20th century the fashion market has become increasely fragmented reflecting the pluality of cultures. As a result style no longer had time to accrue individuality and so people lost interest. In the aftermath of this fashion has turned its atten-tion to its materials for inspiration and inno-vation. Taking their inspiration for new working designers have began to explore diverse materials and expressive techniques of tex-ture. Textural expression can change the im-age of a garment even on with the same structural design. This study is to present the crinkle express-ive technique of texture through the applied examples in contemporary fashion and related backgrounds. The result of this study testified the import-ance of texture as plastic element through various techniques of crinkle; 1) creasing technique is reminiscent of the delphos of Fortuny by modern materials 2) twisting tech-nique is that finished garment is twisted and crumpled by hand 3) shirnking technique is recreated method that is crushed and tied for granting the human touch to the material.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.78-89
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• 2004

With 100 collegians residing in Busan, a shoes wearing survey was held. Out of the subjects, 50 women collegians showing some interest in fashion sneakers were chosen to reveal the effects of shoes size changes on walking patterns and wearing sense. This study focused on the fitness of sneakers produced the following results: 1. Survey Results of Shoes Wearing The subjects had some room in wearing sneakers or athletic shoes, including $20{\sim}30mm$ (33%). Just 25% of the subjects reported about the experience of falling, and 67.6% had difficulty walking on downhills. 50% felt feet fatigue difference when wearing fitting and unfitting shoes. 2. Analysis of Walking Patterns & Survey Results of Wearing Sense No significance was found among shoes sizes in left and right step angles. Step width measurement revealed no significance among shoes sizes. Significance ($p{\le}.05$) existed among shoes sizes in steps and strides. Significance ($p{\le}.001$) was noticed among shoes sizes in wearing sense.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.40-51
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• 2021

There is a growing interest in ethical consumption, and consumers are demanding high levels of CSR for their companies. Transparent provision of corporate information among various areas of CSR is also an important topic in the recent consumption situation. In the global fashion industry, it is also a type of radical corporate transparency and ethical management, led by several advanced startups such as Everlane. As a result, the production process is being disclosed. This study empirically analyzes the influence of this fashion product process transparency on the consumer evaluation of the company. According to a survey of 200 Korean respondents, the transparency of the presented fashion firms had a positive effect on corporate trust and purchase intention. It was confirmed that it has. On the other hand, consumer involvement, which has been discussed as an important personal attribute in the associated consumption environment, has no significant moderating effect. In other words, consumers' subjective corporate ethics involvement did not have a significant influence on their corporate transparency evaluation.