Consumer Acceptance of Online Customization for Apparel

144 Pages·2015·4.66 MB·English

by  Hira Cho

Florida State University Libraries
Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School
2007
Consumer Acceptance of Online
Customization for Apparel
Hira Cho
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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF HUMAN SCIENCES

CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE OF ONLINE CUSTOMIZATION FOR APPAREL

By

HIRA CHO

A Dissertation submitted to the
Department of Textiles and Consumer Sciences
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Awarded:
Spring Semester, 2007

Copyright © 2007
HIRA CHO
All Right Reserved
The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Hira Cho defended on March 28,
2007.

________________________________
Susan S. Fiorito
Professor Directing Dissertation

________________________________
Charles F. Hofacker
Outside Committee Member

________________________________
Rinn Cloud
Committee Member

________________________________
Pauline Sullivan
Committee Member

Approved:

____________________________________________________
Joe Nosari, Chair, Textiles and Consumer Sciences

_____________________________________________________
Billie Collier, Dean, College of Human Sciences

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my advisor, Dr. Susan Fiorito,
for her guidance and endless support on this study. I was so lucky to have her warm heart,
encouragement, and advice during all of my graduate study.

I am grateful to my committee members for their efforts on my dissertation. Dr. Rinn Cloud
provided many insightful suggestions and invaluable advices. Dr. Paulin Sullivan provided
comments and suggestions for future studies. Dr. Charles Hofacker gave many useful references
to develop my ideas and helped me with the data analysis. I also appreciate the financial support
for my data collection that I received from the Center for Retail Merchandising and Product
Development in the Department of Textiles and Consumer Sciences at Florida State University.

Thanks to those who helped me to test my survey: faculty, staff, and graduate fellows, and other
friends in Florida. I wish to acknowledge my current colleagues at Oklahoma State University
and friends in Stillwater for their encouragement as I finished my study.

Finally, I wish to thank my family. I might not have been able to complete this without the love
and support from my mother, Hyung-ae Kim, my father, Sang-soo Cho, my parents-in-law,
Jakook Shim and Namsook Kim, and my husband, Jongwon Shim.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables............................................................................................................................... vii
List of Figures........................................................................................................................... viii
Abstract...................................................................................................................................... ix

I. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................1

Problem Statement.....................................................................................................................1
Significance of the Study...........................................................................................................2
Organization...............................................................................................................................2

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE.....................................................................................................4

Consumer Involvement in Value Creation: Reflection of the Marketing Transition.................4
Converging Role of Companies and Consumers..................................................................4
The Information Society and Consumer Knowledge............................................................5
Firm-Consumer Interaction based on Technology................................................................6
Customization in E-retailing......................................................................................................6
The Growth of the Online Market.........................................................................................7
Adoption of Customization in E-retailing.............................................................................7
Mass Customization.........................................................................................................7
Personalization............................................................................................................... 8
Effectiveness of Online Customization: Reviews of Empirical Studies............................ 9
Apparel Customization in E-retailing......................................................................................10
Industrial Operation of Apparel Customization..................................................................11
Apparel Customization: Review of Empirical Studies.......................................................13
Issues in Online Customization for Apparel ...........................................................................15
Complexity..........................................................................................................................15
Risk Perception: Security/Privacy.......................................................................................16
Risk of Buying Apparel Online......................................................................................17
Security and Privacy for Information Gathering Procedure...........................................17
Trust....................................................................................................................................18

III.THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS.........................................................................................20

Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)...................................................................................20
The Original TAM..............................................................................................................20
Applications of the TAM...............................................................................................22
Relationship between Beliefs and Behavioral Intention................................................22
Attitude and Behavioral Intention..................................................................................22
Outcomes in Technology Acceptance............................................................................23
Extended Variables.............................................................................................................24
Multi-dimensional Trust Model...............................................................................................25
The Importance of Trust......................................................................................................25
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Trust as a Single Concept....................................................................................................25
Trust Dimensions and the Inter-Relationships....................................................................26
Trust Dimensions...........................................................................................................26
Inter-Relationships in the Model....................................................................................28
Antecedents of Trust based on the Length of the Relationships....................................29

IV. RESEARCH MODEL AND HYPOTHESES........................................................................31

Research Model and Definitions..............................................................................................31
Research Model...................................................................................................................31
Conceptual Definitions........................................................................................................33
Hypotheses in Research Model................................................................................................34
Relationships between Variables from TAM......................................................................34
Mediating Roles of Trust.....................................................................................................35
Effects of PU and PEOU on Trust.................................................................................35
Effects of Trust on Attitude and Behavioral Intention...................................................36
Trust and the Antecedents...................................................................................................37
Relationships between Propensity, Perceived Safety and Trust....................................37
Effects of Internet Experience on Trust and PEOU.......................................................37
Effect of Complexity on PU, PEOU and Perceived Safety.................................................38

V. METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................................40

Development of Customized Shopping Simulations...............................................................40
Analysis of Existing Websites ............................................................................................40
A Model Website: Lands.com.............................................................................................41
Manipulation of Complexity...............................................................................................42
Validity of Shopping Simulations.......................................................................................44
Data Collection.........................................................................................................................44
Pilot Test.............................................................................................................................45
Main Study..........................................................................................................................45
Measurements...........................................................................................................................46
Latent Variables..................................................................................................................46
Opinions/Experiences of Online Customization and Demographics..................................48
Appropriate Apparel.......................................................................................................48
Experiences/Satisfaction................................................................................................48
Data Analysis...........................................................................................................................49
Structural Equation Modeling.............................................................................................49
Validity Assessment............................................................................................................50

VI. RESULTS...............................................................................................................................51

Pilot Test..................................................................................................................................51
Demographics......................................................................................................................51
Assumptions Tests...............................................................................................................53
Opinions of Online Customization and Survey Design......................................................56
v
Main Study...............................................................................................................................58
Demographics and Online Shopping Experiences..............................................................58
Assumption Tests................................................................................................................61
Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)......................................................................................64
Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).................................................................................64
Overall Model Fit................................................................................................................70
Difference of PU, PEOU and PS between Complexity Levels................................................74
Opinions/Experiences of Online Customization......................................................................76
Appropriate Apparel............................................................................................................76
Experience of Online Customization..................................................................................77

VII. DISCUSSION........................................................................................................................80

Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)......................................................................................80
Objective 1: Test of TAM........................................................................................................81
Objective 2: The Role of Trust............................................................................................... 82
Objective 3: Effects of Complexity........................................................................................ 84
Additional Interests................................................................................................................ 85

VIII. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS/LIMITATIONS & FUTURE STUDY..................... 87
Conclusions............................................................................................................................ 87
Implications............................................................................................................................ 89
Limitation and Future Research............................................................................................. 90

APPENDIX A: Human Subjects Approval Memo..................................................................... 92
APPENDIX B: Shopping Simulations 3..................................................................................... 93
APPENDIX C: Shopping Simulations 2.....................................................................................100
APPENDIX D: Shopping Simulations 1.....................................................................................105
APPENDIX E: Survey Instrument (Type A)..............................................................................109
APPENDIX F: Measures of Latent Variables ............................................................................118
APPENDIX G: Appropriate Apparel for Online Customization (Open-end).............................119
BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................................120
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH......................................................................................................130

vi
LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Clusters of Personalization Features..................................................................................................... 9
Table 2: Selected Companies that Offer Customized Apparel in Online Shopping......................................12
Table 3: Customer Involvement & Customization Option in Apparel Mass Customization.............14
Table 4: Objectives and Hypotheses.............................................................................................39
Table 5: Manipulation of Complexity...........................................................................................43
Table 6: Latent Variables..............................................................................................................47
Table 7: Opinions/Experience of Online Customization..............................................................48
Table 8: Demographics of the Pilot Test.......................................................................................52
Table 9: Normality of Data in the Pilot Test.................................................................................53
Table 10: Reliability of Measures in the Pilot Test.......................................................................55
Table 11: Correlation Matrix of Latent Variables in the Pilot Test..............................................55
Table 12: Correlation Matrix of Attitude and Behavioral Intention in the Pilot Test...................55
Table 13: Opinions of Online Customization...............................................................................57
Table 14: Demographics in the Main Survey................................................................................59
Table 15: Online Shopping Experience........................................................................................61
Table 16: Normality of Data in the Main Survey..........................................................................62
Table 17: Reliability of Measures in Main Survey.......................................................................63
Table 18: Correlation Matrix of Latent Variables in the Main Survey.........................................63
Table 19: Confirmatory Factor Analysis and the Revisions.........................................................65
Table 20: Correlation Matrix of Latent Variables.........................................................................68
Table 21: Standardized Loadings of Indicators to the Corresponding Variables.........................69
Table 22: Overall Model Fit and the Revision..............................................................................70
Table 23: Standardized Path Coefficients.....................................................................................72
Table 24: Difference of PU, PEOU and PS between Complexity Level......................................74
Table 25: Grouping within Demographics and Sample Size........................................................75
Table 26: Difference between Complexity Levels within an Age Group over 40........................76
Table 27: Top Three items of Appropriate Apparel for Online Customization............................77
Table 28: Appropriateness of Online Customization for 10 Apparel Categories.........................78
Table 29: Type of Products Explored for Customization in Online Shopping ............................78
Table 30: Number Replying to Questions of Experience with Online Customization.................79
vii
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).........................................................................21
Figure 2: Multi-dimensional Trust Model.....................................................................................28
Figure 3: Research Model.............................................................................................................32
Figure 4: Confirmatory Factor Analysis.......................................................................................67
Figure 5: Overall Model Fit..........................................................................................................73

viii
ABSTRACT

As online markets grow and become increasingly competitive, customization is becoming
recognized as an important tool to satisfy and retain e-commerce customers. By adopting customization,
the apparel industry may have a greater potential than ever before of being successful in e-commerce.
While previous studies have presented different observations about consumer responses toward online
customization, no studies have clearly identified the key determinants and the path to build consumers’
positive responses and future intentions toward online customization system for apparel. Thus, the
purpose of this study was to explain consumers’ acceptance of online customization for apparel by
identifying factors that influence the future intention of using a customizing system and to investigate the
relationships between the factors. The specific objectives of this study were 1) to determine whether two
major determinants of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) are valid to explain consumer
acceptance of online customization, 2) to investigate the role of trust in the acceptance of online
customization for apparel, and 3) to investigate how complexity levels of apparel customization impact
consumer perceptions of websites.
A research model was constructed based on TAM and on the multi-dimensional trust model
from Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques. The model hypothesized the relationships
between eight latent variables with a total of 37 indicators. An online survey was used to collect data
based on respondents’ experiences for customizing jeans in different complexity levels (high, medium,
and low) of the shopping procedure. Three types of surveys were developed to present one shopping
simulation in each survey. Samples were 300 female adults (100 for each survey) secured by random
(nationwide) and quota sampling methods. A pilot test was conducted prior to performing the main
study. The hypothesis was tested by AMOS 7.0 and the assumptions for SEM and descriptive
statistics were analyzed by SPSS 15.0.
Compared with the demographic characteristics of the nationwide population reported by the U.S.
Census Bureau, the characteristics of the samples were younger and had a higher education and a slightly
higher income. Little difference existed between the groups reported from the U.S. Census Bureau and
this study in terms of the race and area distributions. Two latent variables were combined as one and
seven indicators were dropped by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Thus, overall model fit tests
were based on seven latent variables and a total of 30 indicators. The initial model was not acceptable
and was revised by adding a path from Perceived Ease of Use to Perceived Safety at first, and then by
adding a path from Perceived Usefulness to Perceived Safety. Interestingly, the accepted model presented
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