Abstract
In this study, the diffusion phenomenon of casual Hanbok which started in the mid 1990s and has been widely spread ever since with innovative features in design, materials, etc., was reviewed. Through the interviews of 45 People who have worn casual Hanbok the advantages and disadvantages of casual Hanbok related to its innovative characteristics were recorded and analyzed. Through the questionnaires distributed to 482 adults living in Seoul, Busan, and Darjeon, the factors related to the adoption of casual Hanbok were examined. The following are the results from the empirical study. First the adoption of contemporary casual Hanbok is due to the consumers′ positive response to the excellence of casual Hanbok′s various innovative characteristics. What the consumers perceived as innovative characteristics of casual Hanbok in the survey results validated the findings of the depth interview, identifying seven subcategories of the innovative characteristics of casual Hanbok; aesthetics, positive training effect on body and mind, difficulty in we, practicality, psychological attachment for "Our Clothes", economic efficiency, and symbolic compatibility. And consumers who think highly of such spiritual and identity values as national consciousness, nature affiliation, and community consciousness, had high evaluation to casual Hanbok However, consumers′ prejudice against Hanbok that Hanbok is for old people, uncomfortable, and not suitable to modern life, tuned out to have a negative influence on the adoption. From these results, it can be concluded that casual Hanbok of the late 1990s is a fashion with innovative characteristics, different from the one in the l980s worn by the demonstrators of popular movements and democratic movements, and it emerged as a new symbol with the characteristics of cultural movement like community consciousness and nature affiliation.
