Research in Fashion Merchandising — The Need for a Theoretical Base

Abstract

Textiles and clothing instruction and research in the merchandising area have not emphasized theory. This is partly because retailing and marketing, as applied fields, have not stressed basic theory in recent years. Also, there is misunderstanding of the role that theory can play in solving practical problems. Textiles and clothing merchandising researchers need to collect and organize their own theory base. This should be built on root disciplines in the social sciences plus major contributions from business administration, other fields of home economics, and various textiles and clothing areas.