Development of an emotional response model for hospital gown design using structural equation modeling

Abstract Apparel has the potential to influence the external expression of wearer’s emotional state and can even empower them, making patients’ hospital wearing a crucial factor in their emotional experience and medical treatment. This study aims to investigate the emotional factors that drive patients’ behavioral responses to hospital gowns using the pleasure–arousal–dominance (PAD) model. With the survey conduction and data analysis, the results identified that the color and silhouette of hospital gowns lead to the emotional experience of arousal, while the structure leads to the emotional experience of dominance, which in turn brings patients a high sense of pleasure and further affect their acceptance and willingness to continue wearing hospital gowns. Based on the results of the research, new hospital gowns were designed and validated, which further confirmed the relationship between the attributes of hospital gowns and emotions of patients. Thus, by extending the PAD model to the context of patients’ use of hospital gowns, this study provides designers with a basis for creating emotionally driven atmosphere factors in the development of hospital gowns for the Chinese market that improve acceptance and continuation of hospital gowns, making a valuable contribution to knowledge in this field.