Advance Paper Spotlight: “Pink Purchasing: Interrogating the Soft Power of Japan's Kawaii Consumption” by Lieber-Milo Shiri

Advance: a SAGE preprints community continues to garner submissions from a wide range of authors in various fields. We would like to draw attention to a preprint entitled, “Pink Purchasing: Interrogating the Soft Power of Japan's Kawaii Consumption” and authored by Dr. Lieber-Milo Shiri, who is a researcher at the Human Sciences, Osaka University. Dr. Shiri’s paper was posted to Advance in December 2019 and has accumulated just over 100 downloads. The preprint explores the impact of kawaii consumption on Japanese women. Dr. Shiri’s research reveals that kawaii is more than just a culture defined by cuteness, but also serves as a temporary escape from the pressures of maturity for both young and older women.

I had the opportunity to discuss the study and its findings with Dr. Shiri:

What inspired you to pursue this research?

For many years I have [researched] the power of kawaii trend[s] and aesthetics in Japan and recently also in other countries [such] as Israel. As kawaii plays an integral part in Japan, I was interested to dive deeper with a desire to clarify the influence power of kawaii goods on behavior and whether the attitude toward it is changing over time.

What has been the most challenging aspect of conducting your research? Were there any surprising findings?

Collecting the data was the most challenging part of the study. The survey was conducted among 692 Japanese females and was distributed to two age and status groups in two phases over a period of five months; the first survey was delivered directly by me as a researcher and the second through the web.

Yes, there were surprising findings in the study: First, as young female respondents gave a higher evaluation towards kawaii goods, it was expected that the younger group would define themselves as ‘young and kawaii’ more than the second group of mature women. However instead, mature women, who have steady jobs and incomes, reported feeling ‘younger’ and more ‘kawaii’ about themselves. Second, the survey results showed that compared to other occupational groups, women who are company employees have as much affection for kawaii items as young female students. For a deeper understanding of company employees’ positive attitudes toward kawaii items, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 female workers who work at TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor Uozu branch, Japan.

In what ways is your research innovative, and how do you think it will impact the field?

The research results show interesting findings that can certainly impact the field. This type of study offers a cross-sectional examination of a wide range of age and segmentation groups. As a result, this study presents a new perspective on the kawaii concept and its impact on both young and more mature Japanese females. It shows that consuming cuteness appeals to and brings positive effects to both young and mature women. For young women, it is perceived as a tool that assists in dealing with impending adulthood and help[s] them express their own feelings, [whether] positive or negative. For more mature women, consuming kawaii [products] helps in dealing with the stressful world of daily life and work and engenders nostalgic feelings about one’s past, a kind of momentarily escape to a “better” world of eternal youth. Thus, consuming cute and kawaii merchandise can apply to many, helping their owners deal with the challenging situations of daily life as stress and anxiety.

You can read Lieber-Milo Shiri’s paper here, and discover more research posted to Advance here.

Acknowledgement

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