Apparel Buying Behaviors of Black Males and White Males When Purchasing Men's Business Suits

Abstract

More information is needed to understand the Black male consumer. Although expanding in the past five years, research about the buying behaviors of consumers has tended to avoid males, particularly Black males. Retailers and marketers should understand the immense diversity among consumers if they are to market apparel accurately and successfully. The purpose of this research was to investigate Black males and Whites males to examine if differences in their buying behavior for apparel exist. In addition, consumer attributes (i.e., apparel involvement, self-esteem, reference group, social class, media) and personal characteristics were investigated separately and in relation to the purchase behavior of Black male and White male administrators and professors on a predominantly White campus. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 15 Black males and 15 White males. A questionnaire was pilot tested for content validity and reliability. Descriptive statistics (i.e., frequencies and percentages), ANOVAs, t-tests and chi-squares were used for data analysis to test the hypotheses. The following Hypotheses were formulated for this study. Hypothesis 1 stated race will affect likelihood of purchase for color of men's business suits within the buying process among Black and White faculty, staff and administrators. Hypothesis 2 stated that selected attributes (i.e., apparel involvement, media, reference group, self-esteem, social class) will be related within the buying process among Black and White faculty, staff, and administrators. For Hypothesis 1, the results showed a significant relationship between color and the likelihood of purchase for men's business suits. For Hypothesis 2, apparel involvement, social class and media were significantly related to race.