Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Consumers' attitude toward metric conversion for clothing sizes related to selected variables

Public Deposited

Downloadable Content

Download PDF
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/1g05ff93m

Descriptions

Attribute NameValues
Creator
Abstract
  • The purpose of the study was to explore the possible acceptance of metric conversion for clothing sizes and sizing standardization by a selected sample of female ready-to-wear clothing consumers. A questionnaire was designed to elicit consumer's positive or negative attitudes toward metric conversion for clothing sizes and sizing standardization. The 54-item questionnaire also incorporated measures of selected items of consumer background information including: attitude toward metric conversion in the U.S.A., attitude toward change, level of metric knowledge, perceived fashion innovativeness, educational level, and age group. The questionnaire was mailed to 500 women residing in Thurston County, Washington. Respondents were systematically selected by computer from 32 randomly selected polling precincts out of 128 total precincts. The initial mailing and the three-week follow-up of non-respondents included a hand-signed cover-letter, the questionnaire booklet, and a first-class return envelope. A total of 288 usable replies (57.60) were included in the study. Descriptive statistics were employed in the analysis of individual questions and each composite measure. The Pearson correlation coefficient and the chi-square test of independence were used to analyze relationships between variables. The significance level was set at .05. Consumers expressed a positive attitude toward metric conversion for clothing sizes, sizing standardization, metric conversion in the U.S.A., and change. Most of the 288 women possessed "some" to "a great deal of" metric knowledge, were educated beyond high school, were between 18 and 41 years of age, and perceived themselves as adopting new styles about the same time as most other people. The consumers desired a period of dual labeling for apparel, preferably permanently, and acknowledged that metric size designations on dual labels probably would be ignored. The women agreed that size markings should be actual body measurements, yet most were reluctant to abandon nominal codes. Aesthetically appealing, simple, size designations were supported. Rationalized metric sizes were ultimately preferred over soft conversion methods. The present system of sizing by style and age group was satisfactory to more than half of the respondents, although some voiced discontent with their inability to purchase fashionable styles in all size ranges. The women agreed that current sizes are not uniform, supported elimination of vanity sizing and the reduction of overlapping sizes between groups, and wished to rectify sizing discrepancies between brand and price levels through use of the metric system. Simultaneous sizing standardization and metric clothing size conversion was viewed as possibly too confusing by a slight majority; in order to avoid confusion, most respondents felt mandatory conversion by the industry was necessary. Consumers concurred that shopping for metric clothing sizes would not really be any more difficult, and that increased uniformity in apparel sizes would result in less need to try on garments and increased confidence when shopping for gifts and through catalogues. Significant relationships were found to exist between consumers' attitude toward metric conversion for clothing sizes and the following variables: attitude toward sizing standardization, level of metric knowledge, attitude toward metric conversion in the U.S.A., attitude toward change, and educational level. Significant relationships could not be established between consumers' attitude toward metric conversion for clothing sizes and perceived fashion innovativeness or age group.
Resource Type
Date Available
Date Issued
Degree Level
Degree Name
Degree Field
Degree Grantor
Commencement Year
Advisor
Committee Member
Academic Affiliation
Non-Academic Affiliation
Subject
Rights Statement
Publisher
Peer Reviewed
Language
Digitization Specifications
  • File scanned at 300 ppi (Monochrome) using ScandAll PRO 1.8.1 on a Fi-6770A in PDF format. CVista PdfCompressor 5.0 was used for pdf compression and textual OCR.
Replaces

Relationships

Parents:

This work has no parents.

In Collection:

Items

Thumbnail Title Date Uploaded Visibility Actions
file details McCauleyLynda1979.pdf 2017-08-17 Public Download