As Sara Blakely got ready to go out for a night on the town, she stood looking into her closet, trying to decide what to wear.

There were her favorite dress pants—an elegant pair of unlined cream-colored Arden B. designer slacks. She loved them enough that she’d paid full price for them—$98—a real stretch given the modest income she earned selling fax machines to businesses. But there they hung, almost never worn. And on that evening, they would remain in her closet.

Why would Sara rarely wear her favorite article of clothing?

“Every time I would go to wear them, you could see the undergarment,” Blakely reveals. “Regular underwear left a panty line. The thong wasn’t a great solution—it also left marks that you could see. And then, the shapewear—the girdles were so thick and overdone!” Thick waistbands caused ripples, and ungainly leg bands left rumples.

There had to be something that could smooth Blakely’s shape to the point where she would feel comfortable wearing the pants she loved so much. This line of thinking led her to invent Spanx—shapewear that revolutionized women’s undergarments and other apparel.

Blakely was not alone in experiencing the dilemma of garment–

body compatibility. Women of all shapes and sizes often felt the same way. And this dilemma was nothing new. For centuries, women have wrestled with how to get their bodies to fit into fashionable clothing. From the 16th century through the 19th century, women commonly used corsets made of cloth and reinforced with wood, whale bone, or even steel. Such undergarments cinched women’s waists so tightly they impaired the ability to breath properly and could even cause a broken rib or two. By the 1900s, girdles gave women some relief and became a standard undergarment. But they were still thick, uncomfortable, and inconvenient and didn’t conform to changing fashions of the latter 20th century.

As a working professional, Blakely wore pantyhose every day on the job. But when it came to stepping out on her own time, like most women, she detested them. Although hosiery had been standard attire for women from the 1920s through the 1960s, it began to diminish in popularity as the feminist movement gave women the power to take control of their attire. Too hot, inconvenient, prone to runs, and generally considered unattractive by modern standards (especially with open-toed shoes), hosiery began a long and slow decline during the late 1900s.

That’s when Blakely had her epiphany. Control-top pantyhose provided a valuable benefit. Although not perfect, they smoothed out her midsection to the point that her favorite cream-colored pants looked good on her. But what to do about the ugly foot seams and reinforcements that showed through her open-toed shoes? Sara simply cut out the feet. That wouldn’t work for skirts, but for pants, no one would be the wiser. So why couldn’t someone design an undergarment that would take the “control top” concept to a higher level, perfecting the midsection and eliminating the feet and lower legs?.................................................

Questions 1. Of the factors that influence consumer behavior, which category or categories (cultural, social, personal, or psychological) best explain the success of Spanx? Why?
2. Choose the specific consumer behavior factor (for example, culture, family, occupation, attitudes) that most accounts for Spanx acceptance by the market.
3. Based on the principles of consumer behavior, explain the challenges faced by Spanx in its early years.
4. Discuss the buyer decision process as it relates to women and shopping for clothing. How did Spanx change the way women go through the steps of the buyer decision process?
5. Has Spanx changed the world? Explain.