Abstract
This study examines the effects of clothing style and the order effect on impression formation. The instrument of this study consisted of response scales and stimuli. Fifty-one items of 7-point semantic differential scales, 9 items of demographic traits, and 4 items of subjective evaluation scales were developed. Stimuli were color pictures of a model wearing each of two clothing styles(mannish style, feminine style). The sample include 56 male and female subjects in their twenties and thirties. The experimental design was within-subject design and the half of the sample responded to the mannish style first and the other half responded to the feminine style first. Responses to the semantic differential scales were factor analyzed, and seven factors were identified: intellectuality, sensibility, activity, modesty, competence, display, keenness. There were significant differences between mannish style and feminine style in impression of wearer＇s age, job, and physical attractiveness as well as wearer＇s intellectuality and sensibility. It was revealed that the first impression and second impression of wearer＇s intellectuality, sensibility, modesty, competence, display were differed by the function of the order of stimuli shown to the subjects. Both primacy effect and recency effect of order effect were confirmed, and especially negativity effect was influenced prominently on impression formation.
