Extension of the tripartite model of body influence: the role of materialism on body satisfaction and fashion involvement

Modern consumer culture is dominated by two ideals--the body perfect and the material good life. Mass media is replete with depictions of these two ideals (Dittmar, 2008), often portrayed in conjunction (Ashikali & Dittmar, 2012). Only in recent years, the role of these two cultural ideals\u27 influence on individuals has been explored. For example, it was found that internalization (i.e., cognitively buying into the belief) of the body perfect and the material good life ideals are detrimental to individuals\u27 well-being. For example, Gudnadottir and Gardarsdottir (2014) found a positive relationship between internalization of the two cultural ideals and disturbing body image behavior (e.g., excessive dieting) among Icelandic males and females. Therefore, the present study explored the influence of the body perfect and material good life ideals on consumption behaviors--specifically, fashion consumption behaviors. Additionally, the study also examined potential sociocultural antecedents that may contribute to internalization of these cultural ideals among individuals. Based on literature related to body satisfaction, materialism, and fashion involvement, a hypothesized research model was proposed, consisting of 10 hypotheses. To test the model, data were collected from over 600 U.S. male and female adult participants via Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT). SEM was performed to test the hypothesized research model. In total, nine of the 10 hypotheses were supported by the collected data. Also, a pretest was conducted in order to reduce number of survey items. For the pretest, over 170 U.S. male and female adult participants were recruited via AMT. Findings from the present study revealed that the proposed hypothesized research model is valid across gender. It also revealed that parents, peers, and mass media have contributed towards cultural ideals internalization, which, in turn, influenced an individual\u27s level of body satisfaction via two mediating mechanisms--appearance internalization and appearance comparison. Furthermore, a positive relationship between an individual\u27s level of body satisfaction and fashion involvement was found. Some nuances related to gender differences were identified. The present study is the first of its kind to explore the role of cultural ideals internalization on individuals\u27 appearance consumption behaviors. A widely used theoretical model in body image literature was incorporated--the Tripartite Influence Model (TIM) to understand consumption issue beyond eating pathologies. The TIM was extended to include the materialism construct. In sum, the present study\u27s model explained about 20% of the variance for the terminal construct (i.e., fashion involvement) (p \u3c 0.0001). Additionally, implications, limitations, and future directions based on the present study and its findings are discussed. For example, the findings of the present study will be useful for conducting social marketing campaigns

Predicting Behavioral Intentions toward Sustainable Fashion Consumption: A Comparison of Attitude-Behavior and Value-Behavior Consistency Models

Sustainable consumption is defined as use of goods and services that caters to one’s basic needs and to enhance quality of life while minimizing resources used, such that future generations’ needs are not jeopardized (Dolan, 2002). Sustainable consumption has received great attentions in the fashion industry; given the substantial impact apparel production has on environmental pollution (Claudio, 2007). For example, Claudio (2007) cited the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste report, which suggested that on average an American discards 68 pounds of textile and clothing every year. The present study is an effort to understand consumers’ behavioral intention toward sustainable fashion consumption utilizing attitudebehavior and value-behavior consistency models. In particular, the predictive power of these models in the context of sustainable fashion consumption is analyzed, individually as well as in combination

Website Design Elements and Online Shopping Behavior of Korean Consumers: An Exploration Based on the S-O-R Paradigm

To date, to our knowledge, no study has focused on South Korean consumers\u27 response to website design and their online shopping behavior. Therefore, the present study explored the relationship between aforementioned constructs. Based on extant literature related to the S-O-R and online shopping, a conceptual framework with 12 hypotheses that are positively related were proposed. To test the model, structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was employed. First, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted, which had adequate model fit indices; followed by causal model testing. The fit indices as per SEM were deemed adequate (χ2= 1667.45, df = 434, CFI = .88, TLI =.86, RMSEA = .07). Of the 12 proposed hypotheses, 6 hypotheses were supported at various p-values of statistical significance. The results showed that brand loyalty is strongly associated with brand\u27s web design elements than the former construct. Furthermore, brand consciousness is a strong driver of shopping intentions, which was not so in the case of brand loyalty

Luxury Consumption Behavior: A Value-Based Segmentation of the US Consumers

The USA is the largest consumer of luxury goods (Deloitte, 2014). However, very little is known about ways to market luxury brands (Vigneron & Johnson, 2004). This is especially true in the context of the USA luxury market. To date, few studies have addressed issue of luxury market consumer segmentation within the context of the USA. Therefore, in the present study, attempt is made to segment the USA luxury market based on the Luxury Value Perception (LVP) model proposed by Wiedmann, Hennigs, and Siebels (2009). To our knowledge, this is the first study to exclusively focus on the USA luxury market segmentation based on the LVP model. It is posited that the present study has some theoretical and practical implications

The Role of Impulse Buying, Hedonism, and Consumer Knowledge Towards Sustainable Consumption of Fast Fashion

Today, consumers face overwhelmingly different choices of consumption from fast fashion retailers. This consumption transforms matter and energy, and therefore, is environmentally consequential (Hiller, 2011). On average, 68 pounds of textile products per person go to landfills each year, with additional solid waste coming from packaging, cleaning, and the manufacturing process (Hiller, 2011). The fact that clothing is consumed by everyone, every day, making it even critical to address its repercussions on our environment. While consumers are becoming aware of alternates such as recycle, re-use, donate, and buy second-hand clothing; they still need to have a broader knowledge of benefits of sustainable consumption of fast fashion (here after referred to as SCFF). In this study, we explore the impact of impulse buying and hedonism on attitude and intentions toward SCFF

NOVA MJERA ZA ZADOVOLJSTVO INDIJSKIH KORISNIKA AUTOMOBILA

Consumers today tend to look for material comfort and satisfaction from use and consumption of range of consumer durable goods, which are expected to induce consumer well-being. The current study investigates the consumer well-being of car users in Delhi and National Capital Region as this region has been recognized as biggest automobile market in India. Car industry is in the focus of the study because of its distinct features viz-aviz other consumer durable goods. The study is built around the existing conceptualization and measures of consumer well-being and intends to develop a separate measure of consumer well-being of car users in Delhi NCR through an exploratory research design. Three dimensional measure of consumer well-being has been developed.Današnji potrošači koriste raspoloživa dobra s ciljem da iz toga izvuku komfor i satisfakciju, iz čega direktno slijedi kupnjom inducirano zadovoljstvo. U ovom radu se istražuje zadovoljstvo korisnika auti u Delhiju i njegovoj gradskoj okolici (Nacionalna gradska regija) iz razloga što je ta regija kategorizirana kao najveće tržište automobila u Indiji. Automobilska industrija je fokus ovog istraživanja zbog njenih ističućih karakteristika naspram ostalih potrošačkih dobara. Istraživanje je zamišljeno kao proširenje na već postojeću konceptualizaciju i mjere zadovoljstva korisnika kroz razvitak zasebne nove mjere zadovoljstva korisnika u Delhiju i okolici korištenjem eksplorativnih istraživačkih tehnika. Ta trodimenzijska mjera zadovoljstva korisnika je i razvijena

What’s Materialism? Testing the Two Dominant Perspectives on Materialism

Materialism is defined as “the importance a consumer attaches to worldly possessions” (Belk, 1984, p. 291). However, scholars (e.g., Larsen, Sirgy, & Wright, 1999; Shrum et al., 2012) have noted that the existing conceptualizations of materialism, and by extension measurement scales, have several drawbacks such as negative priori association and poor scale reliability (Larsen et al., 1999)

A Shortened Version of the Fashion Clothing Involvement Scale

Involvement refers to what the consumer views as the focal object that is a central part of his or her life, i.e., objects which are meaningful and engaging (O\u27Cass, 2000). Furthermore, involvement is conceptualized as enduring (e.g., Bloch, 1981). Fashion involvement refers to the extent of interest in and time, money, and attention spent on fashion product categories such as apparel (Park, Kim, & Forney, 2006). Consistently, fashion involvement has been identified as a significant construct in the context of fashion consumption. For example, [fashion] involvement has been identified as the heart of person-object relationships and relational variables most predictive of purchase behaviors (O\u27Cass, 2000). Several studies have noted negative consequences of excessive fashion involvement, such as compulsive buying behavior (Yurchisin & Johnson, 2004), hoarding behavior (Byun & Sternquist, 2011), and negative mood and dissatisfaction (Tiggemann, Polivy, & Hargreaves, 2009). O\u27Cass (2000) developed the widely used fashion clothing involvement (FCI) scale. According to O\u27Cass (2000), fashion clothing involvement consists of four sub-dimensions\u27 product involvement, purchase decision involvement, advertising involvement, and consumption involvement. However, the scale is lengthy, consisting of 44 items. Longer scales may lead to boredom, frustration, and fatigue among research participants. Thus, the purpose of the present study is to develop a shorter version of the fashion clothing involvement scale. Statistical analyses were performed on the FCI scale to shorten it and, at the same time, not compromise reliability. Shorter versions of scales can be as valid as their longer, in-depth versions because they tend to eliminate item redundancy (Bergkvist & Rossiter, 2007)

Passion for Online Social Networking and Internet Addiction: Testing a Dual Theory Conceptual Framework

The Internet is one of the most important forms of media, which is revolutionizing human behavior, with people spending more and more time online - studying, learning, communicating, creating, and entertaining themselves (Wallace, 2014). In fact, some (e.g., Hoffman, Novak, & Venkatesh, 2004) have proposed that Internet has become indispensable to one\u27s self-identity. Consequently, Internet and addiction are on the rise. In this study, we focused on one specific type of Internet addiction, namely online social networking and its influence on Internet addiction. Furthermore, the aforementioned relationship is explored by proposing a research model using two theories—the Dualistic Model of Passion (Vallerand, 2015) and the Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000)

Consumer Emotional Intelligence and its Role in the Apparel Consumption Behavior

This study seeks to determine if emotional intelligence will significantly moderate the relationships between environmental apparel knowledge (EAK), environmental attitude (EA), and environmentally responsible apparel consumption behavior (ACB). Based on Kollmuss & Agyeman\u27 (2002) model as a framework and extant literature review, three hypotheses were proposed: H1: Consumers\u27 environmental apparel knowledge (EAK) will positively influence their environmentalism attitude (EA). H2: Consumers\u27 EA will positively influence environmentally responsible apparel consumption behavior (ACB). H3: EI will moderate the relationships between: (a) EAK and EA and (b) EA and ACB. An online survey method was used to collect data. A total of 436 useable surveys were gathered from U.S. nationals (age 18 and above) with an average age of 48. All hypotheses were supported. We found that EI plays an important role in consumer-decision making process beyond the cognitive framework even in ACB context