Evaluative criteria applied by South African female fashion consumers when purchasing casual daywear

Abstract

Criteria used by fashion consumers to assess the quality of apparel products during the decision‐making process are a good indication of what considerations marketers and retailers should keep in mind for customer satisfaction. Evaluative criteria used to a great extent by apparel customers when judging garment quality are intrinsic attributes, embracing physical features such as design/style, materials and construction as well as performance features such as aesthetic and functional aspects of clothing. The broad research aim of this exploratory study was to determine which intrinsic criteria were used by female fashion consumers in the Vaal Region to evaluate apparel quality when purchasing casual daywear. A self‐administered, structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Section 1 measured the importance of intrinsic clothing evaluative criteria, while section 2 gathered demographic information of the respondents. A representative sample was chosen from the academic personnel of all seven tertiary institutions in the Vaal Region in South Africa. The majority of the lecturers (38%) was between the ages of 31 and 40, which was relatively young. The predominant population group was white (65.7%), while 25% of the respondents were black. They all had a tertiary qualification, indicating a relatively high educational level, and an average income, based on research by Stellenbosch Bureau for Economic Research. Regarding the application of evaluative criteria for quality assessment, these respondents used intrinsic apparel attributes extensively. Three functional performance aspects namely durability, comfort and fit were rated equal and most important for judging quality. Three clusters of respondents could be distinguished, each with a specific disposition towards the evaluative criteria.

A typology of Polish consumers and their behaviours in the market for sustainable textiles and clothing

“…The socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents are presented in Table 3. Factors likely to influence people purchasing textiles and apparel were identified from the relevant literature (Behling and Wilch, 1988;Friend et al, 1989;Wall and Heslop, 1989;Shim and Drake, 1990;Roach, 1994;Abraham-Murali and Littrell, 1995;Kawabata and Rabolt, 1999;Forney et al, 2005;Hugo and van Aardt, 2012;Momberg et al, 2012).…”

An exploration of the relationship between product selection criteria and engagement with 'show-rooming' and 'web-rooming' in the consumer's decision-making process

“…Predominantly Mintel (2014c) reports that 60% of consumers indicate that not being able to see and feel a clothing item before purchase is a core barrier to online purchase. This is detrimental for consumers as garment fit (and size) (Zhang et al, 2002;Hsu and Burns, 2002;Rahman et al, 2008), visual appearance (design and style) (Ko et al, 2012) and quality (Hugo and Van-Aardt, 2012) were deemed the most important criteria for purchasing clothing items, which cannot be fully appraised within current online interfaces. Thus, the virtual environment presents limitations for judging garment size and fit, visual appearance, and quality prior to purchasing clothing online (Mintel, 2014b).…”

A Human-Centered Approach to Green Apparel Advertising: Decision Tree Predictive Modeling of Consumer Choice

“…"Apparel quality" refers to the durability and workmanship of clothing [51]. In the present study, perceived apparel quality represents consumers' subjective perception of the overall excellence of the product in an advertisement and whether it meets their need for product longevity and functionality [52]. This perception of quality is likely to increase consumers' positive attitudes toward green brands.…”