Introduction Celebrities are actively capitalizing on their fame and credibility by launching their own brand extensions which are heavily promoted on Instagram. This situation is especially prevalent in Malaysia among many local Malay ‘celepreneurs’. While consumers’ constant involvement with a celebrity on Instagram is believed to result in the purchase of celebrity branded products, the central question of how a causal variable such as Instagram involvement has an effect on the outcome of purchase has been less explored in contemporary studies. The role of celebrity adulation and style conformity in the context of celebrity branding-cum-entrepreneurship deserves much attention given the strong influence celebrities exert on young consumers in this digital era of accessible information. Research framework Given the admiration that young consumers have towards the celebrities they follow on Instagram, celebrity worship, in both pathological and non-pathological form, is believed to be a crucial link between their involvement with the social media and their desire to imitate their favourite celebrity’s style. Eventually this paves the way for the purchase of celebrity brand products given that getting the products is an avenue for the young consumers to attain their celebrities’ style. Therefore in this study, four variables that mediate the relationship between Instagram involvement and purchase of celebrity branded products are examined: celebrity worship as manifested across three varying levels particularly entertainment-social (lowest form of worship); intense-personal (mid-level); borderline pathological (highest level); and style conformity. Method Data was collected from 226 Malaysian women of Malay ethnicity who are active Instagram users and fall under the technology-savvy Millennial segment using a self-administered questionnaire. This segment of consumers is technology savvy and has personalities and lifestyles (Gurau, 2012). They also tend to imitate their favourite celebrity in contrast to their male counterparts (Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017). Measures for the mediating variables were derived from McCutcheon et al.’s (2002) Celebrity Worship Scale and Park and Yang’s (2010) items on celebrity style conformity. A five-point scale (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree) was utilized to capture the responses to the variables measured. Analysis and results Serial multiple mediation testing was applied on the data using variance-based structural equation modelling. The multiple mediation analysis showed that of all the three levels of celebrity worship which mediate the link between Instagram involvement and style conformity, only celebrity worship (entertainment-social) was found to be a significant mediator between Instagram involvement and style conformity (Indirect effect=0.127; t-value= 3.285, 95% Boot CI: LL=0.059, UL=0.216). In addition, the presence of a serial mediation was detected for the link between Instagram involvement-celebrity worship (entertainment-social)-style conformity-purchase of celebrity brand products (Indirect effect=0.04; t-value=2.954, 95% Boot CI: LL=0.02, UL=0.08). Conclusion The serial mediation testing in this study has demonstrated that celebrity worship and style conformity serve as the missing link between the involvement-purchase relationship. Furthermore, the multiple mediation testing has shown that only celebrity worship at the basic level functions as a mediator. The findings of this study imply that the use of Instagram is indeed a compelling marketing communication tool that fosters the purchase of celebrity brand extensions. Constant involvement in Instagram by following the celebrity, liking, reposting, commenting or hashtagging on the celebrity’s account builds a keen sense of devotion for the celebrity whereby the individual will constantly watch, read and learn about the celebrity. This then heightens the user’s desire to emulate the style of the celebrity which may well lead them to purchase the celebrity’s products in an effort to imitate the celebrity’s look and demeanour. strong desire for and high willingness to spend on branded products that match their

Numerous studies have tested the impact of store environmental stimuli on store loyalty via some form of attachment and found that the environmental cues of a store do influence repatronage behaviours such as intentions to visit a store. However, different groups of consumers such as men and women could respond differently to environmental stimuli and develop distinct emotions or attachment towards a store brand (i.e. store love) which eventually results in different store repatronage behaviour (i.e. store loyalty). This study sought to determine whether male and female shoppers evaluated the (1) impact of store environmental cues (ambient, design, merchandise and social) on store love, as well as (2) effect of store love on store loyalty differently from each other. Studies comparing male and female shoppers are crucial as it would help retailers formulate and implement more effective gender-related marketing strategies. The framework and measures of this study were adapted from Koo and Kim (2003). Data was solicited from 863 Millennial shoppers of fast fashion retail stores in Malaysia using a survey method. The focus was on fast fashion stores given their significance as a disrupter in the retail industry and their strong popularity among clothing shoppers. Partial least squares multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) was used to determine the differences between path coefficients in the structural model as well as compare the loadings of the indicators in the measurement model between both male and female respondents. Results showed that the indicator loadings do not differ significantly between male and female subsamples thereby establishing measurement model invariance. Results from the PLS-MGA showed that male and female shoppers do not evaluate the impact of store environmental cues (ambient, design, merchandise and social) on store love differently. Both groups shared the same perception that all four environmental cues examined in this study were important in cultivating positive feelings and attachment towards a store brand. However, the impact of store love on store loyalty differed significantly among males and females. Interestingly, the effect of store love on store loyalty was higher for the males than the females, contrasting the conventional view of females as the more emotionally-attached and loyal group of consumers.Numerous studies have tested the impact of store environmental stimuli on store loyalty via some form of attachment and found that the environmental cues of a store do influence repatronage behaviours such as intentions to visit a store. However, different groups of consumers such as men and women could respond differently to environmental stimuli and develop distinct emotions or attachment towards a store brand (i.e. store love) which eventually results in different store repatronage behaviour (i.e. store loyalty). This study sought to determine whether male and female shoppers evaluated the (1) impact of store environmental cues (ambient, design, merchandise and social) on store love, as well as (2) effect of store love on store loyalty differently from each other. Studies comparing male and female shoppers are crucial as it would help retailers formulate and implement more effective gender-related marketing strategies. The framework and measures of this study were adapted from Koo and Kim (2003). Data was solicited from 863 Millennial shoppers of fast fashion retail stores in Malaysia using a survey method. The focus was on fast fashion stores given their significance as a disrupter in the retail industry and their strong popularity among clothing shoppers. Partial least squares multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) was used to determine the differences between path coefficients in the structural model as well as compare the loadings of the indicators in the measurement model between both male and female respondents. Results showed that the indicator loadings do not differ significantly between male and female subsamples thereby establishing measurement model invariance. Results from the PLS-MGA showed that male and female shoppers do not evaluate the impact of store environmental cues (ambient, design, merchandise and social) on store love differently. Both groups shared the same perception that all four environmental cues examined in this study were important in cultivating positive feelings and attachment towards a store brand. However, the impact of store love on store loyalty differed significantly among males and females. Interestingly, the effect of store love on store loyalty was higher for the males than the females, contrasting the conventional view of females as the more emotionally-attached and loyal group of consumers.The findings imply that retailers need to be more astute in creating strong emotional bonds with customers that translate to repatronage behaviours particularly among female shoppers. Male shoppers, as discovered, tend to be less finicky in expressing their love and repatronage intentions for a store once they are contented with the store’s ambience, design, merchandise and service. Alternatively, retailers can seize the opportunity of reaching out to the Millennial male shopper cohort given their potential in market size, characteristic as the less fastidious lot compared to their female counterparts, penchant for recreational shopping and being market mavens when it comes to the latest products, trends and happenings.