Dress-Buying Behavior of Consumers

The next time I'm at the Regenstein Library I will certainly be logging in to JSTOR and checking out this paper, by John E. Jacobi and S. George Walters. (In Journal of Marketing, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Oct. 1958), pp. 168-172.)

Here's the abstract:

"The objectives of this study were to explore the nature of consumer dress-buying behavior, and to develop hypotheses for future research. Three hypotheses are described: the narrowing process; the symbol-acceptance concept; and the critical-attribute phase."

The "narrowing process" seems pretty clear -- you can't look at every dress. (Well, maybe YOU can't, but I'M giving it the old college try.) And "critical-attribute phase" also seems transparent; I personally won't buy a dress with spaghetti straps, for instance. But what the heck is the "symbol-acceptance concept"? Minds inquiring nearly fifty years after the fact want to know.

And as long as I'm thinking about the hows and whys of dress-buying, take a look at this one that Ju sent me (at Anthropologie). The class assignment is to discuss why one would or would not buy this dress instead of the Tiki Boutique one.

Comments

[Katana Barnett]

"class"

[Miss Kitty]

Ummm...maybe it's just my inner stripper talking, but I like both dresses. Of course, my boobs are big & natural and therefore won't stick out like the ones on the Tiki Boutique model.The funky hem on the Tiki one *is* a little off-putting. Why add anything else to the dress when you already have huge polka-dots? And, sadly, I can't find the dress anywhere on their website, and you posted the first dress just three weeks ago. Aaack!

[oliviacw]

Well, I wouldnt buy either, because such halter styles just don't work with my need for support garments. But hypothetically speaking, definitely the anthropologie one. I don't care much for border patterns (or lack thereof) - I have short legs, and border designs or color blocks chop me off like nothing else. I also think the smocked waist would be more forgiving.

[mickey]

I wouldn't buy/wear either because I prefer to not resemble a beach ball. But I guess I like the hemline on the Tiki dress because it breaks up the dots.

[Ms. Kat]

I'd have to say the anthropologie one for the mundane reason that it might still be in stock, where the Tiki one is not.

[star7girl7]

"Smocked" waist = didn't bother to actually make it fit."Smocked" waist = going to look cheap and nasty when the elastic starts to go"Smocked" waist = anthropologie management thinking "it's cheaper to insert a strip of elastic than to put in a side zipper, so we get to keep more of the $118""Smocked" waist = if we do it in an eye-catching fabric, no one will notice it's a simple unfitted cotton dress with an elastic waist that you could buy at KMart for $29.95I'm just sayin'.Guess the "smocking" is a critical attribute for me, huh?OH - and I wouldn't call it smocking - at best it's ruching.

[IA]

Critical attributes for me:1. I don't like smocking. I don't absolutely rule it out, but it's a demerit to be worked off by the other qualities of the dress . . .2. . . . the most important of which is color, and I'm not drawn to these. I generally don't like color schemes that are all over the rainbow. Replacing, say, the blue and black dots with shades of brown--or better yet, more greens--would make this irresistible to me.3. This is a minor reservation, and one that I overcome all the time, but that surplice front would present the depths of my bosom to a far broader and less select portion of the ridership of the MTA than is typically my preference. I'd have to wear a sweater over it in meetings, and I'd be forever looking down into my own cleavage to gauge the offensiveness.But now--a more important issue: Is there any special trick to pressing pleats back into something that's been washed? Or does one just give up after the first laundering and pretend they're just uneven gathers? I've got this dress . . .

[trenabdesigns]

Definitely the Tiki one. If you're going to go with obnoxious bright polka dots, then commit, baby! Contrast midriff, color blocked hem, bring it on! I don't like the color/pattern distortion the ruching/smocking causes on the Anthropologie version.Plus, I don't like Anthropologie on principle. Half the time they don't do finishing details like, say, hems, and then charge over $100 for everything in the store. And it's not like they're charging those prices because they use only fair labor well-paid factories--it's pure profit for them.

[Thoughts on Life and Millinery.]

You have just won the most creative use of JSTOR award for the day.Librarians and academics everywhere salute you!

[estea]

neither, because it's a given that a halter-style will always be too large for my non-existent bustline and need to be altered (ugh).but I love me some spaghetti straps!

[3 to get ready]

I don't know. As a fairly conservative dresser, I'm kind of intimidated by the Tiki Boutique one. Or maybe it's the INYOURFACE body of the model. I'm having trouble separating the two. I think the Anthropologie one looks cute, but that's exactly the kind of dress that I take into the fitting room and then once it's on,I have to gag because the waist gathers add, oh, maybe 6 inches to my already ample hips. Can I buy the Anthropologie one for a slim friend?

[Anonymous]

Probably the Tiki one. I like the midriff band. It keeps the dots from being overwhelming. And I'm with the others who dislike smocking. Bleh. But I probably wouldn't wear it outside of the house. Halter dresses with no option for support garments are not, but NOT, a good idea for me.--Lydia

[Anonymous]

I've been lurking on your delightful website for a while now. You inspired me to make two wonderful halter dresses. The first was in this "disco dot blue" from Repro Depot Fabrics. The second was in a wrinkle-free perfect-travel-dress black knit. Simple McCall's pattern that I altered until it fit my tiny bust to perfection and almost gives me cleavage. Thanks for the inspiration! If you're going to go dots, do it like you mean it!http://reprodepotfabrics.com/discodotsblue1.html

[Anonymous]

As for the support issue, I was looking on the Neiman Marcus website, from which yesterday's post originated, and they had a strapless, backless bra for sale. Not for everyone, but it might help some. I don't like the Tiki dress for the simple reason that the color banding on the bottom of the skirt looks printed on and not pieced, which reminds me of the printed Christmas tree skirt panels for sale at the fabric store from about July until March of the following year. I think I would need to pass on the Anthropologie dress, too. The neckline looks like it is cut even lower/wider than the Tiki dress. As a less well endowed person, I am concerned that short of double stick tape, the areas meant to provide modesty would be flapping around in the breeze like a couple of polka-dot sails. I have a vintage halter dress pattern I LOVE. The front is cut in two overlapping panels that provide coverage and a lovely neckline, rather like one of Grace Kelly's costumes from Rear Window. Although that wasn't one of the options.Amy

[Anita]

I would wear neither. But the one thing I like about the Anthropoligie dress is that the dots are closer together and reads as a whole. The other one makes me want to look at each dot and it's distracting.I wonder if the "symbol acceptance concept" is about buying based on the status of owning it, whether it's because of the label, the style, or the object itself. For instance, some people only wear Nike or Levi or whatever the brand is... iPod over the generic MP3 player.

[meara]

I like the tiki dress much better (and anthropologie tends to be so *expensive*), but I"d be more likely to buy the anthropologie one, simply because I could try it ON!!!

[A Woman of Letters]

Neither comes in my size, plus I am almost a "modesty-nik" and so therefore both are too low-cut for my busty self. But, if those impediments were removed, I still don't know which I'd choose! The Tiki Boutique looks like it wrinkles easily, but the Anthropologie one does not particularly flatter the model that is shown wearing it. Based on the price alone, I'd lean toward the Tiki. If they both were available at the local Goodwill for $7, I might go with the Anthropologie dress.

[Valerie]

in practice I would probably wear neither, b/c halters don't usually work for me. BUT I like the surplice of the anthropologie more than the straight V neck of the tiki dress. Also, I prefer the pattern of the anthro dress also, the gigantic border on the tiki dress scares me a bit. I saw it on someone in Herald Square in NYC over the weekend, and it's pretty scary in person also.

[Sara]

If I *had* to purchase one, it'd be the Anthro dress, because the turquoise hem of the Tiki one is really not my color. And I could live with the smocking...I think.But goodness, $118 for a cotton halter? Mais non.

[msbelle]

I prefer the anthro one.BTW, saw a woman on the street yesterday in the tiki one. It looked betteron her than on the model. Not at all hookerish.

[Anonymous]

I'm guessing the Tiki folks didn't bother to copy edit for the same reason they didn't bother to iron the dress in the photo. But this dress seems to be for those who have a devil-may-care attitude about many things, especially cleavage. I have quite modest cleavage myself, but would still feel far to exposed in this dress. The Anthropologie one is better, but as others have said, $118 dollars? Maybe I'd buy this dress in a more placid print, on clearance, but at Anthropologie it would probably still be too expensive.

[Kate]

Actually, the Tiki Boutique dress is a knockoff of a dress that I saw at (I think) Intermix the other day. Like, a stich-by-stich, color-by-color copy. Therefore I would have to veto the Tiki Boutique dress simply because I am against knockoffs on principle (parents are intellectual property lawyers).I don't think I'd buy this one either--the smocking generally intimates fit issues, as many people have explained already.Also, to the woman who saw the backless strapless bra--it seems too good to be true, and it is. They only really work on women with a B cup or smaller, aka the cup sizes below which one could pretty much forego the bra anyway. Even if you wedge it into place between the bust and the dress (I tied a halter neck so tight I thought I might suffocate in my own cleavage) it will still fall off, especially if you sweat. At all. Even a drop. Sorry for the bitterness, I still feel ripped off by that purchase.

[LNLisa]

Did you need a copy of that article? I can email you one if you like. I'm a student so I have access to that database.

[Courtney]

In reality I probably wouldn't buy either, but if forced at gunpoint I'd pick the Anthropologie dress. The color palette is more pleasing (that is, pink) and I like the cut of the neckline better. I'm down with halter tops, just not so much into polka dots.

[Madeleine Powers]

>But the one thing I like about the Anthropoligie dress is that the dots are closer together and reads as a whole. The other one makes me want to look at each dot and it's distracting.Yes, this. But the tiki dress has pockets, so I think it might be Erin's fave!