IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v13y2023i1p21582440231152415.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

English and Spanish Adjectives That Describe the Japanese Concept of Kawaii

Author

Listed:
  • Hiroshi Nittono
  • Hatsune Saito
  • Namiha Ihara
  • Dante Nicolas Fenocchio
  • Jorge Mario Andreau

Abstract

The word “kawaii†is ubiquitous in contemporary Japan and has spread to the rest of the world with the dissemination of Japanese pop culture. Although the word is conventionally translated in English as “cute,†its meaning is more nuanced than “cute,†and it is used for a wider variety of objects. The primary aim of this study was to determine if Spanish has an equivalent to the word “kawaii†; additionally, similarities and differences across Japanese, English, and Spanish were explored. An internet survey was conducted in which respondents from Japan ( n  = 486), the United States ( n  = 365), and Argentina ( n  = 303) were presented with various photographic images that were often described as “kawaii†in Japanese and asked to write three adjectives to describe the images. They were also instructed to rate their affective states when looking at each image in the valence and arousal dimensions. The results showed that babyish objects (e.g., human, animal, and toy) were most frequently defined as “kawaii†in Japanese, “cute†in English, and “tierno†in Spanish. The average frequency at which these words were used as primary adjectives was higher for “kawaii†(57.5%) than for “cute†(26.8%) or “tierno†(22.4%). All of these images were associated with positive and moderately-aroused affective states similarly across all three countries. The present study demonstrates that the adjectives “kawaii,†“cute,†and “tierno†can be used almost equivalently for describing babies and pets, but that the Japanese adjective “kawaii†encompasses wider categories than the other two words.

Suggested Citation

  • Hiroshi Nittono & Hatsune Saito & Namiha Ihara & Dante Nicolas Fenocchio & Jorge Mario Andreau, 2023. "English and Spanish Adjectives That Describe the Japanese Concept of Kawaii," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440231, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:13:y:2023:i:1:p:21582440231152415
    DOI: 10.1177/21582440231152415
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440231152415
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/21582440231152415?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hiroshi Nittono & Shiri Lieber-Milo & Joshua P. Dale, 2021. "Cross-Cultural Comparisons of the Cute and Related Concepts in Japan, the United States, and Israel," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440209, January.
    2. Shiri Lieber-Milo & Hiroshi Nittono, 2019. "How the Japanese Term Kawaii Is Perceived Outside of Japan: A Study in Israel," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(3), pages 21582440198, August.
    3. Hiroshi Nittono & Namiha Ihara, 2017. "Psychophysiological Responses to Kawaii Pictures With or Without Baby Schema," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(2), pages 21582440177, May.
    4. Gergana Y. Nenkov & Maura L. Scott, 2014. ""So Cute I Could Eat It Up": Priming Effects of Cute Products on Indulgent Consumption," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(2), pages 326-341.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hiroshi Nittono & Shiri Lieber-Milo & Joshua P. Dale, 2021. "Cross-Cultural Comparisons of the Cute and Related Concepts in Japan, the United States, and Israel," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440209, January.
    2. Hsuan‐Yi Chou & Xing‐Yu (Marcos) Chu & Tzu‐Chun Chen, 2022. "The healing effect of cute elements," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 565-596, June.
    3. Markus Blut & Cheng Wang & Nancy V. Wünderlich & Christian Brock, 2021. "Understanding anthropomorphism in service provision: a meta-analysis of physical robots, chatbots, and other AI," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 632-658, July.
    4. Tao Zhang & Chao Feng & Hui Chen & Junjie Xian, 2022. "Calming the customers by AI: Investigating the role of chatbot acting-cute strategies in soothing negative customer emotions," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(4), pages 2277-2292, December.
    5. Thürridl, Carina & Kamleitner, Bernadette & Ruzeviciute, Ruta & Süssenbach, Sophie & Dickert, Stephan, 2020. "From happy consumption to possessive bonds: When positive affect increases psychological ownership for brands," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 89-103.
    6. Chun-Tuan Chang & Xing-Yu (Marcos) Chu, 2020. "The give and take of cause-related marketing: purchasing cause-related products licenses consumer indulgence," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 203-221, March.
    7. Velasco, Franklin & Yang, Zhiyong & Janakiraman, Narayanan, 2021. "A meta-analytic investigation of consumer response to anthropomorphic appeals: The roles of product type and uncertainty avoidance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 735-746.
    8. Marion Garaus, 2020. "The influence of media multitasking on advertising effectiveness," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 10(3), pages 244-259, December.
    9. Martin Mende & Maura L. Scott & Aaron M. Garvey & Lisa E. Bolton, 2019. "The marketing of love: how attachment styles affect romantic consumption journeys," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 255-273, March.
    10. Chen Wang & Yanliu Huang & Vicki MorwitzEditor & Stijn van OsselaerAssociate Editor, 2018. "“I Want to Know the Answer! Give Me Fish ’n’ Chips!”: The Impact of Curiosity on Indulgent Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(5), pages 1052-1067.
    11. Liu, Fu & Wei, Haiying & Wang, Xingyuan & Zhu, Zhenzhong & Chen, Haipeng Allan, 2023. "The influence of online review dispersion on consumers’ purchase intention: The moderating role of dialectical thinking," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    12. Lv, Xingyang & Liu, Yue & Luo, Jingjing & Liu, Yuqing & Li, Chunxiao, 2021. "Does a cute artificial intelligence assistant soften the blow? The impact of cuteness on customer tolerance of assistant service failure," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    13. Jasmina Ilicic & Stacey M. Brennan & Alicia Kulczynski, 2021. "Sinfully decadent: priming effects of immoral advertising symbols on indulgence," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 61-73, March.
    14. Garaus, Marion & Wagner, Udo & Manzinger, Sandra, 2017. "Happy grocery shopper: The creation of positive emotions through affective digital signage content," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 295-305.
    15. Hiroshi Nittono & Namiha Ihara, 2017. "Psychophysiological Responses to Kawaii Pictures With or Without Baby Schema," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(2), pages 21582440177, May.
    16. Jacob Suher & Courtney Szocs & Koert Ittersum, 2021. "When imperfect is preferred: the differential effect of aesthetic imperfections on choice of processed and unprocessed foods," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(5), pages 903-924, September.
    17. Lin, Ying-Ching & Chang, Chiu-Chi Angela, 2021. "Influencing Consumer Responses to Highly Aesthetic Products: The Role of Mindsets," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 459-476.
    18. Chang, En-Chung & Xie, Chunya & Fan, Xiaomeng, 2022. "Defending the rules: How exposure to immoral behavior influences the boundary preference," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 654-663.
    19. Sharma, Monika & Rahman, Zillur, 2022. "Anthropomorphic brand management: An integrated review and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 463-475.
    20. Jaud, David A. & Melnyk, Valentyna, 2020. "The effect of text-only versus text-and-image wine labels on liking, taste and purchase intentions. The mediating role of affective fluency," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:13:y:2023:i:1:p:21582440231152415. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.