Abstract
The purpose of this study was to survey the clothing behavior, care and the fiber preferences of multi-cultural families living in Korea. The data was collected using questionnaire surveys based on pre-tests, and a main survey conducted in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Chungcheong Province. The 258 participants came from 151 multi-cultural families and 107 Korean families. The results of this study were as follows: First, Filipinos owned more clothes than the Chinese and bought clothes more frequently. The Filipinos spent 10,000~30,000 Korean won on all types of clothing. Each time, the Chinese spent more money when purchasing jackets. Second, when health was the greatest concern for underclothes, they chose cotton fiber as their preferred fiber. When beauty was of greatest concern for blouses they chose cotton. When beauty was of greatest concern for skirts and jackets they chose natural fibers such as silk, wool or linen. Filipinos preferred synthetic fibers because they are easy to care for, and the Chinese preferred natural fibers due to their beauty, especially for pants. Third, multi-cultural families laundered at home using only a washing machine. All fibers were laundered together into the washer without any sorting. This study can contribute to providing basic data for an understanding of the clothing behavior and laundry styles of multi-cultural families which may be useful data in the apparel market in Korea given the relative and direct changes relevant to various clothing cultures.