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.

Reports indicate that in 2017, social commerce had become a 20 billion dollar industry. Given the developing world’s fatigue with social media, social commerce growth will likely be fueled by consumers from developing economies. While literature has investigated social commerce in the context of established brands in developed economies (e.g. Kim and Ko, 2012), it cannot yet explain consumers’ engagement with the uniqueness of social media commerce in developing economies. Social commerce in Southeast Asian economies are largely conducted amongst individuals or micro businesses. Since social media platforms largely do not provide commerce security nor support, consumers are more vulnerable to fraudulent practices. What factors motivate these purchases despite such risks? This study offers insights into how consumers’ motivated reasoning influences their willingness to purchase over social media. We focus on the social media store’s ease of use and perceived security as antecedents of trust. Specifically, we argue that perceiving a lack of ability to purchase from other channels would induce higher trust towards a social media store, despite low perceptions of ease and security of transaction. Data was collected from 224 Indonesian social media users who have been exposed to social media stores on Instagram. The findings suggest that when consumers perceive high control of how they could obtain desired goods, trust becomes a logical function of the perceived safety and ease of use of the shops. However, under low perceived control, consumers display high trust in social media shops despite not being convinced that they are safe nor easy to use. The findings extend our understanding about the antecedents of value creation in social commerce (Stephen and Toubia, 2010). Our results enrich prior literature by showing how motivated reasoning leads to biases in judgment to be in favor of desired goals (Blanton and Gerrard, 1997), and extends it in the novel context of social media commerce. Furthermore, by incorporating the literature on perceived behavioral control and motivated reasoning, the current study provides important empirical evidence for the presence of perceived control over alternate channels as a significant driver for trust towards social media shops. The current research also has a number of implications for social commerce providers in developing economies. This study shows that it is advantageous for managers to cultivate trust using interactivity and reliability to elicit a sense of security and ease of use. However, our findings also offers a caution for firms to not be lulled into a false sense of comfort by taking consumers’ trust at face value.

Online social interactions are known to be useful to improve business performances. As l ocal business retailers have limited resources in marketing, they can benefit by using onli ne social interactions for their business performances. In the same line of purpose, the ret ailers also exploit an online platform, such as discount coupon sites: they sell online coup ons for their offline products and services in the platform. Notably, the online platform ca n play an important role in generating online social interactions as well as final sales arou nd the retailing brands. It also provides a distinctive setting for consumers in that they pur chase products and services online only to consume their use offline. Given that consume rs are motivated by different purposes, their online social interactions may differ in the di sparity of purchasing online and consuming offline. Previous studies have witnessed the r elationship between social interactions and sales, but the relationship between environme ntal influences and social interactions remains unexplored. In this paper, we focus on the influences of online and offline environments where consumers are situated with the online platform on generating online social interactions as well as final sales. To this end, we look into two types of social interactions, i.e., product discussion and social referral, and two distinctive environmental influences, i.e., the influences from the same product page and from the local retail revenue where the focal business is located. Using data on online social interactions and offline retail revenues around a major coupon site in South Korea, our empirical analysis demonstrates interesting findings. The two types of social interactions and final sales respond in different way to the environmental influences. To be specific, in the online purchase context, the absolute influence lowers the generation of product discussion and sales while promoting social referrals. In the offline consumption context, however, the proportionate influence plays a role in driving these three outcomes. Our findings suggest that local business retailers should deploy their online platform strategies by concerning online and offline environments, in accordance with the specific marketing objectives regarding social interactions and sales.

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.

Drawing both on international marketing literature (Steenkamp, Batra, & Alden, 2003) and value/risk research (Sweeny & Soutar, 2001; Mitchell, 1999), the current study investigates (1) how consumers’ perceptions of brand globalness/localness (PBG/PBL) influence their assessment of different dimensions of perceived value as well as the risk associated with making a purchase decision; and (2) how these value and risk assessments mediate the relationships between PBG/PBL and brand purchase intentions. We apply signaling theory (Kirmani & Rao, 2000) to relate PBG and PBL to consumers’ perceptions of risk as well as their perceptions of functional, emotional and social value. For empirical verification of the hypothesized relationships, we use comparable samples from two European countries that vary substantially in terms of economic development (Slovenia and Bosnia & Herzegovina). Results show that only emotional value serves as a consistent mediator of PBG and PBL on purchase intentions in both countries, whereas no mediating role could be identified for perceived risk. In terms of managerial implications, our findings reveal the importance of emphasizing the emotional value of a brand, which serves as a stable facilitator through which PBG/PBL influence consumers’ purchase intentions across the distinct market settings.

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.

Introduction With awareness of the importance of environmental protection, encouragement of green consumption has been an important part of the Chinese government's efforts to promote sustainable development. Green consumption is similar to the concept of environmental responsible consumption, which refers to individual’s behavior with a consideration of the environmental impacts in the process of purchasing, using and disposing of various products, or use of various green services (Stern, 1999). Previous studies tried to predict pro-environmental behavior with social-psychological factors, such as values, attitudes and beliefs. However, researches about the relationship between environmental attitudes and behaviors do not produce consistent results. Some prove that they are positive related, and others argue that their relationship is very weak. Studies have testified that lots of consumers declare that they concern about the environmental situation, but hesitate to pay for green products due to this affect (Chang, 2011). Advancing knowledge about the motivations and obstacles that shape intention and behavior of green consumption is important. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) is appropriate as an initial framework for studies investigating consumers’ pro-environmental behaviors. With the inclusion of a new construct perceived behavioral control, the explanatory ability of this model is strengthened. However, simple adoption of this model does not give us deep insight into consumers’ behavior. Later studies apply TPB in different contexts (e.g. Paul, Modi, Patel, 2016; Mancha & Yoder, 2015; Han, Hsu, Sheu, 2011). The mechanism of how attitude, norms and perception of behavioral control are formed may differ in different circumstances, which is still under research especially in China. The purpose of this paper is to (a) identify applicability of TPB model in predicting green purchasing intention and behavior in China and capture which factor including attitude, perceived behavioral control and norm is the most influential determinant; (b) to examine the most useful psychological and situational antecedents, which indirect influence consumers’ green purchase behavior through the factors in TPB framework. Literature Review and Hypothesis Development Green products refer to those produced with consideration of less harm to the ecological environment such as air, water and land. Green purchase behavior should be considered as a typical socially conscious behavior that is different from other types of consumer behaviors, which can deliver instant personal gain and gratification (Kim & Choi, 2005). Most of the time, pro-environmental purchasing is future-oriented and benefits society as a whole (Author, Mccarty, & Shrum, 2001). Previous research models seek to explain green purchase behavior from two aspects of causal factors. Some emphasize intra-personal determinants from within and others may stress that from outside. However, a single consideration of any one set of these factors will weaken the interpretation of consumers’ green consumer behavior. The research model of this study is based on the most influential TPB framework. Some significant psychological and situational factors are integrated into the framework with the purpose of further understanding Chinese consumers’ purchase behavior. Theory of planned behavior According to the TPB model, individual’s decision making is oriented by a rational evaluation of behavioral consequences (Bamberg & Moer, 2007). The intention to perform a behavior, is considered as the central factor in the TPB model (Tarkiainen & Sundqvist, 2005). Attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm about the behavior, and perceived behavioral control regarding the performance of the behavior are three principal factors that determine behavioral intention. H1: Intention to buy green product has a positive relationship with the green purchase behavior. Attitude refers to individuals' beliefs about the outcomes of the behavior together with an evaluation of the importance of these outcomes. Consumers who feel positive toward green products and have agreement on their environmental goodness will most likely to consider buying products with pro-ecological features. H2a: Attitude toward buying green product is positively associated with the intention to perform green purchase behavior. Subjective norm refers to the responses of important reference group (e.g. family members, close friends) to a particular behavior. Some scholars argue that “subjective norm” is the weakest component in the TPB model when predicting behavioral intentions due to its feature of both self and social interest (Armitage & Conner, 2001; Bagozzi et al., 2000). In this study, “moral norm” instead of “subjective norm” is proposed as a direct predictor of intention toward green purchasing. Moral norm indicates individual’s perception that whether performing a certain behavior is morally correct or not (Ajzen, 1991). H2b: Moral norm regarding buying green product is positively associated with the intention to perform green purchase behavior. Perceived behavioral control is an individual’s perception about if performing a particular behavior is easy or difficult. People tend to be more involved in behaviors that are considered to be easier to realize than what they think is difficult and have less control (Bamberg & Moer, 2007). H2c: PBC of buying green product is positively associated with the intention to perform green purchase behavior. Psychological antecedents of attitude Environmental concern indicates consumers' awareness about environmental issues and people’s worry that the human intervention will have threat to the environment (Kim & Choi, 2005). Literatures reveal an indirect relationship between ecological affect and actual behavior. Bang et al. (2000) concludes that environmental concern has indirect effect on purchase intention through the influence of consumer’s attitude toward paying a premium for renewable energy. The emotional responses to ecological problems help consumers to create a positive attitude toward green purchase behavior. H3a: Environmental concern is positively associated with the attitude toward green purchase behavior. Environmental knowledge represents consumers’ understanding of the environmental conditions, as well as fundamental factors that contribute to environmental change and crucial ecological effects (Pagiaslis & Krontalis, 2014). Knowledge has impact for individual’s cognitive processing. Zhao et al. (2014) confirms knowledge as one of the factors that form people’s attitudes toward environment-friendly behavior. Compared with less knowledgeable consumers, those who have more environmental knowledge incline to be more concerned about the environment, which in turn leads consumers to take attention to products’ ecological features while purchasing (Kim, Park, & Schwarz, 2010). H3b: Perceived environmental knowledge is positively associated with attitude toward green purchase behavior. In the pro-environmental behavior domain, PCE indicates to what extent consumers feel that every single person can contribute to solve environmental problems through their own efforts and their everyday purchase behavior (Straughan & Roberts, 1999).With the absence of belief that individual’s actions have observable outcome in making different solution to a problem, people will hesitate to take into action. Kim and Choi (2005) conclude that PCE has indirect effect on green purchasing through the role of ecological sensitive attitudes. H3c: PCE is positively associated with attitude toward green purchase behavior. Moral norm and subjective norm Bamberg and Moer (2007) suggest that people make use of subjective norms to determine whether a specific behavioral choice is easy to perform or whether it is beneficial. The opinions from “important others” deliver the standards for people to conform when they encounter the same situation. That is, the views about what is right or wrong from reference group will be absorbed and transformed as one’s personal moral norms (Bamberg & Moer, 2007). H4: Subjective norm is positively associated with moral norm regarding green purchase behavior. Situational factors influencing PBC Perceived availability indicates if consumers feel they can easily obtain or consume a certain product. If green products are not easy available, most consumers will not spend too much time and effort for searching. The limited availability and inconvenience in obtaining products is bound to hamper green products purchasing (Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006). H5a: Perceived availability of green product is positively associated with PBC regarding green purchase behavior. Perceived price is one of the most important factors that have impact on consumers’ decision-making of green consumption (Osterhus, 1997). Green products are generally priced higher than conventional products. However Chinese consumers who would like to pay a large premium are still in the minority. The perceived high price is a barrier that influences consumers’ perceived capability over green purchase behavior. H5b: Perceived price of green product is negatively associated with PBC regarding green purchase behavior. Information has an impact on individual’s cognitive process. It is an influential factor that leads consumer behavior change (Bator & Cialdini, 2000). Atkinson and Rosenthal confirm that eco-labels have effects on consumer’s trust and purchase intention. If consumers feel hard to recognize eco-labels and cannot understand their difference with regular ones, their perception of control will be highly influenced and the green purchase may be hindered. H5c: Perception of information provided by eco-label is positively associated with PBC regarding green purchase behavior. Methodology This research adopted the survey approach for data collection. A questionnaire that consisted of 46 items was designed according to relevant previous studies. All the items in the questionnaire use five-point Likert scale, which ranging from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (5). The target group of this study was consumer who is over 18 years old in the urban areas of Mainland China. An online survey was conducted for collecting data in the mid-October, 2017 and 500 samples were collected totally. After removing the disqualified questionnaires, 485 questionnaires were identified as eligible for further analysis. To testify the proposed hypotheses, the simple and multiple linear regression analyses using IBM SPSS Statistics was primarily adopted in the study. Meanwhile, the structural equation modeling (SEM) was also conducted as an alternative approach to examine the arguments. Results Firstly, the theory of planned behavior suggested by Ajzen (1991) was proved to be applicable in the green purchasing circumstance. Attitude was identified to play the most significant role in predicting the intention. The construct “moral norm” was resulted to be more predictable for green purchase intention compared with the original “subjective norm”. It indicates that in certain contexts, personal feeling of moral obligation or responsibility is more crucial and direct reason for consumer conducting ethical behaviors. Perceived behavioral control was testified as the third prediction of purchase intention. The proportion of variance explained (R2=0.546) for intention was even better compared with previous studies, which claimed that the three determinants account for between 40% and 50% of the variance in intention (Ajzen, 1991; Amireault et al., 2008; Conner & Armitage, 1998). This model revealed consumers’ mental development of their purchase intention before enacting the buying behavior. Secondly, the results testify that PCE plays as the central role in predicting attitude. Respondents who believe that their consumptions can help to reduce environmental deterioration will be much likely to hold positive attitudes toward green purchasing. Environmental concern and perceived knowledge have a considerable, but only indirect impact on consumers’ attitude. Implications for practice The results of this study suggest that consumers’ intentions to buy green products are directly predicted by attitude, moral norm and their perceived behavioral control. Firstly, enterprises in the green market need to adopt effective communication strategy to inform consumers about the advantages of environmentally friendly products in order to help consumers to develop a positive attitude to pro-environmental products. Moreover, due to the significant effect of PCE on consumer attitude, it's necessary for the government to quantify the effect of green consumption by real cases and data, so that people can perceive the effectiveness of green buying behavior in a more intuitive way. Meanwhile, companies should take more emphasis on consumer’s ability to solve the problem in a positive manner in marketing communications. Secondly, personal moral norm is also found to have direct effects on purchase green products. Thus, normative appeal is needed for creating consumers' emotional connection and should be presented in the promotion programs to stimulate green consumption. Thirdly, this study reveals that the availability is the main factor that affects consumers’ perceived behavioral control over green purchasing.

China, with its rapid growing wealthy consumers, is increasingly becoming a major market for luxury brands and products. It is believed that the growing consumption of wildlife products in China is one of the key factors in the acceleration of global extinction of endangered species. It is certainly not an easy task to reveal consumers’ true motivations behind their purchase, but is even tougher to change their behavior. In the field of wildlife conservation, despite many efforts so far have been made to de-market the consumption, the results are not encouraging. This study is designed to fill the research gap by treating ivory purchase as a type of luxury product purchase in China. Through studying the behavior and its underlying values and motivations, this research is aimed to identify effective communication strategies to curve the ivory consumption in China. Pretest among small groups was first conducted for the purpose of scale validity evaluation. A random stratified sample was obtained from an online panel in China in January 2018. Total 600 usable samples were obtained. The data analysis showed a strong and positive relationship between power distance and materialism; power distance and negative attitude toward social media. Materialism/collectivism is found a strong predicator of positive attitude toward social media and social media usage. While ivory likely buyers associate uncertainty avoidance with materialism and positive attitude toward social network, ivory purchase rejecters demonstrate a positive relationship between long term orientation and materialism; long term orientation and positive attitude toward social media. Based on the strong relationships between materialism and social media usage we found form this study, it is recommended to design a social media campaign to dissociate ivory products from social status; and to associate social status with healthier, greener alternatives (e.g., Tesla car). Advocating desired behavior (e.g., charitable works to save elephants in Africa) in social media and de-advocating the undesired behaviors by celebrities on TV (e.g., ‘No Trading - No Killing’ campaign by YaoMing) is likely to work for likely ivory buyers.

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 .

Introduction Smartwatches are mini devices that are worn like standard watches, which allow installation and use of mobile apps enabling connectivity and interactivity (Chuah et al., 2016). Park et al. (2016) regard smartwatches as multi-category products and are considered to be the first commercialized wearable technology for consumers (Jung et al., 2016). Wearable technologies refer to high-tech devices that are integrated into clothing, accessories or the human body to provide personalized functions to users, regardless of the types of usage (Choi and Kim, 2016). Thus, the smartwatch is recognised as an important and pioneering sub-category of broader smart-fashion. Wearable technology has become more readily available and widespread in the market. A recent industry report (IDC, 2017) indicates that worldwide shipments of wearable devices are expected to increase by 132% from 102.4 million units to 237.5 million units between 2016 and 2021, driven by the proliferation of new and various types of smartwatches. In the past, high-tech and fashion were considered as two separate industries. However, recent years have witnessed a trend towards fashion and high-tech collaborations (Zimmermann, 2016). For example, “Hermès Apple watch” and “Louis Vuitton Tambour Horizon” (O‟Connor, 2017). Millennial consumers are often perceived as the first high-tech generation. This young generation is increasingly attracted by the innovativeness of smartwatches (Shotter and Bradshaw, 2014). According to PwC (2016), millennials are more likely to use smartwatches than older generations. Gartner‟s (2017) research also highlights that millennials represent the largest user group of wearable technologies. Considering the increasing magnitude of millennials‟ interest in luxury wearables, this study takes factors affecting millennial consumers‟ new technology acceptance, and luxury consumption into account. Despite increasing attention from industry, scholarly research on wearable technology has been limited to technological uses. Extant studies are focused in the fields of information systems, computers in human behaviour (Chuah et al., 2016) or electronic textiles (Berzowska, 2005). They concentrate on how these devices might be utilized for healthcare and safety monitoring, fitness or biometric purposes (Choi & Kim, 2016). Academic research to date therefore tends to be more technology rather than consumer driven (Choi and Kim, 2016). As discussed, although the fashion and technology industries are converging (Zimmermann, 2016), most existing research into smartwatch adoption (Choi & Kim, 2016; Chuah et al., 2016; Kim & Shin, 2016) utilizes standard or fitness-centric smartwatches as the research objects. Researchers generally fail to see smartwatches as a hybrid of high-tech wearable and luxury products. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1986) is a frequently cited model in predicting consumers‟ intentions to adopt an emerging technology. It depicts that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are two critical variables influencing users‟ beliefs, attitudes and intentions to embrace a new information system (Legris et al., 2003). An extension of TAM, TAM 2 (Venkatesh and Davis, 2000) denotes the influence of subjective norm on behavioural intentions. In this model, technology adoption is regarded as a process of social influence. TAM has been extensively applied to explain consumer acceptance of e-commerce (Pavlou, 2003), mobile payment (Schierz et al., 2010), smart glasses (Raushnabel and Ro, 2016), mobile learning systems (Park et al., 2012) and standard smartwatches launched by IT brands (Kim and Shin, 2015; Choi an Kim, 2016). Yet, despite considerable research on the application of TAM, studies incorporating TAM 2 to explain consumers‟ perceptions, attitudes and intentions towards using luxury fashion wearables is still scarce. While Choi and Kim (2016) provide a first step towards understanding consumers‟ perceptions of smartwatches, the authors consider only the functional (perceived usefulness and ease of use) and personal (need for uniqueness and vanity) variables. The influences of other factors like emotional and social factors are neglected. Within the context of consumer behaviour, watches are consumed primarily for aesthetic appeal, as well as providing a means for constructing one‟s self-identity. Thus, psychological and social motivations may also be considered as antecedents to luxury fashion smartwatch adoption. In addition, luxury fashion wearable technology products embrace both high-tech functionality and fashionable design. These smartwatches are marketed as luxurious accessories, rather than solely functional digital devices, as self-expressive use of them has become more commonplace (Mintel, 2016). Furthermore, millennial consumers generally consume luxury for social-oriented purposes (Eastman & Liu, 2012). Hence, values that drive millennial consumers‟ luxury consumption, along with factors proposed in TAM 2, are perceived to play a critical role in affecting the adoption of these smart accessories. The premise of this paper is based on Wiedmann et al.‟s (2007) model of luxury values, employing individual values (self-identity and perceived hedonism), social value (perceived conspicuousness) and functional values (perceived usefulness and perceived quality) to investigate the key factors affecting luxury fashion smartwatch adoption. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1975) provides a framework for understanding consciously intended consumer behaviour (Yousafzai et al., 2010). It posits that the impact of consumer attitudes and subjective norms on actual behaviour are mediated by behavioural intentions, which is considered the most powerful predictor of human behaviour (Ajzen and Fishbein, 2005). In TRA, the roles of personal and social factors in forming behavioural intentions are considered. This attitude-intention-behaviour association has been extensively validated in various contexts like ethical consumption (Paul et al., 2016), Green Information Technology (Mishra et al., 2014) and online banking (Yousafzai et al., 2010). Yet, nascent research exists on the attitude-intention link in luxury fashion smartwatch adoption. Purpose In order to address the research gaps elucidated, this study aims to examine the relationships between key value propositions of luxury fashion smartwatches, consumer attitudes and their purchase intentions, and to explore millennial consumers‟ overall perceptions of using these luxury wearable technologies. Specifically, this study critically reviews and links the theories of technology adoption and luxury consumer behaviour to investigate and explore consumer behaviour towards luxury fashion smartwatches in order to offer compelling academic and managerial implications. Design/Methodology/Approach A conceptual framework (see Figure 1) was developed grounded in luxury consumption, technology acceptance and consumer behaviour literature, from which 9 research hypotheses and 3 research questions ensued. The model posits that millennial consumers develop attitudes and purchase intentions towards luxury fashion smartwatches in 3 stages. In line with the tri-component attitude model (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975), consumers learn about luxury fashion smartwatches at the first phase (cognition). The second phase (affective) involves the formation of consumers‟ attitudes towards using luxury fashion smartwatches. At the final phase (conation), consumers develop intentions to buy consistent with their overall evaluations. Drawing on the TRA, relationship between consumer attitudes and purchase behaviour in terms of learning, feeling and doing (Solomon et al., 2010) is depicted. To offer a detailed understanding, mixed methods were employed (Creswell, 2014). An online self-administrated questionnaire was conducted and 230 valid samples were collected. The sample profile were millennial consumers, born between 1980 and 2000 (Young and Hinesly, 2012), who have seen or tried any luxury fashion smartwatch. This study recognizes millennial consumers as the research subject because this generation is described as the next prominent consumers of global luxury and are the largest user group of wearable devices (Higgins et al., 2016; Gartners, 2017). The proposed hypotheses were tested using SPSS 23.0 and subject to 5- statistical tests: reliability, descriptive statistics, factor analysis, correlation analysis and multiple linear regression. In addition, two face-to-face semi-structured focus-group discussions with 10 participants were conducted aiming to better understand the millennial consumer perceptions of using luxury fashion smartwatches. Quantitative content analysis and thematic analysis were employed to produce a more organized and comprehensive summary of the qualitative data. << Insert Figure 1 about here >> Findings The findings indicate that functional, individual and social factors influence millennial consumers‟ adoption intention of luxury fashion smartwatches. Empirical results reveal that perceived hedonism and usefulness are the most important factors that motivate adoption intentions, followed by subjective norm and perceived conspicuousness, indicating luxury fashion smartwatches are perceived as both an IT device and luxury fashion accessory. Other factors that might affect adoption are also discussed. A positive association between attitudes towards using luxury fashion smartwatches and purchase intentions is identified. Implications This study addresses a scholarly research gap by examining factors affecting attitudes and intentions towards using luxury fashion smartwatches, from millennial consumers‟ perspectives. It also offers strategic recommendations for luxury fashion brands in launching and growing luxury wearable opportunities specifically aimed at millennial consumers – a substantial and strategic segment for luxury brands. Research limitations and directions for future research are further elucidated. Originality and Value Given extant research on luxury fashion smartwatches is limited, this study contributes to this unique research stream by exploring millennial consumers‟ perceptions towards using these new generation smartwatches. To the authors‟ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the application of TAM 2 in examining luxury fashion smartwatch adoption, and subjective norms has been proven as one of the most important factors.

The purpose of this research was to examine consumers from distinct cultural groups and examine similarities and differences in their green purchase behaviors. The sample consisted of consumers from U.S.A. and South Korea and the theory of planned behavior was used as a theoretical framework to test the influence of diverse constructs on consumers’ purchase intentions toward organic cotton apparel. A total of 334 participants (164 for U.S.A. sample and 170 for South Korea sample) were recruited to examine purchase behaviors toward organic cotton apparel. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the relationship between the TPB constructs and compare the results between the two country groups. AMOS 24 and SPSS 24 were used to analyze the data. For both countries, perceived behavioral control (PBC) and descriptive norms were strong predictors of purchase intentions and injunctive norms strongly influenced attitude formation. However, the two groups showed different results regarding attitude-purchase intention, descriptive norms-attitude, and injunctive norms-purchase intentions relationship. For example, while attitude was the strongest predictor of purchase intention in the U.S.A. group, it had an insignificant effect in South Korea group. For South Korea group PBC had the strongest effect on consumers purchase intention. Multi-group SEM results showed that the difference in the chi-square statistics between the two models was significant. Significant differences were found in two structural paths: attitude → purchase intention and PBC → purchase intention. TPB provided a useful framework for explaining green purchase behaviors in both countries as PBC and descriptive norms strongly predicted consumers’ intention to purchase. However, South Koreans were more affected by the social pressure: their purchase intention were strongly influenced by both injunctive norms and descriptive norms which was in contrast to the findings from American consumers. Injunctive norms were an insignificant predictor of purchase intentions in the U.S.A. group. Injunctive norms reflect individual’s perception of whether the behavior is approved or disapproved by others while descriptive norms involve individual’s perception of whether the behavior is typically performed by others. Therefore, when Korean consumers perceive that others believe it is a good idea to purchase organic cotton apparel and when they actually see others purchasing the product, they will feel more inclined to purchase the product themselves. This result is consistent with previous research that suggest conformity is a crucial factor for people belonging to a collectivistic culture (e.g., Hofstede, 1980; Kitayama et al., 1995).

This study examined the risk components and risk types perceived in the context of purchasing decisions of paper fashion products. This study also identified the levels of perceived risk by consumers and the differences between age groups in risk perception. First, qualitative data were collected through a focus group interview with 7 Korean females in their 20s to 50s. The interviewees were presented with two types of paper materials (undyed and dyed Jumchi-Hanji) and products (bags and wallets) made with the papers. The interviewees mentioned 11 risk components which were classified into five types of risks: performance (easily torn/lack of durableness, lint/pilling/wear-out, lack of water-resistant, no washability, and deformation and discoloration over time), social-psychological (old and traditional image), aesthetic (lack of design diversity, unsatisfactory appearance due to repair), financial (expensive price, lack of usability in daily life) and time/convenience (difficulty in handling) risks. Based on the results of the interview, a measurement for evaluating the risk perception of paper fashion products was developed. Second, quantitative data were collected from 64 Korean women in their 20s to 50s using the measurement. Respondents who were presented with the paper materials and the products perceived the performance risk more strongly than the social-psychological risk and aesthetic risk. In addition, differences between age groups were found: younger respondents perceived performance risk and social-psychological risk more strongly than older respondents, but older respondents perceived financial risk more than younger respondents. Based on this study, strategies for the risk reduction of paper fashion products were proposed.

The current study aimed to segment Mongolian female consumers based on luxury consumption values and to compare lifestyle, demographic characteristics, purchase behavior, and perceived brand personality among the segments. The survey was administered to consumers who had purchased luxury products in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. A total of 184 surveys were used for data analysis. Exploratory factor analysis revealed five luxury values: quality value, hedonic value, conspicuous value, social value, and unique value. Using the five luxury values, clustering analysis was conducted, showing that there were four distinct segments: passive shoppers, showoffs, rational value groups, and hedonists. ANOVAs and chi-square analyses revealed that these four segments differed in consumption values, demographic characteristics, lifestyle dimensions (including appearance consciousness, leisure orientation, life enjoyment, and achievement orientation), and purchase behavior (including purchase frequency, price of products purchased, and product selection criteria). Moreover, value segments showed differences in five dimensions of luxury brand personality: sincerity, professionalism/attractiveness, excitement, materialism, and sophistication. The results suggest that consumption values serve as a significant basis for segmentation. Furthermore, the current study indicates that value segments can be described as consumers’ perceived brand personality. The study concludes with a discussion of the results, theoretical and practical implications, and limitations.

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.

도시교통과 환경문제가 날로 악화됨에 따라 중국 대도시를 중심으로 자동차 관련 제한정 책이 실시되고 있다. 자동차 구매와 운행에 대한 제한을 주요 내용으로 하는 정책으로 현재 베이징(北京)을 비롯한 전국 대도시를 중심으로 실시되고 있다. 그밖에 아직 실시하고 있지 않은 다수 도시들이 자동차구매제한정책의 실시를 계획하거나 고려하고 있다. 대기오염의 주범으로 꼽히는 아황산가스와 매연의 배출량 증가는 중국의 자동차 보급 확산과 관련이 깊다. 중국 대도시의 자동차구매제한정책의 실시 배경과 추세, 실효성 등에 대한 연구는 당면한 환경오염문제뿐만 아니라 자동차산업시장 관련 기업에 대해서도 상당히 중요한 의의를 가질 것으로 판단된다. 본 연구의 목표는 갈수록 심각해지고 있는 중국의 대기오염 상황에 맞춰 중국 정부가 해결 방안의 하나로 내놓은 자동차구매제한 정책의 실효성을 분석하는데 있다. 이를 위해 최근 몇 년간 중국에서 발생한 대기오염의 피해 상황을 검토하고 자동차구매제한 정책 관련 중국 정부의 대응 방안에 관해 살펴보고자 한다.

This study was targeted on the non-processed, semi-processed, and full-processed seafood to investigate the consumers’ importance and satisfaction levels of purchase attributes for each seafood product. The present study conducted a survey on 335 randomly chosen seafood consumers. Respondents' importance-satisfaction scores of purchase attributes were measured. The results were as follows. The importance of purchase attributes was significantly higher than the satisfaction on 21 out of 23 attributes, according to the non-processed, semi-processed, and full-processed seafood(p<0.05). Consumers regarded intrinsic attributes such as ‘freshness’ of products as very important when purchasing non-processed seafood, and their satisfaction was also high. On the other hand, for semi-processed and full-processed seafood, external attributes such as ‘date of manufacture or expiration date’ were considered as more important attributes to purchase them. Consumers also perceived that full-processed seafood was less in quantity and more expensive than non-processed and semi-processed ones. In case of semi-processed seafood, the difference of importance-satisfaction score for ‘taste’ was large, and it was considered the taste should be improved according to consumers’ taste.

본 연구는 외국인 소비자들을 대상으로 한류콘텐츠 만족도 및 노출도가 한국산 제품 구매의도에 미치는 영향을 자민족중심주의의 조절효과를 중심으로 실증분석하고 있다. 287명의 외국인 소비자들을 대상으로 실증분석을 실시한 결과 첫째, 한류콘텐츠 만족도와 노출도는 모두 한국산 제품의 구매의도를 높이는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 결과는 한류콘텐츠에 만족하거나 빈번하게 노출되는 외국인 소비자들의 경우 한국산 제품에 대한 긍정적인 원산지 효과로 인해 한국산 제품의 구매의도가 높아질 수 있다는 것을 시사한다. 둘째, 자민족중심주의의 조절효과를 검증한 결과 자민족중심주의는 한류콘텐츠 만족도와 한국산 제품 구매의도 간의 관계뿐만 아니라 한류콘텐츠 노출도와 한국산 제품 구매의도 간의 관계 모두에서 부(-)의 조절효과를 보이는 것으로 나타났다. 자민족중심적 성향을 지닌 소비자들의 경우 자국산 제품을 애용해야 한다는 신념을 가질 수 있다. 즉, 이러한 결과는 한류콘텐츠 만족도 및 노출도가 한국산 제품 구매의도에 긍정적인 영향을 미친다 하더라도 자민족중심주의가 높은 경우, 이들 간의 긍정적인 관계가 약화될 수 있다는 것을 의미한다. 최근 한류가 사회적으로 큰 관심을 받고 있는 가운데외국 소비자의 한국산 제품 구매의도에 있어 한류콘텐츠의 만족도 및 노출도와 자민족중심주의 간 상호작용효과를 규명하였다는 점에서 본 연구는 국제마케팅 분야에 의미 있는 이론적 시사점을 제시할 수 있을 것으로 판단된다. 뿐만 아니라 본 연구의 분석결과는 한류콘텐츠를 활용하여 해외 시장으로의 진출을 고려하는 많은 한국 기업들에게 유용한 실무적 시사점 역시 제시할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.