Effect of Design Modification and Color Scheme on Impression Formation of Traditional Korean Women's Clothing

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of design modification, decoration and color scheme of traditional Korean women's clothing on impression formation by 2 age groups of women. The instruments developed for the study were 2 sets of stimuli and a response scale. Stimuli I (design stimuli) consisted of 6 line drawings of female figures in Korean clothing and modified Korean style clothing, whereas stimuli II (color stimuli) consisted of 6 colored drawings of female figures in different color schemes. The 7-point semantic differential scale of 14 bipolar adjectives were used for the response scales. 144 female college students and 144 middle·aged women subjects were randomly assigned to one of 6 drawings from each set of stimuli. The data were analyzed by factor analysis, ANOVA and t-test. 1) There factors emerged to account for dimensions of design and color scheme, respectively. The first factor was interpreted as Evaluation/prestige both in design (stimuli I) and color scheme (stimuli II), the second factor was Modernity for stimuli I, and the third factor for stimuli I was Practicality. On the other hand, the Luxuriousness/Individuality was factor 2 and Modernity was factor 3 for stimuli ll. 2) Modification had the largest effect on impressions regarding design and decorated designs had a partial effect on the impression of Modernity and Practicality. The female figures in modified Korean style clothing were perceived as more prestigious, modern and practical than those in traditional Korean clothing. 3) Color schemes had little effect on impressions, while perceiver's age had a larger effect. Middle·aged women formed more positive impressions toward Korean clothing of various color schemes than female college students.