How Store Design Affect the Consumer Evaluation of Fashion Items: An On-site Experiment

Retailers are aware of the importance of store design as a part of their marketing
strategy, and many resources are spent on designing favourable stores. It is well
known, that the perceived environments affect consumers – for example sound,
temperature, air quality, and light may directly influence whether or not a person
wishes to stay in a certain store. But stores are also used as communication platforms where materials, surfaces, lighting, and fittings are designed to communicate a specific brand identity in a more subtle way. The direct effect of the designed elements is difficult to investigate. Consumers, brand owners and retail designers perceive the environments
differently and methods for testing the effects on the specific consumers would be useful. This paper describes an experiment run in a men’s fashion store holding three sub-brands, each displayed in separate rooms, which were specially designed to match the style of each sub-brand. The interiors of the three shops are analysed and compared. To study the individual responses, data were collected on an iPad using a method building on paired comparisons. The
experiment shows how 40 participants rate six products in three different shops, and in some cases the study of the room and the product made a surprising match. The results show that the products were not rated higher when presented in the interior designed for the specific sub-brand. However, when looking at the favourite products of the participants, it turned out that the majority of the highly rated products were given in one specific room, which does simply that the interior design influenced the consumers when rating their favourite products.