Between Personal Identity and Cultural Expectations: Exploring DecisionParalysis in GenZ Fashion Choices at Outfitter

Abstract

This study examines decision paralysis among Generation Z consumers shopping at OUTFITTER, one of Pakistan’s leading fashion retailers explicitly positioned around a Gen Z identity. While fashion consumption among Gen Z is widely understood as a vehicle for personal identity expression, Pakistani Gen Z shoppers negotiate this expression within a collectivist cultural context in which family and community expectations remain influential, creating tension between authentic self-presentation and cultural conformity. Adopting a positivist, quantitative research design, primary data were collected through a structured 15-item survey administered to 151 Gen Z respondents (aged 18–27 years) across OUTFITTER retail outlets in Rawalpindi/Islamabad and digital channels over a seven-day period in May 2026. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were used to assess the prevalence of decision paralysis and its association with family influence, peer influence, cultural conflict, and social media usage. The findings show that decision paralysis at OUTFITTER is widespread and consequential rather than incidental: a mean overwhelm score of 3.05 out of 5 and a purchase-abandonment rate of 63.6% confirm that indecision directly affects sales. Cultural conflict between personal fashion preference and family or community expectations was reported by 76.2% of respondents, while family (M = 2.97) and peer (M = 2.95) influence emerged as near-equal pressures, departing from Western literature’s tendency to treat peer influence as dominant. Social media usage for fashion guidance was the highest-scoring construct overall (M = 3.25) and was positively correlated with decision paralysis (r = 0.290), confirming its dual role as both an inspiration source and a contributor to overwhelm, while perceived cultural alignment with OUTFITTER’s product range was the lowest-scoring construct (M = 2.91). These results suggest that OUTFITTER’s challenge with Gen Z conversion stems not from a deficit of brand appeal but from a shopping environment that does not adequately support decision-making within a culturally complex context. The study concludes with five evidence based recommendations spanning store layout, in-store styling support, culturally anchored product development, size and trial-room accessibility, and the repositioning of social media as a decision simplifier, together with theoretical contributions to the literature on South Asian Gen Z consumer behaviour. Keywords: Decision Paralysis; Generation Z; Cultural Identity; Choice Overload; Fashion Retail; Social Media ;Pakistan