Study says U.S. 'fast fashion' apparel trendis losing ground with consumers29 April 2011

Elena Karpova (left), an ISU assistant professor apparel,educational studies and hospitality management(AESHM), and Joyoung (Jill) Lee, an AESHM graduatestudent, have taken a closer look at the U.S. andJapanese apparel industries in a new study. Credit: BobElbert, ISU News Service

Elena Karpova says U.S. consumers areincreasingly interested in "fast fashion" -- morefrequent replacement of inexpensive clothes thatbecome obsolete several weeks after they'repurchased. And the Iowa State University apparel,educational studies and hospitality managementassistant professor reports that the U.S. apparelindustry has responded in kind with its productlines.

But according to a new study that Karpovacollaborated on with ISU graduate studentJuyoung (Jill) Lee, the U.S. industry's fast fashionfocus has resulted in diminishing returns on marketshare -- both at home, and abroad in Japan.

"These findings confirm empirically what scholarshave been speculating about," Karpova said."There was a very strong push in the 1980s fromthe apparel industry and associated interestgroups to make American consumers buy 'Made inthe USA' apparel. The industry went this route inthe hope that U.S. consumers would support the

industry. And they didn't. They just didn't see valuewhen they compared the quality of U.S. apparelwith imports."

Lee and Karpova's study, "The U.S. and Japaneseapparel demand conditions: implications forindustry competitiveness," appears in the latestissue of the Journal of Fashion Marketing andManagement. The ISU researchers usedgovernment trade and consumption data from1995-2004 from both countries in their analysis.

Price-conscious consumers shape U.S. market

Based on calculated price and income elasticities,they report that price sensitivity of U.S. consumersshaped the nation's apparel domestic market tokeep product price low rather than increase itsquality with respective price. They found that U.S.consumers were primarily price-conscious inpurchasing clothes. By contrast, Japaneseconsumers increased their purchases of higherquality, domestically produced apparel, butdecreased the purchase of low quality importedapparel when its price increased.

Census data shows that domestic output of U.S.apparel producers dropped by 40 percent between1995 and 2004, even though the overall marketexpanded -- fueled by a 50 percent increase inimports. At the same time, the Japanese marketshrank by 50 percent, but Japanese apparel firmsheld their domestic market share during thatdecrease. Lee says the U.S. now ranks thirdamong apparel importers to the country.

The researchers contend that the U.S. apparelindustry's focus on lower quality, low cost clothes --an attempt to compete with inexpensive imports --was a reason for decreasing industrycompetitiveness amid a booming U.S. market.

"I think because U.S. consumers have been priceconscious, they generated the whole trend in the

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industry called 'fast fashion,'" Karpova said."American consumers want styles to changequickly and they want to see new merchandise intheir favorite stores almost every week -- and ataffordable prices. And that has meant that U.S.companies produce lower quality items that last ashorter period of time."

Japanese consumers prefer higher qualityapparel

The study found that Japanese consumers'preference for higher quality, luxury apparel andtheir willingness to pay for it encourage the nation'sdomestic producers to focus on those types ofproducts. And that focus allowed the Japaneseapparel industry to differentiate their output fromthe lower quality imported apparel and allow it tomaintain its domestic market share.

Lee sees the study amplifying the culturaldifferences between the U.S. and Japaneseapparel markets.

"The most interesting thing about the Japanesemarket is that they don't think young people havemoney and older people have all the disposableincome," said Lee, who lived in Japan from 2005 to2010. "So there are so many commercials on TVtargeting older people buying very nice fashionclothes -- things you don't see in the U.S. And all ofthe department stores are filled with clothes thatappeal to older people, too."

Karpova says the study should also give U.S.apparel producers something to think about as theymove forward.

"I think the U.S. apparel industry has been andcontinues to be extremely strong in terms of itsportfolio of global brands," she said. "Butcompanies should look more into being sociallyresponsible in their production -- no sweatshops --with environmentally friendly materials andprocesses, sustainable design and style choicesthat will last a long time."

Provided by Iowa State UniversityAPA citation: Study says U.S. 'fast fashion' apparel trend is losing ground with consumers (2011, April

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29) retrieved 27 May 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2011-04-fast-fashion-apparel-trend-ground.html

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