The global character market is expanding worldwide. Many character brands are being newly launched in a number of countries, reflecting character features that appeal more to the target market. Uzbekistan is one of the countries showing rapid economic growth, and it is in the early stage of accepting diverse character brands and goods. This study aims to explore the determinants of the purchase intention of character goods among Uzbekistan consumers. Specifically, it investigates the effect of character features (i.e., dynamism, familiarity, similarity, and attractiveness) on ‘attitudes toward characters’ and ‘the fit of characters to goods’. Further, it examines the impact of ‘attitudes toward characters’ and ‘the fit of characters to goods’ on the purchase intention of character goods. A total of 250 Uzbek consumers aged 18 and older participated in the online experimental survey with stimuli (i.e., images of characters). The results revealed that the familiarity and attractiveness of characters positively influenced ‘attitudes toward characters’, while their dynamism did not. Moreover, the similarity of characters negatively influenced ‘attitudes toward characters’ and ‘the fit of characters to goods’. In addition, familiarity, attractiveness, and dynamism positively influenced ‘the fit of characters to goods’. Both ‘attitudes toward characters’ and ‘the fit of characters to goods’ positively affected the purchase intention of character goods. In conclusion, to effectively target the Uzbekistan market, character goods should emphasize familiarity and attractiveness, with careful consideration of dynamism and similarity to address cultural and religious differences across countries.

The study investigated the influence of website features on the purchase intention of online fashion among Generation Z consumers in South Africa. This topic has received increasing attention against the backdrop of the rapidly growing ‘Digital Generation’, or ‘Millennial consumers’, who are one of the most tech-savvy generations. Despite the benefits that online shopping offers to both the business and the consumer, the act of buying clothes online has presented some challenges to customers. This study therefore aims to gather further insight in an attempt to provide fashion businesses with guidance to better succeed in encouraging customers to shop online. This study selected two visual elements (website aesthetics and product presentation) and two functional website features (website navigation, and security and privacy) and social norms, the test the effect they have on perceived ease of use, attitude and intention to purchase clothing online. The proposed conceptual model tested seven hypotheses of which four were supported. By means of an empirical study, 166 online surveys were collected from individuals within the Generation Z cohort and the analysis was done using SPSS27 by running multiple regression analysis to test the relationships between the variables. The results from this study provide global and local fashion brands with valuable insight into the consumption habits of young consumers in an emerging economy, and factors that drive online fashion consumption.

Innovative payment methods, such as Bitcoin, may exhibit effects on consumer behavior besides known pain of paying effects. This study sheds light on spillover effects of innovative payment methods by giving evidence for an increase of consumers’ purchase intention caused by payment method innovativeness and mediated by perceived store innovativeness.

Emojis have become an important element in human-chatbot interaction to communicate emotion. In addition to facilitating emotional communication, emojis are able to engage consumers, enhance relationship strength and influence consumer behavioural intention. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how the use of emojis affects customer-chatbot rapport and purchase intention in the consumption context.

We conducted this study to determine the TikTok usage status of Chinese consumers, and the effect of fashion advertisement type preference and TikTok characteristics on fashion product purchase intentions. For this study, we conducted a literature review and survey method. The following conclusions were drawn by collecting data online and performing statistical analysis. Firstly, the period of use was 2–4 years, and 95.1% of people used it for 2–3 hours a day, and 95.1% of the people had a purchasing experience on TikTok. Secondly, the most people were interested in self creating and editing videos in TikTok. With regards to TikTok content, groups aged 30 are significantly more interested in fashion coordination suggestions and influencer’ recommendations than groups aged 20. Thirdly, this study found that the characteristics of TikTok fashion advertisements significantly influenced purchase intention. Among the characteristics of fashion advertisements, this study conclude that the “fashion entertainment” characteristic factor that fashion advertisements are fun and entertaining was the most influential variable on purchase intention, followed by useful information, reliability, and interactivity related to fashion. Fourthly, the types of preferred TikTok fashion advertising had a statistically significant effect on product purchase intention. The influential types of preferred advertising are top view, live advertisement, hashtag challenge, in-feed ads, and sticker ads.

Fashion companies and brands’ marketing activities focus on resolving environmental problems; however, these companies’ efforts, there are some examples of so-called “greenwashing”. This paper aims to analyze different perceptions of brand authenticity, green marketing, and purchase intention toward the brand before and after exposure to case information about greenwashing. A total of 211 data were gathered and analyzed using SPSS 25.0. Respondents were asked to respond to same questionnaires related to green marketing and the brand authenticity before and after their exposure to greenwashing information. The study participants’ perceptions of green marketing from the brand were statistically significantly negatively changed after exposure compared to before exposure. Similar patterns in results were found in the context of consumers’ perception of brand authenticity (genuineness, originality, and consistency), and purchase intention. The originality of this study is in evaluating consumers’ perception of greenwashing focused on brand authenticity. The findings of the study suggest that if a fashion brand’s green marketing activity is perceived as greenwashing by consumers, the perceptions of green marketing, brand authenticity, and purchase intention can all decline. It is suggested that fashion brands need to develop a sincere and truthful green marketing campaigns to keep and enhance their brand authenticity.

본 연구는 뷰티 인플루언서 마케팅의 중요한 소비계층인 20-30대 여성 소비자를 대상으로 뷰티 인플루언서의 특성이 메이크업행동과 색조화장품 구매의도에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지 규명하고자 하였다. 더불어 뷰티 인플루언서를 활용한 색조화장품 마케팅 및 시장 확대에 도움이 되는 기초정보를 제공하기 위해 수행되었다. 설문지는 서울 및 수도권 지역에 총 563부를 배포하였으며, 최종 531부를 분석 자료로 사용하였다. 연구 결과, 인구통계학적 특성(연령별)에 따른 뷰티 인플루언서 특성의 영향 요인은 신뢰도, 전문도에 따라 차이가 있는 것을 확인하였다. 뷰티 인플루언서 특성의 하위요인별 신뢰도와 전달능력은 모든 메이크업행동에 정(+)의 영향, 전문도는 베이스 메이크업에만 정(+)의 영향, 색조화장품 구매의도에는 신뢰도, 전달능력, 매력도가 정(+)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났으며, 그 중 신뢰도가 가장 큰 정(+) 의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 따라서 뷰티 인플루언서 특성을 바탕으로 소비자와 소통·공감하고, 보다 다양한 메이크업 및 색조화장품 관련 정보를 더욱 정직하게 전달함으로써 장기적인 관계 유지를 위해 노력해야 할 것이다.

As the postsecondary school-age population continues to decline, universities are building identities to differentiate themselves and create a favorable impression among this cohort. We investigated the role of logo-bearing products as a way of promoting university identity, specifically, the effects of ingroup ties, ingroup affect, and centrality on attitude toward university logo products and purchase intention. This study further examined the moderating effects of perceived university prestige on the relationship between logo product attitude and in-store purchase intention, and the moderating effect of online shopping frequency on the relationship between logo product attitude and online purchase intention. We conducted a survey of undergraduate and graduate students at a university in Seoul. Survey responses (N=561) were collected and processed using SPSS 23.0. Multiple regression analysis showed that ingroup ties and affect had significant effects on product attitude. However, centrality had no significant effect on attitude toward the product. Product attitude had a direct significant effect on both in-store and online purchase intention. Perceived university prestige moderated the relationship between product attitude and in-store purchase intention. Moreover, online shopping frequency moderated the relationship between product attitude and online purchase intention. The results of this study are expected to provide fundamental knowledge for developing product strategy of logo products.

Consumption of secondhand luxury goods is rapidly developing in China, but the market share of secondhand luxury goods in the overall luxury market is still below that of developing countries and the world’s average level. This study uses a multi-method approach to promote the increase of secondhand luxury goods consumption in China. First, a qualitative study was carried out to identify potential attitudes and barriers towards Chinese consumers’ consumption of secondhand luxury goods. Then, based on qualitative research results and prior studies, the barriers associated with purchasing secondhand luxury goods were identified as five categories of perceived risks. The research model was verified through quantitative research. The results demonstrated that perceived value of luxury goods was negatively affected by four types of perceived risk, but not by financial risk. In addition, perceived value positively affected purchase intention of secondhand luxury goods.

Luxury companies are striving to improve their communication with customers while paying attention to online promotion and marketing activities. As companies interact with customers in luxury brand communities via various channels, they yield consumers higher value throughout the effective consumption process. In addition, this connection enhances customers’ understanding of the company, making it easier for companies to acquire empathy from customers. This study aims to analyze the value factors that affect luxury brand community members’ purchase intention and brand attitude. This study utilizes online survey results of four hundred prestige brand community users in China. The results reveal the positive effects of customer engagement on customer psychological empowerment and flow, the positive impacts of customer psychological empowerment and flow on community identity and brand attachment, the positive effects of community identity on purchase intentions, and the positive effects of brand attachment on purchase intentions and brand attitude. Furthermore, the results show that community types and fashion involvement partially moderate customer engagement. This study provides theoretical suggestions for relationship marketing in the luxury brand community environment. Last, this study presents practical implications that companies could utilize to create an emotional connection with their community members, resulting in an increase of customer support.

This study investigated the effect of offering eco-friendly fashion items on consumers’ perceived image of stores and their intention to purchase food in a hybrid cafe setting. The data were collected using an online survey of 465 adults aged 20 to 49 years. In order to compare ‘a general cafe’ where only food is sold and ‘a hybrid cafe’ which offers eco-friendly fashion items as well as food, we developed two store types (general×hybrid) with two store designs (modern×eco-friendly) as stimuli, resulting in four scenarios. The results indicated that offering eco-friendly fashion items at a cafe did not significantly affect consumers’ perceived eco-friendly image of the store. Further, this negatively affected consumers’ perceived healthy and tasty images of the store and intention to purchase food. Such negative effects on the healthy and tasty images of the store increased in the store with a modern design. In conclusion, offering eco-friendly fashion items at cafes may not contribute to enhancing the stores’ images or sales.

Indonesia has the largest economy in Southeast Asia and is one of the fastest growing economies of the world. This study was conducted to understand Indonesian food consumers, and to provide the marketing implications for food exporting companies in Korea. An online survey was conducted on 795 local consumers in Indonesia and the study analyzed their preference for Korean food and Korean culture. Then this study identified the relationship of these variables and consumers’ intention to purchase Korean food. The results of this study were as follows. First, Indonesian consumers had a strong preference for Ramyeon, noodles, snacks and kimchi among Korean foods. Second, the preference for Korean culture was high in a descending order of Korean dramas, cosmetics, songs and news. Third, both Korean food and Korean culture preferences showed significant differences depending on gender, age and the frequency of eating out. Lastly, analysis of the relationships among the variables showed that there is a positive relationship between Korean food preferences and Korean food purchase intentions. Further, the consumers’ Korean culture preference had a mediating effect within this relationship. The results of this study imply that marketers in Korea food companies need to consider the consumers’ preference for Korean food and Korean culture when they build proper strategies for exporting Korean foods to Indonesia.

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.

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.

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.