Abstract
The US has a serious apparel trade deficit with China. An increase in the export of US-made clothing into the Chinese market would help balance trade. But for this to happen, a question that needs to be addressed is how Chinese consumers view US-made clothing as compared to China-made clothing.
There were four objectives in this study: (1) to investigate Chinese consumers' attitudes toward US-made and China-made clothing, (2) to determine factors explaining Chinese consumers' attitudes toward US-made and China-made clothing, (3) to test the Fishbein Behavioral Intention Model with Chinese consumers, and (4) to extend the Fishbein Behavioral Intention Model by adding personal cultural preference. A survey was conducted in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou during October and November 1998. Parents of students in the public school system were the participants. Of 3000 questionnaires distributed, 2017 were returned and usable (usable rate = 67.2%). Regression analysis, factor analysis, paired-sample Wests, J-tests, and F-tests were used to examine the twelve hypotheses in the study.
The findings indicated that the Chinese market is an attractive market for US-made clothing because Chinese consumers have positive attitudes toward the US-made clothing. Personal cultural preference was significantly related to Chinese consumers' attitudes toward US-made clothing. Furthermore, this study showed that besides attitudes toward purchasing clothing, consumers' personal cultural preferences are associated with their purchasing intentions for clothing as well.
Three groups of contributions were made with this study. Regarding theoretical contributions, the Fishbein Behavioral Intention Model was tested for its cross-cultural applicability. More importantly, the Fishbein Behavioral Intention Model was extended by adding personal cultural preference. Regarding methodological contributions, two measures of personal cultural preference were developed and applied, which provided valuable suggestions for further improvement of the measure of personal cultural preference. Besides, the survey method used in this study, distributing questionnaires throughout the Chinese educational system, illustrated a means for conducting research in China. With respect to practical contributions, the findings in this study can benefit American clothing manufacturers and international trade of US clothing.