According to Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard (1993), evaluative criteria is defined as
"the standards and specifications used by consumers to compare different products and
brands" (p.51). Many studies have investigated factors that might influence the
importance of clothing evaluative criteria used by consumers in the decision making
process. However, few studies have been directed to examine the relationship between
consumers' shopping motivations and their use of clothing evaluative criteria.
The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of consumers' shopping
orientations on the importance placed on the clothing evaluative criteria. Hedonic and
utilitarian shopper dichotomy was applied in this study. Self-administered questionnaires
which included four sections of questions were used for data collection. The four sections,
with 7-point Likert scales, asked about respondents' clothing evaluative criteria used in
general and specific purchase context, shopping values, and demographic information.
The data were collected at Oregon State University in summer 2005. A convenience
sample of 452 students from nine departments was obtained. The frequency and
descriptive statistics, cross tabulation and chi-square statistics, Principal Components
Factor Analysis with Varimax Rotation, and Pearson Correlation were used to analyze the
data.
Respondents were classified into hedonic shoppers, utilitarian shoppers, or neutral
shoppers, who were dropped in comparison analysis. Results indicated that hedonic
shoppers were more likely to be female and younger than were the utilitarian shoppers.
Hedonic shoppers were found to be more engaged in un-planned clothing purchases, go
clothing shopping more frequently, and spend more money on clothing each month then
utilitarian shoppers. Moreover, hedonic shoppers more often went clothing shopping in
department stores, closed malls and specialty stores than did the utilitarian shoppers.
Principal Components Factor Analysis was conducted to classified clothing
evaluative criteria used in both general and specific purchase situations, and new variables
were generated for Pearson Correlation Analysis. Results of Pearson Correlation analysis
were used to test the hypotheses. Results showed that hedonic shopping value was
positively and significantly related to "Aesthetics" and "Symbolic" dimensions of clothing,
which supported the first hypothesis. However, utilitarian shopping value was not found to
have positive and stronger relationship with "Performance" and "Economic" dimensions
of clothing than hedonic shopping value, thus, the second hypothesis was not supported.
Apparel manufacturers, retailers, and marketers can draw implications from the study
result to develop more effective marketing communication mix. Also, consumer behavior
researchers can further investigate hedonic shopping behavior based on the research
findings. / Graduation date: 2006
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28855 |
| Date | 02 December 2005 |
| Creators | Yeh, Chun-Lan |
| Contributors | Burns, Leslie Davis |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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