Understanding how consumers make choices of product ensembles has relevance for apparel and textile manufacturers who operate in numerous product categories, from socks to slipcovers. For example, an apparel manufacturer wishing to license a line of home-related products needs to know how its brand image in the sportswear category will translate into purchases of linens. It also needs to know what linen styles will appeal to its sportswear customer, the optimal way to display these items at retail and even how best to create advertising executions that place these products in the appropriate lifestyle context. Prior consumer research supports our basic premise that consumers organize product information in memory based on stylistic interrelationships spanning merchandise categories. However, since that project focused exclusively upon one age cohort, it did not shed light on developmental issues relevant to understanding consumers shifts in decision-making priorities and preferences as they progress through the lifecycle.
Linkages are likely to be particularly robust between apparel and home furnishings products.
Like apparel, room decoration choices are related to self-concept and personality. In a national survey conducted for The Home Furnishings Council, most respondents agreed that creating the right home environment shows you have good taste and make smart decisions. Little is known about how preferences for home textile products are shaped by changes in lifestages, but clearly the potential exists to segment buyers along these dimensions. For example, when Fingerhut closely analyzed its customer database, the catalog company discovered that customers who changed their residence tripled purchases of furniture and home decorations in the three months following a move. Experiments will examine how consumers use visual product information presented online to guide product choices of both apparel and home furnishings.