Certification labeling is a system which confirms the quality and appropriateness of pr oducts according to the standard set. It is usually evaluated by the third party to assure being reliability. Certification labeling can be used as one of the important sources of i nformation when consumers evaluate the products. Especially, certification labeling gi ves customers trust and confidence about products because the label can be the signali ng that the quality of the products is good. Although certification labeling influences p urchase decision making, many consumers do not trust the labels because of insufficie nt information of certification and distrust in the certifications. As consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about environment and wellbeing, manufacturers are turning a convention product into the production of a sustain able product. Sustainable certification can be environmental cues to evaluate a sustain able product based on the categorization inference. The aim of this research is the inte raction effect among sustainable cues on purchase intention. Consumers tend to perceive organic label of products as high-price. Thus, although they concern environment and well-being, they tend to purchase conventional products more than an organic product. In addition, an organic label can have a positive influence on perceived risk, and then perceived risk may affect purchase intention. However, the product with organic label including traceability may have a negative impact on perceived risk. Therefore, perceived risk can mediate the relationship between the interaction between organic label of products and traceability and purchase intention.

This study aims to gain insights into consumers’ motivations when purchasing mimics of luxury cosmetics goods and their evaluation towards mimicry products. Consumers’ desire for mimicry luxury cosmetics hinges on their motivations underlying their consumption of luxury cosmetics. Attitude functions are applied to measure consumers’ underlying motivations towards luxury products. Consumers’ attitude and familiarity with luxury cosmetics and mimicry cosmetics also influence their choice between luxury brands and mimicry brands. In addition, consumers’ personality factors and perceived risk of purchasing mimicry cosmetics and their brand loyalty towards the original luxury brands restrain their purchase intention of mimicry brands. Finally, the study examines the effect of products conspicuousness (private/public visible goods) and the effect of mimicry types (feature/theme) on consumers’ preferences on concerning mimicry consumption. The findings will provide insights for policymakers, brand managers, and academics, and better understand mimicry in the luxury cosmetics industry.

Introduction User-generated online reviews have become an essential part of consumer decisionmaking process (Mayzlin, Dover, & Chevalier, 2014) affecting product attitudes (Schlosser, 2005), purchase intentions (Ba & Pavlou, 2002), sales (Babić Rosario, Sotgiu, De Vlack, & Bijmolt, 2016), as well as price and quantity of transactions (Berger, Sorensen, & Rasmussen, 2010). For instance, 58% of consumers prefer sites with peer reviews, and nearly all consumers (98%) reported reading peer review before making purchases online (eMarketer, 2010). Given the reach and influence of user-generated content (UGC), it is unsurprising that companies offer numerous incentives such as coupons, rebates, free samples, and monetary payments to encourage user-generated online reviews. In 2012, Tesco, a British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer, ran a “Share & Earn” scheme where the retailer gave loyalty points to Facebook fans sharing products. Since such reviewers are more like friends than random strangers, how does the review source and incentives affect reviewer trustworthiness and purchase intentions? Would these effects differ across individualistic and collectivistic cultures? Our research examines the cross-cultural differences in the effects of review source and incentives on reviewer trustworthiness and purchase intentions between Americans and Taiwanese. Review Source and Trustworthiness Extant research has shown that reviews from friends are usually more persuasive than reviews from strangers (Huang, Zhang, Liu, & Liang, 2014). Dubois et al. (2016) revealed that high levels of interpersonal closeness increased the negativity of reviews shared, whereas low levels of interpersonal closeness increased the positivity of reviews shared. Correspondingly, individuals tend to perceive friendly review sources as being more trustworthy and honest (Ben-Ner & Halldorsson, 2010). The circulation for UGC online reviews on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram could also make the review source appear like a friend. Since user-generated online reviews appear on the user’s own profile page as well as newsfeeds of each friend connected to that user (Chatterjee, 2011), individuals could easily perceive review sources as friendly and trustworthy. Given that online trust often increases purchase intention (Bart, Shankar, Urban, & Sultan, 2005), we posit that reviews from friends increase reviewer trustworthiness, which, in turn, increase purchase intentions. Incentives While online reviews from friends could be deemed as more trustworthy, incentives could muddy the waters. Sterling (2013) showed that over 40% of consumers in a survey reported some level of doubt in the credibility of UGC, fueled by reports of firms posting “fake” positive reviews, deleting negative reviews, or manipulating consumers into making positive statements that might not be a true representation of their options (Mayzlin et al., 2014). Given the level of distrust, the Federal Trade Commission sent out more than 90 letters reminding influencers and marketers that they required to clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationships with brands when promoting or endorsing products on social media (FTC, 2017). Relatedly, in 2012, the UK Advertising Standards Authority ruled that travel website TripAdvisor must cease claiming that it offers “honest, real, or trusted” reviews from “real travelers” since they are unable to assure consumers that all review content was genuine. Even when incentives are disclosed, incentivized reviews are often viewed with suspicion and are discounted as a means of correcting for presumed reviewer bias, even if the reviewer was not biased by the incentive (Du Plessis, Stephen, Bart, & Gonclaves, 2016). Taken together, we argue that incentivized reviews will decrease reviewer trustworthiness, and consequently, purchase intentions. Cultural Differences Existing work on the effects of review source and incentives have, at least implicitly, assumed that its effects hold globally and failed to consider individual or cultural moderating factors. In particular, individualistic and collectivistic cultures differ in their perceptions of trust violations: collectivists tend to become less trusting after experiencing a violation from in-group rather than out-group members; individualists’ trust levels are less affected by violations from in-group members (Fulmer, Gelfand, 2010; van Hoorn, 2015). In the context of our research, incentivized reviews could be regarded as trust violation, where reviewers no longer act altruistically to provide honest reviews. Thus, we posit that incentives could moderate the effects that reviews from friends have on perceived trustworthiness, and consequently, purchase intention in collective cultures (i.e. Taiwanese participants). In contrast, we expect to replicate the results of previous research where reviews from friends increases reviewer trustworthiness and purchase intentions; while incentivized reviews decreases reviewer trustworthiness and purchase intentions. Formally, we hypothesize that: Hypothesis 1a (H1a): Reviews from friends will be considered as more trustworthy than review from strangers amongst American participants. Hypothesis 1b (H1b): American participants will be more likely to purchase products reviewed by friends than strangers. Hypothesis 2a (H2a): Amongst American participants, reviewers providing incentivized reviews will be perceived as less trustworthy than reviewers providing non-incentivized reviews. Hypothesis 2b (H2b): American participants will be less likely to purchase products from incentivized reviews than non-incentivized reviews. Hypothesis 3a (H3a): Amongst Taiwanese participants, when reviews are not incentivized, reviews from friends will be considered more trustworthy than reviews from strangers. The effect will be attenuated when reviews are incentivized. Hypothesis 3b (H3b): Taiwanese participants will be more willing to purchase products reviewed by friends than strangers when the reviews are not incentivized. The effect will be attenuated when reviews are incentivized. Method Participants and Design Three hundred and sixteen participants (50% female, 18-85 years old) were recruited on Qualtrics for nominal payment. Half of the participants were American and completed the survey in English while the rest were Taiwanese and completed the survey in Mandarin. A 2 (review source: stranger vs. friend) x 2 (incentive: no incentive vs. incentivized review) x 2 (nationality: USA vs. Taiwan) mixed design was adopted with source and incentive manipulated within-subject and nationality manipulated between-subjects. Procedure All participants were instructed to assume that they were travelling to London, and was searching for a hotel to stay for a couple of days. They were then presented with four hotel reviews. Both source and incentive were manipulated within-subjects. Source of the reviews was either a friend or a stranger. Reviews were either not incentivized or incentivized where the reviewer was given discount on their stay for leaving a review. To prevent order effects, the reviews were presented in random order. All reviews were 4 out 5 stars reviews, were generally positive, and were dated at a similar time. Measures After every review, participants indicated purchase intention on two items (e.g. “After reading this review, I feel like booking this hotel.”; “If there is a chance, I will book this hotel.”) on a 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree)(Kim, Park, & Lee, 2013). Participants also rated how much they trusted the reviewer on a 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree) on three items (e.g. “I trust this reviewer to choose a hotel for me.”; “I have confidence in this reviewer.”; “I believe this reviewer is being honest.”) (Smith, Menon, & Sivakumar, 2005). Individualism/collectivism as well as uncertainty avoidance was assessed using a 3-item measure (e.g. “Individuals should stick with the group even through difficulties.”; “It’s important to closely follow instruction and procedures.”) (Yoo, Donthu, & Lenartowicz, 2011) with a 7-point Likert scale (1= strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree) Results Outliers were removed using Stem and Leaf plots, leaving 295 participants, 148 Taiwanese participants and 149 American participants (50% female, 18 to 85 years old). Contrary to previous research (Hofstede Insights, 2018), American participants (M = 6.07, SD = 0.96) scored significantly higher on the uncertainty avoidance scale than their Taiwanese counterparts (M = 5.56, SD = 1.01). In addition, American participants (M = 5.00, SD = 1.35) did not score significantly higher on the individualism/collectivism scale than their Taiwanese counterparts (M = 5.08, SD = 1.23). As predicted in Hypothesis 1a, a 2 (review source: stranger vs. friend) x 2 (incentive: no incentive vs. incentivized review) on reviewer trustworthiness revealed a significant main effect of review source, F(1, 146) = 25.34, p =.00, where friends (M = 5.34, SD = 1.19) were significantly more trustworthy than strangers (M = 4.97, SD =1.24) amongst USA participants. In line with H2a, there was also a significant main effect of incentive, where non-incentivized reviews (M = 5.24, SD = 1.21) were considered more trustworthy than incentivized reviews (M = 5.07, SD = 1.22), F(1,146)=6.43, p =.01. There was no significant interaction effect, F <1. Amongst the Taiwanese participants, a 2 (review source: stranger vs. friend) x 2 (incentive: no incentive vs. incentivized review) on reviewer trustworthiness revealed a significant main effect of review source, F(1, 147) = 13.02, p =.00, and incentive, F(1,147)=6.43, p =.01, qualified by the predicted interaction, F(1,147)=3.77, p =.05. Consistent with our predictions (H3a), when reviews were not incentivized, friends (M = 5.41, SD = 1.08) were significantly more trustworthy than strangers (M = 5.15, SD = 1.10), F(1,147)=15.63, p=.00. However, when reviewers were incentivized, friends (M = 5.20, SD = 1.05) were just as trustworthy as strangers (M = 5.09, SD = 1.15, F(1,147) = 1.85, p =.18. As predicted (H1b), amongst USA participants, a 2 (review source: stranger vs. friend) x 2 (incentive: no incentive vs. incentivized review) on purchase intention revealed a significant main effect of review source, F(1, 146) = 4.46, p =.04, where reviews from friends (M = 5.40, SD = 1.20) elicited higher purchase intentions than reviews from strangers (M = 5.27, SD =1.20). Contrary to Hypothesis 2b, there was no main effect of incentive, F(1,146) = 1.34, p =.25, nor interaction, F<1. Amongst Taiwanese participants, a 2 (review source: stranger vs. friend) x 2 (incentive: no incentive vs. incentivized review) on purchase intention revealed a significant main effect of incentive where non-incentivized reviews (M = 5.49, SD = 0.94) elicited greater purchase intentions than incentivized reviews (M = 5.39, SD = 0.98), F(1,147) =3.74, p=.06. There was no main effect of source, F(1,147)= 2.31, p = .13 nor an interaction effect, F(1,147) = 1.81, p =.18. In line with our hypothesis (H3b), planned contrasts revealed that when reviews are not incentivized, friends (M = 5.55, SD = 0.96) elicited significantly higher purchase intention than strangers (M = 5.42, SD = 0.95), F(1,147) = 5.73, p =.01. In contrast, when reviews were incentivized, friends (M = 5.40, SD = 0.94) elicited as much purchase intention as strangers (M = 5.38, SD = 1.02), F<1. Discussion Given the ever-important role of user-generated online reviews in consumer decisionmaking, it is necessary to understand how review sources and incentives affects perceptions of trust and purchase intentions, especially across cultures. Our study demonstrates how review sources and incentives affect reviewer trustworthiness and purchase intentions differently across individualistic versus collectivistic cultures. Specifically, review source and incentives affect reviewer trustworthiness independently in Americans. Friends are considered more trustworthy than strangers, and non-incentivized reviews are considered more trustworthy than incentivized reviews. In contrast, the effect of review source on reviewer trustworthiness is moderated by incentive in Taiwanese participants. In particular, friends are considered more trustworthy than stranger only when reviews are not incentivized. When reviews are incentivized, trust seems to be violated, and friends are regarded as just as trustworthy as random strangers. Our contributions to the UGC literature are twofold. To date, research on UGC have largely ignored the role of culture and nationality (as well as individual differences, more broadly) can play. This potentially concerning since the proliferation of UGC are not limited to a Western sample. Our work highlights how culture can complicate findings in the UGC literature, and suggests a need to better consider the role culture plays. In addition, our research specifies the specific mechanism through which culture might influence the effect of review source and incentives affect purchase intention, trustworthiness. Additional studies will be conducted to examine how and why incentives are deemed as trust violations and reduce purchase intentions when accepted by friendly reviewers in collectivist cultures. Moreover, we will attempt to detangle trust in the reviewer versus review.

This study investigates the effect of high-level customization experience delivered via information and communication technology (ICT) on consumers’ patronage behavior toward a brand. The results indicate that customization experience increases purchasing intention for it enhance the level of happiness about the product. The relationship between customization experience and happiness is found to be mediated by autonomy (i.e., feeling of being in charge of one’s own action), competence (i.e., feeling that one effectively utilize one’s skill and abilities) and the pride of authorship (i.e. feeling of pride when creating an artifact of one’s own). Introduction The advancement of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) has led the paradigm shift in managing a producer and consumer relationship in the fashion industry. In particular, it has blurred the boundaries between the role of a producer and the role of a consumer. For example, Adidas, one of the biggest sportswear companies in the world, has built SpeedFactory, which offers a special customization service for their users to build sneakers according to their own design specifications. There it takes only five hours for a customized design put together by its users to be produced in a real pair of sneakers and ready to be delivered to their home (Wiener, 2017). The term, prosumer (i.e., producer and consumer) indicates such people who not only purchase and use a product a company offers but also actively participate in the production process by communicating and reflecting their preference (Toffler, 1980). This phenomenon is particularly evident with millennial consumers who desire customer-centric experiences with which they feel wanted and valued. They are willing to engage with brands through producing consumer-generated contents and suggesting their ideas during the production process (McGee, 2017). Such desire has driven the growth of customization services and the rapid development of technology further enabling companies to provide customization more easily and at lower costs (Mitrea, Werner, & Greif, 2010). Despite its increasing significance, not much attention has been paid to understanding the psychological underpinnings as to how and why customization services may enhance consumer patronage behavior toward a brand. This study fills this void by examining the underlying mechanism of the relation between personalization experiences and purchasing intention. Literature review and research questions Customization Experience and Happiness “Experience” has emerged as an important keyword for marketing professionals in the last couple of decades (Pine & Gillomore, 1999; Schmitt, 1999). Consumers wanted and were willing to pay for unique, personalized events that are not the same as anyone else’s, and those that can surprise and impress them beyond providing mere satisfaction (Pine & Gillomore, 1999). Customized services thus have a great impact on consumer patronage behavior such as purchase intention and brand loyalty. Recently, marketing and psychology research has also observed that customized experiences bring happiness (e.g. Bhattacharjee, & Mogilner, 2014; Guevarra & Howell, 2015). Happiness refers to a cognitive and emotional evaluation of one's own life (Diener, 1984). While, to some extent, happiness can be assessed by external criteria such as socioeconomic level or objective indicators, subjective well-being is argued to be important for individuals to assess their own psychological states (Diener, 1984). In general, studies have found that material goods provide lower level of happiness than life experiences, since consumers tend to evaluate happiness through specific events. However, Guevarra & Howell (2015) illustrated that the dichotomous distinction between material items and life experience is ambiguous at the boundary, and in the middle of continuum from material items to life experiences exists “experiential products,” which give consumers the same level of happiness as life experiences. Offering consumers the ability to reflect their preferences in product designs is a way to tap into this psychology. Customization can be a unique experience in that consumers themselves participate in production processes. It is expected that the experience of designing one’s own good will positively affect consumer's happiness level. What Drives Happiness from Customization Experiences? Self-determination theory of Deci & Ryan (2012) (e.g., Maltby & Day, 2001; Wilson, Rodgers, Fraser, & Murray, 2004) is used as the conceptual framework to identify the underlying psychological mechanisms for this study. In particular, the selfdetermination theory posits that people feel happiness when they are satisfied with such psychological needs as autonomy (i.e., engaging in behaviors that express one’s true identity and feeling of being in charge of one’s own action), competence (i.e., feeling of fulfillment that one effectively utilize one’s skill and abilities), and relatedness (i.e., feelings of closeness to a desired social group) through experience (Deci & Ryan, 2012). Given the focus of this study is the customized service delivered online, the variable of relatedness is less relevant since our study focuses on independently designing a product to a user’s unique preferences. The variable of relatedness is excluded in our research model. Instead, we include the “pride of authorship” (Trentin, Perin, & Forza, 2014), which refers to the feeling of pride generated when creating an artifact of their own and a sense of being the creator of it (Schreier, 2006). Customized services can enhance the sense of accomplishment as an author which is also found to affect happiness (Schreier, 2006). We thus formulated the following hypotheses. Hypothesis 1-3. Perceived customization experience will have a positive influence on autonomy (H1), competence (H2), pride of authorship (H3). Hypothesis 4-6. Autonomy (H4), competence (H5), pride of authorship (H6) will have a positive influence on happiness. Hypothesis 7. Happiness will have a positive influence on purchase intention. Method The data were collected via an online experiment in May 2017 with women in their 20s and 30s residing in South Korea, nationwide. Procedure The target site we used as an experiment stimulus was a shoe retail site (http://www.shoesofprey.com) that offers customization options (e.g., shapes, colors, and heel height). The data were collected for a week with 180 participants in total. After entering a designated computer lab, participants were given a detailed instruction of how to use the customized services of this brand. Experiment assistants provided real-time help to participants for any technical difficulties. We asked respondents to visit an online website of this brand. The participants were asked to explore the site and to design customized shoes to their liking. After spending some time on the site and finish customization, they were asked to answer questions in our questionnaire. Measures/Data Collection and Analysis The measures of our constructs were developed based on previous literature. All items (except for demographic characteristics) were measured using a 7-point Likert scale (1 = “strongly disagree;” 7 = “strongly agree”). About 12 responses were deleted from a total of 180 responses due to incomplete data, thus168 were used for final analysis. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 18.0. Results Underlying Mechanism of the Relation between Personalization Experience and Happiness: Autonomy, Competence, and Pride of Authorship With the pooled data (n=168), the results of the confirmatory factor analysis on the entire measurement model showed that our measurement model had a reasonably good fit (χ2(df=145)=300.546, p=.000; Normed χ2(CMIN/DF)=2.073; GFI=.847; CFI=.924; NFI=.864; TLI=.910; RMSEA=.080). The measurements of reliability yielded Cronbach’s α coefficients above 0.7. The convergent validity and discriminant validity were confirmed between the measurement variables, and the measured values were found to be appropriate. Customization experience had a significant influence on the path of autonomy, competence, and pride of authorship at the .001 level. Specifically, the results showed that the coefficient of the path from “customization experience to autonomy” to be .71***, that from “customization experience to competence” was .81***, and that from “customization experience to pride of authorship” was .68***. We thus accept Hypothesis 1, 2, and 3. These mediation variables were found to have a positive influence on happiness at the .001 level. The coefficient of the path from “autonomy to happiness” was .38***, that from “competence happiness” was .29***, and that from “pride of authorship to happiness” was .25***. We thus accept Hypothesis 4, 5, and 6. It was identified that happiness was positively related to purchase intention with coefficients, 0.49***. Thus, Hypothesis 7 was supported. Discussion and implications Previous research found that offering customization service positively influences purchase intention and willingness-to-pay. This paper extends the current understand as to the effect of customization service experience on consumer patronage intention by identifying underlying psychological mechanism. The customized products allow and demand consumers to engage in the designing process. This distinctive experience generates psychological reactions that are linked to personal happiness. In particular, we find that a heightened sense of autonomy, competence, and the pride of authorship are critical mediators linking the customization experiences to happiness. The results also indicate that feeling of happiness is a significant driver for consumer patronage behavior. Our results imply that millennial consumers want to experience consumer-centric events and to engaging in creating their own contents to feel fulfilled with consumption experiences and that customized services can be a power tool to meet this desire.

Consumers have enjoyed shopping via the web for over a decade, but the emergence of shopping through social media or social commerce is slowly gaining traction Instagram is one of the largest interactive photo-sharing sites that retailers, specifically apparel and accessory companies, are utilizing to sell their merchandise. Consumers are increasingly using this platform to engage, discover and get inspired; therefore, it is critical for retailers to understand how this platform influences purchase intention. This paper focuses on analyzing the impact of Instagram on consumer’s purchase intention based on an adapted model of Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of Reasoned Action. Using multi-group analysis, consumers (n=317) were divided into two groups: shopped for fashion products (including browsing, making a one-time purchase, or making repeat purchases) or not shopped using Instagram for apparel specific brands. The participants were surveyed using an online instrument with questions related to attitude, subjective norms, normative beliefs, perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU) and purchase intention. Frequency statistics were obtained for the demographic variables. Overwhelmingly (approximately 78%), respondents used Instagram daily with 82.6% following an apparel brand. 40% of the respondents had shopped previously on Instagram (i.e. browsed as well as purchased products), with 13% of these respondents spending more than $100. An exploratory factor analysis using principal component with varimax rotation and a minimum eigen value of one was used to identify the latent variables in the model: PEOU (α = 0.82); PU (α = 0.81); Normative Beliefs (α = 0.81); Attitude (α = .87); Subjective Norm (α = 0.88); Purchase Intention (α = 0.79). Results indicated that subjective norms did not influence purchase intention for both the groups indicating that consumers do not follow “groupthink” mentality while intending to purchase via Instagram. Furthermore, it was found that PEOU influence on attitude for the two groups of consumer were different, with no impact for the group who had shopped on Instagram. All the other relationships were supported in the model. These results provide both implications and limitations for retailers and academia.

Introduction: Country of origin has long been of interest to many researchers (e.g. Phao, 1993; Kalicharan, 2014; Yunus and Rashid, 2016). In part, this is because consumers evaluated the quality of a product based on where it was manufactured, and this became an important issue with the majority of fashion product production taking place in developing countries. Consequently, country of origin as a branding tool became an important factor in the fashion industry (Lee et al., 2013). Previously, numerous studies have suggested that consumers’ perception of, and association with, country of origin are influenced by different factors, such as social, environmental and political factors and the workmanship of the country in question (e.g. Insch and McBride, 2004; Jiménez and Martín, 2012; Lee et al., 2013; Mostafa, 2015). For example, Rashid and Barnes (2017) identified the influence the media industry has on the perception of a country’s image, i.e. the influence of a factory collapse in Bangladesh in 2013 (Bolle, 2014). In the same vein, studies on the country of origin effect have also found the influence that the halo and summary effects have on the product evaluation. For example, if consumers were less familiar with fashion products made in Indonesia, they would naturally infer the product attributes using the general image of Indonesian-made products, and thus rate the product based on their perception of the country as a whole (see also Kotabe and Helsen, 2009). In contrast, when consumers are familiar with a country’s products (i.e. fashion designers in Paris), a summary construct model operates in which consumers develop a country’s image from its product information, which then indirectly influences product perception (Han, 1989). In other words, a product naturally receives a positive attitude because of the perception of a country’s products. Moreover, studies have also examined the impact of patriotism and ethnocentric behaviour on association with country image. More recently, authors, e.g. Rashid et al. (2016) and Barnes and Rashid (2017), have also made a contribution towards managerial perspectives and issues relating to the country of origin impact on the fashion industry. However, no research to date has examined the influence of country of origin on purchase intention with specific reference to apparel fitting. Apparel fitting: Over the past two decades, authors have shown increasing interest towards the fit of apparel (e.g. Otieno et al., 2005; Apeagyei et al., 2007; Holmlund et al., 2011). For example, Shim and Bickle (1993) examined women 55 years and older as catalogue shoppers and their differences in satisfaction with the fit of apparel purchased through catalogues and found that the satisfaction level was relatively low for the entire sample of 872 respondents. Some of the key issues identified were that garment fits did not accommodate body proportions for the older market, especially those who did not fit sizes that were tailored for petit or plus sizes. Consequently, it is evident that age is an important factor in apparel fitting. Furthermore, Alexander et al. (2007) pointed out the issue of personal judgement on how a garment looks on the body. Finally, other factors have also been raised, such as fit association with comfort, body-cathexis (feelings about one’s body) and symbolic meanings in social interactions. Adding to this, Rahman et al. (2017) has also added how consumers often evaluate the product on the basis of descriptive, inferential, informational and/or visual cues, and these can be classified as extrinsic or intrinsic cues. “Extrinsic cues” are a product’s physical structure or appearance, such as price, brand name and country of origin, whereas intrinsic cues are inherent to the physical composition of a product such as fabric, fit, colour and style. Moreover, authors have very recently also looked at apparel fitting issues in online fashion retailing (Miell et al., 2017) and technologies linked to fitting, such as 3D body scanners in a retail store (Lewis and Loker, 2016). However, the apparel fit and size association with country of origin remains an under-researched area. Research design: As this study aims to explore country of origin association from an apparel fitting perspective, a qualitative interpretivist approach is adopted (Creswell, 2007; Welch et al., 2011). This is a significant contribution to the country of origin study, as previous country of origin studies from consumer perspectives have prominently been quantitative in nature (e.g. Insch and McBride, 2004; Jiménez and Martín, 2012). Participants for study will be chosen using a judgemental approach, in particular female shoppers who consider fitting an important factor when deciding on the brand from which to purchase a product. To carry out the study, the project will use face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The semi-structured interview questions derive from the country of origin literature and are influenced by theory planned behaviour model (TBP) (Azjan, 1991), taking into account both individual and social factors that may influence customer intention and attitude towards apparel fitting and its association and or perception of a country. Interviews will last between 60 and 90 minutes and will be conducted by the researchers from March 2018 to September 2018. To analyse the data, a thematic analysis approach will be utilised to develop an understanding of the meaning, as interpreted by participants. Discussion and conclusion: The data collection for this study will help address the gap regarding how consumers deem fit as one of the important factors influencing purchasing behaviour, but also their perception of how they associate a fit of a product with the country of origin of different fashion brands. The findings will make a contribution to the literature on country of origin, fashion branding and product management. The study may also introduce practical implications on how to make the service better in a fashion retail setting, where apparel fit is becoming an issue. Thus, the study may also add knowledge to the literature on service marketing.

Environmental pollution, especially particulate matter, is a significant problem in many large cities around the world. Globally, studies have found a larger incidence of skin problems in the more polluted areas of the world (Lefebvre et al., 2015; Lefebvre et al., 2016). Currently, anti-pollution cosmetics are the hot new trend emerging from Asia. Therefore, this study examines the relation between anti-pollution cosmetics purchase and the perceived risk to skin health owing to particulate matter. The results of study 1 partially support our hypothesis about consumers with higher perception of the risk about particulate matter. Among them, those who saw the product advertising felt response-efficacy, and further, this response-efficacy mediated the relationship between perceived risk and purchase intention. However, there was no significant mediating effect of self-efficacy between perceived risk and purchase intention. Study 2 demonstrates that consumers who have higher perceived risk about particulate matter show higher purchase intention for anti-pollution cosmetics (e.g., POLLUAWAYTM day cream) when they are exposed to prevention-focused message advertisement. In addition, the results of study provide support for our argument that this effect is driven by a process involving response-efficacy. The present research provides evidence for a relationship between perceived risk and regulatory-focused messages on purchase intention. In particular, it reveals a boundary condition for these effects to occur, that is, the extent to which consumers have a higher purchase intention because of response-efficacy. These results provide promising evidence to support the growing field of health-product-related marketing communication.

Introduction With environmental concern becoming a growing area for both the marketing academy and society, there is an increasing trend for consumers, governments, and society to deem environmental behaviours as both necessary, and desirable (Olsen, Slotegraaf, & Chandukala, 2014). There is a growing awareness around the negative impacts of human consumption developing amongst consumers and gaining greater focus in the media (Prothero, McDonagh, & Dobscha, 2010). However, despite the positive intentions surrounding the consumption of “green goods”, hitherto referred to as sustainable goods, a well-established gap exists between intention and behaviour (e.g., Carrington, Neville, & Whitwell, 2010; Hassan, Shiu, & Shaw, 2016). For example the United Nations Environment Program (2005) established that despite 40% of survey respondents indicating a willingness to purchase sustainable goods, only 4% did so. One lens through which the intention-behaviour gap can be viewed is the idea of the self. Individual identity has long been suggested as a driver of purchasing decisions (Grubb & Grathwohl, 1967). A consumer‟s aim to act both in accordance with their own identity, as well as how they see themselves in the context of society has been suggested to enhance purchasing (e.g., Graeff, 1996; Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Onkvisit & Shaw, 1987). This research seeks to use this idea of self, in the form of Self-Construal (SC), and Image- Congruence (IC), to enhance Purchase Intention (PI) towards sustainable goods. A contribution is sought by using consumers‟ sense of self to better understand the intention-behaviour gap. The proposed contribution benefits the marketing academy (furthering the understanding of consumer purchase intentions and behaviour), marketing practitioners (seeking to encourage behaviour change), and government policy makers (by furthering an understanding of possible nudges to influence behaviour). This research defines „sustainable goods‟, as characterising products with lower environmental impacts, including biodegradable, recycled, low energy, or reduced packaging (Costa Pinto, Herter, Rossi, & Borges, 2014). Sustainable goods have been suggested to present a perceived trade off to consumers, both in literature and the popular press (e.g., Consumer, n.d.-a, n.d.-b; Kaufman, 2014). Kaufman (2014) suggests that sustainable alternatives often carry a price premium, as well as a stigma of lower quality. An example of the trade off as presented in the popular press is through product testing by Consumer New Zealand, suggesting that household items such as eco-friendly (sustainable) laundry detergent come with a price premium, a reduction in efficacy, or both (Consumer, n.d.-a, n.d.-b). Therefore, this research hypothesises that sustainable goods may be perceived as an inferior (either by price or efficacy) product and thus consumers will perceive a trade off in their purchasing decision. This trade off can be summarised as; higher priced or less effective goods, in order to make an environmental contribution (e.g., reduced landfill, cleaner water). As such, it is argued consumers will be more willing to make this trade off where they are able to portray aspects of the self through the decision making process. Conceptual Model The aim of this study is: To investigate the impact of self-construal, and imagecongruence on consumers‟ purchase intention towards sustainable goods. In order to achieve the aim of this research, the following hypotheses are presented: H1a: The more interdependent an individual‟s self-construal, the higher their purchase intention towards sustainable goods. H1b: The more independent an individual‟s self-construal, the lower their purchase intention towards sustainable goods. H2: The greater the image-congruence towards sustainable goods, the higher the purchase intention towards sustainable goods. To illustrate the hypotheses the following conceptual model has been proposed: Studies of self-construal (SC) have demonstrated that individuals fall into two categories, independent and interdependent SC (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). Individuals with independent SC emphasise being unique and expressing their self and promoting their individual goals (Arnocky, Stroink, & DeCicco, 2007); conversely those with interdependent SC define their sense of self largely on relationships and a sense of harmony with others (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). Therefore, interdependent selfconstrual may drive purchasing activity of socially desirable goods. The alignment of products to a consumer‟s self-concept has long been considered a predictor of purchasing behaviour (Grubb & Grathwohl, 1967). The alignment between a product and the self-concept of a consumer is known as image-congruence and leads to an increased likelihood of purchase (Graeff, 1996; Onkvisit & Shaw, 1987). Conversely, where a product is not congruent with an individual‟s image the likelihood of purchase is reduced (Graeff, 1996; Onkvisit & Shaw, 1987). Purchase intention (PI) as used in this research is defined as a consumers‟ plan to purchase sustainable goods, meeting the criteria outlined previously, in the near future. The Brand Loyalty Intentions scale has been adapted for use in measuring PI (Algesheimer, Dholakia, & Herrmann, 2005), with the addition of a time definite item, „I will purchase sustainable products within the next six months”. SC is expected to impact PI as interdependent and independent people behave differently. Those with an interdependent SC behave in line with the expectations of society (Ybarra & Trafimow, 1998). Protection of the environment is seen as desirable behaviour by society (Olsen et al., 2014), thus leading to those with an interdependent SC consuming in line with this expectation. Conversely, individuals with independent SC are more likely to prioritise their individual benefits and are thus more likely to prioritise the lower price, or increased efficacy of non-sustainable products. IC is expected to impact PI as those whose self-concept is connected to the environment and sustainable goods, are expected to have an intent to purchase in line with their selfimage (Graeff, 1996; Onkvisit & Shaw, 1987). As such, individuals with image congruence to sustainable goods will be more willing to accept a trade off in order to consume in line with their own self-concept. Method Two phases of data collection were conducted to test the proposed model. An initial pretest, followed by a larger sample. A pre-test consisting of 258 participants was recruited through a Qualtrics research panel. Of the 258 participants, 15 were denied entry to the survey for being under 18 and 39 participants were deleted for non-completion of the survey. A final sample size of 204 participants (103 Male, 101 Female, mean age range 30-34) was collected. Reliability analysis was used to determine the internal reliability of the scales used to measure the model. Reliability analysis was performed to ensure the adequacy and reliability of scales; a regression analysis was further performed to determine model fit as well as the strength and direction of variable relationships (Field, 2013). The second phase of data collection consisted of 554 participants, recruited through a Qualtrics research panel. Of the 554 participants, 24 were denied entry to the survey for being under 18 and 98 participants were deleted for non-completion of the survey. A final sample size of 432 participants (226 Male, 206 Female, mean age range 35-39) was collected. Reliability analysis was again performed to ensure the adequacy and reliability of scales; further regression analysis was performed to determine model fit as well as the strength and direction of variable relationships (Field, 2013), discussion and conclusions were drawn from this second phase of data collection. Results Phase 1: Pre-Test The three variables in the model were measured using three established scales, one of these scales consists of two sub-scales, for a total of four analysed scales. All reported acceptable reliability (Cronbach's α > .70). Self-construal – interdependent (α = .854), self-construal – independent (α = .837), image-congruence (α = .913), and purchase intention (α = .899) A regression analysis was used to determine the strength and direction of the variable relationships. The overall model fit was R2 = .434. H1a was supported (β = .284, p = .004), as was H2 (β = .449, p < .001). H1b demonstrated a significant relationship (β = .231, p = .025), however, contrary to H1b, the relationship was positive, albeit to a lesser extent than in H1a. Phase 2: Final Data Collection As in phase 1, all scales used reported acceptable reliability (Cronbach's α > .70); selfconstrual – interdependent (α = .871), self-construal – independent (α = .867), imagecongruence (α = .920), and purchase intention (α = .900). As in the pre-test a regression analysis was used to test the stated hypotheses. The overall model fit was R2 = .478. H1a was supported (β = .284, p < .001), as was H2 (β = .546, p < .001). H1b demonstrated a significant relationship (β = .206, p = .05), again however, contrary to H1b, the relationship was positive, albeit to a lesser extent than in H1a. Discussion and Conclusion Two phases of data collection both yielded similar results in support of H1a, H1b and H2. H1a and H2 were supported, H1b in both phases of data collection and analysis yielded significant results, but not in line with the predicted direction of the relationship. H2 was fully supported with image-congruence found to be the strongest predictor of purchase intention (p < .001, β = .546). H1a was similarly fully supported with self-construal – interdependent found to be the second strongest predictor of purchase intention (β = .284, p < .001). The strength and direction of the H1a relationship suggests that individuals who see themselves as part of a broader society may be more inclined to purchase in a manner beneficial to this society. H1b yielded a significant relationship (β = .206, p = .05), however, as a positive predictor of purchase intention, the relationship was the opposite of that hypothesised. As the third strongest predictor, the relationship between self-construal – independent and purchase intention, suggests that strong focus on the self, independently of others, does not necessarily lead to a less „pro-social‟ purchasing pattern. By positing the strength of image-congruence as a driving factor in consumer‟s purchasing decisions towards green products, this research enhances the academy‟s understanding of „pro-social‟ purchasing. The understanding of the impact of selfconstrual on „pro-social behaviour is also enhanced. Hypotheses derived in line with extant literature suggest that those with an independent self-construal would be less likely to purchase „pro-social‟ goods where there is a perceived detriment to the individual (e.g. in the case of a trade-off). However, this research suggests that those with an independent self-construal may still desire „pro-social‟ products, just to a lesser degree than those with an interdependent self-construal. Thus, findings from this research suggest that independence and interdependence may act as moderators or mediators to other variables. For practitioners it is important to understand the types of psychological appeals that can be made in marketing materials. Future Research Future research around image-congruence, self-construal and purchase intention should examine the relationship between these and the possibility of mediation or moderation in the model. Despite strong support in the literature an independent SC also acted as a strong predictor of sustainable goods purchase intention therefore, further analysis to explore the possibility of independent self-construal acting as a mediator or moderator should be conducted.

Consumer ethics (CE) is defined by Muncy and Vitell (1992) as the moral standards to guide consumers’ behaviors in obtaining and disposing of goods and services. Regarding ethical issues, consumers have concerns on human, animal or environmental welfare (Gregory-Smith, Smith, & Winklhofer, 2013). As Liu, Yang, and Zeng (2015) describe, unethical consumer behavior (UCB) may cause underlying damage to society, reflecting the dysfunctional, dark or sinister side of consumer behavior. In consumer ethics literature, early studies focus on discussing the dark side of consumer behavior or unethical consumer behavior (UCB), such as returning goods you damaged, taping a movie off the television, shoplifting, etc. (Vitell & Muncy, 2003), counterfeit consumption (Tang, Tian, & Zaichkowsky, 2014; Wilcox, Kim, & Sen, 2009). In last few decades, more attention has been given to the study of the bright side, for instance, green purchase (e.g., Lee, 2008 & 2009; Chan, 2008); sustainable consumption (Lee, 2014), or fair trade (Chatzidakis, Kastanakis, & Stathopoulou, 2016). Within the studies on the bright side of consumer ethics, some of them investigate consumers’ attitude towards green purchase and its relationship with green purchase intention and behavior (e.g., Chai & Chen, 2009; Chen & Chai, 2010; Cherian & Jacob, 2012; Han, Hsu, & Lee, 2009; Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006). Among these studies, the semantic-differential scale of attitudes towards green purchase (AGP) developed by Taylor and Todd (1995) is more commonly adopted (e.g., Chai & Chen, 2009; Chan, 2001, Chen & Chai, 2010; Mostafa, 2006 & 2007). This AGP scale contains three items, namely i) I dislike/like the idea of purchasing green products, ii) Purchasing green products is a bad/good idea, and iii) I have a/an unfavourable/favourable attitude towards purchasing a green version of a product. Some other studies on the bright side of consumer ethics investigate consumers’ intention to purchase different green products, such as organic skin/hair care product (Kim & Chung, 2011), organic food (Paul & Rana, 2012), the relationship between environmental concern and green products purchase (Kangun, Carlson, & Grove, 1991), ecologically packaged products purchase (Schwepker & Cornwell, 1991) or organic vegetables (Sparks & Shepherd, 1992). There are several green purchase intention (GPI) scales asking if respondents will buy product of green version, less polluting for ecology or environmental concern (Chan 2001; Chen & Chang, 2012; Taylor & Todd, 1995). Vitell and Muncy (2005) develop a consumer ethics scale with four categories of (un)ethical consumer behaviors, they are i) ethical consumer behaviors (i.e., recycling and doing good), ii) unethical consumer behaviors (i.e., actively benefiting from illegal activities [e.g., returning damaged goods when the damage was your own fault]; passively benefiting at the expense of others [e.g., lying about a child’s age to get a lower price], iii) questionable but generally legal practices [e.g., using a coupon for merchandise you did not buy], and iv) no harm/no foul activities [e.g., returning merchandise after buying it and not liking it]. In this scale, the ‘recycling’ and ‘doing good’ categories are similar to the Taylor and Todd’s (1995) AGP scale. It is quite surprising that there seems no research putting them together in studying green purchase intention. This conceptual paper attempts to fill this research gap. Conspicuous consumption, another type of consumption, also reveals some aspects of consumer ethics. It has been clearly defined that conspicuous consumption involves extravagant consumption (Veblen, 1899/1915), purchase of luxury goods (e.g., O’Cass & Frost, 2002; Shukla, 2008) or scarce products (Gierl & Huettl, 2010) to display wealth or to demonstrate personal taste (e.g., Blumer, 1969; Bourdieu, 1979/1984; Trigg, 2001). Extant literature illustrates that some terms are associated with conspicuous consumption behavior, such as ‘materialism’ (e.g., Podoshen, Li, & Zhang, 2011), ‘unnecessary expenses’ (e.g., Veblen (1899/1915), ‘conspicuous waste’ and ‘overconsumption’ (e.g., Carr, Gotlieb, Lee, and Shah, 2012; Chaudhuri, Mazumdar, & Ghoshal, 2011), ‘luxury consumption’ (Kwek & Lee, 2013), and ‘conspicuous taste’ (Bourdieu, 1979/1984). A relatively more complete scale of conspicuous consumption orientation developed by Chaudhuri et al. (2011) contains 12 items, which explicitly covers all items related to wealth, status and taste. With a closer look on the definition and the terms to describe conspicuous consumption, it is not hard to find out explicit remarks or implicit comments that various kinds of conspicuous consumption can be unethical, creating negative impacts in economical, socio-culturally and environmental contexts. First, conspicuous consumption can be a waste of economic resources. For instance, in conspicuous consumption feasting in Chinese communities, ordering more foods than enough would create wastes. Besides, conspicuous consumption is associated with impulse/impulsive buying (Zhang & Shrum, 2009). In modern economies with higher materialism, conspicuous consumption is highly related to expenditures of visible goods like high fashion clothing (O’Cass, 2001), jewelry, cars (Bloch, 1981; Charles, Hurst, & Roussanov, 2009), housing or mobile phones (Spero & Stone, 2004). Impulsive conspicuous consumption of new fashion in every season is another type of consumption creating more wastes. Second, conspicuous consumption can be harming to environment. For example, to demonstrate wealth or status, some people eat endangered species or killing wild animals, e.g., shark fin (Eriksson & Clarke, 2015), monkey or turtle. conspicuous consumption of clothing, ornaments or decorative items made of endangered species (e.g., ivory from elephant, skin from fox are also harming the nature. Given the ethical feature of conspicuous consumption is obvious, it is surprising that ethical issues of conspicuous consumption have yet been discussed prominently. Moreover, seldom of the studies in conspicuous consumption or CE discuss the bright side of conspicuous consumption. In fact, some types of consumption can be ethical and conspicuous. For instance, Griskevicius, Tybur, and Van den Bergh (2010), when they study conspicuous conservation, they prove that status competition can help promote pro-environmental behavior. Alike, Sexton and Sexton (2014) reveal the green buying of energy saving vehicles. There are in fact more examples of ethical and conspicuous consumption, like consumption of eco-friendly clothing, accessories or dining, etc. In this regard, if there are more conspicuous and green consumptions, e.g., eco-friendly vehicles, decoration material, clothing or cuisines, conspicuous consumption can facilitate the development of a greener and harmonious societies on the contrary. Nowadays, amid the proliferation of environmental protection ideology, more consumers are willing to have green purchase. If the purchases are also ‘socially visible’, we may call them as ‘conspicuous green purchase’. Following this logic, if consumers have a higher tendency in consumer ethics and conspicuous consumption, they may have a higher green purchase intention (GPI). This proposition may be particularly valid for branded fashion, visible consumer electronics, or vehicles. In conspicuous GPI, consumers can show off their wealth, fashion taste and conservation virtue through displaying green products or green purchase publicly. Recently, a sustainable consumption report published by the Consumer Council in Hong Kong (Consumer Council, 2016) reveals that Hong Kong people has a high level of awareness and purchase intention of sustainable products, but they have a low level in action taking. In this regard, perhaps, the conspicuousness in the consumption of green products can be an additional motivation to enhance consumers' purchase intention. Surprisingly, there seems no research to explore to find out the mediating effect of conspicuous consumption on the relationship between AGP and GPI. This conceptual paper tries to fill this research gap. To sum, this conceptual paper aims to explore the relationship between these four constructs, attitudes towards green purchase (AGP), consumer ethics (CE), conspicuous consumption (CC) and conspicuous green purchase intention (CGPI). More specifically, this paper tries to examine the mediating effects of CE or CC on the relationship between AGP and CGPI. Considering the discussion above, the following propositions are generated. P1: A person with positive AGP tends to have a higher CGPI than a person with negative AGP. P2: A person with a higher CE orientation (recycling and doing good) and positive AGP tends to have a higher CGPI than a person with a lower CE orientation. P3: A person with a higher CC orientation and positive AGP tends to have a higher CGPI than a person with a lower CE orientation. This conceptual paper has both theoretical and practical implications. It helps integrate four constructs, namely attitudes towards green purchase, consumer ethics, conspicuous consumption and green purchase intention in one study, building better theories in these areas. This paper also helps marketers of green products to pay more attention to the market segment that consumers are both ethical and conspicuous consumption oriented, hence conveying more appropriate promotion messages and selecting right channels of distribution. Finally, more green purchase would help us to make better societies with higher moral standard in consumption.

Fast fashion brands gain their competitive advantages through launching new products to the market quickly in order to adapt to consumer’s rapidly changing preferences. Despite of these advantages, the fast fashion business model, in which accelerated process of product design, production, and launch is implemented, inevitably generates ethically controversial issues in fashion industry, such as intensifying environmental pollution during the production process, exploiting designers and workers, or excessively wasting resources. One possible solution to these problems might lie in reducing demand towards fast fashion products. Thus, this present study intends to explore potential means to reduce demand. It will begin with a review of literature regarding ethical concerns raised by fast fashion business model, consumers’ views towards buying fast fashion products and these concerns, and existing methods employed to reduce harm derived from fast fashion brands. Content analysis of articles and online posts addressing fashion and ethics related topics will also be conducted to collect first-hand information regarding these aspects. As a result, potential strategies or practices aiming at solving problems generated by unethical fast fashion business practices could be discovered and derived. Findings of this study are expected to provide more organized thoughts regarding ethical issues associated with fast fashion business model and how these issues concern the industry and consumers. Specifically, results of the preliminary examination will help us understand how general public and consumers perceive fast fashion business models and brands, their business practices, ethical concerns associated with these practices, and their proposed solutions. It is expected that consumers might be more willing to reduce unnecessary purchases of fashion goods if they are more aware of unethical business practices generated by practicing fast fashion business model. These results are expected to offer insights into potential strategies that (1) can be employed by policy makers to reduce waste and promote green consumption, (2) help raise consumers’ awareness regarding the negative impact of fast fashion business model, and (3) assist to return to a healthier fashion industry.

Virtual reality refers to an immersive computer-generated, interactive, 3D environment that offers media richness and interactivity. VR provides high media richness verified by the sensory depth and breadth of an interface. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among mindsets, VR experience, perceived interactivity, attitude and purchase. This study clarifies the concept of VR experience and enlightened the relationship between VR experience, perceived interactivity, attitude and purchase intention. The study clarifies technology-driven experience, especially VR experience that can be differentiated from direct and indirect experience. The study can be a starting point to identifying how new technology boosts experiences by reflecting types of VR experience including spatial experience, presence experience, sensory experience and behavioral experience .

This study explores the effect of moral identity on attitude toward and purchase intention of upcycled fashion products by comparing purchasers and non-purchasers. Data from 127 purchasers and 307 non-purchasers collected through a survey was analyzed using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, model invariance check, and multiple-group comparison tests using Amos 23.0. Results indicate consumers with purchase experiences of upcycled fashion products showed a higher level of moral identity (internalization and symbolization), positive attitude toward upcycled fashion products, and purchase intention than did consumers with no purchase experience. In model tests, internalization affected attitude toward purchasing upcycled fashion products, whereas symbolization affected purchase intention, regardless of purchase experience. The effect of symbolization on purchase intention was consistent with prior studies focusing on charity behaviors that are highly visible to others. These findings demonstrate that fashion products are visible and symbolic, so it should be carefully considered in ethical consumption studies. From these results, researchers may obtain insights on the process of how consumers apply moral identity to their purchase intention regarding upcycled fashion products. Likewise, marketers may enhance satisfaction of consumers with a high level of symbolization by putting special tags and logos that clearly highlight the products’ upcycled nature.

This study explores determinants of purchase intentions for vegan fashion products based on the modified planned behavior model. Survey data from 434 university students were subjected to an analysis using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. The results showed that almost half of the consumers surveyed recognized vegan fashion products and a little more than a half of consumers surveyed had purchase experience for vegan fashion products. Clothing, bags, and shoes are the most frequently purchased vegan fashion product categories. From the results of the model test, purchase intentions on vegan fashion products were determined by attitude, subjective norms, ethical responsibility, and ethical identity of the consumers. When consumers have a more positive attitude, have higher subjective norms, stronger ethical responsibility, and stronger ethical identity regarding the purchase of vegan fashion products, they are likely to have a greater intention to purchase vegan fashion products. The findings contribute to the literature by adding test results for vegan fashion products among the ethical product categories, highlighting the importance of the consideration of product category, which can give somewhat different results when exploring ethical consumption. Based on these findings, marketers need to use special tags or signage highlighting the ethical values and meanings of vegan fashion products to better communicate with target consumers with a high level of ethical responsibility and to help increase consumers’ control over purchase behaviors through reducing barriers generated by insufficient product information.

When purchasing products or services, consumers tend to purchase multiple value attributes through the acquisition of a product rather than physical characteristics. This study empirically analyzed the relations between consumption value, brand attitude, and purchase intention of customers purchasing fair-trade coffee, by dividing consumption values that would have significant effects on consumers’ actual purchase behavior into five levels. Among the consumption value factors of customers purchasing fair-trade coffee, the functional value, social value, emotional value, and rare value all had significant effects on brand attitude and purchase intention while the influence of situational value on brand attitude and purchase intention was not verified. These finding are partially concordant with those of preceding studies, and the consumption value of consumers purchasing fair-trade coffee has positive effects on purchase behavior; therefore, it would be necessary for companies selling fair-trade products to understand consumers’ specific values. Moreover, analysis of the influence of brand attitude on purchase intention of customers purchasing fair-trade coffee revealed that purchase intention increased when brand attitude was higher. These finding indicate that it is necessary to identify measures to increase purchase intention by targeting consumer groups with high brand attitude with intensive promotions.

Sustainability is currently regarded as an imperative business goal by multiple stakeholders, comprising investors, customers, and policymakers (Nidumolu, Prahalad, & Rangaswami, 2009; Sheth, Sethia, & Srinivas, 2011). In particular, how effectively the fashion industry deals with the challenges of sustainability will define its success for eras to come. This study focuses on how social power, parasocial interaction, and social capital work for purchase intention of sustainable fashion products in the fashion YouTube context. Specifically, the study investigates the effects of social power on parasocial interaction, the effects of parasocial interaction on social capital, and the effects of social capital on purchase intention for sustainable fashion products and the implications for sustainable fashion marketing and management. Theoretical Framework This study defines social power as types of power that can be employed to exert influence on others. The five social power bases (French & Raven, 1959) are discussed in terms of perceived influence: Expert power refers to someone who is perceived to be an expert, to have expert knowledge, or to possess special information. Legitimate power relates to someone who is perceived to have a legitimate right to impose behavioral requirements. Referent power is associated with someone who is personally identified. Reward power refers to someone who is perceived to have ability and coercive power to someone who is perceived to have the capability to confer punishment. Parasocial interaction concerns the relationship between media personalities and media users (Frederick, Lim, Clavio, & Walsh, 2012; Horton & Wohl, 1956; Jin & Park, 2009). Parasocial interaction can be defined as “immediate, personal, and reciprocal, but these qualities are illusory and presumably not shared by the speaker” (Horton & Strauss, 1957, p. 580; Jin & Park, 2009). Parasocial interaction theory focuses on the way audiences interact, relate to, and develop relationships with a celebrity (Jin & Park, 2009; Lee & Watkins, 2016). Audiences create a strong bond and intimacy with a celebrity while viewing media channels such as TV programs and social interactive media where audiences feel closer to the celebrity (Kassing & Sanderson, 2009; Lee & Watkins, 2016). Social capital refers to “the aggregate of the actual or potential resources linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships” (Bourdieu, 1985, p. 248). Social capital involves the relationship between providing access to resources possessed by the associates and the nature and amount of those resources (Portes, 1998). Social capital can be clarified as an intangible force that helps to bind society together by transforming self-seeking individuals into members of a community with shared interests, shared assumptions about social relations, and a sense of the common good (Etzioni, 1996). Sustainability refers to three dimensions: economic, environmental, and social (Sheth, Sethia, & Srinivas, 2011). Sustainability transforms into a triple bottom line responsibility, with the inference that assessment of business outcomes should be based not only on economic performance, but also on the environmental and social impact. Environmental and social demands from various stakeholders contribute to the pressure for businesses to reflect sustainability. Thus, sustainable marketing practices are defined from economic, environmental, and social perspectives. In this study, effective sustainability measurements involve purchase intention for sustainable products especially emphasizing environmental and social performance. Focused on the effects of social power on parasocial interaction and the effects of parasocial interaction on social capital and purchase intention for sustainable products, this study tests the following hypotheses: H1. Social power (expert, referent, legitimate, and reward) positively influences parasocial interaction. H2. Parasocial interaction positively influences social capital (bonding and bridging). H3. Social capital positively influences purchase intention for sustainable fashion products (environmentally and socially sustainable fashion products). Methods This study used a survey to investigate key questions about the associations among social power, parasocial interaction, social capital, and purchase intention for sustainable fashion products. A total of 230 fashion YouTube users recruited from South Korea participated in the survey. Of the 230 participants, 40 were men (17.4%) and 190 were women (82.6%), with ages ranging from 20 to 39 (mean = 29.43 years). The social power of the fashion YouTuber (e.g., vlogger) was measured through an existing social power scale including expert, referent, legitimate, and reward measures that elicited user responses to 14 items (Goodrich & Mangleburg, 2010). Parasocial interaction was measured on the basis of user responses to six items on an existing 5- point scale that assessed parasocial interaction (Jin & Park, 2009). This study measured social capital on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree), which was adapted from an existing Internet social capital scale (Williams, 2006). Purchase intention was measured using three 7-point semantic differential scales (likely/unlikely, probable/improbable, possible/impossible; MacKenzie, Lutz, & Belch, 1986) after informing participants that they might be purchasing environmentally and socially sustainable products. Results The overall goodness-of-fit for this measurement model was acceptable (Chi-square 1236.138, df = 680, p <0.001, chi/df=1.818, TLI = 0.900, CFI = 0.913, RMSEA = 0.060). The reliability coefficients of all 14 social power measures including expert, referent, legitimate, and reward were 0.871, 0.782, 0.657, and 0.865, respectively. The reliability coefficient of all six parasocial interaction measures was 0.873. The reliability coefficients of all social capital measures were 0.684 for bonding factors and 0.899 for bridging factors. The reliability coefficients of purchase intention of environmentally and socially sustainable product measures were 0.921 and 0.947, respectively. The coefficients indicate acceptable reliability of the measures. This study used partial least squares (PLS) for structural equation modeling, which has good statistical power for samples. Social power, including referent (β = 0.018, p < 0.05) and reward (β = 0.359, p < 0.001), showed statistically positive effects on parasocial interaction. The results partially supported H1. Parasocial interaction showed statistically positive effects on social capital, the bonding factor (β = 0.578, p < 0.001), and the bridging factor (β = 0.651, p < 0.001). Thus, the results supported H2. For parasocial capital, bridging showed statistically positive effects on purchase intention of environmentally (β = 0.233, p < 0.01) and socially (β = 0.284, p < 0.01) sustainable products. Thus, the results partially supported H3 (see Table 1, Figure 1). Discussion This study contributes to clarifying the concept of social capital and determining the relationships between social capital and purchase intention for sustainable fashion products. This study contributes to the theoretical foundation and implications of social capital and sustainability. Specifically, social power, including referent and reward, positively influences parasocial interaction. Parasocial interaction has positive effects on social capital. In turn, social capital positively influences purchase intention for sustainable fashion products. This is the first study on the effects of social capital on purchase intention for sustainable fashion products in the fashion YouTube context. This study suggests that social capital is a strong influential variable for purchase intention regarding sustainable fashion products. Thus, fashion marketers should consider social capital management in the fashion YouTube context while tailoring their brand communications to enhance their sustainable marketing and management.

This conceptual paper discusses the influence of brand knowledge through various components of personal luxury products’ towards the purchase intention. Rapid shifts in luxury consumers’ behaviours is one of the predominant drivers contributing to the growth of the modern luxury market. In response to this, luxury consumers’ characteristics and profiles need to be reexamined. In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in global luxury consumption with the rise in number of luxury consumers from 140 million to 350 million globally (Bain & Company, 2015). Such a phenomenal growth in the luxury market leads to a widely increased interests among researchers across all disciplines (Truong et al., 2008; 2009, Tynan et al., 2010; Kapferer & Valette-Florence, 2016). In particular, personal luxury goods market is forecast to continue to grow between 2-3 percent through 2020 (Bain & Company, 2016). Despite the fact that personal luxury goods is a major driver of the entire market, there is a limited research in this product category. Two factors of this fast-growing trend stimulate the need for additional research into consumers’ behaviours. First, there has been a shift in luxury consumers’ profile (Hanna, 2004; Fionda & Moore, 2009) and purchasing patterns (Bain & Company, 2015; 2016) where social influences (Dubois et al., 2001; Berthon et al., 2009; Cheah et al., 2015; Yang and Mattila, 2014; Kapferer & Valette-Florence, 2016) and people’s needs for materialism, appearances to enhance their ego and self-concept (Phau & Prendergast, 2000; Kapferer, 2006) are having greater impact on how consumers make their luxury purchase decisions. Second, it appears that the characteristics of the traditional luxury consumers as well as old marketing models from many decades ago need to be redefined (Bain & Company, 2015). Danziger (2005) indicates that the changes in luxury consumers’ purchase decision has created a dramatic shift in the purchase behaviour as a whole, making it difficult for luxury marketers to recognise the trend. To date, existing literature on luxury purchase intention focuses mainly from the cultural, economic, psychological perspectives (Leibenstein, 1950; Veblen, 1899; Bian & Forsythe, 2012; Liu et al., 2012; Wong & Ahuvia, 1998; Vigneron & Johnson, 2004; Shukla, 2012; Cheah et al., 2015) but remains limited on investigating luxury consumers’ behaviours through the integration of brand knowledge domain. Major works from marketing scholars on luxury value perceptions (Wiedmann et al., 2007 and 2009; Vigneron & Johnson, 2004; Shukla, 2012; Shukla & Purani, 2013; De Barnier et al., 2006; Hennigs et al., 2012 and 2013) suggest that they are important in explaining the whole picture of luxury consumption but insufficient in explaining purchase intentions (Shukla, 2012). Kapferer (2006) discusses that it is typical for consumers to identify which brand belongs to the luxury category, however, it could be more complex for the precise definition of luxury to be identified and understood. Therefore, this study seeks to incorporate the branding aspects into the investigation on the significance of brand knowledge towards the intention to purchase personal luxury products. Literature Review The concept of luxury is first explained by Veblen (1899) that the consumption of luxury goods is primarily considered by the affluent consumers with the desire to display their wealth to the relevant significant others. Even though the concept of luxury remains obscure, the clearer definition of luxury is given by Nueno & Quelch (1998) as the “ratio of functional utility to price is low while the ratio of intangible and situational utility to price is high” and that luxury products are beyond an ordinary expensive goods but “an ephemeral status symbol”. Shukla (2010) also defines luxury as the consumption that is not for just oneself but a socially-oriented type of consumption that fulfils the consumers’ own indulgence as well as to serve the “socially directed motives”. The aforementioned definitions of luxury show it is an “elusive concept” (Kapferer, 1998) with “fuzzy frontiers” (Kapferer, 2006). The luxury concept is describes as “incredibly fluid, and changes dramatically” over time and varied among different cultures (Yeoman and McMahon-Beattie 2006). As consumers become richer (Fionda & Moore, 2009) and are able to afford more luxury brands (Nueno & Quelch, 1998), luxury is no longer reserved for the rich but also includes the rising number of aspiring middle-class consumers (Shukla, 2012) who enjoy material comfort (Yeoman & McMahon-Beattie, 2006; Yeoman, 2011: Granot et al., 2013). This change makes the term luxury even more difficult to define (Shukla, 2010) and will continue as an ongoing debate among research scholars (Kapferer & Valette-Florence, 2016). Dubois & Paternault (1995) mention that “luxury items are bought for what they mean, beyond what they are”, this statement defines the nature of luxury brands where consumers often purchase luxury products not merely because of their outstanding quality but because of the name and the symbolic identity the brand provides. Kapferer (1998) recognises the importance in exploring the perception of luxury brands from the end-users themselves because they know best. This also adds to the ongoing complexity and difficulties in giving luxury a discreet definition (Kapferer, 1997 and 1998). The work of Grotts & Johnson (2013) investigates the status consumption of millennial consumers and indicates that it is highly possible that the consumers may not express any interest on the quality of the products but are placing greater emphasis on the ability of the handbags to be recognised and generate attention from their reference groups. With regard to marketing strategy, luxury marketers react to the rapid increase in demand to maintain their position of exclusivity by increasing the price every year in order to secure their clientele (Kapferer, 2015b). Louis Vuitton, Rolex, and Christian Dior increase the price of their products every year to sustain the dream value of the consumers (Kapferer, 2015a; 2015b). It is apparent that most luxury companies are managing the dilemma of maintaining the exclusivity of its products while increasing brand awareness as well as focusing on securing more market share and revenue (Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2012; Berthon et al., 2009). Despite the recognisable shifts in luxury consumption pattern, the sector will continue to grow with the majority of affluent consumers as discussed by Steve Kraus of Ipsos (King, 2015). The most recognisable shift in luxury marketing strategy is on the increasing number of luxury companies offering lower-price products in response to the rising level of demand for luxury consumption by the enthusiastic middle class consumers (Truong et al., 2008; Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2012). Luxury was once reserved for the “happy few” (Veblen, 1899) but this notion is no longer practical for today’s luxury environment where luxury products are “consumed by a larger aspirational segment” (Granot et al., 2013). Democratisation of luxury refers to when luxury brands create a lower-priced accessory items in order to appeal to the broader market, making luxury accessible to those “who could never afford to purchase the principal items in the line” (Nueno & Quelch, 1998) or the new luxury consumers who seeks recognition from luxury purchase. Han et al. (2010) discusses that different classes of consumers can now be distinguished by the brands of purses, watches, or shoes that they own. They let the brands speak for them, whether they prefer the loud Gucci logo or displaying the consumption of a “‘no logo’ strategy” by carrying a Bottega Veneta bag (Han et al., 2010). As Husic & Cicic (2009) state, an important question on today’s luxury consumption that if it is possible for everyone to obtain luxury items, are the brands still considered luxury? This is one of the important agendas concerning luxury consumption that prompts researchers to investigate this changing behaviours and perceptions of luxury consumers. It is also significance to note that the increase in global demand in luxury market is not necessarily positive but could be negative if the demand is not being managed efficiently (Hennigs et al., 2015). Despite frequent changes in luxury consumption patterns, Kapferer & Valette-Florence (2016) argues that it is vital to understand how consumers behave in order for the brands to create and maintain trust and reputation among its consumers. Danziger (2005) argues that the notion of “past behaviour predicts future behavior” may not be applicable to the luxury market. However, the foundation remains where the marketers need to understand the basics about the past and present behaviours in order to offer the products and services at the price that luxury consumers are willing to pay. It is partly due to the minimisation of the possible risks that might occur in purchasing luxury products as stated by Kapferer & Valette-Florence (2016) that “in luxury, no one wants to buy the wrong brand”. In light of these changes in the demand and strategies, a new framework of luxury purchase intention will be presented. This framework integrates brand knowledge in order to accommodate the traditional consumer, who appreciates the brand and its exclusivity, as well as the new buyer who wants recognition. This attempt in merging the two groups of luxury consumers together will highlights how traditional and new luxury consumers make their purchase decisions based on different components of luxury product characteristics as well as different value perception, or that is to say, based on a different levels of brand knowledge. Conceptual Framework Over several decades scholars attempted to agree on a single comprehensive definition for the term ‘luxury’ but have not yet reached that goal because the concept of luxury is highly individual and the market itself is heterogeneous (Hennigs et al., 2013). The definition of luxury, therefore, is very complex to define (Vigneron & Johnson, 1999; Dubois & Duquesne, 1993) due to its “subjective character” (De Barnier et al., 2012) with many diverse facets (Phau & Prendergast, 2000). This study provides a new perspective by looking at the factors that influence luxury purchase intention. Based on the original work of Keller (1993), it is important to understand the structure and content of brand knowledge because these dictate what comes into the consumer’s mind when they think about a brand and what they know about the brand (Keller, 2003). Consumer brand knowledge is defined as the “personal meaning about a brand stored in consumer memory, that is, all descriptive and evaluative brand-related information” (Keller, 2003). Strong, unique, and favorable brand associations must be created with consumers (Kotler & Keller, 2012 and 2016). In luxury consumption, different consumers seek different emotional and functional benefits from luxury brands (Kapferer, 1998), which makes it relevant and significant to investigate the level of influences of brand knowledge and value perceptions on the intention to purchase luxury products. The proposed conceptual framework for this study is presented in Figure 1 in the Appendix section. Managerial Implications This study provides both theoretical and managerial implications. On theoretical grounds, this study provides an enhanced model in investigating the influence of luxury brand knowledge towards luxury purchase intention considering luxury brand characteristics and luxury value perceptions. On managerial perspective, this study provides an update in the modern luxury consumers consumption pattern in terms of what specific characteristics of luxury products they would consider when they intend to purchase. At the same time, this study analyses the types of luxury value perceptions acknowledge by modern luxury consumers towards their purchase decision. In addition, the proposed conceptual framework will take into account the behaviours of traditional luxury consumers, who seems to have been lost due to the increased demand among the new luxury consumers. According to Keller et al. (2012), the marketers of the brand needs to acknowledge the insights to how brand knowledge exists in consumer memory. From the model, marketers can plan and execute efficient marketing and communication strategies for modern luxury consumers given their fast-changing preference in luxury consumption. Following the suggestion from Kapferer & Valette-Florence (2016) which indicates that “luxury is made by brands” and apart from selling luxurious products, the dream is what is attached to the brand logo and name. Therefore, by investigating the relationship between luxury products characteristics along with luxury value perceptions, this study aims to provide a refreshing analysis of today’s luxury consumers and what stimulates them to buy personal luxury products. Further Research A questionnaire will be developed by the integration of the established measurements and scales from the existing luxury consumption and branding literature. A draft of the questionnaire will be reviewed against the literature and the practical insights obtained from the sales associates and experts in the luxury industry for the suitability and clarity of the questions. The final draft of the questionnaire will be pre-test on a small number of respondents from the target audience. The target population for the study is among general luxury consumers. The data collected from the survey will be analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach to model decision process and validate the proposed conceptual framework. Cluster analysis will be used to identify segments of consumers as recommended by Aaker et al. (2013). The anticipated research findings will expand on the degree of influences of the brand knowledge towards the willingness to purchase of personal luxury goods. It is also expected that the research findings will be useful in redefining the existing types of luxury consumers to represent today’s luxury consumers.

본 연구에서는 모바일 환경에서 패션제품을 구매할 때 소비자의 구매의도에 영향을 미치는 영향 변수로 쇼핑가치와 새로운 기술을 수용하는데 영향을 주는 신념 변수로 알려진 사용용이성과 유용성을 채택하여 경로모형을 구성하여 검정하였고, 구매경험에 따른 집단 별(중구매/경구매 집단)로 경로모형을 비교분석하였다. 온라인 설문 전문업체를 통해 스마트 폰을 통해 패션제품을 구매한 경험이 있는 20-30 대 성인을 대상으로 설문지 분석을 시행하였고, 총 411부의 유효한 데이터를 SPSS 21과 AMOS 19 프로그램을 이용하여 분석하였다. 쇼핑가치는 감성적인 차원의 쾌락적 쇼핑가치와 실용적인 차원의 실용적 쇼핑가치로 분류되었고 구성변수의 신뢰성이 확인되었다. 경로모형의 적합성은 적합한 것으로 입증되었으며, 최근 1년 동안 스마트폰을 통해 패션제품을 구매한 횟수에 따라 중구매 집단과 경구매 집단으로 분류하여 경로모형을 비교분석한 결과는 다음과 같다. 두 집단 모두 공통적으로 쾌락적 가치보다는 실용적 가치가 모바일 구매의도에 미치는 직접적인 영향력이 유의한 것으로 나타났고, 사용용이성은 직접적으로 구매의도에 영향을 미치기보다는 유용성을 거쳐 구매의도에 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 구체적으로 중구매 집단의 경우, 쾌락적 쇼핑가치가 구매의도에 주는 영향과 사용용이성이 구매의도에 주는 영향을 제외하고는 모든 경로가 유의한 것으로 나타났다. 경구매 집단에서는 쾌락적 쇼핑가치가 사용용이성에 주는 영향, 실용적 쇼핑가치가 유용성에 주는 영향, 쾌락적 쇼핑가치가 구매의도에 주는 영향, 사용용이성이 구매의도에 주는 영향의 경로가 유의하지 않은 것으로 밝혀졌다. 본 분석 결과는 다양한 유통채널을 사용하여 제품을 구매하는 현대 소비자들을 모바일 구매로 유도하기 위한 차별화된 모바일 마케팅 전략을 수립하는데 근거가 될 것이다.

Modern men are much more interested in their appearance than ever before, as well as showing an increased need for uniqueness in order to construct their own sphere and pursue differentiation from others. Besides, changes in life style and the aesthetic sense are causing men to pursue various kinds of clothing benefits so that they want a suit with characteristics beyond the stereotyped design and style. They have started to be actively engaged in clothing purchases, forming a driving force for the growth of the male suit market. Hence, this study has significance in that it offers data conducive to consumers’ custom suit purchase by reviewing data on the present condition of the custom suit market and bespoke suits. In addition, it aims to give a summary on the theoretical bases of preceding studies, including the need for uniqueness, pursuit of clothing benefit and concern for the appearance of male consumers, as well as examining the factors that influence on their bespoke suit purchase intentions. Accordingly, this work intends to construct a basic environment for consumers to approach the custom suit market easily and pave the way for male suit markets through offering marketing data and information that is helpful for custom suit-related markets.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between conspicuous consumption tendency, brand attitudes, and purchase intentions of college students regarding eating out by limiting conspicuous consumption tendency among several psychological variables to acquire a more precise and concrete influence factor on consumption behavior to eat out. First, as for sensing other people, pursuing individuality and brand orientation among conspicuous consumption tendency of restaurant costumers had significant effects on brand attitudes, whereas the influence of status symbols and pursuing trend factor on brand attitudes was not verified. Second, as for sensing other people, pursing individuality, pursuing trends, and brand orientation factor among conspicuous consumption tendency had significant effects on purchasing intention. Otherwise, the significant effect relationship between status symbols factor and purchasing intentions was not confirmed. Third, as purchase intentions increased, brand attitudes of consumers increased according to existing research. Thus, this study suggests a more departmentalized marketing strategy method to create profits and enhance competitiveness of food service enterprises, and academic implications suggest fundamental data of relevant studies on conspicuous consumption tendency and purchasing behavior of consumers to eat out

The purposes of this study were to: 1) identify sub-factors of fashion shopping orientation (FSO) in adults aged 20 through 39, and analyze the differences among those FSO factors according to classified groups, which were based on gender and purchase frequency in a mobile shopping mall, and 2) to investigate the effects of FSO factors on mobile purchase intention according to the same classified groups. The questionnaire was conducted from November 10, 2015 to November 20, 2015 and its 432 respondents were classified into four groups, which were male/heavy purchaser, male/light purchaser, female/heavy purchaser, and female/light purchaser. The results of this study were as follows: First, fashion shopping orientation consisted of five sub-factors, which included “conspicuous brand pursuit”, “economic pursuit”, “pleasure/trend pursuit”, “impulse shopping”, and “convenience pursuit”. Second, There were significant differences in three factors of FSO between male purchasers and female purchasers. Male purchasers showed higher tendency than female purchasers in “conspicuous brand pursuit”, while female purchasers showed higher tendency than male purchasers in “economic pursuit” and “convenience pursuit”. All the factors of FSO showed significant differences among the classified groups. Third, “economic pursuit”, “pleasure/trend pursuit” and “convenience pursuit” affected mobile purchase intention in the case of male purchasers while “economic pursuit” and “conspicuous brand pursuit” had a influence on mobile purchase intention in the case of female purchasers. Fourth, the factors of FSO affected mobile purchase intention partly in each group. In conclusion. “economic pursuit” was proven to be the main influential factor to induce consumers to have a mobile purchase intention.