The physical and social space in which a consumer finds herself is a large influencing factor on product evaluation and decision-making (Solomon & Rabolt, 2004:434). De Klerk (1999) states that, although most clothing consumers have a preconceived idea about where to go shopping for clothing and which type of clothing is desired, the final decision-making takes place within the store where consumers need information about the clothing products in order to evaluate the quality and to be able to make the final decision. It is said that retailers need to spend enough money, space and time on fitting rooms as the fitting room can be seen as the point and place where most apparel-based decisions are made (Lee & Johnson, sa:2). Fitting rooms are one of the critical areas in clothing stores; this is where the consumer tries on apparel products, makes evaluations about the products, and decisions to buy these apparel products or not (Rea, Mang & Underhill, as quoted by Baumstarck, 2008:12). The research problem of this study is that in order for consumers to evaluate apparel products effectively and to make apparel buying decisions with which they can be satisfied, the fitting room experience plays a role. However, it is not known how consumers evaluate apparel products’ quality and how the fitting room experience should be in order for the consumers to evaluate the apparel products’ quality effectively. Therefore the purpose of this study was to explore and describe the role of the fitting room experience in Mzansi youth female consumers’ evaluation of apparel products’ quality. The retail experience entails the aesthetic (stimulus, emotion and cognition) as well as functional (synchronising impressions, layout, space, service, furniture & fixtures) aspects. Evaluation of apparel quality comprises intrinsic, extrinsic and behavioural characteristics. The behavioural characteristics include the apparel products’ functional (durability, comfort and maintenance) and aesthetic (stimulus, emotion and cognition) qualities. The justification for conducting this research was that this research could lead to the generation of new information. This information may be used by retailers to enhance the fitting room experience in order to make it easier for consumers to evaluate apparel products’ quality, so that the most appropriate apparel buying decisions can be made and customer satisfaction may be increased. The confirmation/disconfirmation paradigm was used as theoretical perspective for the study. This paradigm was integrated with the literature and the relevant concepts to form the conceptual framework which directed the study. This study was conducted qualitatively where the aim was to explore and describe the phenomenon. Phenomenology was used as strategy of inquiry. The Mzansi youth female consumers, who are part of the Black Diamond consumer group, were used as unit of analysis for this study, as the literature indicates that the Black Diamonds are the fastest growing consumer group within South Africa. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to accumulate the participants of the study. Fifteen females took part in this study. Fortunately data saturation did occur, so no more participants were needed. The researcher used unstructured interviews to gather data as well as a photo-elicitation technique. The photos were used as an external stimulus in the interview process. This ensured data with depth and breadth. Two interviews (approximately 30 minutes each) were held with each participant. The second interview was only conducted after each participant had completed a specific task. The data was analysed by using the five steps suggested by Yin (2011:176). The findings showed that the fitting room experience does play a crucial role in the Mzansi youth female consumer’s evaluation of apparel products’ quality. Furthermore it showed that the Mzansi youth female consumers do have clear expectations regarding the fitting room’s aesthetics and functionality, and also how these two elements should interact and should be in order for the Mzansi youth female consumer to be able to evaluate the apparel products’ quality effectively. The findings further showed that when these expectations are not met by the actual fitting room experience it leads to the Mzansi youth female consumer being dissatisfied and therefore stopping her evaluation of the apparel products’ quality or even leaving the store. Therefore this study came to the overall conclusion that the fitting room is the place where the final decision to buy or not to buy is made, and where decisions about possible future visits are made, irrespective of the rest of the retail environment. It should therefore be treated like the queen of the apparel retail environment, and certainly not like the Cinderella. / Dissertation (MConsumer Science)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Consumer Science / unrestricted

The fitting room is an important part of a clothing store, it's often where the customer decides if they want to buy the garment or not. Therefore it is important that the customer can feel safe and comfortable when they are trying the clothing. A typical fitting room in Sweden today has only one bright spotlight that emits light either towards the face or from the ceiling above. This study explores possible lighting solutions that take into account the customer's experience in the fitting room. The study aim to increase understanding of the importance of a good light in fitting rooms, so that customers gets a nice experience and that clothes, body shape and facial features are shown in a natural way. The issue therefore included how lighting can affect the customer's perception of the clothing and how the perception of body shape, facial features and the clothes change in different lighting solutions. To answer these questions, observations were made in various clothing stores, followed by an experimental study divided into two parts. The first part was a practical part where trying different lighting directions were tested on a mannequin, which resulted in three selected lighting solutions. The second part was a full-scale study. 15 people evaluated a fitting room with three different lighting solutions. The result demonstrates the importance of natural shadows and contrasts on the face and body and that it is important to consider how light falls and avoid glare. This is done by well-placed or shielded fixtures and by using several different lighting directions. The lighting in fitting rooms should be adapted to the type of clothes and customer group. / Provrummet är en viktig del i en klädbutik, det är ofta där kunden beslutar om plagget ska köpas eller inte. Det är därför viktigt att kunden kan känna sig trygg och bekväm vid klädprovningen. Ett typiskt provrum i Sverige idag har endast en ljuspunkt som belyser kunden antingen rakt framifrån eller ovanifrån. I denna studie undersöks tänkbara belysningslösningar som tar hänsyn till kundens upplevelse i provrummet. Studiens syfte var att öka förståelsen för hur viktigt det är med en god belysning i provrum, för att kunden ska få en bra upplevelse och att kläderna, kroppens form och anletsdrag ska framhävas på ett naturligt sätt. Frågeställningen innefattade därför hur belysningen kan påverka kundens upplevelse av klädprovningen och hur upplevelsen av kroppens form, anletsdrag och kläderna förändras i olika belysningslösningar. För att besvara dessa frågor gjordes observationer i olika klädbutiker, därefter genomfördes en experimentell studie som delades in i två delar. Första delen var en praktiskt prövande del där olika ljusriktningar testades på en skyltdocka. Denna resulterade i tre belysningslösningar att gå vidare med. Andra delen var en fullskalestudie där ett provrum byggdes upp med de tre olika belysningslösningar som sedan 15 stycken personer fick studera med hjälp av ett frågeformulär. Resultatet visar på vikten av att belysningen skapar naturliga skuggor och kontraster på kropp och ansikte, och att det är viktigt att tänka på hur ljuset faller, samt att belysningen inte är bländande. Detta görs genom välplacerade eller avskärmade armaturer och med flera olika ljusriktningar. Studien visar att belysningen i provrum bör anpassas efter typ av kläder och kundgrupp.

Datum: 2023-05-31 Nivå: Kandidatuppsats i Företagsekonomi, 15 högskolepoäng Institution: Akademin för Ekonomi, Samhälle och Teknik, Mälardalens Universitet. Författare: Sivan Dana, Alina Music Titel: Hur kan konsumentens returbeteende vid onlineköp minimeras med stöd från det digitala verktyget mobile augmented reality (MAR)? Handledare: Sara Melén Hånell Nyckelord: E-handel, modebranschen, digitalisering, virtuella provrum, Mobile AugmentedReality (MAR), returbeteende Teoretisk utgångspunkt: The Theory of Planned Behaviour Syfte: Syftet med studien är att med hjälp av kvalitativ metod undersöka hur konsumentersreturbeteende kan minimeras med användning av Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR). Studien ska förse fördjupad kunskap samt öka förståelsen för hur konsumenter kan uppnå fördelarmed hjälp av digitala verktyg. Metod: Författarna har tillämpat en kvalitativ forskningsmetod till den här studien. Den kvalitativa metoden har genomförts med hjälp av nio (9) djupintervjuer med respondenter som regelbundet konsumerar kläder via e-handelsplattformar. Slutsats: Denna uppsats har bekräftats av den insamlade empirin att det digitala verktyget MAR kan med stor sannolikhet minimera returbeeendet hos konsumenter. Slutsatsen för denstudien visar att konsumenter kan uppnå fördelar med hjälp av funktionen. / Date: 2023-05-31 Level: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, 15 credits  Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University  Authors: Sivan Dana, Alina Music Title: How can the consumer return behavior in online purchases be minimized with the support of the digital tool mobile augmented reality (MAR)? Supervisor: Sara Melén Hånell Keywords: E-commerce, fashion industry, digitization, virtual fitting rooms, Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR), return behavior Theoretical Starting Point: The Theory of Planned Behaviour Purpose: This study uses a qualitative research method to investigate how consumers' return behavior can be minimized using Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR). The study will provide in-depth knowledge and increase understanding of how consumers can achieve benefits with the help of digital tools. Method: The authors have applied a qualitative research method to this study. The qualitative method has been carried out using nine (9) in-depth interviews with respondents who regularly consume clothes via e-commerce platforms.   Conclusion: This thesis has been confirmed by the collected empirical evidence that the digital tool MAR can very likely minimize the return behavior of consumers. The conclusion of the study shows that consumers can achieve benefits by using MAR.