| According to Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel (2001), “[c]ulture has a profound effect on why and how people buy and consume products and services” (p. 320). In the present study, Hofstede's classifications of national culture we used as a framework to examine the relationships among long-term orientation national culture (Taiwan and United States), type of clothing (formal and casual clothing), and gender (female and male) on consumers' clothing values (aesthetic, economic, political, religious, social, and theoretic clothing values).; The data collection method was a direct handout questionnaire in classes at Oregon State University in the United States and at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology in Taiwan. A seven-point scale was used to measure the mean scores of six clothing values. The questionnaire also measured the validity of Hofstede's framework and the respondent's demographic characteristics. The questionnaire was first developed in English, translated into Chinese, and then translated back into English.; Overall, 487 of the questionnaires from the United States and 903 from Taiwan (the total number was 1390) were eligible for analysis in this study. Data from the questionnaires were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance and paired-sample analysis t-test.; The results revealed that six consumers' clothing values were affected by national culture and the type of clothing and partially influenced by gender. As hypothesized, the mean scores of consumers' economic and religious clothing values were significantly higher in high long-term orientation (Taiwan) than in low long-term orientation (United States), whereas the mean scores of aesthetic clothing value was significantly lower in high long-term orientation (Taiwan) than in low long-term orientation (United States).; Significant differences were found for gender on consumers' aesthetic, political, social, and theoretic clothing values. As hypothesized, female consumers scored significantly higher on aesthetic and social clothing values than did male consumers.; Based on the results from this study, the similarities and differences among consumers' clothing values in different national cultures, between genders, and type of clothing can be important basic information for international marketers when planning and implementing marketing plans across countries. |
