This study analyzed and discussed the competition relation between various media platforms, particularly fashion magazine, the Internet portal, and social networking (SNS) that provide fashion contents. The following results were obtained through this study. First, the Internet portal ranks the highest in all factors, followed by SNS, and fashion magazine as the lowest. Second, the Internet portal was competing with fashion magazine and SNS because there is an overlap between the two platforms. By contrast, SNS has a relatively low degree of overlap with fashion magazines, and they are complementary to each other. Third, the Internet portal has a strong advantage over fashion magazine and SNS in all factors. On the basis of the results of this study, we can summarize remarkable points in strategy formulation as follows. First, the Internet portal, which is popularized by “usage accessibility,” is expected to continue to dominate the competition over other media platforms while providing greater gratification to users of fashion contents. Second, the competitiveness of fashion magazines, which has been shrinking dramatically, lies in the diversity and quality of fashion contents. Innovating ways to develop creative fashion content and improve the quality through more in-depth analysis of the reader is essential. Third, SNS is slightly behind the Internet portal as a whole; however, it is one of the emerging platforms in the fashion content market because of its competitive advantage in terms of gratification opportunities.

By adopting transactional social commerce functions from mobile apps, individuals can sell products and services directly to friends on their contact list. This drives micro entrepreneurs with fewer than ten employees and less than a €2million annual balance (European Union Law, 2013) to become key drivers for economic growth (Paoloni & Dumay, 2011). In particular, individuals aged 18-34 become inspired by images on social networks for clothing and fashion products. Hence, fashion products are popular business items for micro-entrepreneurs. Despite potential benefits for social commerce, micro-fashion entrepreneurs in many countries are still unaware of apps’ use in social commerce to sell products, and to create and manage social capital for their business. This exploratory research aimed to investigate how micro-fashion entrepreneurs adopt transactional-focused social commerce and utilize social capital embedded in network ties for their marketing and sales, based on innovation diffusion and social capital theory. Research questions included: (1) How do micro-fashion entrepreneurs adopt social commerce? (2) How does social capital in network ties contribute to marketing and sales in social commerce? To answer these research questions, qualitative data from phone interviews with 16 micro-fashion entrepreneurs selling fashion products through WeChat in China were analyzed, adopting a thematic analysis. Data indicated micro-fashion entrepreneurs have positive attitudes, based on their experience and knowledge of WeChat. They adopt social commerce to (1) sell products in a new way, (2) connect with customers, and (3) reduce financial risk, while an innovative channel for entrepreneurship. Also, operating a business through WeChat required less time commitment compared with brick and mortar, and online stores, because accessing services like WeChat have payment systems, share images and messages. Free calls and messages are already available. The interview data demonstrated micro-entrepreneurs have an advantage when adopting social network ties in WeChat and implementing social capital embedded in marketing sales networks. Structural, relational, and cognitive capital contribute to micro-entrepreneurs’ marketing and sales interactively. An individual could access target customers, based on networks already established social media platforms and facilitate entrepreneurs’ adoption of social commerce. Also, since trust, shared goals, and languages exist on these network ties, there exists an increase for entrepreneurs’ accessibility to use social commerce to initiate their business, while decreasing business operating expenses, promoting products, and building relationships with customers. In addition, relational capital built by interactions with each customer brings cognitive capital to promote products and strong network ties.

Using a range of interpretive methods, including focus-group interviews, in-depth interviews, and structured field observations, this study investigates how shopping experiences within sustainable fashion stores may cause consumers to change their attitudes towards sustainable fashion. Heider’s balance theory was applied to interpret the results, whereby we constructed the maps of individual consumers’ positive and negative associations of concepts, events, and outcomes within consumers’ purchasing decisions about sustainable fashion products. Our findings suggest that there could often be a gap between the consumer’s perception of sustainable fashion and their actual purchase behavior, which creates an ‘imbalanced’ state. However, positive store experiences may persuade consumers to achieve a balance by purchasing sustainable fashion products. The study provides important and theoretical and practical insights for sustainable fashion marketing

The areas of fashion research and fashion design aesthetics & fashion history have been studied under a common research heading as a Humanities subject in the UK and the USA, and as Clothing and Textiles Studies in Korea. The purpose of this paper was to analyze the 2004~2013 research tendencies in terms of reporting methods and contents from 181 world-renowned Fashion Theory research papers within the UK and USA fashion research corpus, and 359 Korean research papers from The Research Journal of Costume Culture related to fashion design aesthetics & costume history field. The subject areas, periods, methodologies, and differences in the topics of the studies were examined. The results of the research are as follows. Regarding the research authorship and length of the research papers, in Fashion Theory most papers were written by a single English-speaking or other foreign language-speaking author and were on average longer than 21 pages, while in The Research Journal of Costume Culture, many papers were jointly written by two Korean researchers and were between 11 and 20 pages. Regarding the content, Fashion Theory was connected to relatively wide and diverse periodical and regional boundaries including the body, clothing, the fashion media, and the overall fashion system, while The Research Journal of Costume Culture revolved around the body and clothing, textiles, the fashion media, and costumes. In addition, since the late 20th century, the studies appeared to be related to the current Western world overall or to the country of the author. Regarding the research methodology, Fashion Theory used diverse research subjects and methodologies, and research was conducted on topics relating to fashion culture or fashion aesthetics. On the other hand, The Research Journal of Costume Culture featured relatively more dynamic studies aimed at suggesting developments or solutions to problems. It was found that a large share of that research focused on detailed style analyses and suggestions for aspects such as design elements and design developments. Such differences are considered to be caused by the inherent differences between the academic departments for the Humanities, and the Human Ecology. The above research results are expected to provide fundamental information in setting a direction for future research to assist the globalization of domestic research.

This paper integrates scholarly work and industry practices in fashion design, marketing, and consumer behavior as the basis for presenting six principles of fashion design and marketing for sustainability and social change. Criteria for effective marketing strategies are offered.