A dress shirt is considered a tie when it is plain, or mostly plain. A dress shirt should have a higher cross elasticity of demand than a pair of jeans. These shirts are seen as more formal and mandatory when paired with a jacket or suit.
The reason for this is that a jacket makes the difference in how formal you feel the match your outfit. A dress shirt with no tie can look more casual than one with a decent tie. A poorly made generic white dress shirt may look worse than one with some quality leather marks and stains.
This article will talk about how to create greater value in your investments by knowing which clothes are which and buying them in line with what you need them for.
Zero
A zero elasticity of demand (i.e., both dress shirts and ties have exactly zero appeal to consumers) is an impossible situation to exist in. If there were a tie or a dress shirt you did not like, then you would choose another style of dress shirt or tie to emphasize your desired image.
Assuming there are no physical restrictions such as size or shape, every consumer should be able to find something they enjoy wearing and being adorned with. Although this is unlikely for the zero elasticity of demand scenario, there are ways to enhance the presentation effect without buying additional products.
For example, people can wear nice-looking sweatpants or a loose- fit sweatshirt to convey how little effort they are putting into their appearance. Or, people can wear high-heeled shoes that are only covered by the pants so they do not have to worry about looking overzealous in their apparel.
These suggestions focus on being nice enough to the consumer but cannot be relied on if the consumer does not buy these products.
Negative
While it would be expected for the dress shirt and tie genres to have positive cross elasticity of demand, this does not always happen. Some products are more expensive when wearing a dress shirt or tie versus a crew neck or pant-suit style.
There have been some notable instances where a generic dress shirt has been more expensive than a formal dinner jacket, making it seem like more is required to wear a formal dinner jacket. This has happened in the past, with Carroty Dress Ties being more expensive than Barkers formal dinner ties, for example.
The legacy businesses that require very little change in status or presentation may have negative cross elasticity of demand. This can be the case for companies that have been there and done that for everyone else, and they do not want to change things anymore.
We would expect the cross elasticity of demand between dress shirts and ties to be positive as people expect comfort from these items.
Very negative
A very significant percentage of people who wear dress shirts and ties do so out of habit, not because they need to. This is a situation where the cross elasticity of the demand between the two products is against them.
The majority of people who wear ties and dress shirts are hired professionals who receive systematic training on how to properly prepare themselves for a job interview. They receive formal training on how to tie their shoes, how to select a shirt and what sort of collar and neckline style they want.
They also typically receive formal training on wardrobe organization and store management, both of which impact how much they require from their dress shirts and ties.
As professionals who get formal training, they would need very high quality, high volume supplies of both dresses shirts and ties.
Ambiguous
While neither dress shirts nor ties are explicitly identified as formal wear, they do have a reputation for being somewhat ambiguous. This is mainly due to the length of the shirt and tie!
These items are fairly long, requiring you to adjust your posture to reach them. Also, people think of formal wear with only a short-sleeved shirt! However, people typically don’t wear such a shirt for very long before taking it off or replacing it with a tie.
Both dresses and suits tend to be tighter around the waist and legs than more casual attire, making staying in place more challenging. A dress that is too loose will not stay in place well as movement may get out control.
Cross-elasticity of demand is a measure of how much demand changes for one product when the price of another product changes
When the price of a product changes, it is called the elasticity of demand. This means that the number of purchases they get changed by how much money they spend on it.
When the price of a product is high compared to the other products in your category, then there is more cross-elasticity of demand. This means that people will buy more than one item of clothing or jewelry in this product category because they cost more than others do.
