Preferencias dos consumidores para tecuidos d e vestuário

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Consumer Preferences for Apparel and Textile Products
as a Function of Lifestyle Imagery
Project # A97-11
Investigators: Michael R. Solomon, Auburn University
Basil G. Englis, Berry College
Project Goal:
Assess the impact of lifestyle-related consumption imagery on consumers’
preferences for textile/apparel products by:
Comparing and contrasting consumers' perceptions of aspirational lifestyles with
the actual market behavior of those who currently occupy these lifestyle profiles
Developing predictive models that relate consumers’ aspirations to their current
and future behavior in the marketplace; and
Creating a visual on-line database containing actual and perceived consumption
images associated with these lifestyle profiles.
Abstract:
The continued viability of the American textile industry hinges on the ability of
manufacturers, advertisers, and retailers to predict, develop, and communicate styles of
apparel and other textile products that resonate with the desires of the consuming public.
We are constructing an on-line visual database to allow us to explore the role played by the
perceived "fit" between a product and a valued lifestyle in shaping the wants and needs of
customers for textile and apparel products. Our conceptual framework emphasizes the role
of consumer aspirations in shaping behavior, as well as the crucial role played by the media
in determining the lifestyle connotations of specific products. And, while most research on
apparel choices tends to be confined to a specific product category, we instead emphasize
how textile and apparel products are evaluated in the context of other products with which
they are jointly consumed to make a lifestyle statement. Selection of respondents and
analysis of results will be facilitated by the cooperation we have secured from the Stanford
Research Institute to integrate its’ widely-used VALS (Values and Lifestyles) consumer
typology with our program of research.

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Textiles and Lifestyles
Our concentration on the integrated meaning of an assortment of symbolically
interdependent products represents a new path of inquiry in the academic literature, and
has valuable strategic ramifications as well. Our primary focus is on women who are
currently in their twenties, as many consumers in this economically vital age cohort have a
high interest in fashion, are forming preferences that will endure throughout adulthood,
and tend to have a fluid self-concept that is heavily influenced by aspirational lifestyle
appeals in apparel advertising. To tap into the emerging aspirations of this segment we will
obtain ongoing input from a set of opinion leaders, i.e., female consumers in their twenties
who follow fashion trends, and who are highly active in social organizations and other
networks where they have an opportunity to influence the tastes of friends and
acquaintances. A long-standing body of research indicates that the preferences of these
influential, "fashion-forward" consumers tend to be predictive of mass market choices at
later points in time.
Research Strategy and Current Status
The research program builds upon the PIs’ prior work in the study of consumers'
product preferences, and in how consumers' preferences are influenced by their desires to
attain aspirational lifestyles and to distance themselves from avoidance lifestyles. The key
question addressed by this program is to learn how consumers integrate information from
mass-media (including advertising, entertainment, and editorial vehicles) depictions of
these lifestyles as they form their own preferences for products and styles.
Participants in our opinion leader panels will provide input on an ongoing basis by
reacting to visual images culled from a variety of media, by supplying their own desired
and undesired images, and by responding to research instruments intended to assess their
perceptions of a range of products or styles from several textile categories that they
associate with lifestyle ideals.
Many of the product categories examined by consumer goods marketers tend to be
driven to a greater extent by well-known brand names (e.g., Budweiser versus Heineken),
while in the apparel or textile category stylistic elements play a very important role. This
image-driven process points to the need to develop a visually-oriented methodology to
examine consumers' preferences -- a dimension that is not widely incorporated in most
lifestyle research. A visual emphasis adds greatly to the richness of the data, but also
presents a challenge as the coding and interpretation of non-lexical information is far more
complex.
This work combines qualitative and quantitative approaches to identify and
interpret sets of relevant product images. Empirical techniques include the use of depth
interviews with consumers, an open-ended elicitation task where respondents provide
product associations with a set of lifestyles, projective measures based on responses to
visual depictions of lifestyle imagery in apparel and textile advertising, and eventually a
web-based survey instrument to assess and monitor evolving lifestyle associations in a
nationally representative sample.

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At the core of our methodological approach is the use of visual imagery (developed
through our qualitative work with opinion leaders) as stimuli used to elicit cross-category
product associations. This is used to identify the sets (or constellations) of products,
activities, and media preferences that consumers themselves associate with desired
lifestyles. Quantitative indexes reflecting structure and evaluative content of these
constellations and their elements will be used to model the future behavior of these
consumers. Results from these sources will be combined with data reflecting consumers’
actual purchase behaviors to analyze the relationship between aspirations and future
market behavior.
We have secured the cooperation of the Stanford Research Institute to access
VALS2, the widely-used consumer typology, and our project will be able to leverage this
well-established and validated national source to specifically study the current issues of
interest. One of the PIs (Englis) has already participated in an intensive training session at
SRI headquarters in Palo Alto, and VALS data are now being made available to us that
will enable us to identify a priori a set of respondents that belong to the desired VALS type
categories.
Fashion Opinion Leadership and VALS
To date little research has been conducted on how lifestyle aspirations impact on the
consumption behavior of opinion leaders, or on the mass market consumers who eventually
follow their lead. To enable us to reliably model these effects, we have been granted access
to the VALS2 database, developed by SRI International. The VALS2 framework is a
psychographic segmentation system that divides the American public into eight general
categories (and numerous subcategories) that are differentiated in terms of resources
available (e.g., income, education, energy levels, eagerness to buy) and self-orientation
(principle-oriented, status-oriented, and action-oriented). Consumers with a Principle
orientation make purchase decisions guided by a belief system, and tend not to be
concerned with the views of others. Those with a Status orientation make decisions based
on their perceived opinions of peers. Action-oriented consumers buy products to have an
impact on the world around them.
We will identify and involve samples of American women who have been “VALS-
typed” into certain categories. In addition, the VALS2 database is now linked to the
Simmons Study of Media & Markets, a major syndicated database that provides detailed
consumption information obtained from a panel of over 20,000 consumers. Prior
classification work conducted by SRI indicates that product innovations tend to be adopted
first by certain VALS types. SRI’s work in this area has, however, tended to emphasize
innovativeness in the adoption of technology rather than of style. Yet, this previous work
also identifies VALS profiles associated with fashion innovativeness and the potential for
application to aesthetic product categories is promising. Fashion-forward opinion leaders
tend to be found in the high-resources region of the VALS typology and cluster primarily
in the status-and action-oriented segments.
During the first year of this project, we are developing and testing a methodology
for eliciting visual images of styles desired by opinion leaders, and for examining their
cross-category product associations with a set of lifestyles to be identified as either

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aspirational or avoidance. Work is currently underway to develop a software tool that will
be used in the consumer survey. This tool is a browser-based software interface with an
extensive database layer, which handles storage and retrieval of visual images. Both
components can be delivered to consumers in web and CD-ROM formats. During the first
year of the project, this data collection tool will be refined through an interactive process of
pilot-testing with consumers. Once this exploratory procedure is developed, in a later stage
of the project we will validate and generalize these procedures using an ongoing,
representative national sample (approx. 2500) of Generation X consumers sampled
randomly and screened into appropriate categories using the VALS methodology.
Consumer Lifestyles and Value-Added Marketing
The mass media and commercial environments to which consumers are exposed are
bursting with consumption imagery, and the depiction of products in such settings as store
windows, print advertisements, and even television sitcoms, exerts a major influence on the
meanings these items carry -- as well as on the likelihood that they will be desired or
avoided by purchasers. In particular, products acquire much of their symbolic meaning by
virtue of the lifestyles with which they are associated. Expressive products, ranging from
clothing and cosmetics to furniture and cars, typically are consumed as much for their
intangible value as vehicles of taste or status as for their functional value.
This process is particularly robust for apparel and textiles products, which are
consumed largely for what they mean rather than for what they do. Two pairs of pants
offered for sale side-by-side in a store may both provide adequate protection from the
elements, but most likely one will be preferred because it is linked to a "look" desired by
the shopper. Similarly, the array of couches on display in a furniture store all provide a
reasonably comfortable place to sit, but it is unlikely that the average shopper would
consider these different styles to be interchangeable.
Because of this vital stylistic component, the market fortunes of a textile product
largely depends on the ability of manufacturers and others in the apparel/textile pipeline to
provide value-added by designing finished items that successfully compete in the
"marketplace of taste." The fate of an expressive product ultimately is determined at the
time of purchase by shoppers who "vote with their dollars" for an item that does the best
job of conveying a desired meaning (whether elegant, stylish, avant garde, practical, etc.).
Targeting (Assumed) Lifestyles
Because so many intangible dimensions affect consumers' evaluations of competing
products, it is imperative for design-oriented businesses to understand the factors that
affect consumer demand and preferences. In addition, though, numerous other entities
also cast important "votes" that help to determine market success or failure. These
include "tastemakers" in the apparel/textile pipeline, such as magazine editors and retail
buyers, who play a pivotal role in determining how a product will be depicted to consumers
-- or if it will ever be included in their decision set at all.
Little is known about the evaluation criteria used by these members of the pipeline,
nor of the factors that influence the initial design and manufacturing decisions of the

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businesses themselves. This unexplored area is particularly important because the product
meanings held by end consumers and the images of what businesses assume are held by
them often differ dramatically. These agents in the apparel/textiles pipeline may well be
basing their design and marketing designs on an illusion (or stereotype) of what "real
people" actually like and wish to buy (cf. Solomon and Greenberg 1993; Englis and
Solomon 1995).
The Consumption Constellation
These (idealized) consumption activities and products are often depicted in
meaningful groupings, rather than in isolation. For example, a typical advertisement for a
barbecue grill might depict a "familiar" backyard scene, complete with sizzling steaks, corn
on the cob, an ice-filled cooler with chilled long-neck bottles, and a volleyball net.
Similarly, Ralph Lauren's advertising and merchandising strategy uses groups of products,
decor, and so on, to contextualize his products in an idealized image of patrician, moneyed,
Americana. In each case, the meaning of the focal product is conveyed in part through the
context in which it is shown - a context created by presenting the focal product in what the
marketer hopes is an appropriate lifestyle setting.
A basic assumption of our perspective is that the way consumers think about a
product is influenced by the other products they assume will go with it. These
cross-category associations are used to assign products to categories, along with other
related objects and activities (e.g., Cantor and Mischel 1979; Rosch 1978; Solomon 1988).
For example, a "game day" category might include a football, food items associated with
tailgating parties, portable seat cushions, apparel emblazoned with a team logo, and so on.
Market researchers typically focus on within-category product associations (Ward
and Loken 1986; Sujan and Bettman 1989), such as analyzing buyers' comparisons of three
types of cameras, grades of produce, etc. In contrast, the present approach emphasizes
between-category product category associations. The consumption constellation construct
has been developed by the PIs in a research program spanning almost a decade to capture
how these product associations are formed and perpetuated by the media (see, e.g., Englis
and Solomon 1996; Englis, Solomon, and Olofsson 1993a,b, 1995; Solomon 1988; Solomon
and Assael 1987; Solomon and Buchanan 1991; Solomon and Englis 1994). A consumption
constellation is defined as a "cluster of complementary products, specific brands, and/or
consumption activities used to construct, signify, and/or perform a social role." To
illustrate, one study that sought to identify the contents of consumption constellations
focused on the sets of products associated with distinct occupations. This study found, for
example, that public defenders are thought to wear Levi's corduroys L. L. Bean shirts, and
Calvin Klein glasses, to drive Volkswagen Rabbits, to drink Molson beer, and to read
Esquire (a very different picture emerged for attorneys in private practice!).
By choosing distinctive product groupings that are laden with symbolic meaning,
consumers can communicate their affiliation with a positively valued, or aspirational,
cultural category (a reference group, an idealized lifestyle, etc.). They may at the same time
eschew other product clusters that are associated with negatively valued, or avoidance,
groups. For example, a law student who shares the ideals of a public defender might
express his/her affiliation with this job by purchasing Levi's cords, L.L. Bean shirts,

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driving a Volkswagen, and so on, while studiously avoiding products associated with the
private attorney. In order to generate effective marketing communications it is important
to identify the mix of products that exist in the aspirational- versus avoidance-group
consumption constellations for a particular target market. Several studies conducted
by the PIs have focused on the contextual cues that might impact the symbolic meaning of
advertised products (cf. Englis, Solomon and Ashmore 1994; Solomon, Ashmore and Longo
1992; Solomon and Greenberg 1993).
A recent study anchored perceived constellations to the widely used PRIZM lifestyle
clustering system, which is a geodemographic database that places consumers in clusters as
a function of such variables as their place of residence and their patterns of product usage
(Englis and Solomon 1995). First, profiles of the PRIZM lifestyle clusters were scaled in
order to identify aspirational and avoidance categories. In a second study, respondents
generated lists of products that they felt were consumed by the people described in these
lifestyle groups. The aspirational group was perceived as most likely to drive 5-series
BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches, or Acuras; as likely readers of Vogue, Business Week, and
Fortune; and as drinkers of Heineken and Beck's beer, Scotch, and champagne. In sharp
contrast, members of the avoidance lifestyle were seen as likely drivers of pick-up trucks,
Chevys, or Fords; readers of People, TV Guide, Wrestling, and the National Enquirer; and
drinkers of Budweiser and Miller beers and Jack Daniels bourbon. It is important to note
that "one man's meat is another man's poison;" the products stereotypically associated
with an avoidance group for one segment may in fact constitute an aspirational group for
another. And, it is quite likely that aspirational products for, say, a rural consumer
segment may in fact be avoidance products for cultural gatekeepers who belong to an
urban segment geographically removed from the customer base.
Marketing Implications for the Apparel/Textile Pipeline
We believe that the consumption constellation concept may provide a useful rubric
for understanding how depictions of apparel/textile products are organized by both
consumers and producers. Consumption constellations may provide a valuable tool for
analyzing and understanding product meaning and brand identity. Definition of a brand's
identity should go beyond simple mapping of a target product vis-a-vis competitors, and
instead should be framed in terms of a relevant consumption constellation and its meaning
to consumers.
The relevant consumption constellation can be identified as one which is associated
with an aspirational reference group for consumers within a particular market segment.
Avoidance groups may be equally important in that they may represent social identities
that consumers wish to distance themselves from. Therefore, a product can be thought of as
positioned within an aspirational group's consumption constellation and against an
avoidance group's consumption constellation.
By emphasizing how consumers’ aspirations are expressed visually as they evaluate
and select products, we hope to forge a set of tools that will help the industry to better
understand the specific lifestyle images sought by its customers. The tracking procedure we
aim to develop will allow us to provide the industry with continuing information about the
evolving stylistic and lifestyle preferences of a key consumer segment. This will add an

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important layer of empirically-grounded information for the development of strategic
positioning strategies by apparel manufacturers and retailers. Furthermore, we are
hopeful that the model which will emerge from this work will facilitate efforts by American
firms to penetrate global markets, where the issues of appropriate and timely product
design and lifestyle positioning are even more pronounced.
References
Cantor, Nancy and Walter Mischel (1979), "Prototypes in Person Perception," in ed. Leonard
Berkowitz, Advances ln Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 12, New York: Academic Press,
4-52.
Englis, Basil G. and Michael R. Solomon (1996), "Where Perception Meets Reality: The Social
Construction of Lifestyles," in eds. Lynn Kahle and Larry Chiagurus, Values, Lifestyles, and
Psychographics, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., in press.
Englis, Basil G. and Michael R. Solomon (1995), "To Be and Not to Be?: Lifestyle Imagery,
Reference Groups, and The Clustering of America," Journal of Advertising, 24 (Spring), 13-28.
Englis, Basil G., Michael R. Solomon, and Richard D. Ashmore (1994), "Beauty Before the Eyes
of Beholders: The Cultural Encoding of Beauty Types in Magazine Advertising and Music
Television," Journal of Advertising, 23 (June), 49-64.
Englis, Basil G., Michael R. Solomon, and Anna Olofsson (1993a), "Consumption Imagery in
Music Television: A Bi-Cultural Perspective," Journal of Advertising, 22 (December), 21-34.
Englis, Basil G., Michael R. Solomon and Anna Olofsson (1993b), "Music Television as Teen
Image Agent: A Preliminary Report from the United States and Sweden," European Advances
in Consumer Research, 1, 449-451.
Rosch, Eleanor (1978), "Principles of Categorization," in Cognition and Categorization, eds. E.
Rosch and B.B. Lloyd, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Solomon, Michael R. (1988), "Mapping Product Constellations: A Social Categorization
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Solomon, Michael R. and Bruce Buchanan (1991), "A Role-Theoretic Approach to Product
Symbolism: Mapping a Consumption Constellation," Journal of Business Research, 22 (March),
95-110.

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Solomon, Michael R. and Basil G. Englis (1994b), "The Big Picture: Product Complementarity
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