Sonia Bakhshian

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of major intrinsic (functional, expressive, aesthetic, tracking) and extrinsic (brand name, price) attributes of broadly defined wearables on consumers’ attitude and intention of using such products. An online survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 317 college students whose age was 18 years old and over at a large US Midwestern university. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were performed to test the measurement model fit and hypotheses testing. The results revealed the significant influence of tracking attributes on perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude, and intention of using wearables. This study highlights the importance of considering tracking attributes along with functional, aesthetic, and expressive attributes in predicating consumer behavioural aspects of using wearables. Limitations and managerial and academic implications were also discussed.

We aimed to investigate the influence of social acceptability along with functional, expressive, aesthetic, and tracking attributes on consumers’ attitude and intention of using smart apparel. An online survey was conducted with a nationwide convenience sample of 563 U.S. men and women whose age was 18 years old and over. Participants first watched a short video clip of introducing a smart apparel prototype and then completed the survey. SPSS 26 and Mplus 8.3 were used to run the data analysis. The results demonstrated the importance of considering social acceptability of smart apparel along with functional and expressive attributes to predict consumers’ attitude and intention of its use. Social acceptability along with expressive and tracking attributes were the most significant determinants for predicting consumers’ attitude and intention of using smart apparel. This study assists future researchers to gain better insights into social acceptability for predicting consumers’ expectations of wearable technology.