A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Perceptions of Cuteness and Kawaii Between American and Japanese College Students

The notion of kawaii (cuteness in the context of Japanese culture) is ubiquitous in Japan and ranges from Hello Kitty products to road signs to posters created by the Japanese government, to name just a few examples. Japanese products, which are used globally, are consciously tailored to accommodate widely preferred cuteness. Therefore, when designing a product, it is important to understand how specific groups of target users perceive kawaii. We report on a cross-cultural study that investigates cultural differences in the core understanding of the concepts of kawaii and cute based on a free-association study. Following a similar protocol that was previously used with Japanese college students, we asked American college students to write freely about what they associate with the word "cute" and, also, what they associate with the word "kawaii". Some of the American college students were enrolled in a three-week immersive course entitled "Japanese Culture, Technology and Design" which included two weeks of travel in Japan. These students responded to the prompts on the first day of class and again on the last day of class. Responses to each prompt were coded and compared across cultures and genders.