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Commodity display is an important cue for consumers’ prediction of the goods they purchase. Then why does a neat display (compared to a messy one) usually result in better product evaluation? This paper aims to discuss this issue.

By conducting three lab experiments, the authors proved the existence of “the pictorial effect.” In Study 1, the authors used Chinese knots as the material. Chinese knots are commonly used in decoration; therefore, their appearance is of high importance. The authors set a scenario of purchasing Chinese knots to dismantle for teaching how to knot, thus manipulating the importance of appearance into lower condition. The authors measured subjects’ attitude to display picture and product quality evaluation and examine the existence of “the pictorial effect.” In Study 2, the authors changed material to a functional product in daily life – playing cards. The authors used different usage scenarios to manipulate the importance of the playing cards’ appearance (high vs low). For the low importance group, the scenario is playing poker in a dormitory at the weekend; for the high importance group, the scenario is using playing cards to make a hat for a party. The authors add measurements of consumers’ perception of the popularity of product. Study 2 consolidates the conclusion of Study 1 and excludes the popularity inference effect. In Study 3, the authors used a comb as the material, thus manipulating the importance of product appearance through the different instructions on the comb’s packaging (focus on healthy function vs focus on hair appearance enhancement). Study 3 repeated the conclusion in Study 1 and Study 2, and proved the existence of a “display pictorial effect” by showing the main effect, mediation and moderating effect as well.

Current research brings forward the existence and conditions of “the pictorial effect,” i.e. when the goods are neatly displayed (relative to messily), the consumer’s attitude toward the display becomes more positive, hence leading to a higher product evaluation, and the consumer’s attitudes toward the display fully mediate “the pictorial effect”. However, “the pictorial effect” does not always occur; for the importance of the product, appearance plays a moderator role in the effect. If the consumer thinks the product appearance is not important, “the pictorial effect” could not be observed, which means there is no difference in product evaluation between messy and neat display of the commodity, and only when the product appearance is important, does the pictorial effect occur.

The authors have noticed that display is part of the retail environment; therefore, research on how an environment affects human behavior may be valuable to reference. For example, for the experiment designs, especially Study 2, the authors asked participants to imagine making a hat using playing cards, which is a very creative task. In this task, participants may pay attention to creativity, and this may have an effect on product evaluation. According to Vohs et al., orderly environments lead people toward tradition and convention, whereas disorderly environments encourage breaking with tradition and convention – and that both settings can alter preferences, choice, and behavior. Messy displays may favor the product evaluation of some creative products when the situation requires higher creativity. The authors will attempt to test the effect of this factor in future study.

In application, current research supports “the necessity of tally” in the site management of retailing, and further answers the question as to what kind of products need more effort to be kept in a good order in their displays.

For the first time, the authors put forward “the pictorial effect” in product displays. The research provides insight to the underlying process through which merchandise displays can put an effect on the product evaluation, and supplements the contamination theory and popularity theory, thus contributing to the research works on merchandise displays.

The purpose of this paper is to quantitatively evaluate the effect of adhesive interlining on the appearance of tailored jackets with different rigidity.

Four tailored jackets having the same pattern and fabric and three different adhesive interlinings or no adhesive interlining were prepared as experimental samples. Criteria and characteristics for assessing jacket appearance were investigated in sensory tests. A paired comparison of the jacket appearance was conducted using a ranking method. Smoothness and constriction values were proposed and obtained using three-dimensional shape data. The smoothness value refers to the degree of wrinkling on the jacket surface and the constriction value refers to the degree of constriction of the waistline. A quantitative assessment model of jacket appearance was proposed using multiple regression analysis.

The sensory test reveals that the number of wrinkles, acceptability of wrinkling and degree of constriction of the waist are important criteria in the assessment of jacket appearance. The smoothness value for the front body and the constriction value of the waist partially agreed with the normal scores of sensory test results. Sensory evaluation values for the entire jacket appearance were estimated employing multiple regression analysis with the constriction and smoothness values. The values of jacket appearance estimated using multiple regression analysis were in good agreement with the sensory test results.

Criteria and characteristics to be used in the assessment of the appearance of a jacket with adhesive interlining were clarified. Employing the proposed methodology, it is possible to predict jacket appearance for different adhesive interlinings, quantitatively.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify changes in the appearance of a ready-made tailored jacket due to changes in the ease allowance and determine suitable ranges of the ease allowance for the jacket.

Images were taken of the front, side and back of a jacket placed on a dress form with varying sizes of bust, waist and hips. The authors observed the appearance of the jacket for the different sizes of the dress form. A sensory evaluation of the suitable range of ease allowance for the jacket involving 20 female Japanese university students was carried out. The evaluation items were the fit, beauty, comfort and purchase intention.

The jacket appearance was lowly evaluated if there were many wrinkles and highly evaluated if there was a curved silhouette. Changes in bust, sleeve and waist parts affected the evaluation of the suitable ranges of ease allowance. The suitable range of ease allowance varied depending on the jacket part and viewing direction. In terms of fit, the suitable ease allowance ranged between 5.6 and 9.9 percent for the bust, between 7.6 and 17.8 percent for the waist and between 2.6 and 8.6 percent for the hips. The suitable ranges were determined considering the wrinkling and silhouette in these parts.

Suitable ranges of ease allowance of a tailored jacket were determined by evaluating a jacket for 11 dress form sizes of the bust, nine sizes of the waist and seven sizes of the hips, at 2 cm intervals. The obtained suitable ease allowance ranges are useful to manufacturers in terms of garment design and to customers in terms of selecting suitable garments.

This study investigated changes in appearance due to variations in the amount of ease allowance at the bust, waist and hips with ready-made women's shirts in two different styles. The authors also examined the suitable range for ease allowance with those two styles using a sensory test for evaluating appearance.

The authors employed two women's shirts (samples I and II) in different styles (fit and straight). The authors modified the size of the bust, waist and hips with a changeable-size dress form using 1-cm intervals. The authors observed the shape changes. With the pictures at 2-cm intervals, the authors conducted a sensory test to evaluate appearance. 20 Japanese university students in their 20s made their assessments using seven items (wrinkles, fit, silhouette, beauty, fashionable impression, comfort and purchase intention) with a five-point scale. The proportion of subjects who scored 1 or more was 40% or greater when using ease allowance in the suitable range.

The appropriate ranges of ease allowance differed according to the style and evaluation items. Regarding appearance and purchase intention with sample I from the front, the suitable range of ease allowance was 1–7 cm for the bust, 2–6 cm for the hips and 13 cm for the waist. From the side, the range was 0–6 cm for the hips and 7 cm for the bust. With sample II from the front, the suitable range of ease allowance was about 4 cm for all parts. From the side, the range was 11 cm for the bust and 4 cm for the hips.

Using a dress form, the authors determined suitable ranges of ease allowance for two women's shirts in fit and straight styles with seven bust, six waist and six hip sizes. The authors found that the suitable range of ease allowance varied according to the style, direction and parts of the shirt. Our results can act as a guideline for designing and selecting ease allowance for women's shirts, taking into account comfort from appearance, purchase intention and beauty.

As a first step towards objective evaluation of garment appearance, the present work considered seams on three‐dimensional surfaces which simulate actual garment surfaces. The geometric profiles of the 3‐D seams were scanned using a laser scanner. 1‐D and 2‐D digital filters were applied to obtain pucker signals from the geometric profiles by removing “high frequency” components due to fabric surface texture and “low frequency” components due to garment silhouette and drape. The advantages and disadvantages of the 1‐D and 2‐D digital filters are compared. Four physical parameters are examined to see their relevance to the subjective pucker grade. It was found that log(σ²), i.e. the logarithm of the variance of the heights of pucker signals, is the best set of physical parameters for the objective evaluation of seam pucker. In addition, latest attempts at capturing and analyzing 3D garment image using a Cyberware laser scanner and Surfacer software are reported.

Examines the cross‐national applicability of a model of the effects of country of origin and brand name on consumers’ evaluations of a product. Specifically, investigates the structures of country‐of‐origin and brand effects on the evaluation of a new automobile by German and French car owners. Uses a multi‐group structural equation modelling approach to assess the invariance of the proposed model across countries. Reports findings indicating both the factor structure and the structural model relationships are invariant, thus providing support for the hypothesis of the model’s cross‐national generalizability. Also notes that both brand name and country of origin turned out to have a significant impact on consumers’ evaluations of the automobile. Discusses the implications of the study for international manufacturing decisions and new product development.

Visual and subjective methods for evaluation of surface appearance irregularity of chemically bonded nonwovens are compared. The image analysis system LUCIA is used for estimation of characteristics describing appearance. The analysis of subjective and objective estimates of surface appearance irregularity is realized by the coefficient of variation and by the ANOVA type model.

This paper aims to overview the current status of development and application of digital image processing technology used for the yarn hairiness evaluation.

Digital image processing technology is one of the new methods used for the yarn detection, which can be used for the digital characterization and objective evaluation of yarn appearance. The comparison between the traditional detection methods and this new developed method was made and analyzed.

Compared with the traditional methods, image-based methods have the advantages of being objective, fast and accurate. Therefore, it was proved that digital image processing techniques should be a new trend in terms of the yarn appearance evaluation.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors affecting the impression of elegance of a jacket’s appearance.

A questionnaire survey on the impression of jacket appearance was conducted using images of jackets of Japanese and European brands. A paired comparison and sensory test were carried out for four Japanese and European jackets. To explain different jacket appearances, the jacket patterns and silhouettes were investigated from an engineering point of view.

Most Japanese subjects responded that European jackets in images were more elegant and characteristic of European style. In a comparison of jacket silhouettes, Jacket 1 (European brand) was evaluated as the most elegant. The waist and bust parts of Jacket 1 had three-dimensional shape whereas the Japanese jackets had planar and rectilinear shapes. This was due to the difference in the waist darts and curved lines in the patterns. Jacket appearance in terms of elegance is thus mainly affected by the waist and bust shapes, which are affected by darts and lines in the patterns.

This is pioneering research on the elegance of garment appearance from an engineering point of view, using actual clothing. The comparison results for commercial jackets will be valuable to the apparel industry.

Lifestyle change to improve physical health is a significant challenge in secure psychiatric hospitals for women. In addition to factors that contribute to an obesogenic environments body image, self-care, self-esteem, and motivational problems compound efforts to increase physical activity and to lose weight. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Two elements of a comprehensive programme to improve physical health and mental wellbeing are discussed. The first describes the development of a unique role of self-care and body image therapists and an evaluation of the effects of treatment. The second describes initiatives to assess the environmental and therapeutic milieu contingencies that impact on physical activity and to increase engagement in exercise through motivational strategies.

Research within the current settings has resulted in a validation of the role of the self-care and body image therapist. Other evaluations have described the environmental contingencies that impact on physical activity along with strategies to increase exercise participation.

While much has to be learnt about how to translate awareness of the value of a healthy lifestyle for women into positive behaviour change the programme described represents part of a comprehensive and long term attempt to evaluate and improve the physical wellbeing of women in secure care.