Use of decision support for clothing products on the web results in no difference in perception of tactile sensation than actually touching the material

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of decision support through visualization to increase tactile sensations (physical sensations) of clothing products. Gap and Anthropologie e-commerce Web sites were selected, and 160 participants (80 for Gap and 80 for Anthropologie) took part in this study. For each brand, the 80 participants were divided into two groups. One group assessed the material based on the information presented on the current clothing Web site. The other group had additional visual information on the nature of the clothing material. Both groups completed a -6 item questionnaire on their perception of the clothing material. After this, both groups touched the actual clothing material and rated its characteristics. There was no statistical difference in the material perception for the experimental group between using the Web site with decision support and actually touching the material, whereas for the control group there was a significant difference between them.