Who Will Pay More for Quality?
In 2000, the majority (60%) of shoppers said they were willing to pay more for higher-quality clothing, rather than sacrificing quality for lower price, and 65% preferred higher-quality apparel to clothing that was more fashionable. Although these numbers are high, they have declined since 1998, when 64% would pay more for quality and 68% preferred higher-quality merchandise to more fashionable apparel. Men are more willing than women to pay more for high-quality apparel and to choose quality over fashion.
Although the percentage of consumers who say they choose quality over price and fashion has declined, this attitudinal shift has not translated into a decline in purchases of apparel for reasons of quality. According to data collected by the NPD Group, purchases of specific apparel items based on quality increased 9% in units and 13% in dollars from 1999 to 2000.
From 1999 to 2000, quality-driven purchases grew faster among men than among women, in both units and dollars. At the same time, the average price paid for menswear purchased on the basis of quality declined 4%, while the average price for womenswear increased 6.6%. In men’s apparel, the average price paid for a garment increased only for purchases based on fiber content, while declining for purchases driven by all other considerations.
Who is most likely to make purchases based on quality? The Lifestyle Monitor’s attitudinal research suggests that more men than women base apparel purchases on quality. Between the ages of 25 and 55, 59% of men, compared with 41% of women, make quality-driven apparel purchases. Consumers with children between the ages of 6 and 12, those with household incomes between $25,000 and $50,000, and those who wear larger sizes are most likely to base apparel purchases on quality.
Over 70% of department-store, specialty-store, and catalog shoppers say they are willing to pay more for higher-quality garments, compared with 59% of chain-store and 36% of discount-store shoppers. According to NPD Group data, department-store shoppers pay the most for high-quality apparel, spending on average 4% more than specialty-store shoppers and 19% more than catalog shoppers for apparel items purchased for their quality.
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Consumers who pay more for apparel expect their apparel items to last longer. Although women’s apparel prices have been increasing, while men’s have been decreasing, men pay approximately one third more for apparel purchased for its quality than do women. This price differential is most apparent in tailored apparel: men pay an average of $105 more for suiting than women do, and they expect their suits to last 1.3 years longer (5.7 years versus 4.4 years). This difference in expected apparel life is due in part to cyclical changes in fashion in the womenswear market.
Apparel Life Expectancy by Shopping Outlet
(number of years apparel item is expected to last) |
| |
Specialty |
Department |
Chain |
Mass Merchant |
Catalog |
| Khakis |
1.9 |
2.1 |
2.1 |
2.2 |
1.7 |
| Jeans |
2.3 |
2.7 |
2.5 |
2.9 |
2.3 |
| Shirts |
2.3 |
2.6 |
2.6 |
3.0 |
2.7 |
| Suits |
3.7 |
4.8 |
5.4 |
5.1 |
7.0 |
In other apparel categories, consumers expect shirts to last 2.7 years, denim jeans 2.6 years, and khakis 2.1 years. The 65% of shoppers who prefer to buy higher-quality apparel expect those items to last longer than do consumers who base apparel purchases mainly on fashion. In fact, the Lifestyle Monitor’s Fashion Innovators report the lowest average life expectancy for clothes (2.1 years, versus 3.1 years for all other shoppers). When shoppers are profiled by outlet preference, mass-merchant shoppers tend to expect most apparel items to last longest. Catalog and chain-store shoppers, who tend to base apparel purchases more on function, expect their suiting to last longer than do specialty-store shoppers, who are driven primarily by fashion. |
