Status signaling in the ‘new normal’
How people’s preferences in status-seeking fashion
consumption changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Author: Robin Kalsbeek
Student number: S3190188
Email: r.kalsbeek.2@student.rug.nl
Supervisor: O.K. Lundahl
Co-assessor: dr. J. Berger
Faculty of Economics and Business
University of Groningen
Duisenberg Building, Nettelbosje 2, 9747 AE Groningen, The Netherlands
P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
http://www.rug.nl/feb
2 INDEX INTRODUCTION ... 3 LITERATURE REVIEW ... 7 (In)Conspicuous consumption ... 7 Involvement in fashion ... 10
Consumption during a pandemic ... 12
METHODOLOGY ... 15
FINDINGS ... 18
Low fashion involvement ... 18
Moderate fashion involvement... 21
High fashion involvement... 23
DISCUSSION ... 26
Theoretical contribution ... 26
Managerial implications ... 28
Limitations and future research ... 28
CONCLUSION ... 29
REFERENCES ... 30
APPENDIX A - Interview Guide ... 34
APPENDIX B – Interview Guide Translation ... 36
APPENDIX C – Pictures shown to the participants ... 38
3
ABSTRACT
Theory suggests that a shift in preference from conspicuous to more inconspicuous consumption has been going on over the past decades, especially in the fashion industry. However, with the sudden global spread of the COVID-19 virus and all the consequences and measures that result from this pandemic, this shift might be interrupted. This study tries to answer the question whether status-seeking fashion consumption changes amongst different levels of fashion involvement in the situation of a global pandemic. Through semi-structured in-depth interviews with Dutch students, three different levels of fashion involvement – low, moderate and high – are recognized. The results
demonstrate some clear changes as a result of the global pandemic. The low fashion involved experienced a decrease in their fashion spending and dress according to their intended productivity and social contact. Moderately involved people in the domain of fashion have divergent expenses, but a tendency to reward themselves after a period of working from home is recognized. While the people highly involved in fashion did not dress differently because of the pandemic, but increased their expenses in the field of fashion. This study suggests for further research on the phenomena of status-seeking behavior and status-status-seeking consumption during a global pandemic.
INTRODUCTION
Everybody buys clothes, but what is it that makes people decide on a particular kind of shirt, shoe, jacket or handbag over an alternative? People make these choices based on necessities; a new piece of clothing is needed, or based on what they perceive as fashion products. Fashion products can be defined as: “products for which the design, aesthetics and style hold primary importance for the consumer” (Fuchs, Prandelli, Schreier & Dahl, 2013: 77). The consumption of fashion matters because all people have different preferences depending on, for example, their personal taste, their financial resources available or the degree to which they value status. People tend to prefer luxury fashion brands because they entail a high level of quality (e.g. Fuchs et al., 2013; Ko, Costello & Taylor, 2019; Venkatesh, Joy, Sherry Jr. & Deschenes, 2010). Apart from high quality, these luxury fashion brands also signal status and facilitate that people may enhance their identity to socially relevant others (Ko et al., 2019). This form of status-seeking consumption might be done through the consumption of conspicuous fashion brands or items.
4 subtle forms of signaling has been on the rise in the past decade. People are less interested in signaling their status through loud brand prominence in the form of big logos anymore (Han, Nunes & Drèze, 2010), but much rather engage in the subtle ways of flaunting wealth and signaling status; this is the so-called inconspicuous consumption (Berger & Ward, 2010; Eckhardt, Belk & Wilson, 2015).
Inconspicuous consumption is a way of flaunting one’s wealth but through the use of more subtle signals. This is done to differentiate oneself from the mainstream and to stand out from others who have the relevant fashion knowledge to be able to decode the subtle signals (Berger & Ward, 2010; O’Cass, 2004). Counterfeit products are a partial cause of this change because when a prominent logo of a luxury brand is present on a piece of clothing, it might fulfill the status goal of a consumer, even if the product is a counterfeit (Appel, Libai & Muller, 2018; Wilcox, Kim & Sen, 2009). This makes loud brand prominence less appealing because counterfeits erode the prestige and exclusivity of the luxury brand (Commuri, 2009), hence the shift in consumer preference.
This shift in consumer preference is not for everyone. Less explicit markers of a brand on products might lead to misidentification to the general public (Berger & Ward, 2010). Measuring a person’s involvement is difficult, but people highly involved in a certain domain have different preferences compared to lower involved consumers. There are many different interpretations of involvement, the general concept entails how relevant an object is to a person, based on their interest, their values, and the needs towards it (Zaichkowsky, 1985). In this study, the objects that have our specific interest are clothes and accessories, and how involved consumers are in fashion.
O’Cass (2004) defines involvement in fashion as the interaction between an individual and an object, as a relationship variable, and it happens to have a positive effect on fashion knowledge (O’Cass, 2004). High involvement in fashion might lead to the preference for the subtle forms of signaling status, while people with less involvement on the matter might not have such a particular preference. I take this difference into account when studying the phenomena of conspicuous consumption and inconspicuous consumption. This study aims to see if this shift in preference amongst the different levels of fashion involvement has changed due to the measures taken by governments to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
5 policies (Wen, Huimin & Kavanaugh, 2005). In addition, recent literature shows that short-term consumer behavior can change due to a pandemic situation (Laato, Islam, Farooq & Dhir, 2020). Because of the recency of the COVID-19 crisis, not a lot of research has been done on this pandemic and consumer preferences. I will investigate if there are any long-term effects to be noticed in consumer behavior. Especially, if preferences in fashion consumption have changed because of the consequences of the global pandemic.
Countries and governments all over the world have taken different precautions to contain the spread of the virus. One of the measures taken by many governments is the explicit advice to socially distance yourself from one another. The advice is to stay at home as much as possible, to avoid busy places and to only go outside when it is absolutely necessary. Moreover, people are expected to work from home if this lies within their possibilities (e.g. Anthony, 2020; Streitfeld, 2020). In addition, a lot of countries closed their bars, restaurants, and hotels, or they introduced a curfew (e.g. Campbell & Walker, 2020; Krueger, 2020), and this of course leads to an enormous decrease in social contact. This study wants to clarify if the mandatory decrease in social contact has any impact on how people signal their status and consume their luxury fashion.
This eventually leads to the research problem. On the one hand, people have the tendency to flaunt their wealth through status-seeking consumption and by dressing in a way that is appealing to others. A recent trend shows that an increasing amount of people, in particular the people who have a higher involvement in fashion, prefer inconspicuous, subtle products over conspicuous and loud prominence of the brands. On the other hand, one is encouraged to stay inside and avoid busy places as much as possible. Therefore, the subtle signs in inconspicuous luxury fashion might not be able to reach the target audience, this might be a reason for people to change their consumption patterns. Possibly, consumers with higher involvement in fashion shift back to louder brand prominence because of the limited opportunities to flaunt one’s wealth. This research is particularly interested in finding out if the shift from conspicuous fashion consumption to more inconspicuous fashion consumption has changed with the rise of COVID-19 and the measures taken to prevent the virus from spreading, and how these findings differ amongst different people with different amounts of involvement in fashion. This leads to the main research question of this paper:
6 To be able to get an answer to this research question, I will execute a qualitative research by conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews. These interviews are conducted with Dutch students who are between 20 and 25 years of age. The data allowed for a distinction to be made between participants with low, moderate, and high fashion involvement. Followed by the finding that consumer expenses have changed among these dimensions. The participants who are considered to have low fashion involvement spend less on fashion in absolute numbers. However, they have the tendency to dress up when they tend to have social contact or have plans for being productive throughout the day. The findings concerning the moderately involved vary from a big decrease in fashion expenses to a steady increase in mainly online fashion expenses. The moderately involved tend to reward themselves for studying and working from home, because they feel they deserved it. Finally, the participants higher involved in the subject see their fashion expenses increase, while their fashion behavior and the way they dress does not differ compared to the situation before the COVID-19 pandemic.
These results contribute to the literature on conspicuous and inconspicuous consumption, because this study shows what the consequences are when a global pandemic comes into play. In addition, it contributes to the literature on fashion involvement as the results show different behaviors and preferences on status-seeking consumption, and the level of fashion involvement is key to these differences.
7
LITERATURE REVIEW
What is it that drives people to engage in status-seeking consumption? As Belk (1988: 139) states “Our possession are a major contributor to and reflection of our identities”. People value their identity and what others think of them very much. Moreover, it is known that people make assumptions about others based on what they possess (Richins, 1994). Possession might be seen as an extension of an identity, it is a part of who you are and what you might stand for (Belk, 1988).
Everyone wants to be successful or liked by others to a certain extent, some people even experience the willingness to surpass others in social status. Social status and social considerations affect people’s preferences in consumption (Rao & Schaefer, 2013). People who have low power compensate this powerlessness by acquiring products that are associated with status (Rucker & Galinsky, 2008). Preferably these products are visible and conspicuous in order to be able to compensate for the lack of power the consumer experiences (Rucker & Galinsky, 2009). There are many different status-seeking motives but signaling wealth through conspicuous spending is a common way to show others your status (Charles, Hurst & Roussanov, 2009). What exactly is conspicuous consumption and how do we recognize it in fashion? And how does this change when a global pandemic disrupts everyday life?
(In)Conspicuous consumption
Conspicuous consumption has been broadly defined in the past. Veblen (1899) was the first one to define the concept. He stated that conspicuous consumption is a form of consumption by people who spend money on artifacts of consumption to give an indication of their wealth to others in society (Trigg, 2001; Veblen, 1899). The money spent on conspicuous goods or services is to increase your own status compared to the status of others. It is not only for rich people to do so, but all different groups in society. Over the years, a lot of research has been done on conspicuous consumption, and it is a phenomenon that has changed over time. Over a century later, literature states that conspicuous consumption has its focus on “the visual display or overt usage of products in the presence of others” (O’Cass & McEwen, 2004: 27)
8 has different meanings to different kinds of people. Individuals who possess clothing and have a materialist mindset mainly consume fashion for the purpose of utility, appearance, and the ability to convey success and status (O’Cass, 2004). The brand attached to a product, especially a luxury product, is a good indicator of how one can increase their status through fashion consumption.
Ko, Costello and Taylor (2019) provide a definition of what a luxury brand is exactly. In their study, they find that a luxury brand is a branded product or service that consumers perceive should meet five requirements. The quality should be high, it should offer authentic values through desired benefits (emotional or functional). Furthermore, the image should be prestigious within the market, built on factors such as service quality or craftmanship. The product should be worthy of commanding a premium price, and finally the product or service should be capable of inspiring a deep connection with the consumer (Ko et al., 2019). Luxury brands potentially have a status increasing function. In order for it to be of status increasing value, either the brands have to be communicated in a very conspicuous way (Han et al., 2010) or the receiver of the message has to have high involvement when it comes to fashion and be able to decode the more subtle signals of luxury (Berger & Ward, 2010; O’Cass, 2004).
Brands play an essential role when it comes to status-seeking fashion consumption. One of the ways in which a brand might or might not stand out is the concept of brand prominence. Brand prominence was first introduced by Han, Nunes and Drèze (2010) and it is defined as: “the extent to which a product has visible markings that help ensure observers recognize the brand” (Han et al., 2010: 15). They distinguish between ‘loud’ branding, which are more conspicuous signs, and ‘quiet’ branding, which are more discreet and subtle signs in consumer products such as fashion. People have different preferences when it comes to brand prominence in their luxury fashion consumption. It is however something that happens across all levels of society.
9 Up until this day, counterfeiting is a problem that companies of big brands have to deal with. Counterfeiting is the production and sale of fake products, that seem identical to the original product (Penz & Stöttinger, 2005). Reasons for people to choose a counterfeit over a genuine brand can be the financial motivation or when people care more about the positive change in social status it might give them, rather than the value the actual product has (Wilcox et al., 2009).
The real brand, of course, tries to prevent and limit the production of these counterfeits as much as possible (Green & Smith, 2002), because it not only has a negative effect on the real brand but also on the customer’s relationship with the real brand. A luxury fashion brand is most often chosen because of the exclusivity and social status that comes with it. Once it becomes accessible to more people, it loses its exclusivity (Commuri, 2009). Consumers’ preferences for both the genuine item and a counterfeit product change with bigger brand conspicuousness (Wilcox et al., 2009).
This is a potential reason for the shift from conspicuous consumption to a more subtle way of showing status in fashion, through inconspicuous consumption. It is relevant to look into this, as the new social situation consumers find themselves in during the pandemic, might have an effect on this shift.
Opposed to large brand names and big logos on fashion and accessories, there is a new trend of more subtle signaling. The visible markers should normally facilitate the status and identification someone seeks. However, there is a difference between these loud patterns of high brand prominence (Han et al., 2010) and the more discreet and subtle markers of wealth. Before the trend of inconspicuous consumption was introduced in academic literature, a relationship has always been assumed between luxury consumption and conspicuous consumption (e.g. Sundie et al., 2011). However, status consumption is not always linked to conspicuous consumption. In fact, status and conspicuousness are two entirely different concepts (Eckhart et al., 2015; O’Cass & McEwen, 2004; Truong, Simmons, McColl & Kitchen, 2008). The key for this statement is that conspicuousness is related to appearance, image and recognizability, while status, in the context of fashion, is more about luxury and high quality (Eckhardt et al., 2015). This difference is important to acknowledge because it means that fashion brands and products can vary on both of these dimensions. A brand or product can be inconspicuous, but still be of high quality and a luxury item. What makes it that customers prefer subtle signals in some of the cases?
10 could be that it is done to distinguish themselves from the mainstream consumer (Berger & Ward, 2010) and to prevent association with products that are potential counterfeits (Wilcox et al., 2009). Another reason why consumers increasingly prefer inconspicuous luxury goods could be the sophistication in the design (Eckhardt et al., 2015). More subtle markers and a sophisticated design result in the products being of higher quality and harder to imitate. Inimitability of a product decreases counterfeiting and increases brand exclusiveness. Inimitability is a way of showing authenticity to the outside world (Wilson, 2014) and this might increase one’s status. In fashion this can be realized through high-quality materials and craftsmanship.
These changes in preferences amongst different groups of customers might cause for some adaptations in the field of fashion and status-seeking consumption. For this study, it is necessary that I find out what distinguishes the different groups of consumers, and what their preferences are regarding fashion items. In Berger and Ward’s paper (2010) they argue that people who are highly involved in a certain domain have a preference for the more subtle signals because they might provide a distinction from the mainstream. In other words, people with a higher involvement in fashion have a preference for the more subtle ways of status signaling. What exactly is involvement and how is it relevant to fashion and the way people choose to dress?
Involvement in fashion
Involvement is a very broad concept with many different interpretations and definitions. Over the years it has become increasingly important in the field of consumer behavior (Evrard & Aurier, 1996; Mittal & Lee, 1989). In the past, complex theories and models were used in order to predict consumer behavior (e.g. Engel, Kollat & Blackwell, 1978), in these theories conscious decision-making was always assumed. However, lot of decisions made by consumers do not include such an elaborate decision-making process. This leads to the distinction between high and low involvement within consumer behavior (Engel & Blackwell, 1982). When a consumer is involved, they are considered to have perceived importance in the matter (Bloch & Richins, 1983), while uninvolved consumers perceive an object to be unimportant and they are often uncaring or unconcerned about it (Mittal, 1995). Research on consumer involvement is often done in a quantitative way, but it is still useful for this study because of the recent pandemic situation the world finds itself in, which requires new insights on the matter.
11 concept of involvement for products and she defined involvement as “a person’s perceived relevance of the object based on inherent needs, values and interest” (Zaichkowsky, 1985: 342), which is a definition that includes the different types of involvement regarding advertisements, products, and purchase decisions.
Despite different interpretations in the definition of involvement, two different forms are widely considered. These types are product involvement, and purchase involvement (Mittal & Lee, 1989). In this study, product involvement is particularly relevant, because it is the interest a consumer has in a product or product category. Fashion clothing is the product category studied, and therefore product involvement is highlighted over purchase involvement, which has more to do with the selection of brands (Mittal & Lee, 1989). A person who has a high product involvement in fashion therefore might have different preferences than someone with moderate or low involvement when it comes to fashion. Different involvements towards a product category might also account for a variety of preferences.
Differences in involvement lead to different ways of consumer behavior. Browne and Kaldenberg (1997) distinguish between high self-monitor people, who tend to be very aware of the situation and act accordingly, and low self-monitor people, who are just naturally acting the way they are (Browne & Kaldenberg, 1997). In their research, Browne and Kaldenberg (1997) find that fashion involvement was driven by pleasure and interest in the category for both groups of people. They argue that high self-monitoring people have high fashion involvement to use the clothes for the person they are trying to be, and try to signal a high status, while the low self-monitors signal who they really are (Browne & Kaldenberg, 1997).
The concept of fashion involvement is further studied by O’Cass (2000; 2004). Fashion involvement is the relationship between a person and a fashion item. This relationship includes involvement in the product, the purchase decisions, advertising, and the consumption of a product (O’Cass, 2000). This adds to the general definition of involvement where a relationship between a person and an object exists (Evrard & Aurier, 1996; Martin, 1998; Zaichkowsky, 1985). In short, fashion involvement is the extent to which consumers view activities concerning fashion, as an important part of their daily life (O’Cass, 2004)
12 students had to distinguish amongst handbags from different price ranges. The fashion students were able to do this, even when the bag had quiet and subtle hints of the brand on it (Berger & Ward, 2010; Han et al., 2010). Therefore, being more involved in the topic of fashion has the effect of having more knowledge and potentially different opinions on fashion. On the one hand, increasing subtle signals will probably lead to misconceptions because only the insiders will recognize the value of the fashion item. While on the other hand people with higher fashion involvement will probably prefer the subtle signs over the explicit fashion brand images because they prefer to distinguish themselves from the average customer (Berger & Ward, 2010; O’Cass, 2004).
This all is relevant to this research because it means a distinction can be made between high and low involvement in fashion, which also results in different opinions towards fashion in general. The differences in fashion involvement account for potential differences in results between participants of this study. Moreover, it provides opportunities for getting different results on status-seeking consumption in pandemic times amongst the different groups. Because people with a high fashion involvement have a preference for more subtle ways of signaling towards others who are more highly involved in fashion, while people with less fashion knowledge might not pick up on these signals. This preference for subtlety is even stronger when the consumed good is publicly visible (Berger & Ward, 2010). This is of great importance for this study because of the new social situation we find ourselves in due to the COVID-19 pandemic and all its consequences. Will this preference for subtlety by consumers involved in fashion still be the case when social contact is limited and people are encouraged to stay at home as much as possible?
Consumption during a pandemic
The current situation of a global pandemic that the world is facing has caused a lot of changes in people’s everyday lives. These changes will have many long-term consequences for the world as a whole. This research is particularly interested in the change in consumer behavior and consumer spending, in times of a recession or a pandemic (Coibion, Gorodnichenko & Weber, 2020). The pandemic is going on for almost a year already and the study will further investigate what we have learned so far. First, what is there to be learned from previous pandemic situations?
13 have caused some unusual buying behavior, mainly because of self-isolation intentions (Laato et al., 2020). The consumer behavior discussed by Laato et al. (2020) has the main focus on quarantine preparations and buying behavior concerning the biggest necessities. This does not necessarily mean that this leads to a fundamental, long-term shift in consumer behavior, but it does indicate that changes happen in consumer behavior because of a possible threat to personal health. Traditional shopping behavior is transformed and disrupted by the new form of the coronavirus. The behavior shifts from offline to online and towards more essential goods (Babu & Kumar, 2020). Apart from this shift, there is also the matter of the negative effect on household’s spending. Coibion, Gorodnichenko and Weber (2020) show in their working paper that more than half of the respondents to a survey conducted in the US – with more than 10.000 respondents – has suffered from income and wealth loss because of the COVID-19 pandemic (Coibion et al., 2020). So there is a change in consumer spending and consumer behavior when it comes to the channels people buy from and the different product groups. What is still to be found and not yet discussed in the extant literature is why a pandemic changes the need for or preference in certain status-seeking fashion consumption?
In this study, interviews are conducted with students who all have experienced the consequences of the COVID-19 measures. This study focuses on Dutch students who have all been studying in The Netherlands during the pandemic. The new coronavirus had its first case in the Netherlands at the end of February 2020 (Keulemans, 2020), after which the first measures were taken. In June the measures were eased and the number of deaths per day decreased to zero (Engels, 2020). Currently, the whole world is experiencing a second wave and the Netherlands, as well other countries, is therefore in a state of partial lockdown (Rijksoverheid, 2020). The Dutch central government set the following restrictions as of 3 November 2020, which is when the empirical research to this study took place, already 8 months since the first case of COVID-19 in the country:
- Working at home is the norm;
- A maximum of two guests per household per day;
- In other buildings and outside there is a maximum of two people from different households; - The maximum number of people in one room is 30 (if the 1.5 meter rule can be guaranteed); - Bars and restaurants have to close their doors;
- No audience at professional sports games;
14 These are some of the measures taken, they all restricted people’s ‘freedom’ and disrupted everyday life as it was known. With the freedom being restricted and social contact limited to a minimum, signaling one’s status through subtle luxury fashion has become increasingly difficult.
In order to get meaningful results from the collection of data, the researcher chose to conduct the interviews with students. Working adults have all different kinds of jobs in various industries, which are each affected by the pandemic in different ways. While some industries, such as the hospitality industry, are suffering, other industries are benefitting from the pandemic. Because the focus of this study is on status-seeking fashion consumption and the level of involvement, the researcher chose students as research participants to overcome diverging answers because of different industries people work in. The different income developments as well as the restrictions that varied between crucial professions compared to workers in industries that shut down during the pandemic, is not what this study focuses on.
15
METHODOLOGY
The data for this research will be collected through in-depth interviews that are semi-structured. This way of collecting data is preferred for this research because the COVID-19 pandemic is a relatively recent event, and not a lot of research has been done on the matter. In-depth interviews will contribute to current literature on conspicuous and inconspicuous consumption, as well as to the literature on involvement, fashion involvement in particular. The current global situation will have different impacts on people with different fashion preferences, and the findings and insights from the interviews are a starting point for understanding how status signaling in fashion is changing.
The particular interest in the research problem at hand leaves us with the phenomenology method of data collection (Goulding, 2005). The reason for the phenomenology method of data collection being the preferred method is that in a research conducted this way, a deepened understanding of people’s experiences is researched. The findings are based on people’s experiences and further theory is built on this. As the interviews are conducted with people who have experienced – and still experience - the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the preferred method of research.
The phenomenological method of data collection originates from the social sciences, but it is increasingly accepted in the field of consumer behavior (e.g. Thompson & Haykto, 1997). The key for this type of research is that the only legitimate source of data are the experiences and insights of the participants in the study. The participants, therefore, have to be selected carefully, as they need to have experienced what is being studied. In the case of consumer behavior during a global pandemic, this eases the task of finding participants because everyone has experienced the effects of this virus to some extent. Before the setup of the interview is explained in more detail, the reason for the interviews being in-depth, semi-structured interviews is further clarified.
16 that it is the most common method of qualitative research. Because semi-structured interviews have a knowledge-producing potential and it does neither limit the interviewer only to ask the questions he prepared, nor does he have to follow every trail the interviewee puts him on, which makes it the golden mean for this research. It is a clear dialogue where the interviewer takes the lead in the conversation, but there is some room to deviate from the questions on paper. Therefore, the best way to get to know the participants is through in-depth, semi-structured interviews.
An interview guide with the questions as a guideline is provided in Appendix A. The questions in this interview guide are in Dutch because all the participants of the study are Dutch students. The reason why the interviews are conducted with students between the age of 20 and 25 is because they have all experienced the COVID-19 pandemic in somewhat the same way, and the restrictions are not adaptable to a job they potentially have.
The questions are in Dutch because it will provide a better understanding for the participants as they do not have to adapt to a language different from their mother tongue. It will contribute to the research as it will allow the participants to go more into depth when answering the questions. This is the preferred method because answering questions in another language might result in shallow answers to the questions. The translated interview guide is to be found in Appendix B. Relevant quotes will be translated into English to clarify the argument for the reader.
The interviews are conducted with people who experience the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there might be a difference in relevance between participants who engage more in luxury fashion consumption than participants who do not have this particular interest in fashion consumption. This distinction will become clear during the interviews. During the interviews I will show the participants pictures of fashion items (Appendix C), if the participants recognize the brands and have an opinion on them, they arguably have a high involvement in fashion and therefore fashion knowledge (O’Cass, 2004). The distinction between participants with high and low fashion involvement will be made clear through this part of the interview and will result in a distinction made in the final framework where the theoretical contribution of the paper is presented.
17 is an indication of high fashion involvement. Moreover, two Nike shoes are shown of which one (Appendix C, picture 7) is a limited edition and worth considerably more than the other shoe (Appendix C, picture 8). When the participant recognizes this, it is also an implication of high fashion involvement in this particular segment. Picture 2 (Appendix C) shows a jumpsuit by Bottega Veneta, selling for 17.000 euros. The brand is not visible in the picture, but when the participant recognizes the product as very expensive this is again an implication for high fashion involvement. The knowledge of the participants on the different pictures accounts for their fashion involvement and makes it possible for the researcher to make a distinction between these groups. The interviewer does not know beforehand whether the participant has a high, moderate, or low fashion involvement but this will be clarified during the interviews.
Moreover, all the interviews are conducted online. Because of the current pandemic that the world is facing and the government guidelines that are in place at the moment of the interviews (Rijksoverheid, 2020). These restrictions make it irresponsible to conduct the interviews face-to-face, as all the interviews are conducted in November 2020. An overview and description of the participants is given in Table 1 where the participants’ gender, age, and their area of study are described. Both genders are approximately equally represented, as well as the different levels of fashion involvements which are, more or less, equally distributed. How the level of fashion involvement came to be, is going to be made clear by the answers to the interview questions. All the transcriptions of the interviews are to be found in Appendix D. Aliases are used to make sure the privacy of the interviewees is guaranteed.
In the next section, the findings of the interviews will be discussed and I will try to answer the research question to the best of my ability.
Table 1 Description of the participants
Gender Age Fashion involvement Area of Study Suus 1 female 22 Moderate Pre-MSc Medicine
Emma 2 female 22 Low MSc Biomedical Sciences
Ruud 3 male 21 High BSc Economics & Business Economics
Berend 4 male 20 Moderate BSc Technical Businesses
Johan 5 male 24 Moderate MSc Sociology & MSc International Relations
Mick 6 male 20 High BSc Business Administration
Silvan 7 male 21 Moderate BSc Commercial Economy
Esmee 8 female 22 Low BSc Biology & Medical Laboratory Research
Jaap 9 male 22 High MSc Marketing Management
Sjoerd 10 male 23 Low MSc Strategic Innovation Management
Christy 11 female 22 Moderate MSc Strategic Innovation Management
Christa 12 female 21 Low BSc Biology
18
FINDINGS
The findings are structured by how involved the participants are with the topic of fashion. The participants in the study were grouped according to their fashion involvement, being high, moderate, and low. In the previous literature the group who is moderately involved in a product is often not considered (e.g. Engel & Blackwell, 1982) because fashion involvement is viewed as a continuum going from very high to very low involvement (O’Cass, 2004). In this study, I have grouped the participants based on several factors. The self-reported involvement and time spend on the subject, the knowledge of brands and prices, the money spend on it, and the preference for subtle signals or more conspicuous signals.
A first finding that contradicted the extant literature is that all the participants in this study saw the amount of money in their bank account increase. Despite the fact that worldwide many households saw their income decrease (e.g. Coibion et al., 2020), the student interviewed recognized a trend where they had more financial resources at the end of the month. Their self-reported reason for this was because of the cancellation of parties, big events, and travelling. Another reason is that the impact on the job market in Groningen is minimal, as the percentage of people in employment is approximately the same as before the pandemic (DutchNews.nl, 2020). The participants did not directly spend it on other goods or services, and therefore they noticed an increase in their monthly earnings. This was not because of an increase of their income, but because of the decreasing expenses in the hospitality industry.
Low fashion involvement
The first group of participants is considered to be having a low amount of fashion involvement. They have a low self-reported fashion involvement and they are not interested in fashion in general. When the participants were asked about the fashion items in the pictures (Appendix C), and if they recognized any brands, only the very conspicuous brands came to mind. The participants were also considered to have low involvement in fashion because they did not manage to get the prices of the fashion items right, especially the less conspicuous brands were difficult for them, which is in line with Berger and Ward’s study (2010) where they argue that subtle signals are more likely to be misidentified (Berger & Ward, 2010).
19 recognize this trend and argue that people who are involved would prefer conspicuous items in order to signal their status.
The Louis Vuitton bag is cooler I think, because first of all it does not have the blue glitters on them, and second that it is from a brand, and it has the fame. If picture 6 would also be from a particular brand, which it is not as far as I am concerned, then it would have been cool too (Esmee, Interview 8).
This participant was asked about the two different handbags, as shown in Appendix C, pictures 5 and 6. She stated that she prefers picture 5 over picture 6 because it is from a brand and it is recognizable. She argued that because picture 6 is not from a brand, it is less appealing, at least to her. This is a clear indication of a lower involvement and a lower knowledge of fashion because as soon as they recognize an expensive or exclusive brand through a conspicuous signal, they think people prefer it, which is not the case anymore (Berger & Ward, 2010; Eckhardt et al., 2015).
To investigate how status-signaling fashion consumption changed during the pandemic for the participants with lower fashion involvement, we have to investigate the interviews more thoroughly. A first finding that partially answers the research question is that people dress according to how much social contact they are planning to have throughout the day. This does not necessarily have to do with status-seeking consumption, but more with status-seeking behavior. The government restrictions that are in place during the collection of the data are there to decrease unnecessary social contact to a minimum (Rijksoverheid, 2020). The participants state that if they do not plan on seeing a lot of people throughout the day, they choose to dress more comfortably rather than fashionable.
It depends very much on who I am going to see throughout the day. If I know I am going to see relatively a lot of people (…) then I will wear something from which I know that I look good. But when I am in the library on a Friday night, after which I will go home and I know that is as much social contact as I am going to get, then I am not going to wear my best outfit (Emma, Interview 2).
20 what they are wearing. The unconscious need for status and admiration by others is still present within these pandemic times, even with social contact reduced to a minimum. Another answer given by one of the participants when they got asked whether they dress more comfortable when they do not plan to go out the door, was:
Yes, most definitely. In winter it this is even more extreme, so now for sure. And sometimes I dress up when I plan on being productive, but when that is not the case I can easily spend the whole day in my pajamas in the living room. (…) sometimes when I really feel like being productive, then I dress for it and I will be productive. But when it is not necessary, I do not (Christa, interview 12).
This confirms the finding that the participants dress more comfortably when social contact is minimum but it introduces another phenomenon that is particularly relevant for the participants that are lower involved with fashion. Participants with a lower fashion involvement tend to dress according to how productive they are intending to be throughout the day. The participants argue that in general, they dress up more comfortable rather than fashionable, but when they plan to do something for their studies or work, they dress up as if they were going to work to create a more productive atmosphere for themselves.
Sometimes I attend my lectures in sweatpants, but I feel more productive when I am wearing jeans. So, on average I think that I wear my sweatpants more often, but when I see no-one throughout the day except for my lecturer through Blackboard, then I dress ‘normal’. (…) It feels as if I can be more productive, otherwise it feels like I can go straight back to bed (Esmee, Interview 8).
The necessity to be productive is a factor that is taken into account when people dress for the day. Productivity is less of a status-seeking factor but more of a way to motivate oneself and not have the pitfall to not do anything throughout the day. This is in line with Peluchette and Karl (2007) who found in their study that people feel less productive when they wear casual clothes compared to when they wear business casual clothes. This has not particularly changed, but the amount of times students have to dress formally has reduced. In addition to this, the participants do not have to leave the house for such events but it all takes place in their room. The way they are dressed can be a motivation and stimulation for them. In total, the time the participants are dressed formally in order to create the right mindset to be productive has decreased.
21 and therefore it is not necessary to dress in a status-seeking way. However, whenever they are expected to do some work or pay attention to a lecture, the participants dress as if they were going to the actual lecture because it self-reportedly increases their productivity and focus. This is not necessarily to gain status through their outfits, but for their personal motivation.
Concerning status-seeking fashion consumption, not many big changes occurred. Participants with a low fashion involvement did not change their status-seeking fashion consumption in any way. A small change that was recognized in the data is that they tend to spend less money on fashion because other people do not get to see their new outfits. Instead, they rather spend their money surplus on ordering food, buying a coffee from a local entrepreneur, or spend it on home decorations.
Moderate fashion involvement
The second group acknowledged having a separate level of fashion involvement, is the group that is moderately involved in fashion. The participants grouped here are somewhat involved in the topic of fashion, but it is not their number one priority. Also, they could name some of the brands shown to them (Appendix C), but they still lacked the ability to name some of the brands or to distinguish limited edition products from an ordinary line of clothing. Moreover, they had a clear preference regarding their own style, but it was difficult for them to define this particular style. In other words, this group had some characteristics of the highly involved, but also some of the lower involved ends of the continuum (O’Cass, 2004) and are therefore grouped as moderately involved in fashion.
Similar to the participants who are considered to have a lower fashion involvement, the moderately involved also experienced a decrease in their fashion consumption in general. A reason for not buying fashion with the money surplus that the young adults experienced was the fact that they were not able to show their clothes to others. Why go through the trouble of spending money on nice fashion items, while you are not able to show them off to others because of the limitations in social contact? One of the participants who is considered moderately involved in fashion mentioned it as follows:
I think that I bought less fashion during the pandemic anyway. Because I say to myself: I can buy nice clothes, sure, but nobody is going to see it (Suus, Interview 1).
22 them, acknowledge them, or recognize them. This partially answers the research question, and it shows that people with a moderate fashion knowledge tend to not spend their money on fashion because others are not going to see it. It is useless to try to seek status through fashion when one is not able to go out and display the newest fashion and get the admiration one would expect.
Some interviewees mentioned the tendency to reward themselves more. Because of the available monetary resources, one tends to buy more because going on trips or having a night out is not possible with the measures in place. This leads up to the need to reward oneself for work done throughout the day. This is somewhat comparable to the concept of the lipstick effect (e.g. Hill, Rodeheffer, Griskevicius, Durante & White, 2012; Wilson, 2014), a phenomenon that describes the increase of purchases by women on beauty products in times of an economic recession. In this case, the participant described the need to reward himself for working and studying from home. This way of consumption is not a new phenomenon, but it provides new insights as this is a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I unconsciously reward myself, because I apparently think I deserve it, this also includes fashion products (…) Because one is at home so often, and it is all so boring, something inside me says that I deserve some sort of reward. Because going out to bars is not possible anymore, I reward myself differently. Buying something, in this capitalistic society, is then the first reflex (Johan, Interview 5).
In line with the research by Hill et al. (2012), spending money on morale boosters tends to increase during a recession (Hill et al., 2012). The COVID-19 pandemic can be considered an economic recession because of the job losses and the shrinking economy (Ozili & Arun, 2020) and therefore people experience the need to increase spending to boost their mental wellbeing. As this participant describes, it can go to fashion products because going to a pub or another social gathering is not possible. This contributes to answering the research question, as the status-seeking fashion consumption changed for the moderately involved. Their interest regarding fashion differs, some like to spend more time on it than others, but rewarding oneself because of being stuck at home is a new insight on the way people consume their status-seeking fashion items.
23 moderately involved in fashion, is that they changed their behavior more towards the possibilities they had.
I really like physical shopping and being able to go to the city and have the full experience (…) But I also like online shopping, especially now we are home very often, I check the online stores if there are any nice clothes. I think that because of Corona I started doing more shopping online (Christy, Interview
11).
This is a change that provides another partial answer to the research question. It shows that the way people acquire their fashion is likely to change because of the measures taken by governments to prevent the virus from spreading. For people with moderate fashion involvement, this might change the way they consume their fashion. Even though physical shopping is preferred by some of the participants, they change to online shopping because of the limited possibilities they have.
High fashion involvement
The third and final group is the group of participants that have a high involvement in fashion. Their self-reported fashion involvement and fashion knowledge are high and when I examined their fashion knowledge this turned out to be true. When confronting the participants with the pictures (Appendix C), they knew almost all the brands to the fashion items, they could distinguish the exclusive fashion items from the regular items and the price indication was not too big a problem for these participants either. This is in line with Berger and Ward’s study (2010) where they found that fashion students, which could be compared to people being involved in fashion, have a better knowledge of what brand a product is from or what its price is, compared to students in other disciplines (Berger & Ward, 2010).
24
If I would buy a Louis Vuitton bag, I would never by the version with their famous blocks or monograms, but something what I found to be a nice product, which accidentally happens to be Louis Vuitton. I would not buy it to show other people: look at me wearing Louis, but more because it would be a nice item, I choose my clothes on the basis of what I like (…) I do not have any clothes that conspicuously show a brand (Jaap, Interview 9).
This preference for a more subtle way of signaling status, and therefore more quiet brand prominence, was found for these participants and in line with the extant literature (Berger & Ward 2010; Han et al., 2010; O’Cass, 2004) this is a group of people from which we can say they have a high involvement in fashion.
When it comes to answering the research question, this group does not particularly behave differently in pandemic times when it comes to fashion. They dress the same when they know they will have social contact or have to be productive. But even if they do not plan on leaving the house, they still choose an outfit they would wear when they would go out. This has everything to do with how they feel most comfortable and how they like to see themselves. Not necessarily what others think of them and their outfit, but how they personally feel about it.
You could say that because you go outside less, you are therefore seen less by others, which makes buying new clothes unnecessary. However, I think that… and it might sound a bit strange, but when I am at home, I can change my outfit three times, just because I enjoy wearing new and other clothes. Just for myself, even when I am home alone. (Mick, interview 6)
In their status-seeking fashion behavior, no big changes occur and the highly involved do not experience a difference in the way they dress. This is in line with the extant literature that argues that people who are intrinsically motivated to buy a luxury product are choosing this mainly because of the good quality and the pleasure they take from it themselves (Truong, 2010; Truong & McColl, 2011), and not because of intended productivity or social contact. Arguably, people who are highly involved in fashion do not behave in a status-seeking manner during pandemic times, but just value their own pleasure and the quality of the products. This partially answers the research problem, as it might eventually turn out to be for status-seeking reasons, but in the first place, it is for self-directed pleasure.
25 participants did not change (Dutchnews.nl, 2020), while their expenses in the hospitality industry decreased to a minimum. Even with the limitations in social contact, the participants highly involved in the fashion industry did not change the way they dress. However, their consumption of fashion items increased in some cases.
I did not spend my money differently. Because the reason why I buy apparel: value for money, my own brand experience and also a little bit how the people around me see it (…) Those variables, my motivation to buy, have not changed. I just happen to have more money, so I just buy more (Ruud,
Interview 3).
This does not necessarily imply that the participants with a higher fashion involvement spend all the money they consider a surplus on fashion, because of the decreased expenses in the hospitality industry. However, it does imply that the extra money, because of the COVID-19 measures, is spent on things one likes to spend their money on. Where the lower and moderately involved participants chose to boost their savings account, to order food an extra time in the week, or decorated their homes with the surplus money, the participants with a high fashion involvement might buy some extra clothes. The status-seeking fashion consumption increased because of the COVID-19 pandemic for this group of participants.
26
DISCUSSION
The findings suggest three different groups of fashion involvement, being low, moderate, and high in fashion involvement. Amongst these three levels of fashion involvement, the research question will be answered. The participants with low fashion involvement experience some changes in the way they dress. This depends on the social contact they expect to have and the intention of being productive. When both of these factors are absent, they tend to dress more comfortably. Their fashion consumption in general went down as a result of the pandemic. The moderate fashion involvement group recognized a decrease in their status-seeking fashion spending too, given the fact that fewer people are going to see and acknowledge the new apparel. In their consumer behavior, a trend is recognized that the participants tend to reward themselves during these pandemic times. Moreover, a shift from physical shopping towards online shopping is a phenomenon related to the pandemic. The group highly involved in fashion increased their fashion consumption during the pandemic and did not change their fashion behavior as such. The increase in purchases might be because of intrinsic reasons, rather than seeking status from others. The highly involved did not change the way they dress or the clothing they buy during the period of social distancing where social contact was highly discouraged. These findings will be discussed and analyzed on a more general level and I will try to provide an answer to the research question.
Theoretical contribution
Past studies focus largely on people’s preferences for luxury consumption (e.g. Ko et al., 2019), as well as the shift from conspicuous consumption towards inconspicuous consumption and the potential status it might bring them (Berger & Ward, 2010; Eckhardt et al., 2015). In this study in particular, the focus is on the extant literature on fashion preferences (Miller et al., 1993; O’Cass, 2004) concerning how involved people are in the subject (Mittal & Lee, 1989; Zaichkowsky, 1985). What is not clear from this literature yet, is how situations like these might change in times of a global pandemic. Are these findings still correct and relevant when a virus is spreading all over the world? This must be studied as there might be some long-term permanent changes in the field of consumer behavior due to the global COVID-19 crisis. When this will become the case, companies must know what to do and what strategy to adapt to not lose their whole customer base because of a new permanent social situation the world finds itself in.
27 between high and low product involvement (e.g. Engel & Blackwell, 1982; Zaichkowsky, 1985), and the level of involvement was considered a continuum (O’Cass, 2004). This study introduces the moderate level of fashion involvement as a group being neither low on fashion involvement, nor high when it comes to this domain. It also shows that these three different groups respond differently to the new situation they find themselves in due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Second, this study contributes to the literature on status-seeking consumption. Previous research on this topic states that a shift from conspicuous towards more inconspicuous consumption is the trend (e.g. Eckhardt et al., 2015) and that people with higher involvement in a certain domain prefer more subtle signs to signal status with (Berger & Ward, 2010; Han et al., 2010). These studies have all taken place prior to the global pandemic and this study contributes to the extant literature as it shows what the situation is like during a worldwide pandemic. Are these findings still relevant in a situation that people often refer to as the ‘new normal’?
The research question of this study can be answered threefold based on the different levels of fashion involvement. The results are visualized in Table 2, where the main findings of the study are shown for both status-seeking fashion behavior, and status-seeking fashion consumption among the different levels of involvement.
Table 2 Fashion behavior and fashion consumption during a pandemic
Fashion involvement Status-seeking fashion behavior Status-seeking fashion consumption
Low - Dress to feel more productive
- Dress based on the amount of intended social contact
- In general, there is less social contact and less times to be productive, more often chosen for comfortable clothing
- Decrease in fashion consumption - Increase in consumption in other
areas: takeout food, coffee, or interior design
- These increases are due to the limitations in the hospitality industry Moderate - Reward themselves with fashion items
or other products
- Productivity and social contact are somewhat taken into account in the way they dress
- Increased for some, with a clear shift from physical to online shopping - Decreased for some, because others
are not going to acknowledge and recognize the fashion products High - No change in fashion behavior
- No dependence on productivity or social contact
- Intrinsic motivations reasons for this type of behavior; value for quality and self-directed pleasure
28
Managerial implications
As this research distinguishes among three different levels of fashion involvement, the implications for managers are going to differ among these dimensions as well. Concerning the low fashion involved, it might be the most difficult to convince them to purchase fashion items in times of a pandemic. As the behavior tends to be based on their intended productivity as well as the anticipated social contact, it might be an idea to advertise based on those indications. Luxury fashion brands that appeal to the ones lower involved in fashion might choose for an advertising campaign based on productivity and social contact. Convince the consumer to still buy fashion to impress the two people you are still allowed to see throughout the day or to feel good about yourself during a day of studying. Managers should adopt an approach in which they can keep the lower involved somewhat occupied with fashion, and at the same time their products.
For the people moderately involved in fashion, it is more difficult to determine a strategy and to give clear advice. If this is the target customer for a fashion company, it is very important to see what the specific needs of this group of customers are, and act according to those needs. An implication can be to advertise based on self-rewarding behavior. An advertisement campaign that gives the consumer the idea that they have done a good job and that they have deserved a little reward because of their hard work. To clearly target this group more research has to be done on the different subgroups within the moderate fashion involved, as their preferences are divergent.
People with a high fashion involvement are easier to target. As this group is very much involved in the topic of fashion it is easier to keep them engaged with your brand. When the highly involved customers are already buying from your brand or company, the manager has just come up with a strategy to keep them coming to you, even in pandemic times. To keep these customers involved, personal discounts or loyalty programs could be set into place, to keep this group satisfied and to keep the involved customers close to you.
Limitations and future research
29 not include any working people, pensioners, or people from other social groups. Other groups in society might have experienced different consequences because of the pandemic, and this might cause differences in the findings.
Further research on status-seeking consumption and behavior concerning fashion in pandemic times should be expanded to other countries, regions, or groups in society in order to be able to generalize the findings. This can potentially be done through survey research which allows for a bigger dataset to be collected. Conducting survey research might help to reach different groups in society and people from other places which would make it easier to generalize the findings.
Furthermore, the world as we know it now is continuously changing. With the vaccination program that has started in most European countries by January 2021, the chances for the shift back to a reality comparable to before the COVID-19 pandemic becomes increasingly realistic. This also means that yet again, changes are going to occur in the landscape of fashion consumption and fashion behavior. Research on a change back to a ‘normal’ situation is therefore necessary. What are the new long-term consequences once the vaccination program has been successfully fulfilled? And how can managers, for example in the fashion industry, anticipate these changes?
CONCLUSION
30
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