Cross-cultural Investigation for Slow Fashion Branding Strategies: U.K., Hong Kong and Korea

There is a growing interest in slow fashion, yet empirical evidence to support its branding strategies is still lacking. To help slow fashion branding strategies, this study was aimed at better understanding consumers\u27 perspectives. Considering the concept\u27s strong local foundation, how other countries\u27 consumers would perceive slow fashion, first claimed in the U.K., is largely unknown. Consumer-orientations to slow fashion was found to have five aspects, which include apparel consumers\u27 propensities toward equity (fair working environment, compensation), authenticity (craftsmanship), functionality (longevity, versatility), localism (local resources), and exclusivity (uniqueness) in their apparel buying decisions (Jung & Jin, 2014). This study was designed to answer the following research question: what aspects of slow fashion increase intentions to buy and pay a price premium for slow fashion products in different countries? To answer this question, Hong Kong and Korean consumers along with U.K. consumers were chosen

Single Brand with Multiple Country Images: The Effects of M&A and Offshoring on Apparel Brand Credibility and Prestige across Brand Tiers

Increasingly common practices in the global apparel industry are Cross-border Merger and Acquisition (M&A) and offshoring. When an apparel brand\u27s country of ownership or made-in country is an unexpected country and mismatches with the brand image, what psychological reactions would occur in consumers\u27 minds, and how would those reactions change brand credibility and prestige? Is consumers\u27 reaction to the country image changes more severe to luxury brands than to mass market brands? Built on cognitive dissonance theory and social exchange theory, this experimental study examined how country image changes resulted from M&A and offshoring influence on consumers\u27 perceived brand credibility and prestige, and to compare those effects by two brand tiers (i.e., luxury brands vs. mass market brands)

A Comprehensive Understanding Toward Perceived Price and Willingness to Purchase

Today most firms assume that low price increases the likelihood of purchase. However, is the assumption always right? If the answer is no, when does the negative relationship between perceived price and willingness to purchase not hold true? The purpose of this study is to accurately understand the relationship between perceived price and willingness to purchase, incorporating with three antecedents of perceived price (i.e., symbolic brand benefits, perceived brand globalness, and perceived brand quality) and three moderators (i.e., perceived price fairness, vanity, and consumer sophistication) on the relationship between perceived price and willingness to purchase

The Effect of Brand Extension Strategy and Brand Level on Urgency to Buy and Brand Dilution

The apparel industry has commonly used vertical-downward brand extensions where a brand (e.g., Ralph Lauren) introduces a lower price and quality brand (e.g., RL Ralph Lauren). However, offering vertical-downward extended brands on an ongoing basis as with RL Ralph Lauren (i.e., ongoing collection) can dilute the brand image. A recent practice is providing limited edition brand extensions where apparel brands are limiting the product quantity and time the product is available. As with the Missoni at Target case (i.e., limiting offering time and quantity), this practice is mostly successful in that it increases consumers’ urgency to buy while keeping its brand image

Creating Customer Values for the Economic Sustainability of Slow Fashion Brands

In order for slow fashion to be entirely sustainable, encompassing all three aspects of sustainability, it is critical for slow fashion businesses to find ways to be economically sustainable. This study asks: (1) how can slow fashion create economic value for firms? and (2) what aspects of slow fashion should be emphasized to sustain economic profitability

Toward the Deeper Understanding of Price and Purchase Intention Relationship: The Role of Price Fairness, Consumer Vanity, and Consumer Brand Familiarity Level

Most marketing practices assume that consumers will buy when price is low. However, this negative relationship may not hold true all the time. Incorporating equity theory and Veblen\u27s theory of the leisure class, the purposes of this study are 1) to confirm whether or not the perceived price-willingness to purchase relationship is negative, 2) to investigate the effects of two moderators (i.e., perceived price fairness and consumer vanity) on the relationship between perceived price and willingness to purchase, and 3) to compare how the moderating effects differ by high and low brand familiarity contexts

Identifying Factors Related to Luxury Brands’ International Market Selection

Today, luxury brands are everywhere, and are dominantly distributed in global markets. With the increase of international operation of luxury brands, the luxury market has grown on average by 7% per year during the last four years (Burberry, 2010). While the internationalization of the luxury market is increasing, very limited information is known about how and why luxury brand companies choose an international market to enter. Among several factors, economy and cultural differences are important dimensions of international market entry. The purpose of this study is to identify factors related to luxury brands’ international market selection decision

Apparel Brands’ Corporate Social Responsibility: Influences of Consumers’ Cultural Values and Impacts on Brand Loyalty

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) encompasses the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary expectations that society has of organizations (Carroll, 1979). Although the apparel industry gained a heavy attention of CSR due to its labor-intensive production and global sourcing from the third world, still very few studies unveiled the consumer evaluations of apparel brands’ CSR and its benefit for brands, such as brand loyalty. Even though CSR literatures emphasized the influences of cultural values on different managerial perception of CSR, a lack of study exists identifying the effect of cultural values on consumers’ evaluations of apparel brands’ CSR. Addressing these gaps, this study aimed to examine the effects of two cultural value dimensions (collectivism/individualism and long-term/short-term orientation) on consumer evaluations of apparel brands’ CSR activities, and the effects of these evaluations on enhancing brand loyalty

Are Scarcity Messages Still Effective? An Experimental Comparison with Brand Prominence and Some Moderating Effects

Scarcity messages such as “for a limited time only” or “while supplies last” have become popular practice in marketing (Byun & Sternquist, 2011). However, whether the effect of scarcity message still works or not is questionable because consumers may feel that if one store is scarce on merchandise, they can easily obtain the item elsewhere in today’s marketplace. Another common strategy is utilizing brand logo prominence with the assumption that the visible brand logo (i.e., high brand prominence) helps ensure that observers recognize the brand, which can increase purchase intentions (Han, Nunes, & Drèze, 2010)