资源描述
原文出处：
Hsiu-Ju Hsu and Leslie Davis Burns. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal [J]. Zhejiang UNIV，2002，20（2）：246～252.
Clothing Evaluative Criteria:
A Cross-National Comparison of
Taiwanese and United States Consumers
Abstract
Taiwanese and United States college women were compared regarding the importance they placed on the evaluative criteria they used when purchasing a specific clothing item for themselves. One hundred nineteen Taiwanese and 84 United States college women completed self-administered questionnaires. Seven-point scales were used to measure the importance of 12 clothing evaluative criteria: fabric, comfort, size/fit, quality, location of manufacturer, color, how pleasing it was to others, brand name, appropriateness for campus wear, price, style, and coordination with other clothing. The findings indicated that the importance placed on clothing evaluative criteria was very similar between the two groups. In addition, the size/fit criterion was found to be the most important criterion for both groups. Cross-national comparison studies, such as this one, that focus on the consumer decision-making process may provide important information to marketers in their development of international marketing strategies.
Key Words consumer behavior；consumer decision-making；evaluative criteria；cross-national
The international marketing of American goods and services is of increasing importance to the United States economy (Husted, Varble, & Lowry, 1992). In order to be successful in the global market, an understanding is necessary regarding the extent to which consumers from different nations evaluate goods and services. Based on the results of numerous studies, models have been developed to serve as frameworks for the explanation as well as prediction of the complexities of consumer behavior. One such model is the Engel, Kollat, and Miniard (EKM) model of consumer decision-making (Engel, Blackwell, & Miniard, 1995). The EKM model includes four stages of consumer decision-making:
(1) information input
(2) information processing,
(3) the decision process
(4) variables influencing the decision process; the model “is based on learning processes, with emphasis upon the information search process” (Zaltman & Wallendorf, 1979, p. 541).
Authors’ Addresses: Hsu, Hsiu-Ju, Department of Apparel, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, 1, Hseuh Fu Road, Neipu, Pingtung, 91207, Taiwan, R.O.C., hsu@mail.npust.edu.tw and Leslie Davis Burns, AIHM, Milam 224, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-5101, Leslie.Burns@orst.edu.
Prior to the information input stage, the individual recognizes a need that may be met through the purchase process. Once the need is recognized, the individual selects information about the product through either an internal search process including individual memory and/or through an external search process if additional information is required. “Information processing refers to the process by which a stimulus is received, interpreted, stored in memory, and later retrieved” (Engel, et al., 1995, p. 472). The information processing stage follows five steps: the consumer’s exposure to, attention to, comprehension of, acceptance of, and, finally, retention of information. The decision process stage follows six steps: need recognition, search for information, pre-purchase alternative evaluation, purchase, consumption, and post-purchase alternative evaluation.
The variables influencing the decision process consist of three categories: environmental influences, individual differences, and psychological processes. Environmental influences include culture, social class, personal influences, family, and situation. Individual differences consist of consumer resources, motivation and involvement, knowledge, attitudes, personality, values, and lifestyle. Psychological processes include information processing, learning, and attitude and behavior change. The present study examined the relation246 Clothing and Textiles Research Journal.
Ship between cultural influences and the importance placed on evaluative criteria used in the pre-purchase alternative evaluation step of the decision process stage, thereby testing aspects of the EKM model using a cross-national sample.
From a consumer behavior viewpoint, culture is “a set of values, ideas, artifacts and other meaningful symbols that help individuals communicate, interpret, and evaluate as members of society” (Engel, et al., 1995, p. 611). According to Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard (1995), “[c]ulture affects the specific products people buy as well as the structure of consumption, individual decision making, and communication in a society” (p. 615). Additionally, “[t]he effects of culture may vary from country to country” (Robertson, Zielinski, & Ward, 1984, p. 555). Therefore, in the present study, culture was operationally defined as the culture of a specific nation according to Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard’s (1995) definition of culture. Comparisons were made between consumers from Taiwan and the United States.
The two countries were selected for comparison for several reasons. Most consumer behavior research, including most research testing aspects of the EKM model of consumer decision-making have examined consumers from the United States. Therefore, the examination of United States consumers would allow us to compare the results of this study to these previous studies. Taiwan was selected because it has become an attractive international market due to its rapid economic growth in the last forty years of the 20th century. “The Taiwan market may seem small” but “its record of phenomenal economic growth, strong consumer demand, and improvements in market access for United States goods and services make it a particularly attractive market for both experienced and new-to-market exporters” (Droker, Sander, DeVos, & Duvall, 1989, p. 2). In fact, exports of goods and services from the United States to Taiwan have increased from $4.7 billion in 1985 to $24.38 billion in 2000 (United States Department of Commerce, 2001b). This has resulted in Taiwan being the seventh largest export market for the United States (United States Department of Commerce, 2001a). In addition, the agreement between the United States and Taiwan, reached in 1998 as part of Taiwan’s World Trade Organization accession package, has made access for U.S. goods and services easier primarily through the reduction of Taiwan import tariffs. Thus, with its strong economy, Taiwan is considered an “excellent market for U.S. firms” (American Institute in Taiwan, 2000).
In exploring consumer behavior among the Taiwanese, the culture of Taiwan must be taken into consideration. Taiwan’s culture is infused with Confucian influences; specifically Confucian ideals of moderation in consumption that may influence how Taiwanese consumers evaluate clothing. Such ideals may be manifested in a valuation of price and moderation in Taiwanese consumer expenditures. However, at the turn of the 21st century, along with these Confucian ideals is the value of conspicuous consumption that likely influences consumer decision-making in Taiwan. Thus, by comparing consumers in the United States with those in Taiwan, we can better understand cultural influences on consumer decision-making among Taiwanese consumers.
The present study compared Taiwanese and United States college women regarding the importance they placed on clothing evaluative criteria. Evaluative criteria were defined as “the particular dimensions or attributes that are used in judging the choice alternatives” (Engel, et al., 1995, p. 208). Many researchers have investigated evaluative criteria related to clothing. However, the terms used and the way in which criteria have been classified have varied among the studies. The most frequently used clothing criteria examined by researchers have been price, style, quality, size/fit, color, fabric, brand name, and country of origin (Cassill & Drake, 1987; Davis, 1987; Eckman, Damhorst, & Kadolph, 1990; Jenkins, 1973; Martin, 1971-72; McLean, Roper, & Smothers, 1986; Workman, 1990). Researchers have found the most important evaluative criteria related to clothing to be price, style or design, suitability or appropriateness for a specific situation, fiber content, cut or fit, how pleasing it was to others, coordination with other clothing, comfort, and color or pattern (Davis, 1987; Eckman, et al., 1990; Jenkins, 1973; Martin 1971-72; McLean, et al., 1986; Workman, 1990). Therefore, the importance placed on 12 evaluative criteria (price, style, quality, size/fit, color, fabric, brand name, location of manufacturer, suitability, how pleasing it was to others, coordination, and comfort) was examined in the present study. These 12 criteria were selected on the basis of the criteria found in the literature to be most important when clothing is purchased and the most frequently used clothing criteria investigated by previous researchers.
Currently, few studies have focused on cross-national comparisons of consumers’ use of clothing evaluative criteria. Lee and Burns (1993) found significant differences in the importance placed on clothing evaluative criteria between Korean and United States female undergraduate students. In this study, female college students from the United States indicated that criteria associated with fashion and attractiveness were more important than did female college students from Korea. Additionally, Hsiao (1993) examined American and Taiwanese female college students in the United States and found the two groups had similar importance rankings of clothing evaluative criteria. However, in Hsiao’s study, the Taiwanese subjects had lived in the United States between one and four years.
Therefore, in the present study we attempted to understand better the influence of culture on consumer decision-making and to expand research on cross-national comparisons of clothing purchase behavior by comparing consumer decision-making processes of students living in Taiwan and in the United States. More specifically, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of culture on the importance placed on the evaluative criteria used by college women in Taiwan and the United States when purchasing a specific clothing item. Objectives of the study were the following:
To investigate and compare the importance of evaluative criteria used by Taiwanese and United States college women when purchasing a specific clothing item.
To determine the most important clothing evaluative criterion used by Taiwanese and United States college women when purchasing a specific clothing item.
The following null hypotheses directed the study:
1. There will be no significant difference in the importance placed on the 12 clothing evaluative criteria between Taiwanese and United States college women
based on mean importance scores.
2. There will be no difference in the clothing evaluative criterion identified as most important between Taiwanese and the United States college women based on mean importance scores.
Methods
Questionnaire Development：
A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. A cover letter that briefly explained the purpose of the survey accompanied each questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of two sections: questions measuring the importance of clothing evaluative criteria and questions asking about demographic characteristics of the respondents. The clothing evaluative criteria were selected from those identified as most important by previous researchers. These were price, style, quality, size/fit, color, fabric, brand name, location of manufacturer, suitability, how pleasing it was to others, coordination, and comfort.
In the first section of the questionnaire each respondent was asked to rate the importance of the 12 clothing criteria. Because type of apparel may affect which criteria are important in a consumer purchase decision, the first section of the questionnaire asked the respondent to recall the last clothing item she purchased for herself that she would wear on campus. Further questions were based on this identified clothing item. Each of the 12 criteria was rated on a seven-point scale with end-points “not at all important” and “very important.” The 12 criteria were listed in random order and the list was the same for all respondents. Each respondent could also choose a “not used” (NU) category if she did not use the criterion in her purchase decision.
To capture a respondent’s rating of the most important criterion used in her decision making process, the respondent was asked to write down the most important criterion from the 12 clothing criteria listed. In addition to using the scale rating to determine the most important criterion used in the purchase decision, respondents were asked to think specifically about the criteria from the perspective of identifying which one of the 12 was most important to her. Plus, the reliability of the scale items was checked by comparing the criterion with the highest mean rating with the criterion identified as most important. The questionnaire also included an open-ended question asking respondents to indicate any other criteria they had used but that were not listed. Information on the respondent’s background (i.e., age, gender, academic standing, major, marital status, and nationality) was collected in the second section of the questionnaire.
The questionnaire was first developed in English and then translated into Chinese. The Chinese version then was back-translated into English. The process of translation and back-translation of the questionnaire was conducted by two Taiwanese doctoral students at Oregon State University who were not familiar with the study. The back translation was conducted to check for accuracy and clarity in the two versions.
The questionnaire was pretested by eight United States and six Taiwanese undergraduate students studying at Oregon State University. The purpose of the pretest was to identify any potential problems with the questionnaire. Verbal feedback on the questionnaire was collected in order to make needed modifications before data collection. After the pretest, several modifications were made. For instance, “where the garment was manufactured” was used instead of “country of origin,” “suitability” was changed to “appropriateness for campus wear,” and “coordination” was altered to “coordination with other clothing” in order to make the questionnaire more clear for the respondents. Additionally, because female college students were chosen as subjects for this study, the “freshmen” category of academic standing was changed to “first year in college” in order to avoid any perceptions of sexism.
Sample
A convenience non-probability sample was used for this study. The United States sample consisted
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