The Affect of Garment Attributes on the Purchase Intentions of Fifteen to Twenty-Five Year Old Females

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Date

2006-05-17

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Abstract

The sheer size of the generation, in which 15- to 25-year-olds belong, will have effects on the present state of the retailing market, as well as the future state of the market as this large cohort continues to ages. Due to this potential, marketers are eager to understand this generation of consumers. They know the purchasing power of these consumers as a whole, but they do not necessarily understand the fashion groups within the large generation or what attributes each fashion group finds important when intending to purchase a garment. It is important to understand the different lifestyles within this age cohort because lifestyle marketing is becoming more accepted and the knowledge of subgroups will be important for successful marketing. The purpose of the research has been to understand more about the lifestyle and consumer behavior of the 15- to 25-year-old United States female consumer, in terms of the affects garment attributes have on their intent to purchase apparel products. Ten garments were purchased and four garments were designed and produced for use in the questionnaire. Two pilot studies were conducted to collect information on the 15- to 25-year-olds' fashion styles, favorite stores shopped and favorite brands worn. The results from the pilot studies assisted in the selection of garments and the development of the online research questionnaire. From the 250 usable responses, the results showed that the attributes styling, brand, price, place and fabrication and fiber content have a statistically significant (p-value less than 0.05) affect on the 15- to 25-year-old consumer's intent to purchase an apparel product. Overall, there was a statistically significant difference (p-value less than 0.05) among the fashion groups' responses when brand, price and place where known attributes. However, there was an overall similarity when styling and fabrication were known. The favored style among all fashion groups was the top garment with the most embellishment and the bottom garment with the most embellishment. For top garments, the most favored fabrications were woven silk or silk blend fabrics, over synthetics and synthetic blends. The most favored fabrication for the bottom garments was a woven, 100% cotton fabric, over silk and synthetic blends. Fabrication and fiber content had a statistically significant (p-value less than 0.05) positive affect on the 'nonwoven' polyester⁄nylon blend garments, but had a negative affect on the 'engineered fabric' polyester⁄polyethylene blend garments.

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Keywords

engineered fabric, nonwoven, teenagers, teens, young adults

Citation

Degree

MS

Discipline

Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management

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