International Visitors' Aesthetic Preferences for Hawaiian Printed Fabrics

Abstract

The diversity of Hawai'i's visitors and unexamined assumptions about their preferences for features of the Islands' distinctive apparel products led to a study of the impact of national culture on visitors' assessments of design elements typical in aloha shirt fabrics. Computer technology was used to manipulate design variables of representative fabrics, and a questionnaire based on these variables was administered to an intercept sample of 231 Hawai'i visitors from Australia, China, Japan, Korea, and the mainland United States. Subjects responded to thirty statements about print characteristics by indicating agreement on 5-point Likert-type scales. Significant differences existed among national groups' preferences for print features, including aesthetic character, motifs, colors, and size of print elements. Marketers of regionally distinctive apparel products are urged to approach visitor markets as heterogeneous national groups. Apparel scholars are encouraged to develop modes of research that accommodate the diversity of consumers' aesthetic responses with the complexity of visual stimuli.