Use of Undergraduates as Participants in Clothing and Textiles Research

Social science researchers (e.g., psychology, marketing) have questioned the practice of using undergraduates (UGs) as research participants; by the end of the 20th century, the use of UGs in consumer behavior research was trending upward. Peterson (2001, p. 451) reported that for the Journal of Consumer Research, “the percentage using college students has steadily increased, from 23% in the first volume to 89% in the most recent volume.” Further, he noted that “86% of the empirically based articles appearing in the Journal of Consumer Psychology since its inception in 1992 have employed college students as subjects” (p. 451). Similar figures have been reported in psychology journals (Sherman, Buddie, Dragan, End, & Finney, 1999)