헤어스타일 결정에 영향을 미치는 개인적 요인과 헤어태도에 관한 연구

Abstract

ABSTACT

Research on the Effects of Individual Factors and Hair Attitudes on Hair Style Decisions

By : Kim, Mi-sun Advisor : Prof. Choe, Young-Hoon Department of Arts Graduate School of Chosun University

As our concerns for appearance have increased with the development of mass media, so has the importance of hair styles. Of the various methods of expressing the value of beauty, e.g., through dresses, hair, make-up, etc., hair styles play the most important role in appearance because face structure and a person's image can be perceived differently by hair styles due to the proximity of hair to the face. In addition, appearance does not simply express the pursuit of beauty but it also has social meanings as a form of self-expression and communication, expressing personal traits and characteristics, establishing positive impression and trust in relationships, and stating individual and collective identity. With more emphasis put on the importance of hair styles, a variety of research has been conducted in the field. However, despite the various existing hair styles there has been lack of clear distinction among them, resulting in different definitions having been used by researchers, which makes it hard to reach objective conclusions of research findings. Moreover, more scientific and systematic approach is needed in determining a person's image based on design elements for hair styles. The present study was conducted with the following objectives. First, the study sought to provide a solid basis for developing and applying hair-related design by classifying hair styles into six patterns based on artistic trends and design elements as the factors affecting hair styles. Second, as the factors of changing hair styles, the study explored affective factors and the pursuit of benefits as preceding variables in that hair styles can form a person's image to others and that research is needed on value and benefits that a person intends to get with a hair style and on personal traits since changing hair styles is affected by the person's subjective thoughts and judgment. Third, the study attempted to investigate the factors that affect hair style-changing behavior through path analysis by examining what kinds of attitudes the affective factors that an individual perceives through hair style experiences and his or her pursued benefits form and how the formed hair attitudes lead to actual hair style-changing behavior though intention to change hair styles. Fourth, the study sought to look into how perceived consumer satisfaction has the individual react to fads and social demand by examining the role of satisfaction with the present hair style as mediating of hair attitudes affecting intention to change the present hair style. To analyze artistic trends and design elements of hair styles, an in-depth literature review was conducted using books, articles, and internet materials on hair styles, based on which actual hair style patterns were classified. In addition, questionnaires were conducted with 240 females in their 20's to 50's, which were used for path analysis of the factors that affect hair style changes. The findings of the study are as follows: First, as to hair style patterns, the present study classified and defined 6 style patterns based on prior research: modern style, romantic style, natural styles, classic style, ethnic style, and sexy style. The study also provided relevant cases and design elements of the style patterns. Second, the analysis of the individual's characteristics showed that most of the respondents had round (60.27%) or long (19.54%) faces, the most common face structures for Orientals. Their most common hair style was the natural style (29.91%), and their most favorite was the modern hair style (25%). The results can be understood as a fad-following phenomenon, reflecting the short hair fad shown in recent TV dramas and movies with actresses such as Kim Namjoo, Kim Hesoo, and Hwang Jungeum. As to the most important factor for hair style changes was “to look pretty"(59%), which indicates that the pursuit of beauty is the strongest factor of increasing concerns for hair and fashion and that aesthetic sense bears great significance. Third, the correlation among the characteristics showed that the effect of the style in fashion or the preferred style was not strong enough to change hair styles. Moreover, the face structure did not play a great role in changing hair styles. The hair styles that were either in fashion or pursued in reference groups were different, and it can be speculated that their influence played an important role in deciding on the hair style. Fourth, regarding the effect of affective factors and pursued benefits on hair attitudes, only diversion and control of the affective factors showed a significant effect, and so did hair dependence and functional benefits. The results seem to be related to the novelty effect as a characteristic of fad and the aspect of going ahead of others. Affective factors and pursued benefits both negatively affected conformity These results seem to indicate that since alignment has characteristics of following social norm, it is not affected by personal psychology or internal value. Hair dependence showed a significant effect on character pursuit, which implies that personal aesthetic value judgment can lead to actual behavior that matches a person's character because whether the hair is good or bad can affect behavior. All the psychological benefits, diversion, hair dependence, and functional benefits, showed positive effects on the pursuit of aesthetic sense. The finding ascertains that in essence the most powerful reason for seeking beautify is to look pretty and that the most important factor of changing hair styles is ‘to look pretty’, which is discussed before. However, it does not seem to be affected by temporary emotions, considering that the feeling of pleasure, diversion, and control that were felt through hair style changes did not show a significant effect. Fifth, hair attitudes significantly affected character pursuit and the pursuit of aesthetic sense only, in the causal relationship of hair attitudes to actual behavior changes through hair style-changing intention. Character pursuit seems to lead to behavior because of its characteristics as something new and innovativeness that can separate an individual from others. However, the negative effect of fad pursuit suggests that people pursue a style that can make them look pretty in accordance with their individual characteristics rather than blindly following the popular style. Sixth, regarding the effect of hair attitudes on the intention to change the present hair style, the degree of satisfaction with the present hair style showed a positive mediating effect on alignment pursuit and aesthetic pursuit. These results indicate that as for the aesthetic sense, if the present style is right for the person and makes him or her look pretty, the individual maintains the style without any changes. The findings of the study showed that attitudes toward hair styles are affected in part by the individual's psychological attributes (affective and psychological pursuit of benefits) and that the desire for aesthetic pursuit is most strongly based on subjective judgment. In addition, the finding that the personal style changes by fad were not significantly affected by the actual fad itself indicates that it is necessary for marketing to modify the popular style and present it with its variations that can meet the individual's subjective judgment. Finally, the effect of the reference group on fad should be further investigated in future studies in line with eliciting behavior changes.