Fashion Consumer Behavior

4.2 “The new shopper”: men as gatherers (Boedeker, 1995)

11 of the participants were classified in this category. Men as gatherers have demonstrated a higher level of involvement with the consumption of fashion. They were more fashion-conscious and in general were more interested in their appearances. Bakewell and Mitchell (2006) suggest that the increase of social and commercial demands on men make they become fashion consumers (Bakewell and Mitchell, 2006).

All of the participants enjoyed shopping offline and online, as shopping was considered “fun to try new clothes” (Thomas) and a “chance to experiment” (Ryan). It has been researched that Generation Y consumers are spending their time surfing and shopping online (Anderson, 2001 retrieved from: Martin, C., Turley, L., n.d.). Most of the participants enjoyed shopping in their spare time and were thus more likely to purchase impulsively. In other words, these consumers can be very impulsive once in the store (d’Astous, Maltais and Roberge, 1990 cited in Martin & Turley, n.d.). Furthermore, they have a more positive feeling towards fashion consumption and thus are likely to spend more on impulse buying (Gardyn, 2002; Ma and Niehm, 2006 cited in Martin & Turley, n.d.). Only three participants did

They all admitted looking at shop windows, and stores, looking around and trying a few samples, “comparing” (Thomas), which was also observed in store. This also meant that almost all of those shoppers liked to shop on their own. This can suggest that those men are confident enough about their styles and know what they want (Ryan). Also they do not mind shopping own their own, as “I can shop on my own speed” (Joshua). Yet, one of them did prefer to be accompanied in order to have “a second opinion” (Roel). All in all, they enjoyed shopping accompanied or alone, in comparison to the traditional shopper who does not enjoy shopping on his