Comparison of Kawaii Feelings for Magnets with Different Shapes Between 2007 and Present

In the 21^st century, the Kansei/affective values of industrial products are considered very important. In this study, we focus our attention on “kawaii” as a Kansei value for future industrial products. We began our research to analyze kawaii attributes systematically with the aim of constructing kawaii products. “Kawaii” is a Japanese word that has positive meanings such as cute, loveable, and charming. From a survey of cultural studies, we form the following hypothesis: “Japanese men, especially middle-aged and older, tend to dismiss kawaii as an adjective only for living creatures and related figures and characters. On the other hand, Japanese women bestow feelings of kawaii not only on living creatures but also on industrial products.” In order to test this hypothesis, we perform a simple experiment using four differently-shaped magnets: cat-shaped, puzzle-piece-shaped, whale-shaped, and heart-shaped. Twenty Japanese participants (10 males and 10 females) in their early 20s and twenty Japanese participants (10 males and 10 females) in their early 50s serve as volunteers. The kawaii scores for each magnet differ by age and gender, and we verify the above hypothesis. This observation suggests the strong potential of using kawaii in the future. In 2019 and 2020, we repeat this simple experiment employing Japanese males and females in their 20s. The differences and similarities of results between the two experiments show a reduction in gender difference and an increase in the diversity of evaluations by females.