Quality means different things to different people,depending on their perception of the value of a product under consideration andtheir expectations of performance and durability of that product. Webstersdefines quality as essential nature; a trait, characteristic; superiority,relatively considered. The American society for Quality control (ASQC) definesquality as a systematic approach to the search for excellence.
According to David Garvin, a Harvard expert on quality,there are eight dimensions of quality: performance, features, reliability,conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics and perceived quality.Fitness for use should be judged from the customers point of view and not fromeither the manufacturers or sellers perspective.
The fitness for use concept can be applied to garments also.For a garment to be fit for use provided its style is acceptable.
- It must be free from defects such as stains, material (fabric) defects, open seams, loose hanging (untrimmed) threads, misaligned buttons and button holes, defective zippers and so on.
- Must fit properly for the labeled size.
- It must perform satisfactorily in normal use, meaning that a garment must be able to withstand normal laundering / dry cleaning / pressing cycles without colour loss or shrinkage, seams must not come apart, fabric must not tear and so on.
Also, quality is a reflection of customers opinion on thevalue they see in your product compared to that of your competitor. Having someidea of what quality is, let us look at some of the factors that influencecustomers perception of quality. The factors are:
Price: Customers tend to associate quality with higher price. There is someevidence that price is used by shoppers in quality estimates and that for someproducts consumers estimates of quality are affected by price.
Technology: This indicates factors such as fabric seam strength,colour fastness, shrinkage and other properties that are affected by the stateof technology in the industry.
Psychology: A garment can be reasonably priced and the best thattechnology can offer, but if it is not attractive in appearance, if it is notfashionable, if it does not meet the aesthetic requirements of customers, thenit is not a quality garment.
Time orientation: This indicates durability. Of course the importance ofdurability varies with categories of garments, that is childrens garments areexpected to be more durable that ladies high fashion garments.
Contractual: This refers to a product guarantee, the refund policy of astore, and so on.
Ethical: This refers to honesty of advertising, courtesy of sales personnel andso on.
If you can positively influence any one or more of thepreceding factors, then you will be able to increase the quality of yourproduct in a customers mind and he or she will most likely come back to buyfrom you again.
About the Authors
The authorsare Senior Lecturers in Department of Fashion Technology, Kumaraguru College ofTechnology, Coimbatore
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