Conceptual framework
The Consumer Decision Process Model by Blackwell et al. (2005) describes consumers’ decision process behavior from need recognition to satisfaction after purchasing products. The model describes environmental influences and individual differences as factors affecting consumers in all stages of the decision making process. Environmental influences include culture, social class, personal influence, family, and situation. Individual differences are consumer resources, motivation and involvement, knowledge, attitudes, and personality, values, and lifestyles. These factors interact to determine pre-purchase evaluation of alternate products and services and, ultimately, influence consumers’ decisions about whether to buy, when to buy, what to buy, where to buy, and how to pay.
Search for information is the second stage in the decision process, which can be either internal or external information search. Experience is the most frequently used internal information when consumers make a purchase decision. External information search involves collecting information from others. It is expected that some consumers may prefer to use internal information, some prefer external information, and others may prefer a combination of both sources. However, the model does not emphasize choice of information source and does not specify what individual differences might influence the use of information sources. The current study looks at consumers’ frequency of use of internal and external information sources. Consumers’ preference for particular sources of information can be inferred from the frequency with which various sources are used. Thus, this study was developed to examine the influences of individual differences during the second stage in the decision making process, specifically, the influences of individual differences in fashion leadership and SOP on frequency of use of information sources for apparel shopping.
Information sources
“There are two basic dimensions of consumer information search, internal and external” (Lauraeus-Niinivaara et al. 2007, p. 3). External information sources have been further classified as personal and impersonal (e.g., Barber et al. 2009; Seock and Bailey 2009). Consumers’ past experiences provide ideas or images that are useful during an internal information search when consumers retrieve information from memory (Blackwell et al. 2005). Internal information such as prior experience may be the most frequently used source when consumers make a purchase decision. Prior experience, then, may act as a memory schema to influence perceptions of a current situation (Alba and Hasher 1983). If a satisfactory solution becomes clear from relevant information retrieved from memory, then the information search may end before proceeding to an external search. If the necessary information is not available from the internal search, then consumers may widen their search for information to include the external environment. External information search involves collection of information from peers, family, and the commercial sphere (Blackwell et al. 2005). External sources include marketer dominated as well as non-marketer dominated sources. Marketer dominated sources include the commercial sphere (i.e., advertising, salespeople, infomercials, websites, point-of-sale materials)–marketer-provided information with the intent to persuade consumers to purchase their products. Non-marketer dominated sources include friends, family, opinion leaders, and media–sources over which marketers have little control.
Seock and Bailey (2009) classified these sources as follows: (a) internal information (i.e., experiences and knowledge stored in memory); (b) impersonal external information (i.e., fashion magazines, non-fashion magazines, catalogues, Internet, television ads, celebrities, observed street-wear, and store displays); and (c) personal external information sources (i.e., mother, father, sisters or other female family members, brothers or other male family members, friends, girlfriend or boyfriend, and salespeople at the store). These previously established classifications were included in the current study.
Fashion leadership
Because the fashion adoption process evolves in stages prompted first by introduction of new styles or variations of existing styles, consumers can be segmented according to fashion leadership as fashion leaders or fashion followers (Workman and Freeburg 2009). Compared to fashion followers, fashion leaders are higher in fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership. Fashion leaders are comprised of three groups that affect the speed and trajectory of fashion adoption: fashion innovators (willing to adopt new fashion styles relatively early in the fashion life cycle), fashion opinion leaders (give advice, act as an information source, and thereby, influence others’ purchase decisions), and innovative communicators who combine both roles.
Fashion leaders are more sensitive to and more accepting of fashion change as evidenced by the fact that they are the first to adopt and communicate information about new styles. Fashion followers delay purchasing a new style until later stages of the fashion adoption process. According to Kim and Hong (2011), fashion leadership is a critical consumer trait because the purchase and use of fashion apparel is susceptible to interpersonal influence, especially of fashion leaders. Fashion leaders influence later adopters because they provide exposure to new fashion styles and, by the way they wear and accessorize the new styles, they express and imbue the new fashion styles with meaning (Workman and Freeburg 2009). Fashion leaders are likely to be discerning consumers of information because a new fashion style gets its preliminary meaning (impressions such as professionalism, modesty, femininity, or status) through images and descriptions in advertisements, magazines, and newspaper articles. Most academic research indicates that women are more likely to be fashion leaders than men, although the gender gap may be narrowing with Gen Y.
Style of information processing (SOP)
According to Barthes (1983), three diverse structures exist for a fashion item—technical (the tangible item), iconic (photograph, picture, or image of the item), and verbal (written or voiced description of the item). SOP is “preference and propensity to engage in a verbal and/or visual modality of processing” (Childers et al. 1985, p. 130). Research in SOP has examined individual tendencies for processing information visually or verbally. Word-oriented individuals can be considered high verbalizers: showing high fluency with words, preferring to read about ideas, and enjoying word games. Image-oriented individuals can be considered high visualizers: preferring to view information and enjoying visually-oriented games (Mendelson and Thorson 2004). Generally, consumers prefer visual over verbal processing (Childers et al. 1985; Holbrook 1986); however, limited research has examined SOP related to apparel consumer behavior. The review of literature presents evidence to support four hypothesized relationships among fashion leadership, SOP, and frequency of use of information sources.
Hypotheses development
Fashion leadership and SOP
The behavior of fashion leaders and followers differ during different stages of the purchase decision process. For example, during the information search stage, compared with fashion followers, fashion leaders are more likely to read fashion magazines as well as fashion stories in newspapers, watch television programs related to clothing styles, check store availability of clothing shown in magazines, and attend fashion shows (Goldsmith and Flynn, 1992; Goldsmith et al. 1991, 1993; Goldsmith et al. 1999; Quigley and Notarantonio 2009; Uray and Dedeoglu 1998; Vernette 2004). Advertisements, comprising about half of the space in fashion magazines (termed glossy magazines because of the slick paper), are the major source of glossy imagery that provides visual pleasure to readers of fashion magazines (Currie 1997). According to Dyer (1982), readers can more easily understand the visual imagery used in advertisements than the accompanying text. According to Sojka and Giese, exposed to the same advertisement, verbally-oriented consumers focus on the text; visually-oriented consumers focus on the images. Subsequently, verbally-oriented and visually-oriented consumers respond differently to the same advertisement. Thus, SOP preference is likely to influence the second stage of the decision making process, including type of information used as well as extent of information search.
Fashion clothing provides sensory information through sight, touch, kinesthetics, smell, hearing, and taste (Fiore and Kimle 1997). Different consumers have different preferences for sensory forms of information and use different criteria to interpret identical sensory information provided by clothing fashions (Peck and Childers 2003; Workman and Caldwell 2007). For example, fashion leaders consider the image or symbolic (visual) aspects of apparel more important than do fashion followers (Beaudoin et al. 2000). Further, fashion leaders considered visual product aesthetics more central to evaluation of apparel products than fashion followers did (Workman and Caldwell 2007). In addition, need for touch has been defined as a preference for acquiring and using information obtained through the haptic sensory system (Peck and Childers 2003). Fashion leaders were found to have a higher need for touch than fashion followers (Workman 2010; Workman and Cho 2013). Preference for information obtained through touch might affect use of other sensory forms of information, for example, visual (Peck and Childers 2003). Individual differences in traits such as centrality of visual product aesthetics and need for touch have relevance for information search; these traits also differentiate between fashion leaders and fashion followers.
Thus, individuals who differ in fashion leadership may differ in the frequency with which they use different sources of information during apparel shopping. Evidence has been provided that fashion leaders have a greater need for information overall as well as an active engagement in searching for both visual and verbal information. No research was found that directly examined fashion leadership and SOP. Based on previous related research, fashion leaders and fashion followers were expected to have different styles of information processing. Hypothesis one was proposed.
Hypothesis 1ab. Fashion leaders will have a greater (a) SOP-visual and (b) SOP-verbal than fashion followers.
Fashion leadership and information sources
Fashion leaders have greater need for uniqueness, are more fashion conscious, more interested, and more involved in fashion than are fashion followers (Beaudoin et al. 2000; Phau and Lo 2004; Quigley and Notarantonio 2009; Vernette 2004; Workman and Caldwell 2007; Workman and Cho 2012). Apparel products are products that encourage high involvement, especially among fashion leaders, because of their ability to express an individual’s identity and emotions (Workman and Freeburg 2009). Information search might be especially useful with high involvement products (Moorthy et al. 1997).
Fashion knowledgeability (i.e., the amount of fashion information obtained and used by individuals) is another trait with relevance to information search and that separates fashion leaders from fashion followers (Workman and Freeburg 2009). Product knowledge reflects a consumer’s prior experience with a product. Fashion leaders are more knowledgeable about fashion because they are more engaged in information seeking (Flynn et al. 1996), go shopping more often (Goldsmith and Flynn 1992; Goldsmith et al. 1991, 1993, 1996, 1999; Stanton and Paolo 2012) and regard magazine advertisements and store displays as important sources of fashion information (Uray and Dedeoglu 1998). Because of these information search activities, fashion leaders are more knowledgeable than fashion followers about fashion product attributes (O’Cass 2004; Goldsmith 2002). Therefore, fashion leaders may have a greater amount of information acquired from marketer-oriented information sources, and consequently, have a greater amount of information stored in memory on which they can rely.
Fashion leaders are key sources of information in interpersonal communication; their friends, family, and other social acquaintances seek their opinion when considering purchase of fashion products (Vernette 2004). Research has found that, compared with fashion followers, fashion leaders have a greater tendency to gossip—one means of sharing their opinions with others (Lee and Workman 2013). Conversely, fashion followers are more likely to ask for others’ opinions about fashion topics (Johnson 2008). Based on the research reviewed, fashion leaders and fashion followers were expected to differ in the frequency of use of information sources. Hypothesis two was developed.
Hypothesis 2abc. Fashion leaders will more frequently use (a) internal and (b) impersonal external information sources than fashion followers; fashion followers will more frequently use (c) personal external information sources than fashion leaders.
SOP and information sources
Consumers use many sources of information but the combination of information sources that works best for an individual may be influenced by the way he or she absorbs, retains, and processes information, in other words, his or her SOP (Epstein 1998). Although visual and verbal processes have received scrutiny, investigation has focused primarily on SOP in relation to advertising or other product extrinsic cues (e.g., Mueller et al. 2010; Petrova and Cialdini 2005; Ramsey and Deeter-Schmelz 2008). Extrinsic cues are product-linked features that can be changed without changing the product (e.g., price, brand name, or packaging) (Olson and Jacoby 1972). According to Sojka and Giese (2001), high visualizers (vs. low visualizers) are more influenced by visual aesthetic elements in advertisements; the same is likely to be true for other categories of information search. However, there is an absence of research examining how consumers’ SOP influences information search in apparel shopping.
Fashion clothing needs to be experienced first-hand via sensory information–especially through the senses of sight and touch (Workman 2010). For example, tactile information is more readily accessible to consumers with a higher need for touch when they search for apparel product information or evaluate product attributes (Peck and Childers 2003). Simultaneously, visual information can present product information briefly (Lurie and Mason 2007), and consumers who enjoy processing image-oriented information can detect and process the information easily (Khakimdjanova and Park 2005). Visual presentation also may help these consumers identify the product and improve their product knowledge. According to Blanco et al. (2010), textual information (i.e., verbal information) improves perceptions of information quality. Thus, consumers who are word-oriented individuals may find it more useful when information about an apparel product is provided in written or voiced description. Based on these notions, it is expected that individuals who have different SOP may use different sources of information during apparel shopping. Hypotheses three and four were developed to examine if degree of SOP-visual and SOP-verbal influences frequency of using sources of information for apparel shopping.
Hypothesis 3abc. Participants high (versus low) in SOP-visual will more frequently use (a) internal, (b) impersonal external, and (c) personal external information sources.
Hypothesis 4abc. Participants high (versus low) in SOP-verbal will more frequently use (a) internal, (b) impersonal external, and (c) personal external information sources.