Antecedent Variables that Influence Personalization in Apparel Products Shopping - Clothing Involvement, Monthly Clothing Expenditures, Additional Expenses -

The demand for personalized products and service of apparel product has increased dramatically. In order to acquire a personalized apparel product, consumers may have to sacrifice more expense or time. The purpose of this study was to investigate various personalization strategies in apparel business and to identify antecedents that influence the process. Clothing involvement and two price related variables (clothing expense and willingness to pay more) were included in the study as antecedents. Four personalization strategies were included in the study: design selection, size customization, in-store service and promotion personalization. For an empirical study, a conceptual model was designed and research questionnaire was developed. A measure of personalization of apparel shopping was developed based on existing scale items of prior research and a pilot study. Data from 766 men and women in their twenties to forties were used for statistical analysis. Structural Equation Modeling was used for the data analysis. Results indicated that the conceptual model was a good fit to data. Structural paths indicated that there was significant influence of clothing involvement on design selection and sales promotion personalization strategies. Involved consumers spent more on chothing products and were likely to pay more on personalized products and services. Monthly clothing expense influenced size customization significantly. It also had negative influence on service related personalization strategies. Consumers were willing to pay more when it comes to product related personalization strategies such as design and size but not necessarily to service related strategies. This study was an attempt to provide an in-depth and synthesized approach on consumer attitudes toward personalization of apparel products.