Effects of clothing congruity on male consumers’ perceptions of salesperson’s performance and consumers’ age as a moderation

Abstract

The purposes of this study are to determine a) the effects of clothing congruity on male consumers’ expectation, evaluation, and functional congruity of and satisfaction with salesperson’s performance and b) whether consumers’ age moderates these effects. Clothing congruity in the study is defined as the congruence between the clothing style that a salesperson wears and the clothing style that a consumer prefers to wear. Functional congruity is defined as the difference between a consumer’s expectation and evaluation of a salesperson’s performance. A positive functional congruity indicates that a consumer’s evaluation exceeds expectation of a salesperson’s performance. Five hypotheses were generated based on the self-congruity theory and previous studies. A 2 x 2 between-subjects factorial design was developed with a male salesperson wearing two styles of clothing (formal vs. casual) and participants in two age groups (adolescent vs. elderly). Data were collected from a survey of 120 male adolescents aged 16-18 and 120 elderly men aged 65-85. The results show that clothing congruity has a positive influence on expectation and evaluation of and satisfaction with salesperson’s performance. Male consumers tend to have higher expectations and evaluations of salesperson’s performance and be more satisfied with salesperson’s performance if the salesperson wears a style of clothing similar to what they prefer to wear. Consumers’ age moderates the effects of clothing congruity on expectation and functional congruity of and satisfaction with salesperson’s performance. The effects of clothing congruity are stronger among male elderly consumers than among male adolescent consumers. Academic contributions and contributions to the field are discussed.