아웃도어웨어의 컬러선택과 크로스오버 소비현상

Abstract

With the recent increase in interest in health, healing, travel, and spending leisure time with family in Korea, the number of consumers who enjoy outdoor activities, such as hiking and camping, has also increased, leading to significant annual growths in outdoor-related markets. The popularity of outdoor apparel is spreading widely as more consumers are recognizing that it can be used for not only climbing mountains but also for camping and other recreational pursuits because of its multi-functionality. Recent developments in technology have enriched the previously limited color palette of performance material used in apparel, thus enabling outdoor apparel companies to phase out black gradually and introduce more primary colors in their clothing lines. As such, consumers are presented with abundant choices in color selection, including bold colors not commonly seen in other categories of clothing. The aim of this study is to identify the factors influencing consumers’ outdoor wear color preferences by examining differences observed in their casual wear color selection. Subsequently, this research could define consumer characteristics that affect outdoor wear color selection by identifying consumers’ use and perception of outdoor wear. The present study employed Focus Group Interviews and online surveys. For the survey, questions from previous studies were revised and edited to suit the purpose of the current research. Factors affecting apparel color selection chosen by the purchase and expert groups in the FGIs were also used. The online survey was conducted with men and women in the age range of twenties to late fifties in the Seoul and Gyeonggi area who have purchased outdoor wear within the past year, which yielded 283 responses used in the final analysis. The findings indicated that consumers’ outdoor wear color preference differed in relation to clothing care requirements, preferred colors, emotions, and body shapes; gender, age, and degree of obesity played a significant role in the variation of preferences. Meanwhile, differences in consumers’ color selection between casual and outdoor wear could be attributed to a seasonal factor. The colors and color schemes generally preferred by consumers were represented in both outdoor and casual wear. However, outdoor wear jackets and tops have diverse variations in reds and oranges compared with casual wear. Meanwhile, black and other deep, dark colors were preferred for both outdoor wear bottoms and casual wear. As for seasonally preferred outdoor wear colors, yellows were prevalent for spring wear, blues for summer, bluish violets for fall, and black shades for winter. The preferred color schemes for spring and summer were pale, light, and vivid colors; for fall, vivid, deep, and dark colors; for winter, deep and dark colors. The colors selected for spring and summer were similar, as were the colors selected for fall and winter. As regards the desired image of consumers in relation to their attire, the ideal image expressed through outdoor wear was a combination of an idyllic but active lifestyle, whereas the key words for casual wear were elegance, urbanity, and maturity. Consumers pursued the same images associated with both outdoor and casual wear such as romantic, fashionable, feminine, masculine, plain, simple, and youthful, which could explain the widespread popularity of outdoor wear being worn as casual wear. In response to questions regarding the use of outdoor wear as casual wear (circumstance, appropriateness, and purpose), 86% of the respondents reported wearing outdoor wear as casual wear, and 60% of the respondents showed a positive attitude toward wearing outdoor wear as casual wear. The types of outdoor wear used as casual wear were jackets (61%), tops (26%), and bottoms (13%). Outdoor apparel was most commonly worn for leisure activities (42%) and outdoor activities (26%), but it was also worn when engaging in economic (11%), cultural (10%), social (7%), and educational activities (4%). Examining the seasonal use of outdoor wear by demographic factors did not reveal any difference in terms of gender; differences based on age and degree of obesity were found. In spring, summer, and fall, middle-aged people used outdoor wear the most; in winter, the obese group used outdoor wear the most. With regard to the view of using outdoor wear as casual wear, positivity was shown in relation to all activities except for economic ones. This study is expected to provide practical guidelines for color marketing and the development of products that meet consumers’ needs by presenting the preferred colors and color selection factors, which can be used for design development in the rapidly expanding outdoor wear industry. In addition, this study provided the images pursued by outdoor and casual wear consumer groups as well as images pursued by both, which can be used as important data for product positioning in the fashion industry. The analysis of consumer perception for using outdoor wear as casual wear and the differences in use based on consumer characteristics can be helpful in establishing marketing strategies and developing products that meet the characteristics of consumers.