Fashion entrepreneurial self-efficacy: development and validation of a domain-specific scale
Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management
ISSN: 1361-2026
Article publication date: 7 February 2022
Issue publication date: 25 January 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to develop a multidimensional measurement of fashion domain entrepreneurial self-efficacy (FDESE) based on which fashion entrepreneurs will be able to better develop strategies to gain and sustain success in their business development. The research is crucial to advocate fashion entrepreneurship and will provide direction for fashion business incubation services.
Design/methodology/approach
This research included three stages with mixed qualitative and quantitative approaches: conceptualizing construct definition and specifying domain(s) to generate initial items, scale purification and scale validation. This study started with reviewing the literature and individual interviews among 19 fashion entrepreneurs, which generated 72 initial items. An online survey was then conducted with individuals who are running or have the intention to run fashion businesses, yielding 249 useable samples for scale purification, which generated 21 items for the validation phase. Lastly, another online survey was administered to individuals who are currently running fashion businesses which resulted in 258 valid responses included for scale validation.
Findings
A measure of FDESE that is both reliable and valid was developed, including 21 items across four distinct dimensions: passion for fashion business (five items), marketing and branding (seven items), financial management (five items) and creativity (four items).
Originality/value
This study is the first attempt to develop practical scales measuring self-efficacy that focus on fashion domain entrepreneurship. The newly developed FDESE scale indicates that entrepreneurship not only involves marketing skills, financial knowledge, creativity, leadership, and proactivity but also requires passion and persistence.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors want to express appreciation to Mr. H M Rakib ul Hasan, PhD candidate from the department of Textile, Apparel design and Merchandising at Louisiana State University, for his assistance in the process of literature searching.
Funding: This work was supported by Louisiana State University Faculty Research Grant.
Citation
Lang, C. and Liu, C. (2023), "Fashion entrepreneurial self-efficacy: development and validation of a domain-specific scale", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 118-137. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-05-2021-0111
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited