This study examines the color tendencies of high-priced toddler's and children's clothing brands that are experiencing rapid growth despite the declining birth rate. It investigates the relationship between the harmony and luxuriousness of colors in t...
This study examines the color tendencies of high-priced toddler's and children's clothing brands that are experiencing rapid growth despite the declining birth rate. It investigates the relationship between the harmony and luxuriousness of colors in toddler's and children's clothing through subjective color image evaluations. By identifying the elements that consumers perceive as luxurious when dressing their children in premium children's clothing brands, suggestions are made to incorporate these elements into the color planning of mid-range to low-priced brand markets, where sales polarization is intensifying.
The overall color tendencies of outerwear, dresses, and bodysuits from high-priced domestic and international brands were analyzed. The main colors observed were in the R (Red), YR (Yellow Red), and Y (Yellow) ranges, with some presence of PB (Purple Blue) and B (Blue) ranges. The major hues were found to have high brightness and low chroma. They were evenly distributed in the ranges of medium brightness and low to medium chroma, but were not observed in the ranges of medium brightness and high chroma, as well as low brightness and low chroma.
The extracted colors from each brand were classified into the same tone or similar colors, and only colors that appeared three or more times were included in the classification. These classified colors were transformed into visual stimuli represented by the shape of garments to facilitate respondents' associations with clothing. The stimuli were placed on a neutral gray background N5.
The suitability of colors for toddler's and children's clothing, luxuriousness, and color harmony was investigated through online surveys. Respondents, who were adults aged 20 to over 50 with experience purchasing children's clothing, evaluated the stimuli of 10 brand colors using a 5-point Likert scale for three aspects. The survey targeted consumers who had experience purchasing children's clothing. The average values of color harmony and luxuriousness were analyzed for correlation, resulting in a strong correlation coefficient of r=0.91 between color harmony and luxuriousness. However, the average response values for color harmony and luxuriousness were in the mid-range, indicating a moderate perception of luxuriousness in the overall color survey. Furthermore, the subjective evaluation revealed that colors with low brightness and low chroma among the stimuli did not match well with toddler's and children's clothing and did not evoke a sense of color harmony.
In the overall color survey, the evaluated color harmony and luxuriousness scores of the extracted colors showed higher average values for domestic high-priced brands compared to international luxury brands. This implies that consumers perceive not only luxury itself but also a sense of luxury in brands that have been harmoniously planned in terms of color.
In order to investigate the secondary tendency of color harmony and evaluate the elements evaluated as "harmony" in previous studies by Ou and Luo (2006) and Lee (2015), which are related to color harmony, the most frequently investigated color in the same color range was selected from the colors collected in the first stage, which was pink, and a secondary analysis of color tendencies was conducted. The results of the secondary color tendency analysis for the same color range (pink) revealed that the commonly extracted main colors were in the R (Red) range, with domestic brands using pink in the RP (Red Purple) ⋅ R (Red) range and international brands using pink in the R (Red) ⋅ YR (Yellow Red) range. It was found that domestic brands were more distributed in the b direction compared to international brands. The main hues used in common were found to have high brightness and low chroma, and the hues of domestic brands were found to be closer to medium chroma compared to international brands. The overall survey questions, scales, and targets were conducted in the same way, and the analysis after the online survey showed a strong correlation coefficient of r = 0.94 between color harmony and luxuriousness, indicating a tendency for colors that are perceived as harmonious to be considered luxurious. Furthermore, it was analyzed that color combinations with small color differences and chroma differences, and high value differences showed a high correlation with the average values of survey responses, indicating that they create harmony and luxuriousness. Consumers who purchase toddler's and children's clothing showed a tendency to consider colors that are perceived as harmonious to be luxurious. It was shown that color combinations within the range of similar colors or within the same tone were perceived as luxurious, and when one of the factors in three attributes was fixed and color combinations were formed, it resulted in a perception of color harmony and luxuriousness. Analyzing the factors that make consumers perceive luxury among modern consumers who pursue luxury is very important in color planning, and for toddler's and children's clothing consumers, it is an important process to align the color image between the user and the purchaser. This study conducted subjective evaluations on the elements that consumers perceive as luxurious when purchasing high-priced toddler's and children's clothing and confirmed that color combinations with small color differences, chroma differences, and high value differences are perceived as harmonious and that harmonious color combinations can evoke a sense of luxury. It showed consistent results with the conclusion of the previous study by Cho (2005) that harmonious color combinations with small color differences and tone-on-tone color combinations, which have some commonality among color elements, are perceived as harmonious. It also indicated that factors that appear harmonious in adult fashion color harmony studies are applicable to children's clothing colors. Although proposals for harmonious color combinations or color combinations that evoke a sense of luxury have been studied extensively in previous research on adult fashion colors, the field of children's clothing colors has not been extensively explored. Thus, this study provides differentiation by focusing on the perception that greater harmony leads to a greater sense of luxury in toddler's and children's clothing colors, distinct from previous research on toddler's and children's clothing colors.