Download Is Blending into Society a Primary Consumer Goal for Dressing Down?

IS BLENDING INTO SOCIETY
A PRIMARY CONSUMER GOAL
FOR DRESSING DOWN?
Marc Amram, Eunah Choi and Namhoon Kim
ABSTRACT
Are consumers tired of standing out? This study probes whether or not
fast fashion understands the implicit behavior of their customers while
dressing up or down. Retailers tend to market their more ready-to-wear
(dress-down) fashion product in an approach that allows the customer
to customize the outfits to become easily ‘‘me-self,’’ through a big
selection of accessories for men and women such as hats, glasses, and
scarves. Versus the dress-up look that echoes with conforming to social
norms. Today marketers seem to misunderstand the tendency that when
one dresses down they often seek to blend in more with the environment
rather than display their own personality through fashion. The study
extends the literature through explicating the process of picture
introspection and member check using confirmatory personal introspection (CPI). Even though when one dresses down you would expect more
individuality, according to the findings the subject sample was also
more inclined to blend in society and stand out less. In the dress-up look
Luxury Fashion and Culture
Advances in Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Volume 7, 67–89
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ISSN: 1871-3173/doi:10.1108/S1871-3173(2013)0000007007
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there was a strong call for displaying features of a powerful and strong
individuality.
Keywords: Auto-driving through photography; member check; fast
fashion; situation; emic and etic interpretation; hegemony versus
individuating
INTRODUCTION
Nonverbal visual narrative art (VNA) is one of the oldest forms of human
storytelling and sense-making (e.g., from cave painting to modern digital
photography) and remains a major form of communication in the 21st
century. Megehee and Spake (2012) convey imagery and meaning of events
in the story. Looking at photo albums introspectively is a process that
started around the 1830s with the developing of the first photographs
(Hirsch, 2000). The daguerreotype is one of the premier photo cameras that
became popular to meet the new demand for portraits that emerged from
the rise of middle class during the Industrial Revolution. This demand,
which could not be met in volume and cost by oil paintings, added to the
push for development of photography. Photography as a process has since
then become ever more popular. At first people would go to a photo studio;
now they are able to take instant color photos from their personal cell
phone.
This study here proposes and empirically examines how consumers
interpret their own use of fashion through self-introspection of photograph
and member check. This extends Hirschman’s (1986) call to other
researchers to provide member checks. This process helps to transform the
implicit meaning of the dress of the subject in his environment into analytic
thinking by reviewing the photograph in varied situations. His study
explicates the process of confirmatory personal introspection (CPI),
including the example of a photograph of three students with their personal
interpretation while dressing up or down. On the one hand the findings
extend the view that consumers of fast fashion are more interested in
blending in society rather than personalizing outfits while dressing down.
On the other hand, while dressing up we seek not to conform to social norm
but rather to display strong self-identity.
The study seeks to challenge the general train of thinking that when one
dresses down one seeks to personalize more, and when one dresses up one
Is Blending into Society a Primary Consumer Goal for Dressing Down?
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tries to conform to the tradition. In Ichheiser’s (1949) terms, the individual
expresses himself by acts intentionally or unintentionally, and the others in
turn have to be impressed in some way by him.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Thompson and Haytko (1997) claim that consumers use fashion to define
their social distinctions and boundaries, to construct narratives of personal
history, to interpret the interpersonal dynamics of their social spheres, and
to transform conventional social categories. They believed when consumers
encode themselves by fashion, a series of tensions exists between consumers’
sense of individual agency (autonomy issues) and sensitivity to sources of
social prescription in their everyday lives (conformity issues).
Adopting a point of view ‘‘situation’’ is effective, when we try to understand
consumers’ behavior. Situations, which are distinguished within the environment as momentary concepts, represent distinct sources of influence on
consumer behavior (Belk, 1975). Hansen (1972) states, ‘‘the question must
still be asked how the individual transforms the situational input to
behavioral output, which makes it necessary to look at the individual’s
internal processes.’’ Investigation of the effect of ‘‘the situation’’ on behavior
would make a valuable contribution to both psychology and marketing.
Most human thinking is unconscious. To collect data on unconscious
thnking, Woodside (2004) suggests a multiple-methods approach such as
CPI (Woodside, 2004), long interview (McCracken, 1998), auto-driving
(Heisley & Levy, 1991), and member checks (Hirschman, 1986). These are
useful to surface the unconscious thinking. In these processes, the informant
asks interpreting and answering questions to himself or herself or is asked by
another researcher. These kinds of approaches allow the informant to
confirm both the belief and evaluations held consciously and unconsciously.
CONCEPTUAL MODEL
This study confirms Thompson and Haytko’s (1997) view that a single
hegemonic outlook fails to be representative and lacks sufficient details of
how consumers combine, adapt, and juxtapose to fit the conditions of their
everyday lives. It is unique in describing the contents and tension-resolution
dialogues consumers have with themselves, with traditions and situations.
See Fig. 1.
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Situation
Person
Behavior
(Stimulus)
(Organism)
(Response)
Stimulus-Organism-Response Paradigm.
Fig. 1.
Strong Individuality
Situation
Dress Up
Autonomy
(Standing out)
Low tension
Dress Down
Conformity
(Blending in)
High tension
Strong Hegemony
Fig. 2.
Conceptual Model.
This study describes the familiar paradigm of stimulus-organism-response
integrated within the main thinking of Thompson and Haytko’s model,
‘‘consumers’ appropriation of countervailing cultural meaning.’’
Everyday before people go out, they encounter the moment when they
choose what to wear for the day. In this study, we laid two ‘‘situations’’ into
this moment: dress up and dress down. We propose that when people are in
the situation of dress up, they try to emphasize their identity. They care
less about the other person’s thinking or the traditional rules. In this
dress-up-situation, the individuals themselves represent a strong autonomy
where tension between individual and tradition is low. On the other hand,
when they are in the situation of dress down, they try not to stand out and
fit into the group where they belong to at that moment. These personalities
really care about conformity – if they fit into other people’s perception,
the tension between the individual and tradition (other people) is high.
See Fig. 2.
METHOD
Three master students in South Korea, Seoul, self-selected each other and
formed a group. The group is composed of a 27-year-old Korean female, a
27-year-old Korean male, and a 23-year-old Swiss male living in Seoul for
one year (Table 1). Seoul is a city where fast-fashion retail is omnipresent
and has a culture where each situation is immortalized in a photograph.
Is Blending into Society a Primary Consumer Goal for Dressing Down?
Table 1.
(a)
(b)
(c)
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Participant Description.
Gender
Age
Name
Description
Female
Male
Male
27
23
27
Eunah
Marc
Namhoon
Korean worked in fashion industry
Swiss living in Korea
Korean
Articles regarding personal introspection and member checks were
reviewed before each member selected two photographs: one everyday at
home, dress-down look and one at a special event, dress-up look with two
distinct hair and dress styles.
Once the picture is selected, each wrote a 500-words auto-driving report
answering six questions describing their dress and hair in each photograph.
Data Analysis
The data analysis is split in three main parts. First analysis is the personal
introspection of the subject in the photograph while writing an auto-driving.
Second analysis is a member check, which is reviewing one by another, such
as (a) reviewed (b), (b) reviewed (c), and (c) reviewed (a). Third and final
analysis is a response by the original auto-driving person to each member
check statement.
First,the auto-driving report was guided by the following six questions:
(1) What does each photo tell about the person in it? (2) What is attractive
and/or attractive about the person in each photo? (3) What brands appear in
each photo, if any? (4) What do these brands indicate about the person in
the photo? (5) Does the photo indicate the person is happy/sad, strong/
weak, and very friendly/unfriendly? (6) What else does each photo say about
the person in it? Analysis of a photograph is similar to that of a VNA as the
analysis is an ongoing and integrative process that has gradually evolved
throughout the interpretation phase (Woodside & Megehee, 2010).
Second, member checks were conducted to strengthen the validity of the
interpretations. This constant comparison allowed data to collections
(photographs) and analysis to intermingle, a strategy particularly useful
for exploratory research (McCracken, 1988).
Third, the auto-driving author read the statement by the member check
and commented on it. This enabled the author to consciously understand
what kind of image he is pouting out. This confirmation process and
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subsequent refinement of interpretations concluded the analysis phase
(Megehee & Spake, 2012).
FINDINGS
Case (a)
Dressing Up
Auto-driving by Eunah (a). I think the long hair itself is my identity, but
sometimes I feel tired of the long straight black hair. I cannot cut them
because I would feel like losing my identity when I cut it. Therefore, I started
to buy wigs; one of them is a shortcut-style wig as shown in this picture and
when I wear it, it makes me feel stronger.
Especially in Korea, yellow bright hair is a sign of rebellion. So a short
yellow wig makes her feel stronger and escape from the real ‘‘her.’’ Also,
because each individual’s body parts are permanently attached to the body,
those parts are expected to express one character in a more distinguished
way than material possessions which are temporary, easily acquired, and
discarded (Belk, 1988).
Member check by Marc (b). Reading the story of Eunah permits the
reader to see how she describes herself throughout the transformation
process to display her strong rebellious side. While interpreting her autodriving report, it shows how extremely conscious the subject is about
fashion, and how she consciously thought out her fashion to ‘‘help perceive
her as a strong, chic, and professional person.’’ Like, for example, through
wearing skinny black pants and high heels. According the me the most
important statement is her Prada bag, which enables her to fulfill her
transformation into a strong ‘‘business woman’’ by fully using the archetype
of the brand, represented by the ‘‘Change Master’’ archetype enabling
transformation, self-improvement, and self-mastery. The protagonist’s
unconscious thinking, relating to customer and brand experiences, fulfills
one or more archetype identified by the storyteller (Jung, 1981).
As a western person I could not imagine myself going out into the street
wearing a wig, unless at a Halloween party, suffering from a disease that
would make me lose my hair (even then I would probably just shave to a
bold hair) or being a Hasidic Jewish woman. I personally feel that wearing a
wig is a very strong step toward transformation. More so the wig enables the
protagonist to fully individuate; through dressing up Eunah is making a
Is Blending into Society a Primary Consumer Goal for Dressing Down?
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clear statement that she doesn’t belong any more to the group of highschool girls and now she is the one showing them around.
Response to member check by Eunah (a). I love the word ‘‘transformation’’
that Marc used in the member check statement. The wigs help me to change
my image dramatically. Rook (1985) found that when a body part is more
highly connected, there is greater use of grooming products to care for this
part of the body. Hair is an important part of my body that identifies me,
and I ‘‘transform’’ myself by using a number of styling products – wigs.
Also the part that he addresses in archetyping brand experiences is
interesting. He describes Prada as a ‘‘Change Master.’’ He once asked me
what I mean when I say that the image of Prada is chic and strong.
I answered, ‘‘Think about Chloe, the lovely, girlish, and fragile brand.’’
Each brand has its archetype. And by possessing the product of each brand,
such as jewelry, automobile, make-up, and clothing, people try to define
their sense of self (Solomon, 1986).
Dress Down
Auto-driving by Eunah (a). A cap is not a fashion item, but just the final
solution of hiding me when I am not ready to go out or show up in front of
people. So the cap doesn’t need to be fashionable or notable but should be
really simple and neat. Also it should match with the clothes I am wearing.
I really don’t care which brand the cap is, but I don’t want the cap to show
big logos on it. The cap should not disturb the harmony of this relaxed day’s
look and not display signals of conspicuousness. It is just covering my hair
well. When I am wearing a cap, I just act silently, trying to pass incognito
and not talk too much.
Belk (1988) reports that human exists not only as individuals but also as
collectives. There are a number of such levels of self. When we are in a group
or public, we exist as both a unique individual by exposing ourselves or just
as a part of the group by not standing out. In those cases (when she dresses
down), she used a specific item (cap) harmonizing with her relaxed look to
be ‘‘normal’’ like the others.
Member check by Marc (b). The picture of the subject trying to conform
to society in a way to create the least tension in order to be able to ‘‘stay
under the radar’’ so that she doesn’t bring up attention is very clear. Even
while eating she didn’t remove her glasses or cap! The girl looks attractive to
me; if no one had told me the reason why she would wear a cap and glasses,
I could not have guessed it was in order to gain time to get ready. To me it
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seems that all those details are a way to enhance her and not hide, so well
done!
Response to member check by Eunah (a). Marc reports in his member
check statement that he likes the style with cap and sunglasses. I realized
that a fashion product could be differently used and recognized by different
people. Some use a cap to conceal themselves while others use it as a
fashion item.
I am also very happy to read that he thinks my dress-down look is well
done. This means all of my items are well-matched, not disturbing each
other and not looking ridiculous.
Case (b)
Dress up
Auto-driving by Marc (b). The expression on his face is not very friendly.
This impression is enforced through the car he is leaning on and which
seems almost part of him. The car in the background represents certain
aggressiveness with its oversized front grill; the same statement goes for the
protagonist, showing an equal presence. The person in the photo seams
strong, pumping its strength from the Chrysler car and the suit he is
wearing. Moreover, the position of the legs crossed and the hands in the
pocket display strong unsociability.
Member check by Namhoon (c). Sometimes the individual will act in a
thoroughly calculating manner, expressing himself in a given way solely in
order to give the kind of impression to others that is likely to evoke from
them a specific response he is concerned to obtain (Goffman,1973).
I have never seen him wearing a suit. Maybe on this particular day he has
an important meeting like a job interview or business meeting. He looks
smart and being part of an elite when he wears a suit. For this reason people
sometimes try to wear a suit to express better than usual.
Besides he has taken a picture in front of a Chrysler. The image of
Chrysler is powerful and strong. So even though he is not the owner of that
car, he can get his image from the background image of Chrysler.
Response to member check by Marc (b). I was touched when I read: ‘‘For
this reason people sometimes try to wear a suit to express better than
Is Blending into Society a Primary Consumer Goal for Dressing Down?
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usually.’’ I asked myself, if given that on a daily basis I don’t wear a suit, the
image I project is not good enough. This statement made me question myself
if, due to my social responsibility, position, and environment I live in as a
Master’s student in South Korea, I should redefine the image I project
through my fashion. I was far from realizing that the simple fact of wearing
a suit could transform me so much to the outside gaze.
Dress Down
Auto-driving by Marc (b). My way of dressing as shown on this picture
reflects the Western consumer values, having learned to combine thorough
knowledge of fashion merchandising and adapting it to culturally
available resources to create a new, personalized fashion style reflecting
my personality.
The person in the picture seems to be self-confident, sure of himself, and
socially well-adapted by following the conformity rules of society without a
need to dress up or down to provoke any reactions by the environment. On
this photo I portray a western guy, in Seoul, sitting alone on a table, even
though the place might be buzzing of people.
Even though the person in the photo seems to be secluded in a bubble,
alone, in a coffee shop on a busy street, he is ‘‘connected’’ through the smart
phone by a conversation he is currently involved in.
He seems to correspond to the model in which their fashion sensibilities
are grounded in a socially negotiated set of rules of interpretational and
aesthetic standards (Jenkins,1992).
Member check by Namhoon (c). He seems to be a man who works for a
fashion company or studies fashion. He doesn’t miss the color combination
even though he dresses down; he wears a blue-navy color V-neck t-shirt and
white-colored jeans. Navy and white are one of the best color combinations.
Even if he is not involved in fashion, he has a good sense it.
He puts the sunglasses in the middle of his V-neck t-shirt for a fashion
statement. That can be interpreted as a fashionable dressing down look.
Response to member check by Marc (b). This comment is quite flattering.
I am a person that doesn’t care about combination on a day-to-day basis,
but I try to only buy clothes that match the overall style of my wardrobe, so
that almost everything can intermatch! I am not a big shopper, but I have
very high standards on quality and cut for my clothes.
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Case (c)
Dress up
Auto-driving by Namhoon (c). My ex-girlfriend likes that hairstyle and
I want to grow my hair before I graduate from university, because it is
uncommon to grow hair like that in a traditional Korean office
environment, unless one works in the music or art industry. I can’t do
that. In Korea, it is not easy to keep hair like that because of the social
recognition and the conservative approach of many elderly Koreans.
Especially, Korean people are very sensitive about social recognition. So if
someone does something out of common, it will be perceived very strangely
in Korea.
Member check by Eunah (a). It seems that he is recalling one of his
happiest days from the past. Auto-driving (self-narrative, introspection)
method is not just asking questions about opinions or reasons, but
encouraging people to narrate about themselves in their life or particular
situations Rosenthal (2003). As Shultze (1984) proclaims, the effect of selfnarration is ‘‘interrelations and passages of experiences have been made
explicit to be won back for a consistent concept of identity for the
respondent.’’
The first time I saw this picture, I thought he was a musician or an artist.
He also comments in his auto-driving interview that people who met him
asked if he was involved in music. Goffman (1973) addresses people trying
to make their first image strong by presentation of self. In everyday life, first
impressions are important. He said his hair was long because his girlfriend
wanted him to be like that, but I think that is not the whole reason for
growing his hair. It seems that he was enjoying to be perceived by people as
an artist and making his first impression this way intentionally.
Response to member check by Namhoon (c). Again, the first impression is
very important. There are no instruments in my photo. But Eunah also
said that he looks like a musician or an artist. I just have long hair. Longhaired guys are artists, where as tidy or short-haired guys are perceived to
be good office workers in Korea. It means that it is not easy to express
individuality.
Second, I have an outgoing personality. So I am prone to do things just to
get attention from other people. I often enjoy it. If I am an introvert person,
it is hard to express personality especially in Korea.
Is Blending into Society a Primary Consumer Goal for Dressing Down?
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Dress Down
Auto-driving by Namhoon (c). Most New Yorkers are used to walking a
lot in Manhattan. So they want to wear comfortable clothes but still look
fashionable. This is what I tried to match while being in New York.
I didn’t put gel or anything in my hair to express more naturalness. And
blue and white color is a nice combination in summer, fitting any summer
style in 2011.
Don’t choose one thing, fashionable or comfortable; take both of them.
That is the best way to be more stylish.
Member check by Eunah (a). Goffman (1959) reports, ‘‘Sometimes he will
intentionally and consciously express himself in a particular way, but chiefly
because the tradition of his group or social status requires this kind of
expression and not because of any particular response that is likely to be
evoked from those impressed by the expression.’’ Although he presented
this photo as his dress-down look, I thought that this is perfectly welldressed-up look. He said, in New York every person tries to wear easy
fashion but also tries not to be ‘‘unfashionable.’’ That is a kind of New
Yorkers’ social rule. He, as an individual, living in New York, was sensitive
to the group he was in.
Response to member check by Namhoon (c). One important thing is where
you live. If I lived in the country with nature, I don’t need to wear the same
style as in New York. That means man is a creature of his environment. For
example, people who want to study fashion or art usually go to New York,
Paris, London, or Milano. Because it is easy to be strongly influenced by
regions, the area where you live can influence people how to wear and act.
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION
Going through the process of analyzing the different situations of dressing
down and dressing up have clearly demonstrated that the situation cannot
be ignored when trying to understand the role of fashion in the presentation
of self. The type of situation (dress down or dress up) is the antecedent of
whether the protagonist will experience high or low tensions.
Interpreting photographs through the three different steps – from the first
step of emic auto-driving to the second step of etic member check to the final
step of emic response by the original auto-driving author – enables the study
to develop very deep understandings of the respondent. System-1 thinking
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(automatic, implicit, holistic, old, emotional, low-effort, visual, and primal)
(Evans, 2003) plays a large role in the consumer’s decision on how to dress
up. The study was able to bring out unconscious thinking, emotion-based
associations, brand-personality attributes, affective-based motives, and
other attributes of the brand that cannot be easily captured in more logical,
quantitative methods of research (Megehee & Spake, 2012).
This process of auto-driving and then interpreting the member check has
been uniquely fulfilling, pleasurable, and possibly healing for the artist
(Rosenthal, 2003).
This technique has possible managerial implications for fast-fashion
merchandising that consumers of fast fashion are more interested in
blending in society rather than personalizing outfits while dressing down.
On the other hand, while dressing up, we seek not to conform to social
norms and rather to display a strong self-identity.
This paper has several limitations regarding the validity of this research.
Numerous scholars would qualify qualitative research to not be strong
enough and sometimes be too subjective. This research has been done with
only three respondents, so we need to extend this research to at least five in
order to validate theory (McCracken, 1988).
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APPENDIX A: AUTO-DRIVING BY EUNAH (A)
Dress Up
This is actually not my ‘‘best’’-dressed-up picture (Fig. A.1a), but I chose
this because of the hair. When I was a middle-school student, girls’ hair
shouldn’t be longer than 3 cm below the ears under the school regulation.
After I graduated middle school, my hair has never been shortcut style. It
has been always long. I mean, very long. Usually my hair color is natural
black or dark brown and it’s naturally straight, but sometimes I make it
curly by drying. Then what happened to my hair in this picture? Yes, I’m
wearing a wig.
I could never cut it very short or dye it very brightly. My hair always used
to be long and dark and it became my trademark. And now I think the long
hair itself is my identity. Sometimes I feel tired of the long, straight, black
hair but I can’t cut it because I would feel like losing my identity when I cut
it. So I started to buy wigs. A wig can make me look different, and allows
me to escape from my real self.
Fig. A.1a.
Dress-up Look of Eunah (a).
Is Blending into Society a Primary Consumer Goal for Dressing Down?
81
Especially a shortcut-style wig as in this picture makes me feel stronger. It
gives me a masculine feel. So when I want to be perceived as a strong, chic,
and professional person, not as a lovely and fragile girl, I wear the short wig.
That day I was participating in a palace touring program as staff. The
participants were high-school students and I was in charge of leading them.
I wanted to be differentiated from the students as a staff, and not be
perceived as a young, small girl. And the wig worked well.
To match the image of a strong, chic person with short blond hair,
I wore a black skinny jeans and black heels with sharp, pointed toes. High
heels make me feel more confident and help me swagger more. On the top,
I wore a white silk blouse inside and a blue cashmere sweater on it. The
blouse has big but delicate details on neck and wrist with feathers of
ostrich. It was from the very first collection of a new brand by a Korean
designer at that time. In a magazine advertisement of the brand, the main
model was wearing that blouse and I bought it immediately. The blue
sweater was a birthday gift from one of my friends. He had bought it from
his trip to New York. Lastly, the bag is Prada. It almost looked like a
men’s briefcase. It had an A4-sized rectangular shape and cold beige
oxford texture. The bag’s handle as well as the surrounding edges and sides
of the bag are made of dark brown leather. The logo and crest of Prada
was embroidered in front of the bag with the same beige color so that the
brand could not be recognized easily. I liked the subtle expression of brand
name on this bag.
In terms of make-up, I drew a strong eye line but skipped the mascara
because it could be pretty girlish.
Dress Down
A day when I really dress down is usually when I have no time to wash my
hair in the morning. What a shame! My hair is long and heavy, so it takes
pretty much time to wash and dry. So if I get up late sometimes, I wear a
cap. Wearing a cap is very unusual for me. A cap is not a fashion item but
just the final solution of hiding my hair, which I wear when not ready to
go out or show up in front of people. So the cap doesn’t need to be
fashionable or notable but should be really simple and neat. Also it should
be matched well with the clothes. I really don’t care which brand the
cap is, but I don’t want the cap to have a big logo on it. Actually, wearing
caps is really uncomfortable. It feels like a cap squeezes my head
(Fig. A.1b).
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Fig. A.1b.
Dress-down Look of Eunah (a).
In this picture I am wearing a light-orange cotton cap. It is my sister’s.
To tell the truth I don’t even have my own cap! The cap in this picture
is made with vintage cotton, so it fits relatively more comfortably than
others. Also it does not disturb that day’s look. It’s just covering my
hair well.
When I am wearing a cap, I just act silently. I try to be recognized by
nobody and not talk too much. What I keep thinking is, I just want to finish
the schedule and go home as quick as possible.
Usually with a cap, I wear sunglasses. Sunglasses are more related to
make-up. Of course, I also have no time to put on make-up if I get up late.
Then the sunglasses hide my no-makeup-eyes perfectly. On that day in this
picture, I am wearing big sunglasses to hide my eyes.
I don’t like a simple small T-shirt because it makes my body look
thinner. I usually wear a big T-shirt or one that has a big motif on it. In
this picture I am wearing a light-pink cotton T-shirt that has a long
boat neck so that it can emphasize my long neck and collar bone. And
it does not show in this picture, but I was wearing short jeans, exposing
my legs.
In summary, on this day, the point is hiding and exposing. I didn’t like to
attract other’s attention because I was not ready with my hair and make-up,
and so I just wanted to avoid people by covering my hair and eyes. But on
the other hand, I made sure it wasn’t very ugly and mismatched. The very
ugly and messy look could reversely not only attract the attention of all but
also I cannot stand being ugly myself.
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APPENDIX B: AUTO-DRIVING BY MARC (B)
Dress Up
The photo (Fig. A.2a) displays a young man, wearing a suit, white shirt, and
shiny black shoes. He is not looking particularly friendly. He seems to be
waiting for someone, maybe a date for a formal dinner or overlooking a
situation that he won’t join. His outfit is very formal and his hairstyle is
combed in a traditional manner.
The man looks attractive, well-groomed, and neat. The formal suit, in a
subdued gray color, is well cut and the fabric seems to be of excellent
quality. However, the expression on his face is not very friendly. This
impression is enforced through the car he is leaning on and which seems
almost part of him.
No brands can be recognized in this picture. But the suit is well cut and
the viewer can deduce the involvement of either a good tailor or a good
brand ‘‘behind the scene.’’
Fig. A.2a.
Dress-up Look of Marc (b).
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The Chrysler 300 is a major part of the photo covering almost the whole
background. The car represents a certain aggressiveness with its oversized
front grill; the same statement goes for the protagonist, showing an equal
presence of aggressiveness.
The person in the photo seems strong, pumping its strength from the
Chrysler car and the suit he is wearing. Moreover, the position of the legs
crossed and the hands in the pocket display unfriendliness.
Through this photo I, the protagonist, do not allow much interaction at
an emotional level, using the suit and the car as well as the very organized
hairstyle as a shield for perfection.
FMET is a tool for surfacing metaphors for use in researcher introspection. FMET includes naming an animal that first comes to mind during
an event (Woodside, 2004), in our case during the instant of the picture.
I would compare the man to a tiger. He seems well adjusted as long as
nobody gets in his way or bothers him, but I think that he is also capable to
bite or jump at anybody who tries to disturb him or come too close without
being invited.
Dress Down
The person portrayed in the photo (Fig. A.2b) looks like a young man in his
early 20s taking a relaxing day out of office. Maybe he is going for a day
around town with friends and organizing the upcoming outing on the phone.
My way of dressing as shown in this picture reflects the Western consumer
values, having learned to combine thorough knowledge of fashion merchandising and adapting it to culturally available resources to create a
new, personalized fashion style reflecting my personality. ‘‘He seems to
correspond to the model in which their fashion sensibilities are grounded in
a socially negotiated set of rules of interpretational and aesthetic standards’’(Jenkins, 1992).
When I look at this photo of myself, I can see through my fashion and
hairstyle my mood and state of mind. My uncombed hair and scruffy look
signify that it is not business work time. I look like somebody with a strong
character, friendly, enjoying the good things in life and self-confident.
‘‘The desire to be unique is formulated in terms of an anti-conformist
narrative that expresses a theme of autonomy and independence’’
(Thompson & Haytko, 1997).
In this picture I am wearing white pants and a simple V-neck t-shirt
reflecting a sunny summer day, definitely not conforming to the norm of the
Is Blending into Society a Primary Consumer Goal for Dressing Down?
Fig. A.2b.
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Dress down-look of Marc (b).
traditional blue and black pants as common among the Korean young
businessmen. The picture pouts out a statement of a person that is going to
enjoy the day, taking it easy, but nevertheless still displaying a loud fashion
statement wearing bright white jeans.
The person in the picture seems to be self-confident, sure of himself, and
socially well-adapted by following the conformity rules of society without a
need to dress up or down to provoke any reactions by the environment. In
this photo I portray a Western guy, in Seoul, sitting alone on a table, even
though the place might be buzzing of people.
My facial expression is not exceptionally attractive and pretty unique as I
have my tongue sticking out, maybe because I am talking on the phone or
licking my lips after a sip of coffee.
No brands appear in the photo, showing that the person is not influenced
by the preset perceptions that we have of logos.
When I look at the person in the photo, he seems happy and relaxed with
a strong and confident personality; due to his leg position, a sense of
friendliness can be sensed. The position of his left arm could be interpreted
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as a strange body language, but I would be more inclined to attribute it to a
relaxed mood by just placing it above the right arm.
Even though the person in the photo seems to be secluded in a bubble,
alone, in a coffee shop on a busy street, he is ‘‘connected’’ through the smart
phone by a conversation he is currently involved in.
Looking at this picture, I would identify myself with an eagle given the
striking look on my face. It gives me an expression of being focused as well
as very far-sighted and scanning the distance for something.
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APPENDIX C: AUTO-DRIVING BY NAMHOON (C)
Dress Up
I wear longer hair than other Korean guys, white shirt with red color
sweater, navy jacket, and red pocket-square. It was not easy to choose this
photo (Fig. A.3a) because the day I took this picture it was Christmas,
maybe with my ex-girlfriend. This photo brings bitter–sweet memories.
At that time, my ex-girlfriend liked that kind of hairstyle and also
I wanted to grow my hair before I graduated from university, because it is
uncommon to grow hair like that in normal Korean offices,except as
musicians and artists. Anyway I dressed up for Christmas. I wore a jacket
with a sweater. I didn’t wear a tie because I did not want to look too formal.
But I had a point with red color pocket-square. Red color is the symbol of
Christmas and it mixes well with navy color. The red color can be seen all
over in the street especially in the winter during Christmas season.
And again, I don’t like to appear wearing branded logos. But if it has a
character, I can accept it. For example, the Polo Ralph Lauren logo is like a
polo game player. It contains the history of polo. In my opinion, it depends
on what kinds of logo they are.
If someone suggests me to grow my hair like that in the picture, I can’t do
that now. In Korea, it is not easy to wear long hair because of the social
recognition. Many Korean old people are conservative. Lots of oldfashioned people go out with horse and buggy. So that is a reason why
I tried to be more progressive.
Fig. A.3a. Dress-up Look of Namhoon (c).
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Dress Down
First, I wear white pants, work denim shirt with playboy logo t-shirt, boat
shoes, and sunglasses. I was on the way to have a cup of coffee with my
friend. Nice weather, good friends, and wonderful place to make me feel
happy (Fig. A.3b).
Now I am going to tell you what I wanted to say in the photo. I was in
New York when I took this picture. As you know, New York has certain
unique characteristics compared to another city. Most of New Yorkers like
to wear clothes that are fashionable and also comfortable because they are
used to walking a lot in Manhattan. So they want to wear comfortable but
still fashionable outfits. This is the reason why I chose this photo to explain
what dressing down means to me.
‘‘Is that dress-down look?’’ someone may think like this. But I think it
depends on the person. First of all, the work denim shirt is my favorite item
because it is so characteristic of American casual, and I also rolled up the
sleeves to express more comfort. Sunglasses are required to protect eyes
from strong sunshine. White pants and navy-color boat shoes are a good
Fig. A.3b.
Dress-down Look of Namhoon (c).
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combination. Lastly, I didn’t want to miss making a point so I wore playboy
logo t-shirt to add wit.
Actually, I don’t like to wear any brand logos on my clothes because
I don’t want to be a common person who wears the same branded clothes as
others. But the playboy logo represents not only a brand but also a symbol
for being sexy and cute. So I wore this t-shirt.
And I didn’t put gel or anything in my hair to express more naturalness.
My look and color combination shown are comfortable and stylish. That is
a tip when I wear a dress-down look.