• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.800-810
• /
• 2014

In this study, the current status of product information of functional outdoor jackets in the hang-tags was investigated in perspective of consumer protection. Effectiveness and preferred alternatives to hang-tag information were also investigated. For the market survey, 1560 hang-tags from 676 functional outdoor jackets were investigated. For the effectiveness and preferred alternatives, 472 adults in their 20-60's were surveyed. The average number of hang-tags was 2.3 but 5.9% did not provide any product information. The contents included functional property of fabric; quality guarantee; brand introduction; product characteristics; instructions for care/usage; subsidiary material information, and they were different depending on end-use of jackets. Consumers strongly wanted explanations of the terms used in the hang-tag and could not accurately figure out the functions of the products from hang-tag information regardless of expression methods. The percentage of incorrect answer of 'figure/foreign language' method was extremely high. It is a noticeable feature of graph method that customers perceived that the graph was difficult to understand, but the percentage of correct answers was much higher than other methods, implying that graph method was possibly more useful at delivering accurate information to the customers who pursuit information. Customers strongly agreed to need of alternative methods and preferred an unified performance grade from selected functions based on the end-use of products. Customers also wanted to include the information of performance change after laundering. The results could provide practical insights to the consumers, companies, and the government to prepare proper guideline/policies for consumer protection.