Online consumer behaviour of mass-customised apparel products: a hierarchy of traits approach

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply Mowen’s (2000) meta-theoretical model of motivation and personality (3M) and its hierarchy of traits to deeper understand consumer behaviour towards online purchase of mass-customised apparel products. Design/methodology/approach: For the current study, the meta-theoretical model of motivation and personality (3M) and its hierarchy of traits proposed by Mowen (2000) were adapted to use in the context of online purchase of mass-customised apparel products. Appropriate and significant constructs and relationships were identified in the four levels of the hierarchy of needs, specifically: one trait in the first level (surface traits), five specific traits in the second level (situational traits), three broader traits in the third level (compound traits), and finally, eight traits in the fourth level (elemental traits). Findings: This research allowed the identification of pertinent personality traits in the context of online purchase of mass-customised apparel products and the comprehension of the relationships among these constructs using a hierarchical framework. Originality/value: The originality and value of the current approach is the use of a hierarchical structure of traits to understand the relationship among personality traits in the mass-customisation field, which, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has proposed. Theoretical and methodological contributions to the field derive from the current proposal.