Comparison of Design Preferences in the Hawaiian Shirt and Current Market

The Hawaiian shirt, also known as the Aloha shirt, is a short-sleeved, colorful shirt with traditional Polynesian designs (e.g., hibiscus, fish) originating in Hawai'i. The shirt was selected for study because it is a unique garment that originated in the Hawaiian Islands in the late $19^{th}$ and $20^{th}$ centuries and marketed as a tourist product but was eventually adopted as appropriate residential clothing by the $mid-20^{th}$ century, however with different aesthetic details. Today, it is assumed by Hawaiian Island residents that tourists demonstrate poor taste when selecting a Hawaiian shirt. The purposes of this study are to examine the validity of the assumption that tourist taste and resident taste in Hawaiian shirts are different and to investigate the current Hawaiian shirt market change. For this study, 555 questionnaires were obtained from tourists and residents, and 10 Hawaiian shirt retailers/wholesalers participated in in-depth interviews. The results indicated that differences do exist between tourists' and residents' preferences for print designs and colorway. The market change of Hawaiian shirts was also recognizable in that an increasing number of tourists select Hawaiian shirts similar to resident customers, as part of their routine lives rather than as holiday or vacation garments. Other differences in Hawaiian shirt shopping behavior included the findings that tourists consider fabrication less important than resident customers who consider fabrication more (i.e., cotton 100%). By using both quantitative and qualitative methods, this study contributes to the fashion design and marketing field as well as help manufacturers and retailers with their merchandise and distribution plans.