Agent-Based Simulation of the Consumer's Apparel Purchase Decision

Consumers review a proposed purchase and confidently state “it’s me” or “it’s not me”. Within that decision space the consumer blends intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, cognition and affect. In an instant consumers simplify a cluttered, crowded marketplace using pattern matching and heuristics to determine which garments to consider for purchase and which to eliminate from further consideration. Agent-based simulation provides a new mode for investigating connections between apparel products; consumers' attitudes, beliefs, and preferences; and constraints on purchase decisions. This approach dovetails with structural changes in the industry aimed at perfecting the supplier/consumer relationship by increasing responsiveness to consumers. This simulation offers a tool for exploring consumer response to a proposed apparel purchase by making the connections, interactions, and barriers more transparent and by providing a platform for analysis and investigation. Agent-Based Modeling of a Virtual Consumer Agent-based modeling has been used to simulate ecosystems, markets, and social systems. What makes this approach unique in terms of simulation is the focus on the behavior of adaptive agents operating with rule sets that may be deterministic or I98-A9 / 2 probabilistic, or may change through learning or evolution. This project is novel from the point of view of simulation and of research methods. To date agent-based modeling simulated complex social systems as swarms of agents (consumers, companies, economies). This project extends the concept to a composite agent forming their purchase intention from swarms of rules. Because the simulation model is based on literature-derived components, it becomes a testing ground for theoretical completeness and a source of empirical questions. Agent-based modeling is a top-down approach in the design phase because components of the simulation (organization, events to model, distributions, probabilities) are derived from empirical research and theorizing about antecedents, events, and subsequent conditions. In this project, agent-based modeling is used to simulate a single entity (the apparel consumer) performing a multi-level process, each level composed of a large number of variables with complex interactions within and between levels. In the implementation phase agent-based modeling is a bottom-up method of inquiry because behavior emerges during simulation that cannot be predicted solely from a knowledge of its constituent parts. The reason for modeling complex behaviors using agent-based simulation is that interpretation of emergent behavior leads to new strategies and tactics for executives and new questions for empirical researchers. Simulation Design (Figure 1) Definitions Selection of apparel includes all the modifications and material objects added to a person’s body (Roach & Musa, 1980). The person selects products to facilitate personal and social agendas (Hamilton, 1988). Appearance management is the inclusive concept for the thought processes, activities, and assessment of social implications associated with selecting, buying, and using appearance altering products (Kaiser, 1990). Appearance management includes two system (Brannon, 1993): ♦ Self-Presentation System which subsumes all thoughts and feelings about the self and the translation of those thoughts and feelings into strategies of concealment and revelation. ♦ Impression Management System which subsumes all thought and feelings about the social implications of dress and the translation of those thoughts and feelings into selection strategies suited to the situation and the desired effect on social interaction. Trade-off Analysis Simulation of the apparel purchase decision can be modeled as a series of tradeoff analyses within and between Self-Presentation and Impression Management Systems. Each system is further partitioned by preference criteria of two types: ♦ Subjective Liking where acquisition is motivated by symbolic, hedonic, aesthetic rationales. ♦ Reasons-Why where acquisition is motivated by attribute-based, utilitarian rationales.