Attractiveness of Men's Suits: The Effect of Aesthetic Attributes and Consumer Characteristics

Abstract

Eckman, M. (1997). Attractiveness of men's suits: The effect of aesthetic attributes and consumer characteristics.Abstract The objective of this study was to explore aesthetic aspects of clothing design. Evaluations of the attractiveness of men's tailored clothing by men and women were analyzed, focusing on the influence of aesthetic attributes and consumer characteristics. An individual-subject analysis of variance, based on a conjoint model with interactions, showed evaluations were affected by aesthetic attributes, configurations of aesthetic attributes, and consumer characteristics. Theoretical and managerial implications of the results for retailers and fashion a second purpose of the research was to address such limitations by: 1) testing an adult consumer sample, 2) evaluating men's clothing styles, 3) developing visual stimuli with color and no confounds, and 4) analyzing data from consumers' evaluations of products composed of multiple attributes rather than self-reports of isolated attributes.Information on how consumers evaluate the aesthetic attributes of men's clothing has both practical and theoretical significance. At a practical level, such information should be helpful to designers and retailers in developing strategies to facilitate consumer acceptance of their lines (Evans, 1990). Research on aesthetic preferences for and evaluation of clothing may also enhance theoretical models of consumer decision making, particularly models that address fashion adoption and diffusion.

Conceptualising visual servicescape aesthetics: An application of environmental psychology

“…Table 2, based on a review of research measuring aesthetics of marketing stimuli, is an attempt to categorise all studies in a two dimensional grid. The robustness of this visualisation is enhanced due to a broad consensus that exists among researchers about aesthetic response variables (e.g., Bellizzi & Hite, 1992; Bangle, 2001;Bloch, 1995;2011;Bloch & Richins, 1992;Brunel & Swain, 2008;Deng et al, 2010;Eckman & Wagner, 1994;Hagtvedt & Patrick, 2008;Hsiao et al, 2011;Patrick & Hagtvedt, 2011;Raghubir & Greenleaf, 2006;Townsend & Shu, 2010;Townsend & Sood, 2012;Veryzer, 1993;Yoshimura & Vanagi, 2001Blijlevens et al, 2009Cox & Cox, 2002;Dahl et al, 1999;Desmet & Hekkert, 2007;Eckman & Wagner, 1995;Garber, 1995;Kumar & Garg, 2010;Veryzer, 1995 Bloch, 1995;Donovan & Rossiter,1982;Turley & Milliman, 2000;Veryzer, 1993). Further, it helps in identifying an important knowledge gap in this domain.…”

The role of aesthetics in consumers’ evaluation of apparel quality: A conceptual framework

“…To have a harmonious aesthetic interaction between body and apparel it is important that the formal aspects of the body and the apparel item should be reconcilable and complement each other, but also that the emotions which both evoke and the cognitive messages sent forth by both, are reconcilable and in harmony with each other. De Long (1998:12) and Rudd and Lennon (1994) agree with this view and they underline the proposition that an aesthetic experience originating from the specific appearance is not limited only to the aesthetic qualities of the apparel item or the body, but also includes the interaction between the aesthetic qualities of the apparel item and the body (Rudd and Lennon, 1994;Eckman, 1997;Fiore and Kimle, 1997:325).…”

The sensory properties and comfort of military fabrics and clothing

“…By varying the attributes and their levels according to the statistically determined design, this method enables the researcher to work backwards from the choices/ratings to uncover the relative importance of each factor to the consumer's decision process, but without the need to directly ask their importance from the consumer. Conjoint analysis has been used in clothing research to study a number of factors important to standard commercial and protective garments (Crown and Brown, 1984;Wagner et al, 1990;Eckman, 1997).…”