Clothing Expenditures Research Articles

Korean Households' Clothing Expenditures by Categories

Demand equations are estimated for 10 categories of clothing expenditure using Korean Expenditure Survey data for 1996. Separate equations are estimated with total consumer expenditure and disposal income respectively as proxies for household income. Results reveal sufficient differences in sign and magnitude of regression coefficients between clothing categories to warrant the disaggregation of clothing expenditure. Of particular interest is the demand for Korean traditional costume, which is distinct in several ways. Results are of interest to marketers and others interested in further understanding the Korean market.

Older females as a market segment for well‐fitting clothing

This paper uses the criteria for defining market segments by George Day to analyse older females as a market segment for well‐fitting clothing. This market can be identified by the physical characteristics of older females and their chronic dissatisfaction with ready‐to‐wear. The growing proportions of older consumers and their life expectancy render this market substantial and durable. Retail trade statistics and family expenditure surveys can be used to measure the market segment. Research pertaining to older females' behaviour towards clothing is limited; therefore, the distinctiveness of older females as a market segment for clothing is far from conclusive. Research implications include clothing expenditures and the behavioural dimension of older consumers.

Clothing Expenditure and the Income Elasticity of Chinese Consumers

In this paper, the clothing expenditure and income elasticity of Chinese consumers are investigated by analyzing the clothing expenditure and income in average households during the past 11 years, their geographic distribution in 1996, and their variation in urban households with different incomes. From these analyses, we can conclude that the consumptive power of Chinese consumers has increased considerably over the past 11 years, as shown from their steadily increasing income, total expenditure, and clothing expenditure. However, as their income increases, Chinese consumers tend to spend proportionally less money on clothing, in both urban and rural households. Investigating the geographic distribution of income, clothing expenditure, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and climatic temperature, we find that income and climatic temperature are important variables determining the clothing expenditure of urban and average households, while income, GDP, and climatic temperature have almost equal contributions to clothing expenditure of rural households. On further analysis of income elasticity and marginal impact of clothing expenditure of urban households, we find that lower-income households have greater income elasticity in clothing expenditure than the higher-income households. Therefore, lower-income households tend to spend a larger proportion of their money on clothing than do higher-income households.

The Effect of Uniforms on Nonuniform Apparel Expenditures

The uniform industry has grown steadily the past 20 years with increased attention from employers trying to create a professional image among workers as well as school administrators considering uniforms to curtail school violence. Although an important part of human dressfor centuries, uniforms have received little attentionfrom researchers of the clothing market. This study examines the impact of uniform purchases on household expenditures for selected nonuniform apparel subcategories based on an economic model of conditional demand. Expenditure equations are estimated using the 1990–1991 Consumer Expenditure Survey. The results suggest that, on average, consumers do not substitute uniforms for other apparel purchases. Rather, uniforms and nonuniform apparel appear to be complements in consumers' purchases, resulting in greater household expenditures on nonuniform apparel. These results are first step in understanding the economic effect that uniform purchases, mandated by employers, schools, or others, have on household clothing expenditures.

Family Members' Expenditures for Clothing Categories

This article examines household expenditure patterns for categories of clothing; identifies major factors that influence household expenditures for different categories of clothing for men, women, boys, and girls; and analyzes income elasticities by clothing category. A sample of 1,364 husband‐wife families with at least one child aged 3 to 15 was selected from the 1984‐1985 Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey. Results of tobit analysis indicate that after‐tax income was the most important determinant of clothing expenditures in concert with family characteristics. Some parents' preference‐related variables had a stronger effect on their own clothing expenditures than on children's. Although all clothing categories examined had income elasticities below 1, those categories that are thought to have a stronger function in conveying social psychological meanings tended to have higher income elasticities than the categories that have less of such a function.

A Higher Quality of Life for Whom? Mouths to Feed and Clothes to Wear in the Families of Late Nineteenth-Century American Workers

Children need to be fed, clothed, and sheltered. Historically, an additional baby usually implied a reduction of consumption by other members of a family, a burden that was not necessarily shared equally. Social historians have ignored the issue of inequality within the family. Using the household budgets of nearly 6,000 American workers surveyed in 1889-1890, this article attempts to remedy that neglect. It analyzes the differential impact of higher fertility, measured by the number of children in the household under age five, on the consumption of husbands, wives, and siblings. In response to higher fertility, the wife rather than the husband sacrificed more. Contemporary opinion demonstrates that clothing expenditures provide a good indicator of the extent of involvement in social life beyond the household. A statistical study of expenditures for the clothes of husbands, wives, and children corroborates this interpretation and suggests that the family consumption economy could be an arena of conflict. Finally, the article explores the meanings of the improving consumption status of wives during the twentieth century.

Female‐Headed Households: Impact of Family Structure on Quarterly Expenditures for Clothing

This research analyzes the impact of family structure (female headed without spouse present and two parent) on individual household member expenditures for clothing. Quarterly clothing expenditure data from the 1985 Consumer Expenditure Survey were analyzed via Tobit. Each family type was analyzed separately, and within each subsample, expenditures for women's, girls', boys', and infants' clothing were estimated. For each explanatory variable in the model, significance of expenditure differences between family structures was tested. Magnitudes and significance of effects by family structure differed, and significance of the difference between the values obtained for each family type also varied between explanatory variables. Often thought of as nontraditional, female‐headed households are a fast‐growing segment of our society. Information as to how they differ from traditional two‐parent households in the retail clothing market will contribute to our understanding of these families and help to complete the picture of their expenditure behavior.

An Alternative Model of U.S. Clothing Expenditures: Application of Cointegration Techniques

In this paper, an Error Correction Mechanism model of U.S. clothing expenditures for the period 1929–1987 is estimated using recent developments in modeling nonstationary variables. Using clothing expenditures as an example, the pitfalls of conventional modeling of nonstationary variables and the advantages of a new modeling procedure that takes into account the properties of data for valid inference about population parameters are pointed out. The basic findings obtained by estimating an Error Correction Mechanism model of clothing expenditures are (1) the demand for clothing is income inelastic both in the short run and in the long run; (2) the price elasticity of demand is unitary in the long run but greater than unity in the short run; (3) an increase in the unemployment rate reduces U.S. clothing expenditures both in the short run and the long run; and (4) an increase in the number of elderly (above the age of 65) increases clothing expenditures in the short run and reduces expenditures in the long run. However, the shortrun impact of an increase in the elderly population on clothing expenditures is statistically insignificant.

Employment Clothing Practices and Attitudes of White-Collar Female Workers

The business clothing practices and attitude toward clothing of 313 white-collar female workers in a large state organization were investigated. The purposes of the present study were to investigate whether (1) there were significant differences in types of clothing chosen for work by managerial and nonmanagerial women, (2) there were correlations among types of clothing chosen and the attitudes toward employment clothing, career commitment, and apparel evaluative criteria, and (3) the factors contributed to the prediction of type of clothing chosen and clothing expenditures. Analysis yielded significant differences in the types of clothing chosen for work by those two groups and significant correlations between those types of clothing and clothing attitudes, and the apparel evaluative criteria. The multiple regression results indicated that the attitudes about clothing, price, career commitment, perceived new clothing needs, and age contributed to the prediction of employment clothing practices and expenditures.

A Reassessment of Age and Gender Specifications on Household Clothing Expenditures: Development of Age Category Guidelines for Determining Clothing Allotments

There are many situations (e.g., foster care and child support payments) in which a monetary allotment for children's clothing is explicitly or implicitly included as part of a household transfer. Typically, the amount of payment is related to the age of the child although universally accepted guidelines for determining clothing allotments, based on age, do not exist. This research empirically examined various age and gender specifications in an effort to identify a categorization that sufficiently captures the differing effects of children's ages and gender on household clothing expenditures. Clothing allotments based on school-age categories appeared most appropriate and were evaluated in light of both developmental and economic factors.

Impact of Married Women's Employment on Individual Household Member Expenditures for Clothing

Family member and per capita clothing expenditures are estimated via tobit, using 1980–1981 Consumer Expenditure Survey data. Occupation categories are developed and implicit wage rates imputed for each wife in the sample. Employed‐wife households have higher expenditures for clothing than do nonemployed‐wife households and wife's occupation differentially affects family member expenditures. Wife's implicit wage is not significant, while wife's unearned income has a positive impact on all categories of expenditures except for infants. These results indicate that it is not possible to generalize across family members about the influence of income and socio‐demographic variables on clothing expenditures.

Brand Name Awareness and Image Perception of Women's Daytime Apparel

The objectives were (1) to investigate brand name awareness and image perceptions of nationally known women's brand name apparel and (2) to identify these characteristics of female consumers which influence brand preferences. The statistical analysis of data collected from 130 female students and 75 working women indicated brand name awareness was influenced by subjects' occupational status and clothing expenditure. Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren showed more distinctive image characteristics than 12 other national apparel brands. Brand preference was affected by brand attributes, clothing interest, clothing expenditure, and age. A few marketing implications were suggested.

The effect of ethnicity on selected household expenditures

A subsample of expenditure data, collected from 3,481 households as part of the 1980–1981 Consumer Expenditure Survey, was used to analyze the effect of ethnicity on expenditures for clothing, food at home, and food away from home. Previous research has been criticized for failing to control for the effects of income and other socioeconomic and demographic variables on the behavior of ethnic consumers. The results of a multiple regression analysis in which the effects of those variables were controlled demonstrated that Hispanics spend more than other households on food at home, while Afro-Americans spend more on clothing and less on food away from home.

BRAND NAME AWARENESS AND IMAGE PERCEPTION OF WOMEN'S DAYTIME APPAREL

The objectives were (1) to investigate brand name awareness and image perceptions of nationally known women's brand name apparel and (2) to identify these characteristics of female consumers which influence brand preferences. The statistical analysis of data collected from 130 female students and 75 working women indicated brand name awareness was influenced by subjects' occupational status and clothing expenditure. Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren showed more distinctive image characteristics than 12 other national apparel brands. Brand preference was affected by brand attributes, clothing interest, clothing expenditure, and age. A few marketing implications were suggested.

Individual Consumption Within the Household: A Study of Expenditures on Clothing

This paper studies expenditures on clothing for children and their parents using the individual consumer as the basic unit of analysis. The effects on clothing expenditure of the age, sex, and race of the household member, the composition, location, and total expenditures of the household, and the education and occupation of the parents are analyzed using multivariate Tobit analysis. Data are taken from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1984–1985.

The Decline in Expenditures for Clothing Relative to Total Consumer Spending, 1929–1986

Although total expenditures for clothing and shoes (CSX) have increased greatly since 1929, they have declined as a share of total personal consumption expen ditures (PCE) in nominal dollars, particularly since the end of World War II. Anal yses of time series data indicate that, in real dollars, per‐person CSX is a function of the previous year's CSX and the year‐to‐year change in PCE; the levels of total PCE and clothing inventory seem to have less effect on CSX than in the past. Meanwhile, based on survey data, the slope of the Engel curve relating clothing expenditures to total personal consumption expenditures at a given time has not changed. Hypotheses about why CSX/PCE has declined in nominal dollars in clude changes in the relative price and quality of clothing, relationships among clothing and other commodities, fashion change, demographic factors, and struc tural changes in the economy.

Records of Clothing Expenditure for the Years 1746–79 Kept by Elizabeth Jervis of Meaford in Staffordshire

Records of Clothing Expenditure for the Years 1746–79 Kept by Elizabeth Jervis of Meaford in Staffordshire

The effect of phosphate detergent bans on consumer clothing expenditures

Metropolitan sales data from the 1977 Census of Retail Trade were analysed to test whether phosphate detergent bans increased consumer expenditure on clothing: positive effects were found for men's clothing and domestic fabrics (sheets and towels). In areas with medium water hardness the average annual cost in 1977 equalled $11·08 per household. For 1984, the equivalent cost was $14·17 per household. These results are consistent with laboratory studies that show decreased detergency associated with non‐phosphate detergents and increased fabric wear associated with carbonate‐built detergents, the principle substitute for phosphate detergents. The bans impose the largest cost on hard water areas. In both ban and non‐ban areas in 1977 higher laundering costs were associated with higher water hardness. Analysis of 1972 data indicated that water hardness did not affect clothing expenditures significantly when detergents contained large amounts of phosphates.

Older consumers' use of media for fashion information

This study explored the perceptions of older mass media consumers with respect to portrayals of older adults in the media and to the processing of appearance symbols and fashion information. The data suggest that the use of television for information processing of this sort is likely to be implicit. Females and males with higher clothing expenditures were most likely to report such usage.

THE CLOTHING ATTITUDES AND ACTIVITIES OF HOME ECONOMISTS EMPLOYED IN BUSINESS

The Sproles Consumer Interest and Priorities questionnaire was administered to 3,036 American home economists, who were pursuing careers in business, in order to develop a profile of the clothing attitudes and activities of that segment of the consumer market who (1) have been enrolled in home economics programmes at the college level, and (2) have been employed in businesses created for profit or associations supported by profit‐making companies. Sixty‐four per cent (1,950) of the survey forms were returned. A majority of the respondents evidenced a consciousness of clothing styles worn by others, an understanding of the importance of fashionability within social situations, an awareness of personal clothing expenditures and an appreciation for the economic value of home sewing. Application of these principles, however, was individualized, as evidenced by contrasting methods of clothing acquisition, varied willingness to purchase clothing at sales or used clothing establishments, and diverse tendencies toward buying clothing on impulse. Only 22% of the sample perceived themselves to be fashion leaders.