Consumers' Conceptualization of Apparel Attributes and Apparel Quality Liza Kovilagathu Abraham Iowa State University

Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1992 Consumers' conceptualization of apparel attributes and apparel quality Liza Kovilagathu Abraham Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Applied Behavior Analysis Commons, Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Commons, Home Economics Commons, and the Marketing Commons Recommended Citation Abraham, Liza Kovilagathu, "Consumers' conceptualization of apparel attributes and apparel quality " (1992). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 9794. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/9794 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. 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Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Consumers' conceptualization of apparel attributes and apparel quality by Liza Kovllagathu Abraham A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major; Textiles and Clothing Approved: Members of the Committee: Signature was redacted for privacy. In Charge of Major Work Signature was redacted for privacy. FOT the Major Department Signature was redacted for privacy. Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Graduate College Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1992 Copyright © Liza Abraham, 1992. All rights reserved i i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 Overview 1 Objectives 10 Definitions 10 Limitations 1 1 Explanation of Dissertation Format 11 SECTION I: CONSUMERS' CONCEPTUALIZATION OF APPAREL ATTRIBUTES 1 3 ABSTRACT 1 4 INTRODUCTION 1 5 BACKGROUND 1 8 METHODS 23 RESULTS 27 DISCUSSION 42 REFERENCES 47 SECTION II: CONSUMERS PERCEPTIONS OF APPAREL OUAUTY 6 0 ABSTRACT 61 INTRODUCTION 6 2 BACKGROUND 64 METHODS 6 9 RESULTS 7 5 DISCUSSION 8 4 ii i REFERENCES 9 0 RESEARCH OVERVIEW AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS 1 0 2 Summary 102 Future Directions for Research 1 06 REFERENCES 108 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 111 APPENDIX A: LETTERS TO HOME ECONOMISTS 1 1 2 APPENDIX B: TELEPHONE PROTOCOL AND LEHER OF INVITATION 11 6 FOR FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS APPENDIX C: MODERATOR GUIDE, DISCUSSION QUESTIONS, STIMUU, 11 9 AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION QUESTIONNAIRE APPENDIX D: CODING GUIDE AND CONTENT ANALYSIS FOR FOCUS 129 GROUP INTERVIEWS APPENDIX E: TELEPHONE SCREENING QUESTIONNAIRE 1 4 0 APPENDIX F: COVER LETTER, PURCHASE QUESTIONNAIRE, 1 4 2 REMINDER POSTCARD, AND LETTER FOR REPEAT MAILING APPENDIX G: COVER LETTER, POST-PURCHASE QUESTIONNAIRE, 1 5 2 AND LETTER FOR REPEAT MAiUNG APPENDIX H: STATISTICS 158 APPENDIX I: HUMAN SUBJECTS RESEARCH APPROVAL 1 7 7 iv LIST OF TABLES Page SECTION I Table 1. Attributes used in apparel evaluation studies 51 Table 2. Clothing attributes: Percentages of responses for 53 content categories Table 3. Model of unidimensional and multidimensional clothing 59 attributes SECTION II Table 1. Factors for analysis of expectations 93 Table 2. Factors for analysis of post-purchase evaluations 95 Table 3. Factors for analysis of benefits 97 Table 4. Regression analysis for expectation and 9 9 post-purchase evaluation stages APPENDIX Table D-1. Clothing attributes: Percentages of responses for 1 34 content categories Table H-1. Means and standard deviations of clothing attributes 162 at the expectation stage Table H-2. Means and standard deviations of clothing attributes 1 64 at the post-purchase stage Table H-3. Means and standard deviations of benefit attributes 166 V Table H-4. Demographic information at expectation and 167 post-purchase evaluation stages Table H-5. Factor score means for clothing attributes at 169 expectations stage and correlations among the factors Table H-6. Factor score means for clothing attributes at 171 post-purchase evaluation and correlations among the factors Table H-7. Factor score means for benefit attributes and 1 73 correlations among the factors Table H-8. Regression for the expectation stage using the 1 75 full model Table H-9. Regression for the post-purchase stage using the 176 full model vi LIST OF FIGURES Page SECTION II Figure 1. Model for consumers' perceptions of apparel quality 1 01 1 INTRODUCTION Overview Product quality is a competitive issue of the 1990s. In the 1970s and 1980s foreign goods made increasing inroads into the U.S. market. Consumers' exposure to a wider range of brands, coupled with increases in consumer affluence and sophistication, has made them more sensitive to the quality of goods and services (Garvin, 1988). This new visibility of quality is forcing companies to strive for a high level of overall product performance and to adopt an attitude that acknowledges the consumer. Perceived quality is the consumers' judgment of the product or service. Consumers' perceived quality is humanistic, because people respond subjectively to objects and may have varying opinions about the same phenomenon (Holbrook & Corfman, 1985). According to Jacoby and Olson (1985), perceived quality can be considered as a variant of the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model. This model emphasizes that consumers' response, in the form of store patronage, product purchase, and related word-of-mouth communication about the product or service, is related to how consumers perceive and interpret the elements of the objective stimulus. The stimulus consists of both the intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of the product. This model clearly points out the difference between product quality as it can be objectively measured and the level of product quality as it is subjectively perceived by the consumer. Apparel quality has long been measured from an industry perspective. The industry perspective has tended to focus on physical properties that can be measured objectively. However, consumers' perceptions of quality involve both concrete and abstract features of a product and evolve as the product is being used. Consumers' 2 perceptions of apparel quality may change over time as their expectations change, as they gain new information about products during use, and as they become aware of competing products and brands. Product attributes The product and the consumer interact in the market place. The wide array of ready-made apparel in the market forces consumers to make assessments and decisions. Consumers arrive at a composite assessment of the product by a process in which some or all of the various items of information related to the product are identified, evaluated, and integrated. Consumers evaluate products based on a wide assortment of attributes. Researchers have defined product attributes as consumers' subjective notions of features possessed by a product (Wilkie & Pessemier, 1973). However the focus of most studies has been on consumers' perceptions or evaluations of tangible, verifiable attributes. For example, Szybillo and Jacoby (1974) examined how price, store image, and composition (blend) of hosiery affected perception of quality. Martin (1971-72) studied consumers of fashion clothes, using price, color, fiber content of fabric, store, brand name, department of store, instructions for care, and salesgirl's evaluation of style/quality as influencing the decision to buy. Hansen (1969) was one of the first researchers to indicate that attributes should not be limited to tangible and measurable characteristics but must be a reflection of consumers' perceptions as well. The intangible abstract characteristics have been described by researchers using terms such as consequences, benefits, and values. According to Hirshman (1982) the consumer identifies product attributes using two perceptual

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