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Purpose - The research goal is to develop, analyze, and evaluate an instrument measuring perceptions and preferences of garment design characteristics, and to evaluate interpretability of results for ease of use by scientists and industry practitioners. Design/methodology/approach - This study focused on female garment attributes that were culturally inspired by Indonesia. A sample of 115 US college-age females was targeted to test 18 garments varying in attributes of three styles, three fabric prints, and two fabric colorways. Attributes were used as stimuli in generating evaluations of garment similarities and acceptance. Findings - Stimuli and questions performed well in collecting data, and convergence validity for the instrument was demonstrated through hierarchical cluster analyses and multidimensional scaling analysis. Findings from this initial testing determined that consumers can differentiate similarity and evaluate levels of acceptance for garment style, fabric print, and color. Research limitations/implications - The small segment of US consumers involved in this initial exploration and the need for further study is acknowledged. Research-generated analytic information summarizing targeted consumers' responses can be used in industry and in future product development research. Practical implications - Findings, generated from consumer input, provide diagnostic information for the product development process including market positioning strategy decisions for enhanced product adoption. Understanding which product attributes should remain similar to existing or competing products and which attributes can uniquely deviate from those currently accepted in the consumer culture is also clarified. Originality/value - Research instruments are needed that advance measurement of consumer responses in evaluating apparel design characteristics for national or international product development and market positioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mass customisation, defined as the mass production of individually customised goods and services, aims at providing products and services that are more suited to the needs or desires of today's fragmented consumer markets. Mass customisers should identify how needs or desires of the fragmented market shape the customisation of not just the product and service, but also the mass customisation experience. Towards this end, the authors examined whether an individual's preferred level for environmental stimulation defined as optimum stimulation level (OSL) was associated with the types of products, services and experiences desired from mass customisation of apparel. As the authors hypothesised, OSL had significant positive correlations with willingness to use co-design services to create a unique design, trying co-design as an exciting experience, overall commitment to using co-design, and trying body scanning as an exciting experience. OSL did not have significant correlations with the more banal willingness to use body scanning services for better fitting products or overall commitment to using body scanning. There was also a significant positive correlation between OSL and interest in customising experiential products, but not between OSL and interest in customising utilitarian products, as hypothesised. Results support research of the influence of OSL on consumer behaviour. Implications for the industry include considering experience aspects and environmental stimulation when developing a mass customisation programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]