Does This Bag Make Me Look Good? The Impact of Post-Consumption Emotions on Re-Purchase Intention of Counterfeit Luxury Products

Individuals often consume products as a means of expressing themselves to those they interact with. Previous studies demonstrate that consumers use branded products to enhance their self-identity, highlight individuality, and increase social approval. (Geiger-Oneto et al., 2013), which is evident particularly in luxury consumption behavior (Vigneron & Johnson, 1999). As previous studies focused on examining predictors of luxury purchase intention (e.g., Bian & Forsythe, 2012), this study is interested in how consumers\u27 post-purchase emotions influence their intention of re-purchasing a luxury counterfeit. In addition, this study proposes that the effects of goal incongruence on aroused emotions are contingent upon the agent who causes the emotions (i.e., self, others) This study adopts emotion theory and appraisal theories as conceptual framework to examine a study phenomenon of interest. Our findings demonstrated that different post-consumption emotions are generated differently depending on the causation agent. Results, discussion and implications are presented

Compulsive and Impulsive Shoppers: Hoarding of Fast Fashion Products

Although anecdotal evidence suggests that fast fashion is made of low quality materials, little research has been done to understand how perceptions of fast fashion quality affects consumer purchasing frequency. Furthermore, studies have identified that compulsive and impulsive shopping is tied to hoarding behavior including difficulty discarding and value oriented hoarding. The connection between fast fashion purchasing frequency and compulsive, impulsive and hoarding behaviors has not been, a gap in the research which this study sought to fill. To understand impulsive and compulsive consumers\u27 fast fashion purchasing frequency and the effects that the apparel quality had on hoarding behaviors, an online survey was conducted with a random nationwide sample of 500 women ages 18-59. This homogenous sample was evenly distributed across ages and the resulting racial ethnicities closely represented US population. Results are discussed and implications are provided

Human germline heterozygous gain-of-function STAT6 variants cause severe allergic disease

STAT6 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 6) is a transcription factor that plays a central role in the pathophysiology of allergic inflammation. We have identified 16 patients from 10 families spanning three continents with a profound phenotype of early-life onset allergic immune dysregulation, widespread treatment-resistant atopic dermatitis, hypereosinophilia with esosinophilic gastrointestinal disease, asthma, elevated serum IgE, IgE-mediated food allergies, and anaphylaxis. The cases were either sporadic (seven kindreds) or followed an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern (three kindreds). All patients carried monoallelic rare variants in STAT6 and functional studies established their gain-of-function (GOF) phenotype with sustained STAT6 phosphorylation, increased STAT6 target gene expression, and TH2 skewing. Precision treatment with the anti-IL-4Rα antibody, dupilumab, was highly effective improving both clinical manifestations and immunological biomarkers. This study identifies heterozygous GOF variants in STAT6 as a novel autosomal dominant allergic disorder. We anticipate that our discovery of multiple kindreds with germline STAT6 GOF variants will facilitate the recognition of more affected individuals and the full definition of this new primary atopic disorder

Gradual unlocking of plate boundary controlled initiation of the 2014 Iquique earthquake

International audienceOn 1 April 2014, Northern Chile was struck by a magnitude 8.1 earthquake following a protracted series of foreshocks. The Integrated Plate Boundary Observatory Chile monitored the entire sequence of events, providing unprecedented resolution of the build-up to the main event and its rupture evolution. Here we show that the Iquique earthquake broke a central fraction of the so-called northern Chile seismic gap, the last major segment of the South American plate boundary that had not ruptured in the past century. Since July 2013 three seismic clusters, each lasting a few weeks, hit this part of the plate boundary with earthquakes of increasing peak magnitudes. Starting with the second cluster, geodetic observations show surface displacements that can be associated with slip on the plate interface. These seismic clusters and their slip transients occupied a part of the plate interface that was transitional between a fully locked and a creeping portion. Leading up to this earthquake, the b value of the foreshocks gradually decreased during the years before the earthquake, reversing its trend a few days before the Iquique earthquake. The mainshock finally nucleated at the northern end of the foreshock area, which skirted a locked patch, and ruptured mainly downdip towards higher locking. Peak slip was attained immediately downdip of the foreshock region and at the margin of the locked patch. We conclude that gradual weakening of the central part of the seismic gap accentuated by the foreshock activity in a zone of intermediate seismic coupling was instrumental in causing final failure, distinguishing the Iquique earthquake from most great earthquakes. Finally, only one-third of the gap was broken and the remaining locked segments now pose a significant, increased seismic hazard with the potential to host an earthquake with a magnitude of >8.5