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.