Influence of Textile Parameters and Ageing on Consumer Behaviour (original) (raw)

Textiles producers and designers need to decide on fabric parameters which can fulfil the consumer expectations. The textile consumer always has specific preferences. These preferences apply to the textile properties at the time of purchasing the textiles and also to the perception of how long lasting these properties will be. The gap between consumer behaviour and manufacturer thinking towards the textiles need to be bridged. We tried to study the influence of knitted textile material parameters on the sensory feeling of textiles. We have chosen the key textile parameters relevant to knitting i.e. Fibre type (Cellulosic or synthetic), Fibre fineness (Regular or micro fibre), Yarn Construction (Ring, Open end), Knitting Structure (Jersey, Rib or Interlock) in order to study their effect on the sensory feeling of textiles.Sensory Evaluation is performed by a panel of trained subjects (panellists) using a standard evaluation procedure. This allows the generation of a list of exhaustive sensory attributes describing fabric hand and appearance, and then the determination of relative or absolute scores for fabric samples for each sensory attribute. We also examined the change in handle of fabric with life cycle of the fabric. The change in handle of the fabric after washing is unavoidable because of strong mechanical action during washing. Principal component analysis (statistical data analysis which includes appropriate criteria) was then performed in order to make a better interpretation of the sensory data by plotting the fabric map and sensory attribute map. This work can be used as a tool for textile manufacturers to design the input parameters for knitted textiles: taking account of consumer behaviour for particular fabrics may allow the generation of better emotional response during the life cycle of apparel.