B5-2　Key Emotional Values and Kawaii for Saudi Women

Abstract

In recent years, kansei engineering has become crucial in industrial fields. It works as a new value axis that differs from such conventional ones as functionality and price that have served as competitiveness sources in manufacturing. Based on the vast growth in the apparel industry and greater customer awareness and intelligent observation of various products, such a conventional value axis as functionality and price is insufficient to satisfy customer's needs. It is now crucial to study consumers' kansei or emotional values and build it within products. Kawaii value is one critical Kansei value in Japan. It is a Japanese word that is translated into English as cute, lovely, or adorable. However, it has a deeper meaning since it also represents an element of Japanese culture and not just a word with a single meaning. This research aims to define kawaii from Saudi women's perspective and identify the desired key emotional values for Saudi women and their importance compared to kawaii value. Using a qualitative research approach, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted and the grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data. Kawaii from Saudi women's perspective was defined and Saudi women's adaptation for kawaii value was clarified. The results showed that kawaii is not a critical value for Saudi women, however chic, elegance, and luxury are crucial desired emotional values for Saudi women.