Cross-National Study of Young Female Consumer Behaviour, Innovativeness and Apparel Evaluation: China and India

In order to advance our knowledge about consumers’ shopping behaviour and preferences in two emerging markets (China and India), the current study was undertaken to investigate (1) apparel consumers’ shopping behaviour; (2) the effect of consumer innovativeness, and (3) the salient impact of apparel evaluative cues. An online self-administered survey consisted of shopping behavioural questions, the Domain Specific Innovativeness (DSI) scale, twelve apparel cues, and demographic questions were used for this study. In total, 266 and 236 usable data were collected from Chinese and Indian female participants respectively. The findings indicated that Chinese and Indian fashion innovators tended to spend more money on new clothes than non-innovators. Chinese fashion innovators spent significantly more time shopping online than did Indian innovators. In terms of the importance of evaluative cues, fashion innovators and non-innovators in both countries considered fit to be the most important cue; style, colour, and comfort played a relatively important role in clothing evaluation as well, but ease of care and durability were cited as relatively less important among many other cues. The two least important cues were brand name and country of origin

Young Chinese Consumers’ Choice between Product-Related and Sustainable Cues—The Effects of Gender Differences and Consumer Innovativeness

Sustainability has received widespread attention in both academia and industry, but there is still a paucity of research investigating the relationships between gender, consumer innovativeness, and clothing, as well as how they may influence sustainable practices. The overarching objective of this study is to investigate clothing expenditure, product cues (intrinsic, extrinsic and sustainable), gender (men and women) and consumer innovativeness (fashion innovators and non-innovators) in China, in order to find out how these factors may influence consumers’ choices. To address the research objective, 10 intrinsic cues, three extrinsic cues, and seven sustainable cues were used to investigate apparel consumers’ choices and preferences. A self-administered online survey consisted of eight items on sustainable commitment and behaviour, six items of fashion innovativeness adapted from the Domain-Specific Innovativeness scale, 20 items concerning product cues, and numerous demographic and behaviour-related questions. In total, 1819 usable data were collected in China, including 614 males and 1196 females. The results revealed that four out of eleven hypotheses were supported, another four were partially supported, while the remainders were not. For example, both female consumers and fashion innovators relied more on style and colour to evaluate an apparel product than fashion non-innovators and male consumers. However, men tended to rely more on the brand name and country of origin to guide their product selection and purchases than women. In terms of the influence of sustainable cues, Chinese consumers are more concerned about the social/ethical cues than environmental cues. Interestingly, women were more concerned about “no animal skin use” in evaluating apparel products than men. All in all, the results of this study can provide valuable information and meaningful insight for fashion designers, product developers, and marketers to develop effective communication strategies to guide potential customers in understanding a plethora of apparel values, including functionality, aesthetics, finances, altruism, and sustainability

Unmet goals of tracking: within-track heterogeneity of students' expectations for

Educational systems are often characterized by some form(s) of ability grouping, like tracking. Although substantial variation in the implementation of these practices exists, it is always the aim to improve teaching efficiency by creating homogeneous groups of students in terms of capabilities and performances as well as expected pathways. If students’ expected pathways (university, graduate school, or working) are in line with the goals of tracking, one might presume that these expectations are rather homogeneous within tracks and heterogeneous between tracks. In Flanders (the northern region of Belgium), the educational system consists of four tracks. Many students start out in the most prestigious, academic track. If they fail to gain the necessary credentials, they move to the less esteemed technical and vocational tracks. Therefore, the educational system has been called a 'cascade system'. We presume that this cascade system creates homogeneous expectations in the academic track, though heterogeneous expectations in the technical and vocational tracks. We use data from the International Study of City Youth (ISCY), gathered during the 2013-2014 school year from 2354 pupils of the tenth grade across 30 secondary schools in the city of Ghent, Flanders. Preliminary results suggest that the technical and vocational tracks show more heterogeneity in student’s expectations than the academic track. If tracking does not fulfill the desired goals in some tracks, tracking practices should be questioned as tracking occurs along social and ethnic lines, causing social inequality

A System Approach to Sustainable Fashion:What Do We Know and Where Do We Go?

Fashion production and consumption have a large negative impact on the environment. In order to reduce the negative effects of fashion, new sustainable business models (SBMs) have been developed. The question is, however, what insights extant research provides about adopting such SBMs and to what extent SBMs are truly environmentally and financially sustainable. We argue that we can only answer this question by zooming out. Therefore, we take a system approach where we look at the interactions between the different relevantstakeholders in the system. Building on this, our research framework has three premises: (1) we distinguish between necessary and unnecessary clothing, (2) we argue that unnecessary clothing should be Avoided and what is necessary should be Reduced, Reused or Recycled, and (3) we include the three most important actors in the system, i.e., companies, consumers and (N)GOs. To understand the state of the literature on the sustainable fashion industry andto pinpoint where we need to go, we systematically reviewed the literature. Among other things, we find that research has not yet made the distinction between unnecessary vs. necessary clothing and, thus, rarely focused on Avoiding unnecessary consumption. Rather, most research (unintendedly) focused on how current levels of clothing supply and demand can be made more sustainable, rather than addressing the elephant in the room: how canoverall levels of production and consumption go down. Thus, the main avenue of future marketing research and practice is to understand why consumers overconsume and the role companies play in it, and how (N)GOs can effectively tackle the culture of overproduction and -consumption. By understanding this, researchers can support retailers to create SBMs that are environmentally and financially sustainable

A System Approach to Sustainable Fashion:What Do We Know and Where Do We Go?

Fashion production and consumption have a large negative impact on the environment. In order to reduce the negative effects of fashion, new sustainable business models (SBMs) have been developed. The question is, however, what insights extant research provides about adopting such SBMs and to what extent SBMs are truly environmentally and financially sustainable. We argue that we can only answer this question by zooming out. Therefore, we take a system approach where we look at the interactions between the different relevantstakeholders in the system. Building on this, our research framework has three premises: (1) we distinguish between necessary and unnecessary clothing, (2) we argue that unnecessary clothing should be Avoided and what is necessary should be Reduced, Reused or Recycled, and (3) we include the three most important actors in the system, i.e., companies, consumers and (N)GOs. To understand the state of the literature on the sustainable fashion industry andto pinpoint where we need to go, we systematically reviewed the literature. Among other things, we find that research has not yet made the distinction between unnecessary vs. necessary clothing and, thus, rarely focused on Avoiding unnecessary consumption. Rather, most research (unintendedly) focused on how current levels of clothing supply and demand can be made more sustainable, rather than addressing the elephant in the room: how canoverall levels of production and consumption go down. Thus, the main avenue of future marketing research and practice is to understand why consumers overconsume and the role companies play in it, and how (N)GOs can effectively tackle the culture of overproduction and -consumption. By understanding this, researchers can support retailers to create SBMs that are environmentally and financially sustainable

Towards a conceptual model for the apparel industry in Thailand focused on domestic fashion origination

This thesis has several strands relating to the future prospects of the Thai fashion industry, which has undergone recent instability in the context of the global fashion system. They presuppose a reorientation and/or development of the domestic economy and culture of consumption of Thailand to favour innovation, originality and personal identity. The thesis will present an argument based upon the creation of conceptual models derived in part from existing models and theories, from literature surveys and empirical studies. A new framework to conceptualise the fashion process in Thailand called, the Thai Fashion Process Model is presented. Through the process of the comparative studies, the fashion process in the West is set against that which exists in Thailand. The Western fashion process model integrates much previous research about the fashion process, fills important gaps that the symbolic interactionist theory of fashion omits, and makes a number of new predictions about the translation of social trends into specific lifestyles and individual differences within the commodification process. The model purposes two important fashion forces: the differentiating force and the socialising force. These operate at different levels (macro and micro) and through different fashion practitioners. The empirical studies gathered data tor analysis through interview and questionnaire surveys at the micro-level in both the UK and Thailand within the context of the conceptual framework. Additional data tor analysis was also gathered relative to the macro-level. The studies provide excellent support for the reconceptualisation and, in particular, suggest that individual psychological factors might be given a new prominence in the overall fashion process and the way in which new fashions emerge. The new Thai Fashion Process Model presents a different direction in the fashion change sequence, which implies a reorientation of the industry towards a high priority in domestic fashion origination and innovation. The socio-cultural economic changes require a refocusing towards individual or segmented consumers' motivation, needs, and desires as opposed to the conformity that exists in contemporary Thai society in its domestic consumption

National culture and clothing values : a cross-national study of Taiwan and United States consumers

According to Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel (2001), "[c]ulture has a profound effect on why and how people buy and consume products and services" (p. 320). In the present study, Hofstede's classifications of national culture are used as a framework to examine the relationships among long-term orientation national culture (Taiwan and United States), type of clothing (formal and casual clothing), and gender (female and male) on consumers' clothing values (aesthetic, economic, political, religious, social, and theoretic clothing values). The data collection method was a direct handout questionnaire in classes at Oregon State University in the United States and at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology in Taiwan. A seven-point scale was used to measure the mean scores of six clothing values. The questionnaire also measured the validity of Hofstede's framework and the respondent's demographic characteristics. The questionnaire was first developed in English, translated into Chinese, and then translated back into English. Overall, 487 of the questionnaires from the United States and 903 from Taiwan (the total number was 1390) were eligible for analysis in this study. Data from the questionnaires were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance and paired-sample analysis t-test. The results revealed that six consumers' clothing values were affected by national culture and the type of clothing and partially influenced by gender. As hypothesized, the mean scores of consumers' economic and religious clothing values were significantly higher in high long-term orientation (Taiwan) than in low long-term orientation (United States), whereas the mean scores of aesthetic clothing value was significantly lower in high long-term orientation (Taiwan) than in low long-term orientation (United States). Significant differences were found for gender on consumers' aesthetic, political, social, and theoretic clothing values. As hypothesized, female consumers scored significantly higher on aesthetic and social clothing values than did male consumers. Based on the results from this study, the similarities and differences among consumers' clothing values in different national cultures, between genders, and type of clothing can be important basic information for international marketers when planning and implementing marketing plans across countries

Reprogramming as a sufficiency strategy: Implications for food, mobility and housing

As the climate crisis and biodiversity loss accelerate, it is widely acknowledged that existing patterns of consumption and production need to change. While policy approaches often frame a green transition by the building of new infrastructures and technological innovations, these are also time-consuming and resource-intensive, which runs counter to the urgency of achieving rapid reductions in environmental footprints, especially in affluent societies.The notion of sufficiency has been highlighted in the literature as an approach to reaching more sustainable levels of consumption and production, by addressing fundamental needs rather than accelerating wants, and ensuring a fair consumption space for all within planetary boundaries. Existing research has pointed to different ways of working with sufficiency, for example in relation to voluntary reductions and minimalist lifestyles. However, such cases remain scattered and are unlikely to succeed alone in terms of the pace and scope needed in consumption reductions.In the present paper we therefore look instead to social practices and how these can be performed less resource-intensively and avoid the pursuit of new constructions and infrastructural development. For this purpose, we engage with the concept of “reprogramming” (Christensen & Gram-Hanssen 2024) which entails strategies focused on altering practices within existing material infrastructures and social institutions, or adjusting these structures, to promote resource-light practices.We explore how strategies of reprogramming can be applied to food, mobility, and housing – three key domains in everyday life and responsible for the majority of environmental impacts. In food, for example, existing agricultural infrastructure and land use can be reprogrammed to reduce emissions and restore biodiversity, by growing more lentils and beans and having less animals. In mobility, reprogramming might involve optimizing current transport systems and vehicles for collective use. In housing, strategies could include repurposing the existing building stock, sharing spaces, and adopting more flexible living arrangements in response to shifting life course needs.Drawing on empirical data from focus groups with professional stakeholders across public, private, and civil society sectors involved in sustainable consumption within these domains, we discuss the opportunities and barriers to implementing reprogramming strategies. By examining current practices and the challenges faced by these stakeholders, we identify key openings for applying reprogramming to achieve the most significant energy and resource reductions with minimal new material interventions. Our findings highlight the need to address regulatory, economic, and cultural factors in order to realize these possibilities. The paper contributes to ongoing discussions on sustainability by offering actionable insights into how consumption can be transformed through existing infrastructures, without the need for extensive new development