Sustainable by Design? Understanding Consumer Expectations for Personalized Fashion

In recent years, the fashion industry has seen rising interest in personalized offerings like made-to-measure and tailor-made garments, offering better fit and individuality. These options also promote sustainability by enabling on-demand production, reducing overproduction and waste. However, little is known about how consumer expectations vary between personalized and ready-to-wear garments. Understanding this is key to improving satisfaction and encouraging sustainable shifts. This study explores how consumer expectations—on price, fit, quality, and service—differ across tailor-made, made-to-measure, and ready-to-wear garments. Based on expectation-disconfirmation theory (EDT), which suggests expectations shape satisfaction, the research investigates personalized fashions that involve more co-creation and stronger emotional attachment, potentially increasing perceived value and willingness to pay, but also higher service expectations. The study uniquely distinguishes between tailor-made (custom garments with multiple fittings) and made-to-measure (simpler measurement process, sometimes using AI), examining how different levels of consumer involvement affect expectations. Few empirical studies have compared these three categories based on real purchase experiences. This work contributes by focusing on expectation formation and attribute prioritization in personalized fashion.