A study of apparel consumer behaviour in China and Taiwan

ABSTRACT

To better understand consumer behaviour and preferences for apparel shopping in Asia, we collected data through questionnaire surveys in China and Taiwan on three topics: online and offline shopping behaviours; product evaluative criteria; and fashion information sources. The study showed that women in both China and Taiwan shopped more frequently than men. Chinese consumers shopped more frequently online than did their Taiwanese counterparts. Both Chinese and Taiwanese consumers cited ‘fit’ and ‘comfort’ as the two most important evaluative criteria for clothing, while ‘brand name’ and ‘country of origin’ were the least important cues. Both Chinese and Taiwanese participants cited ‘friends’ as their most important fashion information source, with ‘siblings’ and ‘parents’ being the two least important sources.

KEYWORDS:

• Consumer behaviour
• apparel attributes
• product choice
• fashion innovativeness
• cross-national study

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research (SSHRC) Council of Canada (Insight Development Grant #430-2014-01100). This assistance is gratefully acknowledged.