US Consumers¡¯ Perceptions of Garments Inspired by Indonesian Culture

It is evident that there has been increase in integration ofglobal economies as trade barriers were lifted in 2005 resultingin free trade. After agriculture, marketing of hand-produced,cultural products constitutes the second most important sourceof income in less developed countries of the world. Theobjectives of this study were to examine US consumers¡¯perceptions of garments that were culturally inspired by aspecific sending culture to better understand the following: (1)perceptions of garment familiarity and garment complexity; (2)the relationship between perceived familiarity and garmentadoption/acceptance; (3) the relationship between perceivedfamiliarity and garment adoption/acceptance; (4) acceptance forgarments culturally inspired by consumers¡¯ cultural setting orgeographic location; (5) acceptance for garments culturallyinspired among the different age groups ; and (6) delineationof US consumers¡¯ cultural creativity. To accomplish thisendeavor an instrument, developed for measuring consumers¡¯responses to design characteristics, was tested on US femaleconsumers from five areas of the country and in two agecategories. The instrument developed integrated visual stimuliof garments with Likert-type scales and provided consumerdata for conducting basic research. Garment attributes includedthree styles, two color ways, and two fabric print (3 x 2 x 2)=12 garments. The analyses were exploratory in that conceptsand relationships were evaluated in a non-causal approach toprovide a basis for further research. Generalizatibility wasaddressed through analysis of multiple consumer groups;however the fashion aspects of the stimuli preventbroad-spectrum application.
This study focuses on garments that are culturally inspiredby Indonesia as the sending culture. Indonesia is a countrywith strong textile dyeing and printing traditions. Indonesia isopen to westernized silhouettes and it is also an importantglobal source for textiles and clothing production. TheIndonesian textile and clothing industry is vertically integrated,encompassing almost every stage of production and contributessignificantly to the country¡¯s economy.
Rogers¡¯ Diffusion of Innovation theory provides a foundationfor examining issues that inhibit or encourage the adoption ofideas, products, or technologies as they are introduced to individuals or groups of people. Within Roger¡¯s model is afive stage innovation-decision process. This research isconcerned with the persuasion stage where the individual formsa favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the innovation. Thepersuasion stage provided a foundation for examiningrelationships between familiarity, complexity, and acceptance ofIndonesian inspired garments. The two persuasioncharacteristics of interest were compatibility and complexity ofIndonesian inspired products for US consumers. Compatibilityreflects how well an innovation is perceived to match existingsocial norms, needs, and expectations. Complexity concernshow difficult the innovation is perceived as to understand.
Diffusion of Innovation is a generic adoption model forinnovative ideas and products and was therefore somewhatrestrictive for applications to fashion product adoption. Sproles¡¯Fashion Adoption Theory was thus also employed tounderstand the concepts of familiarity, complexity andacceptance in the context of women¡¯s apparel attitudes ofgarment color, fabric print, and style.
Also examined in this research were the differences in USconsumer responses based on geographic location, age, andcultural creativity. Social influences, socioeconomiccharacteristics and behavioral norms fluctuate across the NorthAmerican continent. Subnations are said to exist that defineeight differing regions of the US and hold distinguishablecharacteristics. This research examined the following fivesubnations and their general US region: Breadbasket (middle),Dixie (southeast), Foundry (northeast), Ecotopia (northwest),and MexAmerica (southwest). In addition to geographiclocation, two age groups of US female consumers wereexamined: 19 to 25 years of age and 35 to 55 years of age.
Additionally, consumers¡¯ level of cultural creativity wasmeasured. In the US the categories of Moderns andTraditionals are more readily recognized consumer groups thanthe Cultural Creative group. Cultural Creative, are distinguishedby values such as engaged action, altruism, self-actualization,spirituality and ecological sustainability. Variation in CulturalCreative qualities and levels were expected to contribute agreater understanding of product acceptance.
Pearson correlation coefficients, univariate analysis ofvariance with least significance difference post hoc analysis,and forward multiple regressions were run to address theresearch objectives. Based on the findings, the followingrecommendations are offered to the manufacturers ofIndonesian inspired garments. To successfully cross markettheir products to countries like US, manufacturers can retainthe color ways culturally inspired by Indonesia as theparticipants found them to be familiar and highly acceptable. Recommendations for fabric print and styles would suggestlower levels of cultural inspiration for US consumeracceptance. Retailers and manufacturers would also be wise tomarket their products with strategies and priorities based onthe climatic and demographic characteristics of the ninesub-nations, and to consider age categories particularly womenbetween the ages of 35-55 years.
It is clear the textile and apparel industry in Indonesia hasa number of strengths that have enabled the country to expandits share of international markets. The US importation numberslargely reflect production of US designed apparel with anabsence of Indonesian cultural traditions. The potential fordesigning and marketing Indonesian inspired garments will beenhanced through dissemination of research-based informationregarding US female consumer preferences.