Beyond Utility: How Fashion Drives Consumer Tech Choices

When Ugg boots gained popularity in the early 2000s, fans’ and critics’ reactions of the shoe ranged between “highly desired” and “highly derided,” as product sales skyrocketed. Like the Doc Martens before them and the Air Force 1s after, their popularity wasn’t necessarily based on aesthetics. But when they went out of fashion, the level of comfort, functionality, or quality didn’t really matter: Uggs were simply abandoned for the fresher, shinier shoes that everyone else was wearing.

Typically, individuals search for products that align with their identity and reflect their values. Consumer IT technology differs from other products in that it can have both a fashion and utility mix. Over the last two decades, the development of consumer technologies has become an essential aspect of daily use for individuals. For example, today, not only does the physical look of the cell phone itself need to be fashionable, but the software, apps, and websites accessed through the device must also meet that standard.

So, what is IT fashion, how do people perceive it, and how does it influence consumers’ behavior? “Fashionable Consumer Technology, IT Fashion, and Consumer Behavior” by Walton College’s Varun Grover and co-authors Xinhui Zhan (University of Oklahoma), Heshan Sun (University of Oklahoma), and Dan (Claire) Jiang (East Carolina University) develops a framework for understanding IT fashion and how it influences consumer perceptions and behaviors. Although few IS studies have explored the fashion aspects of individual-level IT adoption and usage, IT fashion impacts society at both the individual and group levels.

How Fashion's Social Power Drives Adoption

Fashion is a powerful social force. Specific garments, such as keffiyehs or cross necklaces, can indicate culture or beliefs. However, fashion trends develop and gain momentum from the effects of bandwagoning, which businesses often promote to create and foster a sustainable trend.  While individuals may have specific preferences, fashion requires a critical mass of individuals to go with the majority. For instance, consider Meta Quest, a virtual reality (VR) headset. If this product is widely adopted, it could be perceived as a societal-level fashion trend. However, widespread adoption would not necessarily mean everyone would believe that Meta Quest is fashionable. Therefore, consumers thus view ongoing IT fashion at the macro and societal level while forming their own individual opinions about the fashion of this technology. Just because it’s a hot product may not mean people think it looks good on them (or others).

When perceiving technology at the individual level, Grover and his coauthors discuss the perceived fashionableness of IT (PFIT). While people can obviously perceive the same technology in different ways based on their own tastes, preferences, and knowledge, PFIT entails the degree people view technology as trendy, novel, or carrying the identities they desire to portray. Grover and his coauthors argue that this sense of novelty is essential for fashionable technologies because users constantly want something new and unique from consumer IT technology. This phenomenon holds true even if it is something as simple as adding a touch screen or a new color. Companies often highlight these novel aspects in advertisements to compare alternative or old technologies because these novel aspects can convince consumers to purchase the product. If you look at almost any of Apple’s announcements of the newest version of the iPhone, you’ll see this at work.

Just as individuals select clothing that they feel aligns with their beliefs, preferences, and lifestyles, they also do so with the selection of technology to use. For example, some individuals prefer Apple technologies because they like the sleek aesthetic, whereas others prefer Samsung devices because they are more tech-savvy. While novelty is a defining characteristic, the consumer does not perceive every novel technology as fashionable.

IT fashion significantly influences consumer behavior, such as influencing consumers to buy a certain brand of earbuds because of their sleek design and name recognition, even though other brands may offer longer battery life and stronger Bluetooth connectivity. Perceived social acceptance and collective adoption of technology are crucial in how consumers behave and view IT fashion. The uniqueness and vanity of having and looking “the best” in IT can (and does) drive purchasing decisions.

These factors explain the adaptation of technology, the associated symbolic values, and the influence of people’s willingness to pay when it comes to the fashionability of the product, but what about after they’ve purchased the product?

Once consumers adopt fashionable IT, their future behavior can be shaped by either their satisfaction or regret of the product. While IT fashion drives adoption through symbolic values, the willingness to pay more is less influenced by fashion and more by tangible benefits or the need for uniqueness, which can be determined once the consumer uses the product. For example, the willingness to pay for an electric vehicle is higher if the vehicle has the most desirable attributes rather than if it is more akin to a “base model.”

Managerial and Research Implications 

Industry would do well to note that the perceived fashionableness of IT is both a social and personal phenomenon. It’s not just about a product’s usefulness: it is a matter of how it makes a user feel, how others view it, and how others view the user who owns it.

Other IS researchers should also note how many technologies can be considered fashionable and how IT fashions greatly affect consumer behaviors. Grover and his coauthors create opportunities for future IS research to examine IS phenomena through the lens of fashion beyond the utility perspective that has been the research focus.

Yes, people adopt technologies that resonate with their self-identity. But the novelty and the extent to which our values align with the product drive consumer adoption. This phenomenon occurs regardless of whether adoption is for social perception or an individual’s desire to own the technology.

Following the herd mentality to adopt or intentionally avoid fashionable technologies often affects the overall willingness to pay for that technology, and designers and manufacturers should consider these ideas when trying to break into the fashionable side of IT. As technology weaves itself into the fabric of our daily lives, understanding IT fashion becomes more than a valuable consumer insight or research agenda: it becomes a window into how consumers want to be seen, see themselves, and see one another.