The Effect of Culture Change on Smartphone Color Preference

Abstract

Background : Culture has an impact on the relationship between a product and an individual, including the individual’s color preferences regarding the product. In contrast to prior research that focused only on differences in product color preferences, this research discusses not only cultural differences in color preference but also how these preferences change depending on the cultural context. Methods : To investigate color preference differences and changes in color preference, we designed three questionnaires on color preferences for smartphones. For the first questionnaire, the Japanese and Korean participants reported their color preferences after observing mockups of smartphones. For the second questionnaire, the Japanese and South Korean participants were asked to draw an “ideal image” of a smartphone, using eight colored crayons. For the last questionnaire, we reused the first questionnaire to investigate the cases of Koreans who had lived in Japan for over a year, in order to see whether their preferences had changed according to changes in their culture. Result : The results of the first questionnaire demonstrate that the Korean and Japanese participants differed in their smartphone color preferences. The results of the drawing questionnaire further revealed that Japanese and Korean customers expect different kinds of products when they think of “smartphones.” The results of the last questionnaire indicated that the smartphone color preferences of Koreans who had lived in Japan for over a year were similar to those of the Japanese, not the Korean participants. Conclusions : The results reveal the cultural differences in smartphone color preferences between Koreans and Japanese. Further, they indicate that changes in a person’s cultural background lead to changes in that person’s smartphone color preference.