Consumer Segments and Behavioral Patterns
This scholarly article shows a rather extensive survey of consumer purchases of clothing from 4 countries and involving over 4600 survey respondents. View the full text of the article or download the pdf file.
Results
Consumer Segments and their Purchasing Behavior
The descriptive statistics for the purchasing behavior of the overall sample and consumer segments are presented in Table 3, which also gives the size of the individual segments. Over the course of three months, the average consumer purchases an average 5.9 clothing items, of which 2.1 are t-shirts (costing an average of 29 euro for two) and 0.9 is a pair of jeans (around 33 euro), for an overall cost of approximately 153 euro (column 1). Purchasing occurs about twice in the three-month period, mostly in shopping malls and online, followed by second-hand (1.4 times) and high street (1.1 times) shops, with swapping as the least used acquisition mode (column 1). Approximately 58.7% of these clothes are from budget brands, 33.5% from casual/medium brands, and only 7.8% from premium brands. The most purchased clothing material, at 61.1%, is new conventional fabric, followed by new organic at 17.8%, second-hand clothing at 13.2%, and recycled materials at only 7.8%.
Table 3. Descriptive statistics for segmentation variables.
| All | Segment 1 Low-Budget | Segment 2 Low-Casual | Segment 3 Medium-Budget | Segment 4 Medium-Casual | Segment 5 High-Premium | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | (SD) | Mean | (SD) | Mean | (SD) | Mean | (SD) | Mean | (SD) | Mean | (SD) | |
| Items purchased last 3 months (number) | ||||||||||||
| General fashion | 5.86 | (5.14) | 4.38 | (4.01) | 4.25 | (3.63) | 8.39 | (5.23) | 10.90 | (6.37) | 13.63 | (7.24) |
| Jeans | 0.87 | (1.29) | 0.58 | (0.98) | 0.75 | (1.18) | 1.17 | (1.38) | 1.72 | (1.67) | 2.42 | (2.28) |
| T-shirts | 2.12 | (2.72) | 1.59 | (2.35) | 1.87 | (2.35) | 2.65 | (2.81) | 3.97 | (3.77) | 4.33 | (3.90) |
| Expenditures last 3 months (€, harmonized HCIP) 1 | ||||||||||||
| General fashion | 153.43 | (182.84) | 57.87 | (44.28) | 78.38 | (47.63) | 244.45 | (57.52) | 481.90 | (97.86) | 950.83 | (83.17) |
| Jeans | 33.38 | (77.93) | 10.58 | (20.12) | 23.28 | (39.38) | 45.90 | (63.00) | 114.08 | (140.20) | 209.53 | (270.57) |
| T-shirts | 29.14 | (63.09) | 10.59 | (16.24) | 22.06 | (33.50) | 39.56 | (46.73) | 96.32 | (117.00) | 154.39 | (228.64) |
| Brand (%, accumulates to 100%) | ||||||||||||
| General fashion: premium | 7.81 | (15.85) | 1.81 | (6.01) | 9.51 | (16.55) | 10.57 | (17.81) | 20.00 | (21.89) | 36.36 | (24.86) |
| General fashion: casual/medium | 33.49 | (29.78) | 13.94 | (19.23) | 54.78 | (27.56) | 41.01 | (28.01) | 47.00 | (23.98) | 40.97 | (19.63) |
| General fashion: budget | 58.70 | (34.52) | 84.26 | (21.05) | 35.72 | (27.88) | 48.41 | (32.21) | 33.00 | (26.09) | 22.67 | (17.69) |
| Jeans: premium | 7.26 | (17.45) | 0.97 | (4.11) | 9.36 | (18.64) | 9.80 | (19.84) | 20.54 | (26.41) | 35.57 | (30.54) |
| Jeans: casual/medium | 36.82 | (36.09) | 10.27 | (17.55) | 69.68 | (27.89) | 43.89 | (34.62) | 50.32 | (32.54) | 43.67 | (29.81) |
| Jeans: budget | 55.91 | (39.68) | 88.76 | (18.66) | 20.95 | (23.68) | 46.31 | (37.78) | 29.14 | (32.01) | 20.76 | (25.39) |
| T-shirt: premium | 6.30 | (15.73) | 0.91 | (5.53) | 7.88 | (16.26) | 8.57 | (17.93) | 18.06 | (23.13) | 30.88 | (29.27) |
| T-shirt: casual/medium | 31.95 | (33.61) | 8.09 | (14.31) | 60.72 | (30.41) | 38.49 | (32.31) | 46.21 | (30.68) | 39.02 | (28.45) |
| T-shirt: budget | 61.75 | (37.66) | 91.00 | (15.82) | 31.40 | (29.67) | 52.95 | (36.41) | 35.73 | (32.46) | 30.10 | (31.00) |
| Acquisition mode 2 | ||||||||||||
| High street | 1.10 | (2.00) | 0.71 | (1.32) | 0.84 | (1.67) | 1.44 | (2.09) | 2.49 | (3.30) | 3.96 | (4.00) |
| Shopping mall | 2.09 | (2.79) | 1.65 | (2.40) | 1.74 | (2.34) | 2.48 | (2.70) | 3.92 | (4.28) | 5.01 | (4.47) |
| Online shopping | 2.10 | (3.02) | 1.39 | (2.33) | 1.74 | (2.44) | 3.03 | (3.47) | 4.07 | (4.36) | 4.97 | (4.55) |
| Mail order | 0.84 | (2.03) | 0.58 | (1.43) | 0.61 | (1.51) | 1.18 | (2.49) | 1.63 | (3.21) | 2.82 | (4.28) |
| Small boutiques | 0.72 | (1.73) | 0.44 | (1.18) | 0.61 | (1.55) | 0.93 | (1.99) | 1.56 | (2.45) | 2.82 | (3.64) |
| Second-hand | 1.41 | (2.90) | 1.61 | (3.07) | 1.21 | (2.78) | 1.14 | (2.44) | 1.49 | (2.87) | 2.24 | (3.96) |
| Supermarket | 0.84 | (2.12) | 0.80 | (1.78) | 0.75 | (2.24) | 0.75 | (1.86) | 1.40 | (3.20) | 1.91 | (3.63) |
| Swapping | 0.36 | (1.58) | 0.23 | (1.20) | 0.38 | (1.72) | 0.33 | (1.33) | 0.78 | (2.32) | 1.53 | (3.46) |
| Material purchased (%, accumulates to 100%) | ||||||||||||
| New conventional | 61.13 | (32.70) | 62.03 | (34.31) | 60.13 | (32.69) | 61.93 | (30.12) | 57.70 | (30.81) | 59.16 | (29.37) |
| New organic | 17.81 | (20.52) | 14.14 | (19.70) | 19.39 | (20.69) | 20.77 | (20.62) | 24.04 | (21.19) | 22.14 | (19.10) |
| Reused - recycled | 7.82 | (12.65) | 6.73 | (12.73) | 8.48 | (13.36) | 8.53 | (11.88) | 9.52 | (11.64) | 9.03 | (10.82) |
| Reused - secondhand | 13.24 | (22.35) | 17.10 | (26.44) | 12.00 | (20.63) | 8.78 | (15.55) | 8.74 | (15.04) | 9.67 | (16.04) |
| Observations | 3984 | 1712 | 1073 | 828 | 271 | 100 | ||||||
This purchasing behavior, however, differs significantly across consumer segments: whereas Segments 1 and 2 buy only a little clothing, Segments 3 and 4 purchase an above average number of items, and Segment 5 engages in heavy clothing consumption of luxury items. At the low end of this spectrum, Segment 1 (1712 respondents) consumes little and prefers budget outlets, meaning that a large share of consumers (over 43.0% of the full sample) purchase only a limited amount of clothing for relatively little money. At the other extreme, Segment 5 (100 respondents) has a high clothing purchase profile with high spending on mainly casual/medium and premium clothing; however, this segment accounts for only 2.5% of the full sample. In the more moderate range, Segment 3, comprising around 20.8% of the full sample (828 respondents), engages in relatively high clothing consumption segment but buys from budget outlets.
Although the number of items purchased is very similar for the two lowest consumer segments (see Table 3, columns 2 and 3), they differ significantly in their spending habits and brand selection. Whereas Segment 1 spends around 58 euro on 4.4 clothing items, Segment 2 spends around 78 euro on 4.3 items. Similarly, whereas Segment 3 purchases around 8.4 items, Segment 4 buys around 10.9 items at a significantly higher per item price for a higher total outlay. These differences in money spent are mirrored in brands chosen, with Segments 2 and 4 purchasing less from budget brands and significantly more from casual/medium brands (columns 2 and 4). In fact, Segment 4 consumers have a high consumption of casual/medium and premium brands, buying about 13.6 clothing items for 950 euro over the three-month period, about 41.0% from casual/medium brands and 36.4% from premium brands. Segment 5 also reported the highest usage frequencies for all acquisition modes, over five times each in three months for shopping malls and online shopping, three times for mail order (by far the highest) and 2.4 times for second-hand outlets. As regards acquisition modes, whereas Segments 4 and 5 account for a higher share of small boutiques, the middle consumer segments engage in a higher share of online shopping. Second-hand outlets, however, have the relatively highest share among Segment 1 consumers, the low consumption budget buyers, which might explain their low expenditure on clothing purchases. As a result, Segment 1 buys the highest proportion of second-hand material, at 16.2%, while Segments 4 and 5 purchase the highest share of clothing made of new organic material, at 23.5% and 22.1%, respectively (see Table 3). Conventional material is dominant in all consumer segments.
The segments also differ in their demographics, especially country of residence (see Figure 1). Polish consumers account for the highest share of Segment 1 (35.2%) but lowest share of Segment 5 (4.0%), perhaps because of their limited purchasing power compared to consumers from the other participating countries. Germans make up around 19.9% of Segment 1 but account for 27.7% or above of the other segments. Together with Germans, Swedes, at over 30%, make up the highest share of the Segment 3 medium consumption budget consumers. U.S. consumers, in contrast, make up only 21.4% of the Segment 3 budget shoppers but account for a relatively high share (37.0%) of the high consumption purchasers of casual/medium and premium brands. Hence, even after expenditures are harmonized, the consumer segments are substantially differentiated by nationality.
Figure 1. Country by consumer segment.
Although the age distribution is similar across all five segments, one gender difference is notable: whereas female consumers make up over 60% of the largest segment (the budget buyers in Segment 1), male consumers account for the majority (57%) of the 100 (medium and premium) consumers in Segment 5. As regards the final sociodemographic variable of monthly net income, (see Figure 2), Segment 1 buyers have the lowest median income of all consumer segments, while the median income of Segment 2 and 3 consumers fall into category 5. This latter observation is interesting given that although consumers in both Segments (2 and 3) spend similar amounts, Segment 3 consumers buy twice as many clothing items for the money as Segment 2 buyers: 214 euro for 8.4 budget brand items versus 93 euro for 4.2 casual/medium brand items, respectively.
Figure 2. Demographics by consumer segment. (a) Sex by consumer segment (b) Income by consumer segment.