Effects of Situational and Individual Influences on the Selection of Daily Clothing

Abstract

This study examined the daily clothing selection from the perspective of consumer decision process by (1) testing the actual existence ofexogenous and endogenous dimensions of situational influence and clothing orientation of individual influence affecting the selection of daily clothing using factor analysis; (2) testing the hypothesis that, in the case of daily clothing selection, situational influence is mostly exogenous in nature; and (3) pilot testing the situational and individual influences on three different female populations of college, professional, and suburban/nonworking women. Three different female populations which consisted of 385 college women, 62 professional women, and 65 suburban/nonworking women were surveyed to determine the difference in emphasis placed on situational and individual influences. The result of the principal axis factor analysis indicated that the situational influences which affect one's selection of daily clothing are mostly exogenous in nature. The exogenous factor of situational influence possessed the highestfactor loadings and greatest numberof variables. Research also indicated that the endogenous clothing variables measured the self-enhancement aspect of human behavior related to clothing. Results of analysis of variance and the Scheffe' test suggested that the three groups of women differed in the degree of influence they received from three factors. The exogenous factor of situational influence and clothing orientation of individual influence affected the studentgroup the most for the selection ofdaily clothing while the endogenous factor influenced the suburban group the most.