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The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and indirect effects of individuals' self‐concept, product‐oriented variables (i.e. consumer's need for uniqueness (NFU), and clothing interest), and brand‐specific variables (i.e. perceived quality and emotional value) on purchase intention toward a US retail brand versus a local brand that are available in the Indian market.

Data obtained from 405 college students in India were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

This study found that Indian consumers' self‐concept and NFU had indirect effects on purchase intention of the US brand and the local brand. Both self‐concept and NFU positively influenced clothing interest. Clothing interest positively influenced perceived quality and emotional value for the US brand, but not for the local brand. Emotional value was found to be an important factor influencing purchase intention toward the US brand and the local brand as well. However, perceived quality did not affect Indian consumers' purchase intention of the US and local brand. Implications for both US and Indian retailers are provided.

As India is witnessing multitude of US retailers in its market, this paper aids in the better understanding of the Indian consumers and their perceptions toward US and local clothing brands.

The purpose of this paper is to examine fashion clothing consumption in relation to status consumption and perceptions of fashion clothing brand status (BS) in transition economies.

A survey was designed and administered in China to a sample of 460 young adults aged between 18 and 24.

The results indicate that individuals’ status consciousness (SC) has an impact on fashion clothing brand preference (BP) and perceptions of the brand's status. Also, individuals’ BP and perceived BS were found to mediate the relationship between individuals’ SC and their willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for a specific brand of fashion clothing.

The originality of this study rests on a detailed examination of SC and status perceptions in the context of branded fashion clothing (western vs Asian brands) in China, where individuals’ wealth, status-consciousness and brand-consciousness are growing. Equally, it provides knowledge for academics about the development of status consumption in an emerging economy. Importantly, from a theory perspective this study is the first to examine the intervening roles of perceived BS and BP in the relationship between SC and WTP a price premium for fashion clothing brands. Further, studying this evolving market provides insights for practitioners into the design of marketing strategies for their brands. The findings may assist practitioners to address drivers of perception of their brands, especially for Asian brands competing against western brands.

To be a dominant company (in other words, a long‐term successful company), it is an enormous task to build brand loyalty, to reach brand loyal customers, and to give those customers’ product satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to identify clothing brand loyal customers regarding their buying behavior, self‐image, and demographics. Also, brand loyal customers’ post‐purchase outcomes based on clothing attributes were investigated. The questionnaire was based on a self‐administrated pilot study and included measuring brand loyalty, consumer decision making, and demographics. Data were from 328 questionnaires completed by adult women living in Seoul, Korea. The results showed that in purchasing tee shirts, 24.4 percent of the sample were brand loyal customers, 42.2 percent were brand loyal customers in purchasing trousers and 38.7 percent were brand loyal customers in purchasing jackets. The multiple discriminant analysis indicated several significant variables for profiling brand loyal customers and non‐brand loyal customers. High price, brand loyal customers and low/medium price, brand loyal customers significantly differed in post‐purchase satisfaction.

The purpose of this paper is to show how materialism, brand engagement in self‐concept (BESC), and status consumption influence clothing involvement and brand loyalty.

The authors use data from a survey of 258 US college students to test a model using structural equation modelling.

The results show that materialism, BESC, and status consumption positively influence clothing involvement and brand loyalty.

The study findings are bounded by the country and sample providing the data. The results strongly support hypotheses derived from the literature and provide important insights into the motives for clothing involvement and brand loyalty.

The findings suggest that appealing to these three important motivators can influence some consumers to choose specific brands of clothing.

This study is the first to demonstrate the influence of materialism, especially operationalized by Kasser's scale, and brand engagement in self‐concept on these clothing behaviors.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the millennial consumers’ purchasing behavior of fashion clothing brands in the spectrum of brand awareness, brand schematicity with brand consciousness and brand nationality. This study mainly considered the millennial consumers as they are the most dynamic and discerning segment when choosing a distinct fashion brand.

The study uses a well-structured questionnaire developed and distributed to 266 millennial respondents using shoping malls and university campus intercept methods. Data were analyzed by applying the structural equation modeling.

The results show that brand awareness has a mediating effect on the millennials’ purchasing behavior toward fashion clothing brands. The study also confirms the active moderation role of brand schematicity on the purchasing behavior toward fashion clothing brands.

Based on these findings, the fashion clothing retailers should aim to maximize their sales from the millennial segments by enhancing brand awareness. The schematic consumers are more engaged in the numbers of quality hints to make their choice on the fashion clothing brands. Therefore, the practitioners must consider such information, and that should be available in the fashion clothing retail outlets.

The study contributes to the existing literature of the millennials’ purchasing behavior toward the fashion clothing brands. Moreover, research on this segment related to brand awareness and brand schematicity is insufficient, and the current study may add significant value.

This study examines handmade clothing consumption as a means of self-expression by exploring the interrelationships between consumers' self-expression, brand love and word of mouth.

Using a descriptive research design, data were collected from 295 respondents in South Africa who posted about fashion on social media and who had bought handmade clothing in the 6 months prior to data collection. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the interrelationships between consumers' self-expression, brand love and word of mouth.

Brand love intervenes between consumers' self-brand connections and word of mouth about handmade clothing. More specifically, brand love strengthens positive word of mouth online and mitigates negative word-of-mouth intentions following a handmade clothing product failure scenario.

The study enlightens scholarly understanding of consumers' self-expression motivations for using ready-made handmade clothing that results in brand love and positive word of mouth.

Handmade clothing marketers who tap into consumers' self-expression and who can establish brand love among consumers can similarly create beneficial consumer–brand relationships.

Consumers often use handmade clothing for the purpose of self-expression, which provides subsequent spin-offs for brands in the form of brand love and positive word of mouth. Objective self-awareness theory provides a parsimonious lens to reveal the important role that brand love plays as a mechanism to explain the linkage of consumers' self-brand connections to word of mouth about handmade clothing.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of information adoption, e-WOM, online brand experience and online brand familiarity on consumer online purchase behavior of local fashion clothing brands. The study also examines the influence of central and peripheral route on the consumer information adoption process.

The research design was cross-sectional. A total of 300 respondents from Bangladesh participated in the self-administered survey who have experienced of purchasing local fashion clothing brand online. Only 273 questionnaires were used in final data analysis after discarding incomplete questionnaires. The study applied PLS-SEM to test the proposed model.

Central and peripheral route were found to have positive influences on the consumer information adoption process in the context of online purchasing of local fashion clothing brands. Consumer information adoption was found to influence consumer online purchase behavior positively. The information adoption-consumer purchase behavior relationship was found to be partially mediated by e-WOM. Online brand experience was found to influence consumer online purchase behavior positively. The online brand experience-consumer purchase behavior relationship was found to be partially mediated by online brand familiarity.

So far, no studies have investigated how information adoption, e-WOM, online brand experience and online brand familiarity influence consumer purchase behavior of local fashion clothing brand, in a virtual environment under the perspective of a developing country like Bangladesh. This study is also a pioneer in exploring which dimensions have more leverage on central and peripheral route in information adoption in the context of local fashion clothing brand of Bangladesh.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of brand and message framing on consumers’ evaluations and purchase intentions of smart health-care clothing. The study also examines the mediating effect of consumers’ evaluations on the effects of the brand and message framing on purchase intentions.

Through an experimental approach, a total of 240 US consumers’ evaluation of smart health-care clothing is compared according to the existence of a well-known brand (vs. none) and message framing (technology-focused vs. fashion-focused).

The results show that consumer evaluation of smart health-care clothing is higher when the product is from a well-known brand, where consumers’ fashion consciousness and health consciousness positively influence such an evaluation as covariates. Message framing, however, did not have an influence that revealed any significant difference between technology-focused and fashion-focused messages. The consumer’s evaluation of smart health-care clothing eventually increased their purchase intentions and mediated the effects of brand on purchase intentions.

Smart health-care clothing refers to clothing that measures, records and manages the user’s activity and health status through conductive fibers or sensors that are woven in the clothes. Despite its benefits, smart health-care clothing is still not widely adopted among consumers, except for a few successful examples. Closing this gap, the results of this study provide implications regarding whether and how brand and message framing maximize consumers’ evaluations toward smart health-care clothing, which the developers and marketers of such products can use to increase the product’s market penetration.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the intention to purchase products through clothing brands’ social network sites (SNS) based on the theory of planned behavior and uses and gratifications theory (U&G), and the moderating effects of self-image congruity (SIC).

Data were collected from 1,003 followers of their favorite clothing brands’ SNS. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling (SEM) and multi-group SEM analysis. The models were estimated from the matrices of variances and covariances by the maximum likelihood procedure using EQS 6.1.

The results highlight the positive impact of U&G on attitude, SNS intentions and SNS use, and U&G, SNS intentions and SNS use were seen to be the main antecedents predicting purchase intentions. Furthermore, SIC was found to have moderating effects between SNS attitude and SNS intentions and between SNS intentions and SNS use.

This research can help clothing brands understand the need to generate brand beliefs, and to develop contents or events to help accomplish the transition from use to purchase.

This research contributes to the literature by providing a better understanding of intention to use and purchase intention through clothing brands’ SNS pages.

The purpose of this study is to draw from sustainable social innovation theory and the Consumer styles inventory (CSI) instrument to examine secondhand clothing consumption habits for Russia. The secondhand market is the logical outcome of efforts to adopt resale as a facet of sustainable social innovation, with which to drive sustainable decision-making and socially responsible marketing in the secondhand high-end clothing market. Resale represents the cornerstone of business model innovation (BMi) for the retail sector, offering substantial opportunities for retailers who understand changes in consumption behaviour. More cost-effective and arguably greener, the sale of secondhand clothing is expected to be double the volume of fast fashion by 2030 but it remains an understudied field of research in the literature relating to the fashion industry.

Hypotheses are developed from the existing literature. Survey methodology is used to collect data from 250 Russian consumers in the city of Petersburg. The objective is to test the veracity of CSI shopper orientations, focusing on nascent motivations for high-end branded secondhand clothing, to examine sustainable social innovation and resale in an emerging market.

Four new shopping orientations are identified. Based on the empirical data, the authors suggest that five (out of the original eight CSI shopping orientations) are of internal statistical relevance, and that our new orientations are relevant for not only this market, but for neighbouring Eastern European countries too. The findings reflect postmodern evolution in behavioural motivations for Russian consumers, that can inform retail strategy in terms of BMi consumer for harnessing opportunities offered by sustainable social innovation and resale.

Whilst the CSI has been widely used, research for Eastern Europe is limited. Understanding the shopping orientations for sustainable alternatives to newly produced clothing has theoretical and practical implications for improving circularity, post-war entry strategies and countries facing economic downturn. This study contributes novel insights by examining consumer decision-making and shopping orientations in an emerging market.