Clothing as an environment for older adults' successful ageing

This research tested a conceptual model for proximity of clothing to self (PCS) in relation to age identity, self‐actualization, psychological well‐being, self‐assessed health, sex and chronological age among older adults, aged 65 and over, within the human ecological perspective. A mail survey was sent to a national random sample of 1700 older adults in the US resulting in 195 usable respondents in the final sample. The respondents returned two completed questionnaires, which were (1) Clothing: A Resource for Successful Aging? (to measure PCS, age identity and demographic variables) and (2) Personal Orientation Inventory (to measure self‐actualization). The results indicated that older adults' psychological well‐being, one component of successful ageing, was directly affected by their self‐assessed health, age identity and self‐actualization. PCS indirectly influenced individuals' psychological well‐being in a slightly negative way in later life. In sum, clothing may be used as a needs satisfier for different levels of needs or related more closely with needs in addition to self‐actualization needs for older adults. Further research should be conducted to explore relationships among PCS, different levels of human needs, clothing‐related variables and psychological well‐being for this age group. In practice, the effort should be given to teach the use of clothing (or other human‐built objects) as a tool or need satisfier to contribute to success in a person's later life by offering some educational or training programmes through local senior community centres or universities.     

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Contingent Self‐Esteem and Materialism: A Correlational and Experimental Investigation

While there is substantial evidence regarding the role of generalized self‐esteem and identity deficits as potential antecedents of materialism, the exact nature of the domains from which such self‐esteem deficits (that breeds materialism) emanate has remained unexplored. Moreover, there is scant research attention on intrinsically oriented contingent self‐esteem and how it relates to materialism. The present study investigated contingent self‐esteem in extrinsic domains as antecedents of materialism. It was shown that extrinsic and intrinsic forms of contingent self‐esteem relate differently with materialism such that intrinsically contingent self‐esteem is incompatible with materialistic attitudes. Study 1 (N = 231 Singaporean adults) furnished cross‐sectional evidence that extrinsically oriented contingent self‐esteem positively predicts materialism. Study 2 (N = 206 undergraduates from a public university in Singapore) found that intrinsically oriented contingent self‐esteem is negatively related to materialism. Study 3 (N = 105 Singaporean undergraduates) showed that experimental induction of extrinsic and intrinsic contingent self‐esteem leads to higher or lower materialism among participants respectively. The findings advance understanding on the self‐esteem‐materialism link by showing how the domain‐specific view of self‐esteem has the potential to promote or discourage materialism based on whether self‐esteem is anchored to external or internal domains. Recommendations for intervention researchers and practitioners are proposed.     

The effects of body image and self‐esteem on frequency of closet cleaning

The purpose of this study was to examine divestment of clothing and its relationship to psychological characteristics (body image and self‐esteem) and demographic characteristics (gender and age) of the consumer. The relationship between frequencies in closet cleaning to categories selected for body image (Appearance Orientation, Appearance Evaluation, Body Areas Satisfaction, Subjective Weight, and Weight Preoccupation) were calculated using Pearson's Correlation and Analysis of Variance. Frequencies in closet cleaning were also compared to the overall score from responses to the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale. The relationship between disposal frequency and Appearance Orientation was statistically significant for both gender groups, particularly among groups 18–25 years. Individuals with a higher Appearance Orientation tended to dispose clothing more frequently than others. When comparing men to women, body image accounted for garment disposal more among men, suggesting women have more varied reasons to dispose of clothing. Self‐esteem measures were not related to disposal frequency among all groups. The findings contribute to knowledge and have implications related to self‐concept and consumption behavior post purchasing. For example, results were similar between young men and women suggesting men may have similar clothing and appearance oriented behavior to women. In another example, those with high appearance orientation could be targeted for campaigns related to sustainable disposal strategies.     

The Commodification of Self‐Esteem: Branding and British Teenagers

This study explores the role of consumption in the lives of British adolescents, with a particular focus on its role in forming and maintaining self‐esteem. Through a large qualitative study, over 100 adolescents revealed their attitudes and feelings toward consumption—particularly fashion. It was found that as a result of peer pressure and the importance of conformity among adolescents, consuming the correct possessions at the right time, is essential for social acceptance, gaining and maintaining friendships and thus self‐esteem. This paper argues that self‐esteem has been commodified. The consequences of failing to “keep up” with consumption trends were revealed; these include social exclusion, negative peer evaluation, and reduced self‐esteem. Moreover, these negative consequences were particularly pronounced among adolescents from low‐income families who, in contrast to their financial status, were eager to purchase the more expensive brands. Adolescents appear to have a striking awareness of the role of branding, advertising, and peer pressure in forming their consumption attitudes, yet they are unable to resist them. The findings from this study highlight the need for a rethinking of the more traditional components of adolescent self‐esteem.     

Brand Ownership As a Central Component of Adolescent Self‐esteem: The Development of a New Self‐esteem Scale

This article outlines the development of a new scale to measure adolescent self‐esteem. The new scale addresses weaknesses in existing measures that have failed to consider the growth of the consumer society in the Western world and the impact of this on the formation of adolescent self‐esteem. The development of this scale includes extensive qualitative research with over 100 high school pupils, which led to a series of quantitative data collection and analysis processes to develop the scale. In the final stage, data were collected from 889 pupils and analyzed to confirm the validity and reliability of the new measure. The result of this work is a 21‐item self‐esteem scale comprising of four distinct, yet interrelated factors: self‐evaluation, social ability, social comparison effects, and notably, brand ownership. The findings provide an updated and upgraded measure of self‐esteem that takes into consideration the specific audience of adolescents living in a consumer culture. The scale development process demonstrates that when considering the formation of self‐esteem, the influence of the use and possession of commercial brands is as relevant as the traditional factors/components such as academic achievement or sporting prowess.     

Measuring childhood materialism: Refining and validating Schor's Consumer Involvement Scale

This paper examines the measurement of childhood materialism using Schor's ( 2004 ) Consumer Involvement Scale. Schor treated consumer involvement empirically as a unidimensional construct, though she suggested that conceptually it may be multidimensional. Using confirmatory factor analysis procedures on data collected from children in the U.S. and U.K., the psychometric superiority of a three‐factor structure is established, comprising dissatisfaction, consumer orientation, and brand awareness components. Additional analyses demonstrate distinct associations between each of these components and other constructs, including self‐esteem, outside school activities, and child–parent relations. The scale's generalizability across boys and girls is also confirmed. The results suggest that Schor's Consumer Involvement Scale will be useful for researchers interested in studying the important topic of materialism in children. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The relationship of antecedents of search and self‐esteem to adolescent search effort and perceived product knowledge

This article reviews pertinent research related to the antecedents of search and discusses a research study involving teenagers. For the low‐esteem group, “enjoyment of shopping” (intrinsic motivation) and “benefit of search” (extrinsic motivation) were the significant predictors of search effort and perceived product knowledge, whereas for the high self‐esteem group, only enjoyment of shopping (intrinsic motivation) was a significant predictor. The results are explained in terms of an intrinsic‐extrinsic motivation model. For the high–self‐esteem group, the intrinsic enjoyment of shopping leads to search effort, which in turn leads to perceived product knowledge. In contrast, for the low–self‐esteem group, the intrinsic enjoyment of shopping and the extrinsic benefit of search together lead to greater perceived product knowledge as a result of search effort. Thus, the intrinsic motivation model prevails for the high–self‐esteem group, whereas a hybrid intrinsic–extrinsic motivation model prevails for the low–self‐esteem group. The article concludes with directions for future research. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Low‐literate consumers' use of clothing labels amidst personal and product related challenges

Low‐literate consumers experience various challenges in the marketplace. This quantitative study focused on low‐literate female consumers' use of clothing labels amidst personal and product‐related challenges in the marketplace. An interviewer‐administered questionnaire was used among black African female consumers (n = 450) with literacy levels ranging from Grades 5 to 8 (on average, 11–14 years old), residing in the Emfuleni Local Municipality area, Gauteng, South Africa. Personal challenges experienced involved reading and numeracy skills, as well as concrete and pictographic thinking. Although respondents indicated that they read and understand clothing labels, results revealed problems experienced when attempting to use the information provided. Their numeracy skills were average and related abstract thinking skills were fair. Product‐related challenges were related to the format of labels, care‐label knowledge and evaluation of clothing quality. Respondents' preference for symbolic and graphic presentation of size format provided evidence of pictographic thinking. Care label understanding was poor, and clothing products were evaluated concretely. Some of the older respondents were inclined to follow the peripheral route of elaboration when reading clothing‐label information. We conclude that low‐literate consumers' use of clothing label information can improve if provided in a format that they can read and understand.     

Adolescent girls from a modern conservative culture: The impact of their social identity on their perception of brand symbolism

This paper examines the relationship between adolescent girls' self‐esteem, self‐monitoring, and social groups (i.e., susceptibility to peer influence and group identification/differentiation) on one hand, and their perception of brand symbolism on the other. There is particular interest accorded to adolescent girls living in a transitional society. A single model is proposed to test the hypothesized relationships using structural equation modeling. The research findings reveal the existence of two categories of adolescents in a transitional society: modern and conservative. The former's perception of brand symbolism is found to be significantly influenced by their self‐esteem. The latter's, however, is affected by their self‐monitoring. Additionally, self‐monitoring has an indirect impact on both conservative and modern teenage girls' perception of brand symbolism via their susceptibility to peer influence and group identification. This latter was the only social group factor to have a direct effect on both groups' perception of brand symbolism. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

From desire to help to taking action: Effects of personal traits and social media on market mavens’ diffusion of information

While extant research has studied traits of market mavens and the link from mavenism to market helping behavior, there is a need for more research to understand personal and contextual factors that influence actual recommendations of products and differences among market mavens with different traits in that respect. In this study, we took research in the area of market mavenism one step further and investigated the role of personal traits such as self‐esteem and susceptibility to normative interpersonal influence, and the contextual factor of social media, in the frequency of recommendations. We hypothesize that while market mavens with lower self‐esteem are likely to engage in less frequent recommendations, negative effect of their lower self‐esteem is attenuated when they use social media platforms as their medium of choice. Our findings lend support to our hypotheses, including the triple interaction effect between self‐esteem, choice of social media, and market mavenism on market recommendations.     

Self-Employment and Job Satisfaction: Investigating the Role of Self-Efficacy, Depression, and Seniority

Are self‐employed workers more satisfied with their jobs compared to wage and salary workers? Using The National Survey of Families and Households: Wave I, 1987–1988, and Wave II 1992–1994 several expectations are evaluated in this article. First, self‐employed persons should enjoy higher job satisfaction than others. Second, a portion of the association between job satisfaction and self‐employment should be explained by higher levels of self‐efficacy and by lower levels of depression among the self‐employed compared to others. Third, self‐employment veterans are a select group and should be different systematically from self‐employment newcomers with respect to reported job satisfaction. Findings offer support for the first and second arguments above but not the third. Post‐hoc analysis suggests that among the newly self‐employed, the association between job satisfaction and self‐employment depends on both the quantity and quality of time invested in the business. Implications of these findings and directions for further research are discussed.     

Consumer values,the theory of planned behaviour and online grocery shopping

Taking a hierarchical value‐attitude‐behaviour approach, this study empirically tests relations of consumer personal values, attitude, social norm, perceived behavioural control (PBC) and willingness to buy groceries online. The study distinguishes three groups of consumers: consumers who have not yet bought anything on the Internet; consumers who have bought something on the Internet – but not groceries; and consumers who have bought something on the Internet – including groceries. Data were collected from an online survey of Swedish consumers (n = 1058) using self‐administered questionnaires. The findings suggest that consumers may link personal values to attitude towards online grocery buying – but also that this relation may be moderated by whether the consumer previously has carried out an online purchase or an online grocery purchase.     

An Investigation of Decision‐Making Styles of Consumers in China

This study investigates Chinese consumers' decision‐making styles. The Consumer Style Inventory (CSI) is administered to 387 adult consumers in China. Both an exploratory factor analysis and a confirmatory factor analysis are adopted to validate the CSI inventory. This results in an eighteen‐item and seven‐factor solution. Findings indicate that five decision‐making styles are valid and reliable in Chinese culture: perfectionistic, novelty‐fashion conscious, recreational, price conscious, and confused by overchoice. Cluster analysis is employed to identify prominent market segments. Based on the findings, three segments are formed: trendy and perfectionistic consumer, traditional and pragmatic consumer, as well as confused by overchoice consumer. Marketing and management implications are discussed.     

Italian translation of the questionnaire for professional training evaluation

This work illustrates the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Questionnaire for Professional Training Evaluation, designed and validated by Grohmann and Kauffeld. This 12‐item questionnaire provides for the evaluation of different training outcomes, is time‐efficient, applicable to several professional contexts and shows sound psychometric properties. In order to test the Italian form, we carried out two studies. In Study 1 (N = 125), an exploratory factor analysis led to a two‐factor solution accounting for short‐ and long‐term training outcomes. In Study 2 (N = 122), a five‐model comparison was performed. Although at first a two‐factor solution seemed to emerge, confirmatory factor analysis found the best fit in a six, inter‐correlated, first‐order factors model (satisfaction, utility, knowledge, application to practice, individual organizational results and global organizational results). Relationships with learning transfer, transfer quantity, type of training, training methodologies and individual variables – gender, age and tenure – are explored. Limitations and research and practical implications are discussed.     

Age and factors influencing consumer behaviour

When evaluating a product or service, consumers seek out information to judge whether that specific product will meet certain criteria. The main concern of sales providers is how to increase their purchasers' willingness to buy a product. The authors studied the impact of age on the perceived importance and interaction of three factors known to influence people when buying clothes: price, durability and suitability. A sample of 160 French adults aged 18–90 rated their likelihood of buying an item of clothing in 27 scenarios, in which three levels (low, moderate and high) of each of the above three factors were combined in an orthogonal factorial design. For younger participants, a low price was considered a sufficient reason to buy the item of clothing. For older participants, suitability was a more important factor, while for the eldest people, durability was the most important.     

The Effects of Model Size and Race on Chinese Consumers’ Reactions: A Social Comparison Perspective

Previous research on women's reactions to female body images in advertisements has been restricted to same race target women and models, and typically conducted among Western participants. The present research examines the combined effects of model race and size for the first time, and extends inquiry to Chinese consumers. Results across four experiments demonstrate that model race and size are potent informative cues that influence Chinese consumers’ self‐esteem and advertising effectiveness. Studies 1a and 1b suggest that model race is an informative trigger predicting differential social comparison and subsequent self‐esteem judgments for Chinese women, but has no effect on Chinese men's self‐esteem. In addition, model size exerts differential impacts on Chinese women's and men's self‐esteem. Study 2 shows that manipulation of the social comparison mechanism may outweigh that of race as an informative cue. Study 3 examines the relationship between model size and Chinese women's evaluative responses to advertisements. These findings not only contribute to the literature, but also offer practical guidelines for marketers advertising in China.     

The social–psychological bases of anticonsumption attitudes

This article proposes that the increasing number of individuals voluntarily reducing their levels of consumption may be motivated by underlying social–psychological stress related to living in a consumer society. Of the three primary motivational bases of the self (esteem, efficacy, and authenticity), it is argued that only self‐esteem and self‐efficacy can be acquired through consumption. The current growth of the voluntary simplicity movement, it is argued, is among those individuals who have met the need for esteem and efficacy through consumption, but have failed to achieve a sense of authenticity. Evidence from interviews with participants in the voluntary simplicity movement is presented in support of this proposition. Anticonsumption attitudes, it is concluded, result from a process of self‐inquiry triggered by the failure to feel authentic through one's consumption activities. Implications of anticonsumption attitudes in reaction to consumer culture are discussed. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Understanding gay consumers’ clothing involvement and fashion consciousness

This study’s primary objective was to provide a better understanding of gay consumers’ clothing involvement and fashion consciousness. Personal in‐depth interviews were conducted with 13 gay professionals in Canada. One hundred and forty‐five usable survey questionnaires were also collected from gay consumers. The Fashion Involvement Index Scale (FII scale) was adapted for this study. Interview participants indicated that, in general, gay men tend to be more fashion conscious than heterosexual men. Survey results also indicated two dimensions, fashion interest and fashion awareness that were found to be stronger for this group of gay consumers than for heterosexual men. The FII value for the survey participants also resulted in a sum score mean value of 11.2, a medium level of fashion involvement that is a slightly higher level than has been found for heterosexual consumers. Interestingly, this study does not provide strong evidence of gay consumers’ involvement in cutting‐edge fashion trends.     

Export Premia and Subcontracting Discount: Passive Strategies and Performance in Domestic and Foreign Markets

This paper contributes to the literature on firms’ productivity and exporting decisions by analysing the role played by organisational choice aspects. Rather than setting up a vertically integrated structure, manufacturers may act as subcontractors in both domestic and foreign markets, and produce to satisfy the requirements of other firms. The predictions that the most productive firms self‐select into exporting, whereas the least productive ones work as subcontractors serving the domestic market only, are tested on a sample of Italian firms observed during the 1998–2003 period. The results of our estimates highlight a ranking of firms consistent with a priori expectations, and provide a clear indication that passive exporters (i.e. those using subcontracting in foreign markets) display lower total factor productivity (TFP) values when compared with direct exporters. Moreover, only the latter category exhibits higher pre‐entry productivity levels and growth rates as well as higher post‐entry TFP growth rates. Such findings are consistent with both the self‐selection hypothesis and the learning‐by‐exporting explanation.