The relationships between body-cathexis and clothing image preferences in male college students

남자대학생의 신체만족도와 의복이미지 선호의 관계연구

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between body-calthexis and clothing image preferences in male college students. The sample included 28 male college students and an instrument was developed based on the previous studies. The statistical analyses used for this study were factor analysis cluster analysis and t-test. The result of factor analysis showed that body-cathexis consisted of four areas of body parts: face/head upper body middle body and lower/total body. Clothing image preferences consisted of 'strong vs weak' 'soft vs hard' 'young vs mature' 'mannis vs feminine' and 'distinguished vs undistinguished' images. Cluster analysis revealed that male college students are segmented into two groups. and the two groups differed in regard to clothing image preferences such as 'strong vs weak' 'young vs mature' and 'mannish vs feminine' images. In addition the two consumer segments were different concerning body-cathexis for middle body and all body areas combined. The consumers who preferred feminine weak and mature clothing images were more satisfied with their middle area of the bodies and all body areas combined.