Comparison of Japanese and Chinese Clothing Evaluations by Experts Taking into Account Marketability

Abstract

To better understand the reasons for the marketability of clothing now designed and sold in China and Japan, we asked Japanese and Chinese experts to evaluate Chinese and Japanese brands of clothing currently for sale in the Japanese market. The marketability of the Chinese apparel items in the Japanese market was evaluated by the Japanese experts. Five Japanese jackets were purchased from a department store in Tokyo, and ten items of Chinese clothing were purchased from a department store in Beijing. Five of the Chinese clothing samples were judged as impossible to sell in Japanese department stores primarily because the sewing quality was incompatible with Japanese requirements, the designs were outdated, and the materials were of low quality. However, the other five Chinese clothing samples received high evaluations of marketability in Japan. We found that Japanese experts focused on general design and sewing finish, while Chinese experts considered more general design points. Thus, our results indicate that clothing is evaluated differently in Japan and China. We conclude that it is necessary to consider the respective evaluation points used in each country as we pursue globalisation.

Trading Kuznets curve: empirical analysis for China

“…However, the widespread adoption of a low-priced leadership strategy by exporting companies led consumers to associate Chinese products with low quality (Karanfil 2015 ; Zhang and Su 2009 ). Researchers have presented the existing perception by comparing Chinese goods to both domestic and foreign goods in several countries (Franco and Roach 2018 ; Khan and Ahmed 2012 ; Kim et al 2015 ; Laforet and Chen 2012 ; Schniederjans et al 2004 ; Srivastava 2015 ; Watung 2014 ). Over time, consumers generalized this perception about all Chinese products, including those of higher quality (Barney and Zhang 2008 ).…”

Country of manufacture in garment marketability by Japanese and Chinese experts

“…Chinese manufacturers have recently begun producing their own garment brands, including high-end garments, to sell in China. Kim et al (2015) evaluated garments to investigate the differences in garment marketability between Japanese and Chinese garments and found that garment evaluation criteria differed depending on countries. The results showed that although the sewing quality in some of these garments was inadequate for the Japanese market at that time, some garments were evaluated as being marketable in the Japanese market.…”

Japanese–French tastes in simulated women’s sportswear t-shirts

“…Depending on those conceptions, fashion and tastes differ around the world (Yao et al , 2016). The same product can be seen differently from one country to another (Kim et al , 2014a, b; Kim, Nozawa and Takatera, 2015; Kim, Takatera, Zhu and Otani, 2015). Pattern making methods also differs depending on the country (Fujii et al , 2016).…”