Search results

This study investigates personality facets and demographics as predictors of the following fashion adoption categories: fashion innovation, fashion opinion leadership, and fashion opinion seeking. Everett Rogers’ ideal types and the Five Factor Model are the theoretical frameworks applied in the study. Data are collected via a mailed questionnaire returned by 285 participants in the United States. Regression results demonstrated that income is a significant positive predictor for fashion innovativeness.

Additional findings showed that gender as well as the personality facets of actions and achievement striving are significant predictors for fashion opinion leading. Age, gender, education, and the personality facet of deliberation are significant predictors for fashion opinion seeking. In the present study, there is no overlap among the variables found to be significant predictors of fashion innovation, fashion opinion leading, and fashion opinion seeking. The results imply that neither personality nor demographics are the common characteristics between any two of the three adoption categories. Implications for future research on fashion adoption categories are discussed.

This study aims to examine whether gender, fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership, and need for touch have effects on consumers' multi‐channel choice and touch/non‐touch shopping channel preference in clothing shopping.

A survey was conducted using a convenience sample of 123 male and 154 female US college students. Data were analyzed using PASW Statistics 18 and Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS) 18.

Results showed that participants' multi‐channel choice was influenced only by fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership such that consumers high in fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership tend to use more than one shopping channel. Touch channel preference was influenced by need for touch and multi‐channel choice such that participants who had higher need for touch and used more than one channel for clothing shopping preferred local and non‐local stores. Non‐touch channel preference was influenced by fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership and multi‐channel choice. Regardless of gender, those high in fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership who used more than one channel preferred TV retailers, catalogs, and online stores.

Results cannot be generalized to the larger population of other consumer groups. Future research should include other population groups.

This study is the first to investigate the effects of consumers' gender, fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership, and need for touch on their multi‐channel choice and touch/non‐touch shopping channel preference in clothing shopping.

Declares that diffusion (a term employed to describe the process whereby an innovation or a new idea or practice spreads through a social system over time) is a summary term used to embrace studies which trace the process of diffusion, the process of adoption and the patterns of influence involved. Acknowledges that even allowing for low involvement of marketing research in diffusion, marketing management's interest in this area can be guided and controlled. States that information is diffused through some form of communication channel – these may be one of two types: vertical channels, which exist if ‘there is a meaningful difference in the interests, social status, demographic or economic characteristics of the communication units’; and horizontal channels, which occur where communications flows among members of groups with similar interests and characteristics – these groups may be work groups, social groups, etc. Investigates sources of information and influence – in particular the two basic ones of: impersonal sources via the mass media; and personal sources involving the opinion leader in a two‐step flow of communication. Closes by discussing the implications of the two‐step flow for marketing in depth, with recommendations.

The purpose of this study is to understand the antecedents of omni-channel shopping with reference to the intention to purchase fashion products by millennials and their perspective towards the omni-channel method of shopping.

The research is based on a quantitative research technique comprising of 302 respondents. A structured questionnaire has been adopted for the survey and to collect data from millennials from India. The questionnaire consisted of 27 constructs, which were measured using a five-point Likert’s scale. In the first step first-order confirmatory factor analysis is carried out, by using the software IBM AMOS-20. The initial model is generated for six constructs, and outcomes are used to analyse the model’s goodness of fit and construct validity. In the second step, the conceptual model is tested through path analysis using structural equation modelling.

The findings indicate that perceived usefulness (PU) significantly affects the continuance intention of usage towards omni-channels. Perceived ease of use does not significantly affect continuance intention of towards usage of omni-channels, and it does not seem to have a significant effect on PU. Cost effectiveness and customer engagement of omni-channel have a significant effect on the continuance intention of its use. Finally, continuance intention towards usage of omni-channel does significantly affects the actual use of omni-channel.

The research on omni-channel for purchasing fashion products is meagre and this particular study with the usage of Technology Acceptance Model including millennials is adding value towards the knowledge base of marketing. This research develops a theoretical framework building on the technology adoption model and empirically tested it.

The purpose of this article is to review the potential contributions of category management (CM) to the UK fashion sector and subsequently to establish evaluation criteria for the application of CM in the UK fashion sector.

Qualitative research was employed through an exploratory case study method.

Category management is limited in its application in the fashion industry. The study found that fashion companies adopted collaborative structures in order to implement a CM approach and a CM approach contributes to the development of a fast fashion business orientation.

Exploratory case study method does not allow for the results to be generalised.

The paper proposes a model of the evaluation of the application of category management in the fashion sector.

A growing number of publications have questioned and raised awareness of improvement fashions, especially in the area of quality management (QM), but rational decision‐making process has been promoted. Thus, this paper aims to address the selection issue and presents a holistic framework for selecting a QM and improvement initiative.

The research was carried out in three phases. Phase One established a conceptual background for the adoption based on extensive literature review. Phase Two provided empirical studies of the QM approaches adopted in three leading case companies in Thailand and interviews with quality experts. Finally, Phase Three builds a theory of selection based on cross‐case analysis and a paradigm model.

Triggers for the adoption are the internal factors (i.e. need to survive, sustain competitiveness, and increase operational effectiveness) and external factors (i.e. institutional push, trade barrier, and company image). The selection framework and the theory of selecting QM and improvement initiatives explain the four selection views of fashion setting, pay‐off, strategic fit, and organisation fit.

Selection of quality and improvement initiatives is based on the managers' perceptions and past experiences of QM selecting decision, and upon on the information available.

The advancement in the theory of the adoption of improvement initiatives is the main contribution of this research. The selection framework, which was theoretically and empirically grounded, has attempted to surface the irrational influences on the adoption to provide a more rational and less ambiguous justification. It provides a holistic model incorporating comprehensive selection criteria aiming to assist managers undertaking selection decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse factors influencing black South African millennials when considering African Ankara fabric fashion. Fashion adoption, particularly consumers’ intentions to adopt new fashion is valuable to companies and marketers of the vibrant clothing product. Therefore, this study helped to create awareness to marketers on what characteristics to look for and address when dealing with millennials.

The study was informed by the interpretivist research paradigm resulting in the adoption and use of a qualitative research methodology. The exploratory research design helped the authors to collect data for this study because the objective was to address a subject where the problem was not well understood and there was little research on the subject matter. In addition, the exploratory research design helped to identify the boundaries in which the research problems and situations of interest resided, thus, the “what if” type of questions were addressed in the study.

The study established that black South African millennials were aware and conversant with African Ankara fabric fashion because it communicated African culture as well as personality. It was revealed that attitude, influence of fashion involvement, country-of-origin effect, consumer ethnocentrism and opinion leaders played significant roles in influencing millennials in fashion adoption. Particularly of importance, the study observed that celebrities influenced black South African millennials in fashion adoption and purchase intentions. Black South African millennials confirmed that their technologically savvy nature and social media usage had morphed them into depending on information communication technology.

The sample for the study was composed of individuals from the University of Cape Town which excluded potential sample participants from the rest of South Africa. The exclusion of potential sample members was attributed to the research methodology adopted and data collection techniques used. The limitations would have been mitigated if a different research methodology had been used.

The practical implications identified in this study are black South African millennials who are frugal and fluid customers, whose tastes and preferences are difficult to understand unless thorough research is done by marketers; black South African millennials are technologically savvy, therefore firms and marketers should use information communication technologies if they are to win loyalty of black South African millennials. Utilisation of traditional marketing (bricks and mortar) approaches do not work for this cohort of consumers; when designing products or services, marketers and firms should engage and involve millennials as part of the design strategy.

This study investigated influencing factors on millennials when considering African Ankara fabric fashion. Most studies focussed on Western clothing fashion, yet African fashion was symbolic and it communicated African culture. Failure to research on African Ankara fabric fashion creates a gap and dearth of literature, which is the reason why this study was undertaken. This study has implications for clothing designers and manufacturers who are excluding African Ankara fabric fashion.

Continuous change has long been recognized as a core characteristic of retailing, its recent acceleration unprecedented, yet innovation in retailing remains under-researched, especially within fashion retailing. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to generate a deeper understanding of if, and to what extent, fashion retailers across different market segments are innovating in terms of in-store technology diffusion over time by taking a long-term perspective over five years.

Drawing on retail change and innovation diffusion theory, the study takes a qualitative approach, using direct observation of 71 fashion stores in London (UK) in 2014 and 2019. In total, 142 stores were tabulated in Excel and qualitatively analysed manually and with NVivo.

The findings identify the innovation adoption strategies implemented, the types of in-store technologies adopted over time and the fashion retail innovation adopters.

The research offers new knowledge in terms of retail innovation and retail change, specifically on retail diffusion of innovation and the importance of in-store technology integration. Several practical implications for improving technology innovation management are also identified.

This study aims to examine the relationship between key value propositions of luxury fashion smartwatches, consumer attitudes and their purchase intentions, and to explore Millennial consumers' overall perceptions of using these wearable technologies.

The research adopts a mixed methods approach. Quantitative enquiry consisting of 312 respondents was followed by two qualitative focus groups in order to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the issue.

The findings indicate that functional, individual and social factors influence Millennial consumers' adoption intention of luxury fashion smartwatches. Empirical results reveal that perceived hedonism and usefulness are the most important factors that motivate adoption intentions, followed by subjective norm and perceived conspicuousness, indicating that luxury smartwatches are perceived as both a technological device and luxury fashion accessory.

Given extant research on luxury fashion smartwatches is limited, this study contributes to this unique research stream by exploring Millennial's perceptions towards using these new generation smartwatches. This research develops a theoretical framework building on technology adoption model 2 (Venkatesh and Davis, 2000), theory of reasoned action (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1975) and luxury perception models (Wiedmann et al., 2007).

This paper illuminates the distinction between individual and organizational actors in business-to-business markets as well as the coexistence of formal and informal mechanisms of coordination in multinational corporations. The main questions addressed include the following. (1) What factors influence the occurrence of personal contacts of foreign subsidiary managers in industrial multinational corporations? (2) How such personal contacts enable coordination in industrial markets and within multinational firms? The theoretical context of the paper is based on: (1) the interaction approach to industrial markets, (2) the network approach to industrial markets, and (3) the process approach to multinational management. The unit of analysis is the foreign subsidiary manager as the focal actor of a contact network. The paper is empirically focused on Portuguese sales subsidiaries of Finnish multinational corporations, which are managed by either a parent country national (Finnish), a host country national (Portuguese) or a third country national. The paper suggests eight scenarios of individual dependence and uncertainty, which are determined by individual, organizational, and/or market factors. Such scenarios are, in turn, thought to require personal contacts with specific functions. The paper suggests eight interpersonal roles of foreign subsidiary managers, by which the functions of their personal contacts enable inter-firm coordination in industrial markets. In addition, the paper suggests eight propositions on how the functions of their personal contacts enable centralization, formalization, socialization and horizontal communication in multinational corporations.