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Are negative and positive reviews
regarding apparel fit influential?
Eonyou Shin
Department of Apparel, Housing, and Resource Management, Virginia Tech,
Blacksburg, Virginia, USA, and
Telin Chung and Mary Lynn Damhorst
Department of Apparel, Events, and Hospitality Management, Iowa State University,
Ames, Iowa, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of the current study is to explore how valenced fit reviews affect the consumer
decision-making process during online apparel shopping.
Design/methodology/approach –A single factor (valence of fit review) within-subject experimental design
was employed to examine how the valenced fit review (negative vs positive) affects the consumer online
purchase decision process. A mock website was created to simulate the online shopping environment through
four steps for developing a stimulus website for the main study. The data were analyzed using repeated
multivariate analysis of variance and structural equation modeling.
Findings –A total of 418 female consumers completed an online self-administrated survey. Results showed
that positive fit review was more compelling than negative fit review for female consumers when they like the
apparel product. Two aspects of information credibility (review and site credibility) and confidence in purchase
decision evoked by both fit reviews and overall product information were significant determinants of the
consumer purchase decision process in increasing consumers’future purchase intentions through attitude to
the online retailer.
Originality/value –The current study was an attempt to fill the gap in knowledge regarding the crucial role
of fit reviews in apparel product purchase decisions in an online context. This study confirmed the type of fit
reviews that would be influential on female consumers’online purchase decision-making process for apparel
products when they liked the apparel product, supporting positive confirmation bias from the information
processing point of view. This study contributed to the importance of the two concepts (i.e. credibility and
confidence in the purchase decision) in online information processing and purchase decision-making process.
Keywords Online review, Purchase decision, Apparel fit, Online apparel retailing
Paper type Research paper
Online consumer review (OCR) is an important source of product information for consumers
today (e.g. Chen and Xie, 2008). Almost 82% of US adult consumers use OCR to decide
whether or not to buy a new product (Smith and Anderson, 2016). OCR is considered a form of
electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), defined as “any positive or negative verbal statement
made by potential, actual, or former customers of a product or company”(Hennig-Thurau
et al., 2004, p. 39). eWOM is increasingly important because it is perceived as more credible
(Bickart and Schindler, 2001;Chatterjee, 2001), more influential on consumers’choices (Huang
and Chen, 2006), and more helpful in reducing consumers’perceived uncertainty (Hu et al.,
2008;Weathers et al., 2007) than is information provided by marketers.
Many researchers (e.g. Arndt, 1967;Herr et al., 1991;Liu, 2006) found that negative WOM
was more influential than positive WOM in consumer evaluations of a product and
subsequent decision making. This tendency is called negativity bias or negativity effect. In
the online apparel shopping context, Kim et al. (2013) investigated the influence of valence of
eWOM on attitude and purchase intention and found that a negative eWOM had a greater
impact on consumer attitude change and purchase intention than did a positive eWOM. In
addition, researchers found empirical support for negativity bias in that negative eWOM had
Influence of
reviews
regarding
apparel fit
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1361-2026.htm
Received 19 February 2020
Revised 12 May 2020
Accepted 12 May 2020
Journal of Fashion Marketing and
Management: An International
Journal
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1361-2026
DOI 10.1108/JFMM-02-2020-0027
a stronger effect on purchase decisions (Park and Lee, 2009) and was more persuasive (e.g.
Lee et al., 2009) than positive eWOM. On the other hand, other researchers have suggested
positive confirmation bias, which happens when positive information that validates a
consumer’s first impressions or prior expectations is more compelling than negative
information (Wickens and Hollands, 2000). However, the negativity effect has received more
empirical support than the positivity effect; positive bias was empirically supported in only
one study in the context of eWOM (Zhang et al., 2010).
When it comes to online apparel shopping, prior experiences with poor fit and the absence
of tactile and pre-purchase try-on are major impediments to consumer shopping online (Kim
and Lennon, 2008). Moreover, product returns due to poor fit are a serious issue for apparel
retailers. Stych (2018) reported that 72% of consumers had returned apparel products that
they ordered online in the past due to poor fit. Returns due to poor fit present a challenge for
retailers to resell returned items for a profit (Luzon, 2018). The OCR specifically regarding
clothing fit (fit reviews) may give consumers vicarious trial information about garment
characteristics and reduce uncertainty about ordering. Fit reviews have been found to supply
important evaluative information and were related to customers’self-reported satisfaction
with the product (Shin and McKinney, 2017).
In spite of extensive research on the valence of eWOM, only two recent studies have examined
the role of fit review valence in online apparel rental. In McKinney and Shin’sstudy(2016),
most consumers who posted product evaluations described fit of their rental clothing in negative
and/or positive terms. The positive fit reviews had a positive impact on the overall evaluation of
rental products and services (Shin and McKinney, 2017). With the potential significance of fit
reviews in assisting consumer decision making in online apparel shopping, it is critical to
investigate how valence of fit reviews influences consumer responses. Thus, the purpose of the
current study is to explore how valenced fit reviews affect the consumer decision-making process
during online apparel shopping. Specifically, the study focuses on whether and how valence
influences consumers’responses to fit reviews, the product reviewed, and the retailer.
Relationships between the valence of and responses to fit reviews
From the information processing point of view, positive confirmation bias could explain a
positivity effect based on individuals’tendency to search for evidence that confirms their
existing belief rather than search for disconfirming evidence (Wickens and Hollands, 2000).
However, more empirical findings supported the negativity effect of eWOM information,
which may be attributed to its diagnosticity in making a decision about products (e.g. Bone,
1995;Herr et al., 1991;Lee et al., 2009;Skowronski and Carlston, 1989). Negative information
can be more informative than positive information because it helps consumers distinguish
between low- and high-quality products (Bone, 1995;Herr et al., 1991;Mizerski, 1982;
Skowronski and Carlston, 1987, 1989;Wright, 1973). Due to the preponderance of negative
effects of eWOM in previous research, we proposed that negative fit reviews would be more
influential than positive fit reviews and assessed valence of review influence on review
credibility and consumer confidence in purchase decision (see Figure 1). As shown in
Figure 1, the research model examines the following relationships: (1) how the valence of a fit
review affects responses to the fit review (i.e. perceived credibility of review and review-
evoked confidence in a purchase decision); (2) how consumers’responses to fit reviews are
related to their responses to the overall product information on the website (i.e. site credibility,
overall confidence in a purchase decision) and (3) how responses to the overall information
affect attitude toward the retailer and future purchase intention. The rationale behind each
hypothesis follows.
JFMM
Review credibility
Review credibility refers to the extent to which the message is perceived as true, factual,
and believable. The definition was adapted from the concept of eWOM credibility (Cheung
et al., 2009) and information credibility (Nabi and Hendriks, 2003). Information credibility is
considered a key component in determining the extent to which readers adopt the
viewpoint of received information (Wathen and Burkell, 2002). For example, when
individuals seek other people’s opinions, they tend to pay attention to what they believe is
credible information (Wathen and Burkell, 2002). Similarly, a consumer may decide
whether or not to use a fit review for making a purchase based on the perceived credibility
of the review.
From new apparel product adoption perspectives, fit review credibility serves as an
important role in the adoption decision process. Apparel products can be considered
innovations because fashion apparel often involves continuous design innovation due to
constant small changes in styling rather than the invention of a totally new product (see
Solomon, 2001, p. 502). When individuals first encounter an apparel innovation, they try to
understand how the new apparel style functions and how it would look on the body. Then
they are likely to decide what information regarding the innovation is credible before making
a decision for adoption (Rogers, 2003). Thus, in an online context, especially without try-on
experience, credible fit reviews may increase consumers’new apparel product adoption or
non-adoption intention.
The credibility of fit reviews may be evaluated differently depending on valence.
Although Hong and Park (2012) found that female consumers perceived negative reviews
to be more credible than positive reviews in their online shopping for a digital camera, no
study specifically examined the effect of the valence of fit reviews on perceived review
credibility. As discussed earlier, eWOM studies most often found a negativity effect in
product reviews (e.g. Lee et al., 2009). In congruence with these studies, an individual may
perceive a negative fit review as more credible than a positive fit review in the context of
online apparel shopping. Thus, H1 was proposed.
H1. A negative fit review is more credible than a positive fit review when making online
apparel purchase/ordering decisions.
Review-evoked confidence in a purchase decision. Review-evoked confidence in a purchase
decision is the certainty and strength of belief underlying a product or service choice based on
the reviews. The concept of confidence, first introduced by Howard and Sheth (1969),is
related to brand judgment and is one of the determinants of purchase intention. According to
Review credibility
Review-evoked
confidence in
purchase decision
Overall
confidence in
purchase decision
Site credibility Attitude to the
online retailer
Future purchase
intention
H4 H8
H6
H5
H7
H9
H10
H11
Responses to fit
review
Responses to
overall product
information
Responses to the
online retailer
Valence of fit
review (negative
vs. positive)
H1
H2
H3
Figure 1.
Research model
Influence of
reviews
regarding
apparel fit
Howard (1989), confidence is “the degree of certainty that one’s evaluative judgment of the
brand is correct”(p. 34). In other words, the buyer’s subjective certainty of his or her judgment
about the quality of a particular brand has two theoretically different meanings: the buyer’s
overall confidence in the brand or the buyer’s confidence in his or her ability to judge or
evaluate attributes of the brand (Bennett and Harrell, 1975).
Peterson and Pitz (1988) stated that information available to consumers affects their
confidence in a judgment. Considering that fit is a crucial attribute for making an apparel
purchase decision (Ashdown and O’Connell, 2006), fit reviews may enhance individuals’
confidence in their decisions to order garments online. Furthermore, negative information
may make consumer evaluation of product quality easier (e.g. Bone, 1995;Herr et al., 1991)so
that negative fit reviews may induce more confidence in purchase decisions than do positive
fit reviews. Thus, H2 was proposed:
H2. A negative fit review is more influential in increasing confidence in a purchase
decision than is a positive fit review.
Interrelationships of responses to fit reviews and overall product information
Although many studies have focused on investigating the effect of OCR on consumer
purchase decisions (e.g. Awad; Ragowsky, 2008), few studies to date have examined how
consumer responses to fit reviews affect their responses to the overall product information
provided by both sellers and consumers. Because consumers tend to get information about a
product from both sellers (in the form of seller-provided product information) and consumers
(in the form of consumer-generated online reviews), it is critical to understand how responses
to consumer-generated fit reviews influence responses to overall product information, in
particular in relation to credibility and overall confidence in a purchase decision.
Site credibility
We defined site credibility as the extent to which individuals believe the overall product
information on a website is believable, true, or factual. This definition was based on eWOM
credibility in prior studies (e.g. Cheung et al., 2009). Overall product information encompasses
all product-related information on the website, including both consumer-generated
information (i.e. online reviews) and seller-generated information (e.g. product pictures,
descriptive information on the product’s design details, fabric, care, fit and size). Consumer
perception of credibility is formed based on the interaction and combination of all the cues in a
website. Flanagin and Metzger (2007) noted that site credibility mightvary depending on the
site features, such as visuals and the amount of information provided, as well as the degree of
interactivity offered by the site.
Cheung et al. (2009) found that the perceived credibility of a review positively affected the
acceptance of the review. When consumers are willing to accept the review, they are more
likely to believe all the information provided by sellers as credible. Consumers can grow
skeptical of a review’s credibility due to marketers’attempts to control their consumer
reviews (Lee and Youn, 2009). When evidence that the sellers manipulated the reviews is
lacking (e.g. both positive and negative reviews are credible), consumers may perceive the
reviews as credible, and they may consider sellers transparent about how other consumers
felt about the products. Many previous studies supported that the negative reviews tended to
increase perceived credibility more than did positive reviews (e.g. Hong and Park, 2012;Lee
et al., 2009). Especially, fit reviews are not always positive because apparel products fit
differently depending on a consumer’s body shape, height, and fit preferences. Consumers
JFMM
who perceive the fit reviews (positive and/or negative) as credible may have increased the
trust of overall product information presented on a website.
If individuals become confident in making an order after processing both positive and
negative fit reviews, they may have a positive perception of the credibility of all the cues on a
website. In the online apparel shopping environment, the fit reviews may reduce consumer
uncertainty about fit and increase their confidence in purchase decisions because fit reviews
may contain specific information about how clothing fits, information that cannot be
adequately provided by the retailer. Individuals who become more confident in their ordering
decisions based on the fit reviews are likely to perceive all overall product information and the
overall site as more credible. In contrast, if reviews are not seen as credible, site credibility and
confidence in purchase decisions are likely to be deteriorated. Thus, H3 and H4 were
proposed:
H3. Review credibility is positively related to site credibility.
H4. Review-evoked confidence in the purchase decision is positively related to site
credibility.
Overall confidence in a purchase decision. In this study, the overall product information refers
to any information provided by both the online retailer on a website and by consumers in their
OCR. The combined information (i.e. fit reviews by consumers and product information
provided by sellers) may play an important role in a purchase decision by offering useful
information about subjective and objective aspects of the product. Because fit reviews are a
component of overall product information, overall confidence in purchase decisions evoked
by overall product information on the website may be increased if consumers have high
confidence in purchase decisions after reading fit reviews. If consumers believe fit reviews are
credible or they have positive attitudes toward a fit review, they are likely to adopt the fit
information and combine it with other product information provided by the online retailer,
thereby increasing overall confidence in the purchase decision. Thus, the following
relationships are hypothesized:
H5. Review credibility is positively related to overall confidence in the purchase decision.
H6. Review-evoked confidence in a purchase decision is positively related to overall
confidence in the purchase decision.
Interrelationship between responses to overall product information and
responses to the online retailer
Attitude toward the online retailer
Attitude toward the online retailer refers to consumer feelings toward the online retailer. Kim
and Lennon (2008) studied the effects of the amount of verbal product information and the
size of visual information on consumer attitudes toward featured apparel products. Elliott
and Speck (2005) noted that the increase of useful product information presented on a website
improved consumer attitude toward a website. Empirical evidence from Cheung et al. (2009)
supported that information credibility serves as a strong predictor of recipients’further
actions, such as information adoption. Taking into account the product information provided
by both sellers and consumers, if consumers perceive that the overall product information on
the website, provided by both the online retailer and consumers, is credible and gives them
confidence in ordering products, they are likely to have a positive attitude toward the online
retailer. Thus, the following relationships are hypothesized:
H7. Site credibility is positively related to attitude toward the online retailer.
Influence of
reviews
regarding
apparel fit
H8. Overall confidence in the purchase decision is positively related to attitude toward
the online retailer.
Future purchase intention. Future purchase intention refers to one’s willingness to purchase a
product from the retailer in the future. Awad and Ragowsky (2008) stated that credibility
reduces uncertainty and serves as a prime determinant in the consumer decision-making
process. Because the overall product information in this study includes fit reviews and
product information by retailers, we predict that the perceived credibility of the overall
product information of a site may also be positively related to consumer’s purchase intention
toward the retailers.
A few researchers have found that consumer confidence in judgment about attributes of
products or brands was positively related to their purchase intent (e.g. Howard and Sheth,
1969;Peterson and Pitz, 1988). Consumers may prefer an online retailer that provides
information reducing perceived risk and enhancing purchase confidence. It is possible that
consumer confidence in ordering decisions evoked by both company and consumer provided
product information can be an important factor in considering the future purchase of apparel
products from the online retailer.
Especially in retailing, a positive attitude toward a retailer plays a significant role in
purchase intention; thus, retailers try to employ marketing strategies to enhance consumers’
positive attitudes (Korgaonkar et al., 1985). As suggested in prior studies, consumer attitude
toward an online retailer will affect future purchase intentions with that retailer. A negative
attitude will likely reduce future purchases from the retailer. Thus, the following
relationships are hypothesized:
H9. Site credibility is positively related to future purchase intention.
H10. Overall confidence in the purchase decision is positively related to future purchase
intention.
H11. Attitude toward an online retailer is positively related to future purchase intentions
with that online retailer.
Method
A single factor (valence of fit review) within-subject experimental design was employed to
examine how the valence of fit review (negative vs positive) affects the consumer online
purchase decision process. To simulate the online shopping environment, we included four
steps for developing a stimulus website for the main study. The mock website included one
garment with four color options, a description of garment and size characteristics, and two
mock consumer reviews of the garment –one positive and one negative. Institutional Review
Board approval was acquired for all steps and phases of the study. For all phases of the study,
we chose to include only female participants over 18 years of age because female consumers
tend to be more active in online apparel shopping than are male consumers (Statista, 2017).
Stimulus development
Step 1—Selecting the apparel category. The purpose of this step was to select a relevant
apparel product category for online shopping. A web-based survey developed using
Qualtrics was conducted among 238 female participants recruited from Amazon Mechanical
Turk (AMT). Participants were asked to rate on a 7-point scale (1 5never; 2 5rarely;
35seldom; 4 5sometimes; 5 5often; 6 5usually; 7 5always): “If you shop for clothing
online, which clothing categories do you often shop for online?”Among the ten apparel
JFMM
product categories, the most frequently selected apparel product category was tops and
shirts (M54.59, SD 51.45).
Step 2—Selecting a specific product. The goal of step 2 was to identify a particular product
within the product category of tops and shirts, selected in Step 1, as the stimulus garment for
the main study. Ten pictures of shirts or blouses with numerous online consumer reviews
were chosen from existing online retailers’websites. The images of these ten garments were
extracted from the source websites and inserted into an online survey developed for this step,
without indication of brand to avoid the influence of participants’prior experience and
attitude toward any brand. A total of 88 women participated in the online survey through
AMT. They were asked to evaluate each of the ten shirts/blouses in terms of attractiveness,
fashionableness, and likability, using a 7-point Likert scale (Cox and Cox, 2002). One shirt/
blouse (M516.64, SD 54.30) was selected for the main experiment stimulus; it was
considered the most attractive, fashionable, and likable shirt/blouse by the participants (score
summed over the three scale items).
Step 3—Developing product information and reviews. The purpose of this step was to
develop the information provided by the “seller”and fit reviews generated by “consumers”
to be included in a mock website that simulated the online shopping environment for the
main study. For information provided by the pretend seller, both visual (e.g. picture of the
apparel product) and verbal information (e.g. color, overall fit, size chart, price, fabric,
details, care, shipping and returns) were created based on information obtained from actual
apparel shopping websites. The visual information included a lighter color version of the
product to help participants see the details, as well as three other color options. The model’s
ethnicity, as indicated only by skin color, was not White, in an attempt to reduce the
possible alienation of persons of color in the sample. The image only showed the model’s
body below the neck, so there was minimal and vague information about the model’s
ethnicity.
Two fit reviews (one negative and one positive) were adapted from the actual consumer
reviews of the product taken from the actual online apparel retail website. The two fit reviews
were modified so that each review clearly reflected its valence, negative or positive. The
research design controlled to reduce possible confounding effects by (1) using a fictitious
brand name (i.e. Style) to avoid brand name biases and (2) limiting reviewer information by
including a fictitious ID and not including age, usual size, height, and weight that are
sometimes included in actual reviews.
Step 4—Pretest. A web-based Qualtrics questionnaire was developed as a pretest for
the manipulation of fit review valence and evaluation of the mock website. Nine female
participants were asked to examine the wording of the questionnaire and the mock
website embedded in the survey. Results showed that the positive fit review (M51.89,
SD 50.33) was perceived to be less negativethanthenegativefitreview(M56.11,
SD 50.60) (t515.20, p< 0.001,
η
2
50.99). The participants also answered questions
evaluating site credibility, overall confidence in the purchase decision,attitude toward the
retailers, purchase intention, and product likability, in addition to the demographic and
online apparel shopping experience.
Main study
Sample and data collection procedure. The data for the main study were collected through
AMT. Of 500 returned responses, 418 responses were retained, 82 responses were deleted
based on survey completion time (less than 5 min), and incorrect answers to two filter
questions. A restriction of the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses was placed so that only
respondents who lived in the USA were able to participate to ensure that participants had a
Influence of
reviews
regarding
apparel fit
basic level of English proficiency. Each participant was paid 50 cents upon survey
completion.
The survey consisted of four parts. In Part 1, the participants were asked to read a scenario
and instructions. Then they were asked to browse the mock website that was embedded in the
survey (see Plate 1). Part 2 of the survey contained identical questions about both fit reviews,
including perceived valence, perceived credibility, review-evoked confidence in the purchase
decision, and attitude toward the fit review. In Part 3, after showing the mock website as a
reminder, questions regarding overall product information provided on the website (site
credibility and overall confidence in the purchase decision), product likability, attitude toward
the retailer, and future purchase intention were asked. Last in the survey were questions
regarding demographic information and frequency of online apparel shopping.
Plate 1.
An image of a mock
website
JFMM
Measures. Review credibility and site credibility were measured by adapting a scale from
Cheung et al. (2009). For measuring review-evoked confidence in the purchase decision, three
items were adapted from Barden and Petty (2008) ’scale of attitude certainty (Cronbach’s
α
50.90). Five items were adapted from Spears and Singh (2004) to measure attitude toward
the online retailer (Cronbach’s
α
50.97). Three items adapted from Kim and Lennon (2000)
were used to measure future intention or willingness to purchase from the mock retailer site
(Cronbach’s
α
50.90). To validate that we chose a likable stimulus, a scale from Cox and Cox
(2002) was used to measure whether the product was attractive, fashionable, and likable.
Data Analysis. Cronbach’s
α
was used to evaluate the reliability of the variables.
Unidimensionality, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of all variables were
assessed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using Mplus 7.3 (Muth
en and Muth
en,
2014). Two types of analysis were conducted: a repeated multivariate analysis of variance
(MANOVA) for phase 1 testing of H1 and H2 and structural equation modeling (SEM) for
phase 2 testing of H3 to H11. Review credibility and review-evoked confidence in the
purchase decision were rated for each of the two reviews. In phase 1, the perceived credibility
and review-evoked confidence in the purchase decision for both positive and negative
reviews were used separately to test the influence of review valence. In phase 2, both
measures for both positive and negative fit reviews were aggregately used to reflect a part of
the overall product information provided on websites.
Results
Sample
The mean age of respondents in the main study was 35 (SD 512.37), with the majority were
between 18 and 45 years old (80.6%) (see Table 1). Most participants were White or European
American (81.6%). Black or African Americans had a limited representation (5.5%), with
more limited representations of other ethnicities. All but two participants had previous
experiences with in-store apparel shopping. Approximately 37% of respondents shopped for
clothing products in stores every two to three months. Over half of participants shopped for
clothing online every month (25.8%) or every two or three months (24.8%). Participants spent
$100–499 (37.3%), $500–999 (22.5%), or $1,000–1,499 (18.2%) on clothing items per year.
Preliminary analysis
Reliability. The reliability of each variable was assessed (see Table 2). Cronbach’s
α
values for
all variables ranged from 0.91 to 0.97, indicating high internal consistency among the items
within each factor.
Manipulation check. The manipulation check confirmed that differences in fit review
valence were appropriately perceived by participants (t546.21, df 5417, p< 0.001,
η
2
50.92). The positive fit review (M51.81, SD 51.26) was perceived as more positive than
the negative fit review (M56.09, SD 51.09).
Order effect. The order of the valence and wording of fit reviews may affect individuals’
responses toward overall product information, site credibility, and overall confidence in the
purchase decision. Participants were randomly assigned to two different presentation orders
of the fit reviews on the mock websites. There was no significant order effect of the
presentation of the positive and negative fit reviews on responses to any variable.
Phase 1
The repeated MANOVA indicated that the positive fit review was significantly more
influential than the negative fit review on consumers’responses to the fit reviews, including
review credibility, review-evoked confidence in purchase decision, and attitude toward the
Influence of
reviews
regarding
apparel fit
review (Wilks’λ50.47 F(3, 406) 5153.30, p< 0.001). According to main effects of valenced fit
review, the positive fit review was rated as having higher review credibility than the negative
fit review [F
(1,408)
54.19, p< 0.05, M
Positive(P)5
5.37 (SD 50.93), M
Negative(N)5
5.27 (SD 50.98)]
and higher review-evoked confidence in purchase decision [F
(1,408)
523.35, p< 0.001,
f%MSD
Height (n5418) 5’5”2.91”
Weight in lbs (n5418) 160.37 45.42
Age (n5418) 35.00 12.37
18–40 309 73.9
41–65 102 24.4
66–83 7 1.7
Ethnicity (n5418)
White or European American 341 81.6
Black or African American 23 5.5
Asian or Asian American 17 4.1
Hispanic or Latino 17 4.1
Multi-ethnic 15 3.6
Other 3 0.7
Native American 1 0.2
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 1 0.2
Frequency of in-store apparel shopping (n 5418)
Almost every day 1 0.2
More than once a week 5 2.7
Every week 26 6.2
Every month 103 24.6
Every two or three months 153 36.6
Twice or three times a year 109 26.1
Once a year 18 4.3
Never 2 0.5
Frequency of online apparel shopping (n 5418)
Almost every day 4 1.0
More than once a week 19 4.5
Every week 38 9.1
Every month 108 25.8
Every two or three months 104 24.9
Twice or three times a year 84 2.1
Once a year 35 8.4
Other 26 6.2
Amount spent on clothing per year (n 5418)
Less than $100 22 5.3
$100–499 156 37.3
$500–999 94 22.5
$1,000–1,499 76 18.2
$1,500–1,999 24 5.7
$2,000–2,499 20 4.8
$2,500–2,999 6 1.4
$3,000–3,499 11 2.6
$3,500–3,999 3 0.7
$4,000–4,499 - -
$4,500–4,999 3 0.7
Over $ 5,000 3 0.7
Table 1.
Sample characteristics,
the main study
JFMM
M
P
54.98 (SD 51.48), M
N
54.48 (SD 51.79)]. These findings of opposite direction were not
in congruence with previous research or Hypotheses 1 through 2.
According to descriptive statistics of average scores of product likability, the mean score
of product likability was 5.47 (SD 50.07). Approximately 76% of participants gave the
blouse/shirt stimulus ratings over 5 (out of 7 possible points). This indicated that a large
majority of the participants moderately to strongly agreed that the blouse/shirt was likable,
fashionable, and attractive. In addition, likability was positively correlated with each of the
two variables for positive fit review (r50.16, 0.19, respectively, p< 0.05) and was negatively
correlated with each of the two variables for negative fit review (r50.10, 0.15, 0.19,
respectively, p< 0.05). This further supports positive confirmation bias (Wickens and
Hollands, 2000), as a positive fit review was preferred when making a purchase decision when
an individual liked the product.
Phase 2: structural equation modeling and results
Measurement model. A measurement model with three manifest variables (i.e. review
credibility and review-evoked confidence in the purchase decision) and four latent variables
(i.e. site credibility, overall confidence in the purchase decision, attitude toward the retailer,
and future purchase intention) was analyzed to evaluate the quality of measures prior to
testing the second part of the hypothesized model (H3-H11). Because those three manifest
variables were repeated measures, provided twice (once for each fit review), the summed
Cronbach’s
alpha
Review credibility (Adapted from Cheung et al., 2009) 0.94 (FR
positive
),
0.93 (FR
negative
)I think the review that I read is: (1) factual; (2) accurate; (3) credible
Review evoked confidence in purchase decision (Adapted from Barden and Petty, 2008) 0.95 (FR
positive
),
0.95 (FR
negative
)Based on the review, (1) How certain would you be about your decision to buy (not to buy)
the garment? (1 5not at all certain, 7 5very certain)
(2) How sure would you be about your decision to buy (not to buy) the garment? (1 5not at
all sure, 7 5very sure)
(3) How confident would you be about your decision to purchase (not to purchase) the
garment? (1 5not at all confident, 7 5very confident)
Site credibility (Adapted from Cheung et al., 2009) 0.92
I think the overall product information shown on this website is: (1) factual; (2) accurate; (3)
credible
Overall confidence in purchase decision (Adapted from Barden and Petty, 2008) 0.97
Based on the product information provided, (1) How certain would you be about your
decision to buy the garment? (1 5not at all certain, 7 5very certain)
(2) How sure would you be about your decision to buy the garment? (1 5not at all sure,
75very sure)
(3) How confident would you be about your decision to purchase the garment?(1 5not at all
confident, 7 5very confident)
Attitude toward the retailer (Adapted from Spears and Singh, 2004) 0.96
Please describe your overall feelings about the online retailer presented in the website you
just saw: (1) Bad/good; (2) Unappealing/appealing; (3) Unpleasant/pleasant;
(4) Unfavorable/favorable; (5) Unlikable/likable
Future purchase intention: Adapted from Kim and Lennon (2000) 0.91
(1) How likely would you be to shop with this online retailer in the next year?
(2) How likely would you be to actually purchase clothing items from the online retailer that
you saw today?
Table 2.
Reliability of variables
Influence of
reviews
regarding
apparel fit
scores for each review were added together to create a single manifest variable for each
variable.
Standardized factor loadings for the 14 items to the four latent factors were higher than
0.50, ranging from 0.84 to 0.97, and were significant at p< 0.001. Chi-square test and fit
indices (CFI, RMSEA, TLI, and SRMR) showed that the measurement model fit the data well
(
χ
2
5210.57, df 591, p< 0.000, RMSEA 50.06, CFI 50.98, TLI 50.97, SRMR 50.03).
The square root of average variance extracted (AVE) for each latent variable and
correlations between constructs were evaluated to test discriminant validity. The AVEs of
the four latent variables were between 0.88 and 0.95, which were higher than squared
correlations among variables. Review credibility was moderately correlated with site
credibility (r50.36) and was weakly correlated with overall confidence in purchase decision
(r50.10) and attitude toward the retailer (r50.17). Review-evoked confidence in the
purchase decision was moderately correlated with overall confidence in purchase decision
(r50.52) while it was weakly correlated with site credibility (r50.17) and attitude toward
the retailer (r50.15). Site credibility was moderately correlated with overall confidence in the
purchase decision (r50.45), attitude toward the retailer (r50.46), and future purchase
intention (r50.36). Overall confidence in purchase decision was moderately correlated with
attitude toward the retailer (r50.37) and future purchase intention (r50.30). Attitude
toward the retailer was moderately correlated with future purchase intention (r50.65).
Hypotheses testing. Using maximum-likelihood estimation, the SEM analysis was used to
test the hypothesized model.
see Figure 2 The results of the chi-square test and the fit indices show that the
hypothesized model fits the data well (
χ
2
5212.64, df 595, p< 0.000, RMSEA 50.06,
CFI 50.98, TLI 50.98, SRMR 50.03). According to the results of SEM analysis, review
credibility increased site credibility (b50.34, t57.41, p< 0.001), providing support for H3.
Review-evoked confidence in the purchase decision also increased site credibility (b50.12,
t52.34, p< 0.05), supporting H4. Although there was no significant positive relationship
between review credibility and overall confidence in the purchase decision (H5)(b50.02,
t50.40, p50.69), review-evoked confidence in the purchase decision was positively related
to overall confidence in purchase decision (b50.51, t513.40, p< 0.001), supporting only H6.
R-square value of the path to site credibility was 0.15 and to overall confidence in the
purchase decision was 0.27.
Site credibility increased attitude toward the retailer (b50.37, t57.34, p< 0.001), supporting
H7. Overall confidence in purchase decision increased attitude toward the retailer (b50.21,
t54.08, p< 0.001), supporting H8. However, site credibility (b50.06, t51.18, p50.24) and
Review credibility
Review-evoked
confidence in
purchase decision
Overall
confidence in
purchase decision
Site credibility Attitude to the
online retailer
Future purchase
intention
0.12* 0.21***
0.51***
0.02
0.37***
0.06
0.05
0.60***
Responses to fit
review
Responses to
overall product
information
Responses to the
online retailer
0.34***
Figure 2.
Structural equation
modeling
JFMM
overall confidence in purchase decision (b50.05, t50.93, p50.36) did not increase future
purchase intention, thus H9 and H10 were not supported. Attitude toward the retailer increased
future purchase intention (b50.60, t514.11, p< 0.001), supporting H141 R-square value of the
path to attitude to the online retailer was 0.25 and to future purchase intention was 0.42.
Ad-hoc mediation test. Mediation effects were tested to enhance understanding of the
results. Preacher and Hayes (2008) bootstrap procedure was conducted in Mplus to examine
the extent to which responses to attitude toward the retailer mediated the effects of responses
to the overall product information on future purchase decisions. The results showed
significant indirect effects of site credibility on future purchase intention (0.33) and of overall
confidence in purchase decision on future purchase intention (0.12) through attitude to the
online retailer.
Conclusions and implications
The current study was an attempt to fill the gap in knowledge regarding the crucial role of fit
reviews in apparel product purchase decisions in an online context. The absence of tactile
experience and direct experience with fit is a major impediment to consumer shopping online;
thus, retailers need to accommodate for the lack of fit experience to increase consumer
confidence in ordering apparel items. The results confirmed that valenced fit reviews could
influence female consumers’decision making in an online apparel shopping context.
Although it was hypothesized based on previous research that the negative fit review
would be more influential than the positive fit review on consumer responses, results showed
that the positive fit review had a more powerful effect than did the negative fit review on
female participants’responses about review credibility review-evoked confidence in the
purchase decision, when they liked the apparel product. The results suggest that the
product’s likability contributed to the differences between positive and negative fit reviews
on consumers’responses. The results support the presence of positive confirmation bias
(Wickens and Hollands, 2000), which suggests that consumers tend to find positive
information more compelling than negative information because the positive information
validates their first impressions or prior expectations that the clothing product is likable,
fashionable, and attractive. Given this information, online retailers should strategically
highlight customers’strongly valenced fit reviews, especially positive ones. Retailers can
encourage consumers to write reviews and describe a positive experience with the fit if they
are satisfied with the purchase. In addition, retailers might guide online reviewers to specify
other fit-related characteristics, such as their height and weight, which may increase review
credibility and review-evoked confidence in the purchase decisions. Completely hiding
negative fit reviews, however, would be unethical and might lead consumers to distrust the
retailer. This requires further study. Because a positive fit review enhanced female
consumers’perception of review credibility and review-evoked confidence in the purchase
decision, we found evidence that such reviews may be one way to reduce consumers’concerns
with garment fit and size when the tactile and try-on experience is lacking in the online
shopping context.
We examined two aspects of information credibility specific to the online shopping
context –review credibility and site credibility. In this study, fit review credibility was an
important antecedent of site credibility. Site credibility was also found to influence
consumers’future purchase intention through attitudes toward the online retailer.
The results of this study indicate that online retailers who sell apparel products that require
more tactile experience for product evaluation should consider encouraging positive fit reviews
because positive reviews can be more influential than negative ones. To increase site credibility
and overall confidence in the purchase decision, online retailers should strategically enhance
review credibility and review-evoked confidence in the purchase decision. In practice, many
Influence of
reviews
regarding
apparel fit
online apparel retailers choose to show positive reviews, as well as negative reviews. To be
more specific, online apparel retailers could consider creating a separate section for consumer
reviews in which valenced fit reviews are highlighted with different colors or symbols to catch
the online shopper’s eye. Retailers might also ask consumers to rate fit on a numerical scale
from very negative (3) to verypositive (3) to clarify their overall fit experiences in addition to
loose-tight and short-long scales on specific body parts. These strategies require further study
as to their impacts on purchase decision making.
Limitations and future studies
The present study has several limitations due to the use of a mock website. First, certain
aspects of the mock website were limited in order to conduct the study. There would likely be
more and varied types of fit reviews in an actual apparel online shopping site. The mock
website included only two fit reviews, one positive and one negative. In reality, consumers
may tend to process more than two OCRs before making a purchase decision, and all OCRs do
not fall neatly into “positive”or “negative.”Future studies should incorporate various
degrees of review valence to more precisely capture consumer responses to reviews.
Second, the mock website had only limited functionality compared to what is available on
some online retail websites, thereby limiting other cues that may provide fit information.
Third, the product used for this study was a blouse/shirt that was moderate to loose fitted.
Depending on the tightness of an article of clothing, consumers might consider and process
valenced fit reviews differently. Thus, the type and style of the clothing product are possible
factors that require future study. Fourth, our analysis did not include any demographic and
physical information about the reviewers, such as age, body type, weight, and height.
However, many online consumer reviews of apparel products include detailed information
about the writer of the review. This kind of information may cause the readers of the review to
process valenced fit reviews differently. Thus, future studies need to examine how perceived
homophily with the reviewer in terms of demographic and/or body characteristics affects
apparel purchase decision making. Fifth, the mock website was not a real purchase
environment, so participants’responses may not accurately reflect information processing in
a real purchase situation.
The results of this study should be interpreted with caution due to the sample bias from
the data through AMT. The respondents were paid to participate through a unique Internet
system (AMT) in which participants are incentivized to look for surveys to complete; the
sample may include consumers who are not similar in many ways to the general population of
the US This study did not include adolescents and had a very limited representation of the
older population. Considering that ethnically diverse consumers were underrepresented in
the samples, the results should not be generalized to the US population. Thus, future studies
should include a more balanced sample in terms of age and ethnic groups to generalize the
results, as well as represent different geographic regions, economic statuses, and genders.
Nevertheless, the sample studied was quite varied in characteristics and began to give
anunderstanding of how consumers use fit reviews in online apparel purchase decisions. In
the future, male consumers of apparel need to also be studied.
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Corresponding author
Eonyou Shin can be contacted at: eonyous7@vt.edu
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Influence of
reviews
regarding
apparel fit
