It is not flawed, it is Wabi-Sabi

It is not flawed, it is Wabi-Sabi

How to change consumers’ perceptions of flawed apparel

Thesis Defense – Elena Bressan

Msc Marketing Management

First Supervisor: Dr. Jing Wan

Agenda

› Introduction

› Research Question

› Research Objectives and Theory

› Conceptual Framework

› Methodology

› Results

Introduction: What does Wabi-Sabi mean?

› Japanese aesthetic philosophy of beauty in imperfection (Koren, 1994; Juniper, 2011).

› Time and wear and tear processes transform objects in a way that makes them unique: every scratch

inscribes a story.

› Example: Kintsugi-cracks are not hidden but highlighted with gold welding.

› Adopting a Wabi-Sabi inspired attitude towards aesthetic flaws: one-of-a-kind, naturally occurring

Introduction: Aesthetic flaws in the apparel industry

Superficial flaws do not impair the functionality nor aesthetic performance of the garment

(Knack, 2015).

However,

› Role of visual aesthetics especially important for those products which are used by

consumers to express their identity, like clothing

(Belk, 1988; Workman and Caldwell, 2007).

› Aesthetic qualities of a garment are generally given more attention than functional attributes

(Eckman, Damhorst, and Kadolph, 1990).

Superficial character not enough to prevent wasteful disposal like landfilling

Research Question

When and how does knowledge of a flaw’s

origin lead to increased consumers’

Research Objectives

(1) to investigate the effect of knowledge of flaw’s origin on consumers’ perceptions.

Theoretical background

Natural occurrence: The Meaning of “Natural”: Process More Important then Content (Rozin,

2005).

› Example: water from natural spring (Rozin, 2006).

Water (A)

•

Content: same as B

•

Processing: None

•

Naturalness score 96.4/100

Less processing Earlier in the process

Water (B) with 0.1% minerals first removed then added back

•

Content: same as A

•

Processing: Twice processed

•

Naturalness score 67.5/100

More processing Later in the process

Flaw origin: Pre-completion stage

Sourcing and Manufacturing stage

Research Objectives

(2) to examine the interaction of flaw’s origin with raw material naturalness.

Theoretical background

Material naturalness: Mixing like entities lower reduction in naturalness (Rozin, 2005).

(3) to investigate the role of perceived intentionality.

Theoretical background

Intentionality in a pre-completion stage: flaws meant to be in the final piece.

•

materials were never perfect to begin with

Methodology

Study Design

› 4(Flaw occurrence)x2(Material naturalness) between-subjects design

› Stimulus: light gray unisex scarf with zoomed area to show the slightly darker fringes

› Manipulation IV: e.g. Sourcing stage ‘’Before the scarf had been woven together, some of the yarns were

dyed a slightly darker grey.’’

› Manipulation Moderator: 100% cotton vs. 100% acrylic

› Mediator scale: ‘’ The mismatched fringe was supposed to be part of the finished scarf.’’

Data Collection

› Questionnaire distributed via Amazon Mechanical Turk

› 409 participants

48%

52%

Research Objectives

(1)to investigate the effect of knowledge of flaw’s origin on

consumers’ perceptions

Results (1)

› Knowledge of a flaw origin had an insignificant effect on Preference.

Research Objectives

(1) to investigate the effect of knowledge of flaw’s origin on consumers’

perceptions

(2)to examine the interaction of flaw’s origin with raw

material naturalness

Results (2)

› Insignificant interaction effect between flaw origin and fabric type.

Research Objectives

(1) to investigate the effect of knowledge of flaw’s origin on consumers’

perceptions

(2) to examine the interaction of flaw’s origin with raw material naturalness

Results (3)

Conclusion: Managerial Implications

1.

Frame flaws` natural presence based on the fact that they were integral elements since the earliest stages

in the product development.

› Example: Packaging, labeling

2.

Exploit material-based differentiation (Rognoli and Karana, 2014) as the condition where the flaw was

part of the natural textile was rated the most unique.

› Example: Mass-customization with flawed textiles

References

› Belk, R. W. (1988). Possessions and the extended self. Journal of Consumer Research, 15(2), 139-168.

› Eckman, M., Damhorst, M. L., and Kadolph, S. J. (1990). Toward a model of the in-store purchase decision process: Consumer use of criteria for evaluating women's apparel. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 8(2), 13-22. › Juniper, A. (2011). Wabi sabi: The Japanese art of impermanence. Tuttle Publishing.

› Karana, E. (2012). Characterization of ‘natural’ and ‘high-quality’ materials to improve perception of bio-plastics. Journal

of Cleaner Production, 37, 316-325.

› Koren, L. (1994). Wabi-sabi for artists, designers, poets & philosophers. Imperfect Publishing.

› Powell, R. R. (2004). Wabi Sabi Simple: Create Beauty. Value Imperfection. Live Deeply. Adams Media.

› Rognoli, V. and Karana, E. (2014). Towards a new materials aesthetic based on imperfection and graceful ageing. Materials

experience: Fundamentals of materials and design, 145-154.

› Rozin, P. (2005). The meaning of “natural” process more important than content. Psychological science, 16(8), 652-658. › Rozin, P. (2006). Naturalness judgments by lay Americans: Process dominates content in judgments of food or water

acceptability and naturalness. Judgment and Decision Making, 1(2), 91.

› Tibben-Lembke, R. S. (2004). Strategic use of the secondary market for retail consumer goods. California Management

Review, 46(2), 90-104.

Thank you for your attention!