Why We Buy What We Do: Exploring the Psychology and Culture of Fashion

 

Why We Buy What We Do: 

Exploring the Psychology and Culture of Fashion

Fashion is much deeper connected to our psychology, culture and Identity. 

It may look frivolous and incidental as what we wear..... However, it's deeply connected to the gender, age, nation, time, culture, mood, situation etc.... 

It's about two decades now that I have been creating, merchandise and Brands... And I am getting more convinced that psychology of buying and fashion is very deep. And not much content is available on the same. Ecommerce has started to pour in some data on consumer and the pattern of buying, which is establishing fuzzy yet interesting psychological rationale. 

Breaking the reasons simplistically. While it's much more than that....

Self-Expression:

One of the primary ways in which psychology influences fashion is through the concept of self-expression. People use their clothing and appearance as a way to communicate their values, personality, and identity to others. This can include everything from the colors and patterns they choose to wear, to the types of clothing and accessories they select. For example, someone who dresses in all black may be communicating a sense of sophistication or rebellion, while someone who dresses in bright colors may be trying to convey a sense of playfulness or creativity.

People use their clothing and appearance as a way to communicate their values, personality, and identity to others. This can include everything from the colors and patterns they choose to wear, to the types of clothing and accessories they select.

Social Comparison:

Evident ways in which psychology influences fashion and buying is through the concept of social comparison. People often look to others, particularly those in their social circle, for cues on how to dress and present themselves. This can be seen in the way that certain styles or trends become popular within certain social circles or communities. For example, a group of friends who are all interested in skateboarding may dress in a similar style, with baggy jeans and skate shoes, as a way of signaling their shared interest and belonging to the group.

Perception Manipulation:

Politicians wears white, color of serenity, truth, peace, divine... while they perhaps are most corrupt, anxious, insecure, brutal and materialistic group of people.... How opposite...?! They use garments as perception manipulation. People wear blue in interview, color of truth and reliability, while what is gets exchanged in interviews is seldom completely honest. Perception Manipulation!

People manipulate their own emotions as well. If one feels dull and low, they wish to wear bright colors, body hugging clothes, which manipulates their own subconscious mind into believing that All is well!

Cultural Background :

India has Pagdis ( Head gear) of various color types, length etc... it comes from the cultural background of a person.

Lots of what we wear is influenced by personal values and beliefs as well, beside the affinity towards one's historical past.

In my view, Brands which brings the culture and past together in form of Garment, becomes very desirable. Example being Manyavar, FabIndia, Anokhi, Suvasa, Tasva etc.. these brands have clear story to tell. Playing on Nostalgia and cultural affinity. Like a lady would be willing to spend 30k on a silk sarees, rather than using cheaper options. This irrational behavior is outcome of cultural past.

Overall,

We know that role of psychology in fashion is multifaceted, and it plays a significant role. As in,how people use clothing and appearance to express themselves, connect with others, and manipulate their own and others' perceptions and emotions.

It is also an important area of study for those working in the fashion industry, as it helps to inform the development of marketing and branding strategies that are effective at reaching and appealing to consumers. It perhaps is most important study to be done by Industry. And for sure least invested into.

I hope that soon we would be able to use data and AI to interpret the psychology of Fashion. And culture bias weightage in forecasting, merchandise creation and Brand Building.

More about the Topic:

One of the basic book on this subject is : the Psychology of Fashion. Carolyn Mair

A good read about the topic are : 10 Things to Know About the Psychology of Fashion - Online Psychology Degree Guide

Fashion Psychology - MIchael Solomon - Consumer Behavior & Marketing Expert

A good book on the subject is : psychology of fashion - Bing images

EVOLUTION OFCONSUMER AND BRAND BUILDING

 

 

As the consumer needs or the sales platforms changed, so did the methodology to create the lifestyle brands. Lifestyle Brands started to take prominence 25 years back. And since then, every 5 years, the brand building process has become more challenging.

While there could be deviations, however, here is how the majority of the brands saw their success.

 

Quality: 

Most powerful brands, especially in the apparel / lifestyle stage, have been around for 20 odd years. That was the time, where brands were made by offering tangible quality better than the unorganized market. Quality was the main differentiator!

Arrow came from Arvind Mills, Louis  Phillippe, VanHeusen, Allen solly came from Coats Viella, a yarn company. The strength to leverage for brands was the ability to produce better quality.  Other examples being FabIndia, Bata, Muftijeans, Adidas, Park Avenue, Colour plus,   etc.

 

 Quality + Price: 

Consumers assumed quality as a given aspect of a brand. Then they started to seek quality at an attractive price. 10-15 years back, national Brands were created through an anchor of price.

Large format stores played a large role in the same. Melange, rangmanch, CODE, Aurelia, Duke, campus, Peter England, John Players etc emerged and became prominent brands quickly. 

 

 Quality + Price + Convenience: 

Ecommerce came into India about a decade back. It was a new and powerful channel of sales. Growing at a very fast pace. And still expected to grow at 25% CAGR for next couple of years. It opened another platform for Brands to be created.

Next set of brands are coming from the ecom sector. Where the large opportunity gave wings to labels who were willing to make fashionable supplies, at attractive prices, and help consumers look good. They relied on the styling, fashion, better looks over better quality etc. Wrogn, Shree, Asin, HRX, Roadster, Imara,  Symbol, Abof , Anouk, etc. And these brands became large and desired in a very short period of time.

  

Quality + Price + Convenience + Instant Fashion. 

Consumers got more educated and more demanding. They were expecting the hot fashion off the ramp walks, in their wardrobes in no time. Data centric, AI driven brands started to show up.

The Task was tough. Yet, markets responded and created a very nimble and agile supply chain which was ready to experiment with smaller quantities and then make larger quantities of best sellers. India brought real fast fashion to their consumers. And these brands were able to give a tough fight to international brands/ formats. Now the fashion has become instant. Faballey, Indya, Moda Rapido, Highlander, Tokio Talkies, 20 Dresses, The garage company etc.

 

 Quality + Price + Convenience + Instant Fashion + Community endorsement.

With such rapid influx and creations of brands, and the incessant messages, notifications, pop ups, consumers have become confused and suspicious, as to whom to trust and what to buy.

Efficacy of direct marketing has dropped and surrogate / indirect marketing has improved. Influencer marketing, user generated content, Video commerce, Live commerce, social commerce are all originating from the need of consumers to get suggestions from people they can trust. 

They could be fashion experts with a fan following upto a million. Or designers with a couple of millions of insta followers, or tik tok / chingari artists, who in pursuit of promoting themselves also promote the brands as well… Friends also take opinions on whatsapp / social media… Collaborative buying is the new trend.

Shien is a one of the glaring examples. 13b worth of sales, and more than 100b market capitalization. Shien created an agile supply chain of fast fashion and then leveraged social video platforms, Tik Tok, YouTube, Influencer Instagram to become a brand / site of choice. It’s banned in India. However in the US, every third person is an active user. 

Large ecom portals have invested into social commerce, like Meesho, Dal share,  M Studio by Myntra etc. Also, last year Nov,  M live by Myntra started to attract consumers, Flipkart came into Video commerce through Moj etc, early this year.

In these times, chances are that the Brand's life is shorter. And the brands would emerge faster. However they may give space to new brands quickly. So, what would be needed?

Brands would have to develop deep insight in storytelling, community building, consumer service, brand with purpose and consumer generated content which should be authentic and raw. Brands would have to learn new ways to land an enticing story with the consumer. And the story which consumers can be proud of.

Brands would also have to keep on developing a supply chain which is Nimble, cost effective and maybe digitized. Given the amount of developmental work required, either brands would have to invest in the designing and sampling facility or enroll and enable the manufacturers to do the same. Speed has become immensely important.

Indian factories have not invested enough in the capability of quick and wide sampling and smaller lines. And hence there are few factories which are gaining from their professional / new adaptive approach. Factories can possibly create agile setups which cater to this demand.

It’s difficult to replicate the Shien model in India, because of the limitation of an inflexible supply chain. 

India has shown incredible innovation in ethnic space, from Surat, Jaipur, Kolkata…. However, quality and consistency remain a concern. In my personal view, If these sectors also build predictability of quality and delivery, India will churn out a couple of very large brands in times to come.

Metaverse has started to impact the brand creation process. And the digital avatars of Models, garments may end up creating new ways of digital brand creation. Perhaps, Future of brand creation would be even more fun and interesting.