• Fashion, Industry and Education
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2016

This study examined the comparative advantage of manmade textile (MMT) industries in the United States (US) and South Korea (SK). The Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) framework was used to assess the MMT industries' performance in both countries from 2004 to 2013. With the recent ratification of the United States-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), it is important to understand the current state of these industries. Using UN Comtrade export data, the RCA index values were calculated and analyzed for 27 MMT commodities, three aggregate groups, and the whole industry. It was found that SK had a consistent comparative advantage for the whole industry. Furthermore, SK had a larger number of products with a comparative advantage. The research findings indicate that the MMT industry in SK is likely to outperform the US following the complete ratification of the KORUS FTA.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.430-437
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• 2012

This study analyzed the sensibility of eco-friendly fabrics for college students and investigated their attitude on environmental problems, trust reliability onto eco-apparel products, and their purchase state. We tested 6 eco-friendly fabrics (recycled polyester, organic cotton, green tea, charcoal, bamboo, and nettle) through a survey using the Likert scale of 12 polar sensibility words. Most fabrics showed feelings that were smooth, natural, female, and country these were followed by fashion, cheap, functional, sustainable, warm, and vintage. In addition, nettle fabric showed 'rough' feeling, and recycled polyester fabric showed an 'artificial' feeling. Correspondence analysis showed the distance and direction between fabric types and sensibility words with a 2D diagram where the X axis was named with 'Soft <-> Hard' and Y axis was with 'Environmental <-> Manmade' to represent the relationship between fabric types and the sensibility words. According to the results of the multiple regression analysis, the cognition level of the consumer for environmental problems was found to be the most influential variable on the loyalty purchase of eco-friendly products; however, the trust reliability level of consumer onto eco-friendly apparel products was found to be the most influential variable on the conditional purchase of eco-friendly apparel products.