Extending the diversity conversation: Fashion consumption experiences of underrepresented and underserved women

• Published date: 01 January 2023
• Author: Lena Cavusoglu,Deniz Atik
• Date: 01 January 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12504

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Extending the diversity conversation: Fashion

consumption experiences of underrepresented

and underserved women

Lena Cavusoglu

1

| Deniz Atik

2

1

Department of Management, Marketing,

and International Business, Thomas

School of Business, University of

North Carolina at Pembroke, Pembroke,

North Carolina, USA

2

Department of Marketing, Robert

C. Vackar College of Business and

Entrepreneurship, University of Texas

Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville,

Texas, USA

Correspondence

Lena Cavusoglu, Department of

Management, Marketing, and

International Business, Thomas School of

Business, University of North Carolina at

Pembroke, Pembroke, NC, USA.

Email: lena.cavusoglu@uncp.edu

Abstract

This research brings in the voice of underserved and

underrepresented women of various racial or ethnic

origins and social classes, who have differing buying

powers, sexual orientations, body shapes, and physical

appearances, into the conversation of fashion diversity.

Through a qualitative inquiry with 38 semi-structured

in-depth interviews, the researchers analyzed the con-

sumption experiences of diverse women to expose what

the fashion scene is lacking. The study's main contribu-

tion is the depiction of overlooked diversity categories

in fashion, such as the non-White and non-Black

women of color, women of average sizes, and women

with characteristics that the fashion industry has long

seen as flaws. For women's physical and psychological

well-being, the authors of this study hope to lead fash-

ion producers and researchers into a new era of diver-

sity and minimize certain consumer groups' exclusion

through discrimination, isolation, and segregation.

KEYWORDS

fashion consumption, fashion diversity, underrepresented

consumers

Received: 25 February 2021 Revised: 12 November 2022 Accepted: 25 November 2022

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12504

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distrib ution and

reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Consumer Affairs published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Council on Consumer

Interests.

J Consum Aff. 2023;57:387–417. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca 387

1|INTRODUCTION

The shift of clothing from purely functional to fashion with expressive capacities has morphed

dress into a tool used to establish and convey multiple meanings concerning identity and cul-

ture (Smith, 2012). Although many differences exist between people globally in terms of culture,

tradition, fashion, and aesthetics, these differences have been assimilated by the fashion and

beauty industries due to the influence of globalization. The Westernization of fashion and

beauty has eroded beauty standards for women other than Caucasians (Isa & Kramer, 2003).

Mainstream fashion media establish beauty standards, which include a narrow face with high

eyebrows; large, round, light-colored eyes; high cheekbones; a thin and small nose; bigger and

fuller lips; and straight hair (Cunningham et al., 1995). These features are also associated with

Whiteness, such as having lighter skin (Taylor, 1999). Furthermore, thinness is seen as a prereq-

uisite for feminine beauty (Mussell et al., 2000). As a result, women who fall outside the beauty

standards, particularly those who have historically been socially stigmatized (Scaraboto &

Fischer, 2013), are neglected in the fashion industry.

Although researchers from various academic disciplines, including sociology, psychology,

and fashion theory, have investigated the concept of diversity in fashion, the main focus has

been on the racial and size diversity of models on the catwalk and in mainstream media

(e.g., Mcdermott & Pettijohn II, 2011; Mears, 2010; Schopf, 2016). The meaning of diversity in

fashion has become stuck between discussions of White versus Black and skinny versus plus

sized, and a holistic consumer research with a diverse sample still does not exist.

Nearly all of the very few consumer studies on race and size diversity that have been con-

ducted have underlined the need for more studies on the experiences of diverse consumer

groups (e.g., Christel, 2014; Scaraboto & Fischer, 2013; Shin, 2013). Following this lead, our

study examines the experiences of a greater range of female fashion consumers—not only in

terms of body size and skin color, but also ethnicity, age and sexual orientation. Specifically,

this study aims to answer the question: Regarding diversity, based on the experiences of female

consumers, what are the deficiencies in the contemporary fashion scene, and how these gaps

and shortcomings affect women? The fashion notion is discussed in more detail in the following

sections, but it is important to also note here that this study concentrates solely on modern

apparel and beauty/cosmetic routines (including makeup, hair, and skin care).

Women who are underserved lack access to products that meet their needs. For example,

two-thirds of Americans are plus size. According to the New York Times, annual spending on

larger-sized clothing accounts for barely 16% of sales in the $112 billion US apparel market

(McKinnon, 2018). This is due to a scarcity of supplies. This also implies that plus size con-

sumers do not have as many choices as their standard size counterparts. Even when the indus-

try tries to cater to this consumer group, clothing tends to be less stylish because most attention

is focused on apparel designed for standard size consumers (Colls, 2004). Therefore, this study

is not just concerned with representation in terms of being able to see similar images of oneself

in fashion magazines and advertising or on runways, but also with being properly served by the

fashion market.

Our research's novelty derives from outlining the fashion consumption experiences of a

divergent group of women who have not been studied before as listed above. The contextual

limitations of the previous studies that did not employ a broad enough sample in terms of diver-

sity allow this research to reveal the previously overlooked dynamics. In terms of originality

and phenomenological contribution, studying a broader diversity sample allows us to better

388 CAVUSOGLU AND ATIK