Deliberation by a group of college women in their purchases of three selected items of outerwear

This study was a survey of deliberation by a group of college women in their purchases of a coat, a dress, and a blouse for school use. A questionnaire was administered to 146 women in the sophomore, junior, and senior classes at West Virginia Wesleyan College. Deliberation was measured in relation to the three dimensions which were extent of circumspectness, extent of information-seeking, and consideration of garment characteristics. Analysis of the data revealed that, in all but the latter dimension, respondents were more deliberate for coat purchases than for either dress or blouse purchases. Overall, deliberation by the respondents was relatively low with respect to the three purchases. Statistically significant relationships were found between total deliberation scores and the factors of class level, academic average, participation in extra-curricular activities, and the number of positions of leadership held 1n extra-curricular activities. For each of these factors deliberation increased respectively from the sophomore to the senior class level, from a lower to a higher academic average, from little to greater participation in extracurricular activities, and from fewer to a higher number of leadership positions held in extra-curricular activities. As the per cent of college expenses earned by the respondents increased, so did their deliberation for the dress purchase. No significant relationship was found between satisfaction with each purchase and deliberation prior to that purchase nor between satisfaction with each purchase and total deliberation