Abstract:

This paper is based on the preliminary findings from a survey of 500 male suit purchasers (together with a qualitative investigation of 100 of the respondents' wives) . The survey was designed to elicit information on aspects of consumer behaviour relating to the diffusion of innovations in the menswear market, and,in particular, information on such dimensions as visual and interpersonal influence, opinion leadership, innovativeness etc. Extensive use was made of style drawings in an attempt both to build up a picture of consumer perception of current "fashion", and to establish a scale for measuring innovativeness in fashion. A further objective was to suggest viable market research techniques for use in fashion trend detection. This and other management implications are discussed in the complementary paper "Management Information Systems for the Retail Menswear Industry". As with the results discussed in that paper, this survey also formed part of a three year programme of research sponsored by the Social Science Research Council.