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The growth of online shopping indicates the importance of understanding various types of online shoppers and their shopping motivations and behaviors. The purpose of this research is to categorize online shopper types and to investigate these types on perceived consumer emotions with usefulness, pleasure, and obsession and e-satisfaction. Participants were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk service linked to the Qualtrics survey. A total of 151usable data were used for data analyses and the results show that the levels of emotions and satisfaction are different by ten online shopper types categorized in this paper. In addition, online shopper types considering high quality and recreational factor of products perceived more usefulness emotion while those with price and impulsiveness perceived more obsession emotion. Thus, it is important to understand different characteristics among categorized online shopper types as this affects the online shopping satisfaction and obsession. more...

Sustainability is an imperative strategy for businesses today. Many apparel brands have implemented sustainable practices in their operations which often affect consumers’ perception of the brand related to sustainability. The purpose of this research was to investigate the perception of sustainability and brand love amongst Generation Z consumers by comparing outdoor and fast fashion apparel brands. A total of 213 usable data were used for data analyses. The results of the study indicate Generation Z consumers’ brand love is more related to the perceived quality of outdoor apparel brands than on the perceived value of fast fashion apparel brands. Applying the value creation framework, the value consumers place on apparel is related to sustainability based on the perceived quality of products. This will eventually impact the profitability and long-term viability of the company. more...

The spa industry has been growing rapidly in Thailand since the 1990s (Hirankitti, Mechinda, & Manjing, 2009). Being that employee productivity is a primary factor driving the success of a business, it is important to understand how employees are motivated, engaged, and retained at the work place. Therefore, the goal of this research study is to explore attitudes and levels of job satisfaction among Thai spa therapists working at day spas. An in-depth interview process was used as the primary qualitative research method for this study. Fifteen interviews were given and from a thematic analysis of the data, five themes emerged. These themes included strong open relationships in the workplace, tangible benefits, deeply rewarding career beyond financial benefits, involvement in day spa development process, and job perception conflict. Spa therapists' internal fulfillment was generated through good relationships with spa operators, co-workers, and customers as well as through involvement in the decision making process. Expectancy theory provides a model that helps explain the results of this study. Through a continuous motivation-effort-reward cycle, employees develop feelings of being satisfied with their jobs. Therefore, it is important for spa employers to be aware of the needs of their employees and to create opportunities for employees to successfully meet those needs in order to increase job satisfaction and work performance. more...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise self-efficacy, weight concerns, self-fulfillment, and social norms on college students’ body satisfaction and self-esteem. Also, the study examined the relationship between body satisfaction and self-esteem. An online survey was used, and 187 college students participated in the study. The findings revealed that exercise self-efficacy positively influenced college students’ body satisfaction, while weight concerns negatively influenced college students’ body satisfaction. Exercise self-efficacy and self-fulfillment positively influenced self-esteem while social norms negatively influenced self-esteem. Exercise self-efficacy had the most significant positive effect on body satisfaction while social norms had the most significant negative effect on self-esteem. The results could help exercise facilities learn what to include in their programs to increase college students’ psychological well-being, including body satisfaction and self-esteem. more...

Military service members and their families have unique environmental factors that may influence their lifestyle and behaviors. This study, using the Social Ecological Model, was designed to explore the body image perceptions among military family members. Exploratory qualitative focus group interviews were conducted at Child Development Centers on two military bases in the southwest United States. Researchers conducted a total of eight group discussions with twenty-four parents. Four themes emerged from the discussions, and these included: Military Requirements, Partnership, Negative Fat Talk, and Encouraging Communication. These themes can inform future research about body image perceptions and weight management in military families and guide education programs. more...

This study is designed to understand body sizes of female college students wanting to be fashion models. Also, this study examines body size discrepancies between the actual and perceived body sizes for college students involved in fashion. Data were collected from 127 female college students who applied to be fashion models. The actual body dimensions were assessed with Body Mass Index weight status, and ASTM D 5585-11e1 standard size charts for adult female misses figure types. The result indicates that college students with fashion involvement tend to be confident about their body sizes. They seem to know or pretend not to know about their body sizes. Although this might be related to current inconsistent sizing systems in the apparel industry, we found that students involved in fashion have a discrepancy between the actual and perceived body sizes. This result is beneficial to the fashion industry’s understanding of the young generation. more...

A university recreation center is a service provided for students benefiting their physical health while offering relief from some stress from an academic life. Understanding students' perceptions of service quality helps collegiate recreation administrators improve facilities and services to better serve current members. This study examined college students' perceptions of service quality and how perceptions affected their satisfaction and involvement at a recreation center utilizing “health and weight consciousness” as moderators. Results showed that components of service quality, including reliability (e.g., ability to perform the promised services), tangibles (e.g., facilities and equipment), and assurance (e.g., knowledge and courtesy of employees) played critical roles affecting users' satisfaction, and in turn influenced their involvement in the recreation center. Furthermore, users who care more about their health tend to be more satisfied with service quality and are more involved with activities or sports at the recreation center. more...

This study examines the effects of various visual apparel advertisements on consumers' brain activation during exposure to different types of advertising appeals (i.e., celebrity, non-celebrity, and rational). The influence on consumer perceptions of products and their subsequent buying intentions are also measured. A repeated measures experimental design was employed, and the total of 27 right-handed female subjects participated in the study. The results of the quantitative data showed significant differences in perceived product attractiveness for each of the three types of advertising appeals, but not in buying intentions. Regarding the fMRI results, our findings support the notion that celebrity advertising appeals are associated with heightened brain activation of memory-related/retrieval regions, reflecting how consumers remember the ad and are influenced by the attractiveness of the source. Non-celebrity advertising appeals were more closely associated with brain activation of regions thought to mediate self-reflection and also engaging executive functions. For rational advertising appeals, our findings showed significant activation in brain areas associated with logical evaluative decision making reflecting more logical processing value assessments and reward potential. Therefore, retailers/marketers must be particularly mindful to match the appropriate advertising appeal to the specific purpose of the advertisement. This study also provides brain-based insight into the effectiveness of different types of advertising appeals and whether or not they have the desired impact on the consumer. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. more...

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to determine which factors impact body image satisfaction of Generation Y college age and young professional females born between the years of 1980 and 1993, age 20-33 years in the State of Texas.Design/methodology/approach– An online survey created in Qualtrics was e-mailed to recruit research participants. Quantitative data were collected and analyzed in IBM SPSS Statistics 21. Exploratory factor analysis, reliability, computing variable mean, and linear multiple regression were performed. The variables explored were divided and grouped into major factors.Findings– Millennial females are influenced by their own personal preferences, morals and beliefs, and certain occasions, seasons, climate, and the weather. These factors significantly influence body image satisfaction. The model developed in this study provides researchers with a new perspective on body image satisfaction and purchase intent. This study extends the theory of reasoned action by identifying specific factors which influence body image satisfaction which leads to the final purchase decision.Research limitations/implications– Because of this method of data collection the study might not be generalizable to the entire Millennial population. The sample is a small representative sample in the population with only Millennial females’ ages 20-33 years in the State of Texas. Although the study focussed on a single state, the state is an extremely large state encompassing 36 percent of the USA population. Additionally, race/ethnic diversity was also a limitation, as the majority of the sample was Caucasian. Thus, a larger and more diverse sample of age, race/ethnicity, and residence could be added for more generalizable results.Practical implications– The findings of this study enable retailers to understand how body image can impact the customers perceptions of their stores and their employees. Marketers and retailers should focus on marketing to Millennial females through more personal approach targeting what is appropriate for the consumers size body type labeled clothing size and certain occasions.Social implications– Confidence in decision making while purchasing apparel is an important aspect of shopping. Further research could benefit from focussing on determining the confidence drivers and their origins.Originality/value– This study enhances literature by providing a glimpse into the minds of Generation Y female consumers’ body image satisfaction and the factors driving them to purchase apparel. more...

Marketers use celebrity endorsements to make advertisements believable and to enhance consumer recognition of the brand name. However, once a direct link has been formed from a celebrity to a brand, the negative information about the celebrity may reflect on to the endorsed brand. Applying the S-O-R model and the balance theory, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of celebrity-brand congruence and publicity on consumers’ attitudes toward the celebrity and brand as well as their buying intention. A survey of a 2 (congruence vs. incongruence) × 2 (positive vs. negative publicity) experimental design was conducted for this study. A total of 120 female Millennial consumers answered the survey and 105 surveys with usable data were collected. The mean age of the participants was 24 years old (SD = 3.28). Results found that the celebrity-brand congruence and publicity play a significant role in consumer behavior related to attitudes toward the celebrity and brand/product, as well as buying intention. Thus, retail marketers need to allocate more investigation into celebrity endorsements that match with brand image that can lead to long-term, positive partnerships. more...

The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine if images of employees’ dress on apparel retailers’ recruitment web pages have an impact on undergraduates’ perceptions of the companies. Students (male=13, female=25) examined the recruitment landing pages of apparel retailers. Next, using an open-ended question, students listed adjectives to describe each retail organization’s culture based on the dress styles (formal business style, business casual style, or casual style) of employees featured on the landing pages. Students’ responses were content analyzed and categorized. Formal business styles were associated with an aggressive culture, business casual styles were associated with a supportive and innovative culture, and casual styles were associated with a supportive culture. Based on their responses, undergraduates did seem to use the style of dress featured on the models in the photographs on the recruitment landing pages as a cue related to the retailers’ culture. more...

Bangkok, Thailand is in a unique position to benefit economically and has become one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, due to its function as a hub for international travel in Southeast Asia. Thus, this study examines how past experiences, age, income, gender, education level, occupation, and regions affect international tourists’ reasons to visit Bangkok. After conducting chi-square analysis on 400 participants, significant differences were found among the varying income levels, occupations, education levels, and regions of origin and their reasons for visiting Bangkok. However, no significant differences were found based on age and gender regarding reasons to visit Bangkok. As far as regions of origin, Europeans were most likely to visit Bangkok as a stopover in route to another destination. This lays the foundations for further research focusing on what Bangkok can do to increase their status as a destination for European travelers. more...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that influence travelers’ decision-making process while searching and booking hotel deals. This study indicated that consumers’ cognition directly and significantly influenced their intent to book hotel deals. Although consumers’ affection did not have a positive and significant influence on booking intentions in general, consumers’ tendency toward being a market maven moderated the effect in consumers’ emotions of deal-searching. The findings suggested that hospitality marketers should develop promotional messages that are tailored to evoke consumers’ cognitive and affective states in terms of their tendency to be a market maven. more...

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the strategies that fast fashion retailers use to position sustainability by applying the stimulus-organism-response model. Specifically, this study investigated how sustainability positioning strategies influenced perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) effort, price value and brand equity. Design/methodology/approach – A between-subject Web experiment was used to test the research model. Four versions of the questionnaire were developed on a commercial online survey Web site, in which the surveys were randomly distributed to participants and data were collected. Findings – The findings of this study suggest that sustainability positioning strategies can lead to the positive perceived CSR effort, thus giving support to the effectiveness of sustainability marketing for fast fashion retailers. Furthermore, purchase intentions are significantly influenced by perceived CSR effort, price value and brand equity. Originality/value – This study provides important input for practitioners by suggesting that they focus their managerial attention to sustainability and should also promote it through their positioning strategies carefully. more...

The purpose of this study was to explore students' ability via journaling to recognise and respond to social responsibility issues in the apparel industry. Undergraduates (n=75) enrolled in a global sourcing course were asked to read Timmerman's book [(2012). Where am I wearing? A global tour to the countries, factories, and people that make our clothes (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons], and write a journal entry for each chapter. These journal entries were content-analysed for evidence of students' ability to identify and react to incidents in the book related to three areas of social responsibility (i.e. economic, environmental, social). Five themes emerged from the analysis of the journals: Identification of Economic Issues, Impact on Women and Children, Environment Impact, Appreciation for Their Standard of Living, and Call to Action. Based on students' journal entries, it seems that Timmerman's book can be used to effectively teach undergraduates studying fashion about social responsibility ... more...

Purpose – Guided by the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model, this study aimed to investigate direct and indirect effects of apparel store environmental characteristics and consumers' positive emotional responses to the environment on impulse buying behavior. Also, this study sought to examine how situational variables interact with consumers' positive emotional responses in influencing impulse buying behavior. Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected using a store intercept method from 118 female consumers of an outdoor retail store in the western region of the USA. Findings – The study found direct effects of ambient/design characteristics on consumers' positive emotional responses and direct effects of consumers' positive emotional responses to the retail environment on impulse buying behavior. Money availability and task definition moderated the relationship between consumers' positive emotional responses and impulse buying behavior. Research limitations/implications – The conceptualization of a theoretical framework of impulse buying behavior for apparel resulted from this study. Practical implications – Managing appealing store design characteristics may increase consumers' positive emotions and impulse purchases. Displays designed to attract impulse purchasers should target browsers without restricted budgets. Originality/value – This study expands the application of the S-O-R model in the context of apparel by including situational factors as moderating variables. more...

Today the term retail therapy has been used frequently and the concept of retail therapy has received notable attention from both marketers and scholars. Shopping has always been a form of therapy for consumers because they experience a significant amount of pleasure from the act of browsing or buying. Researchers have identified some factors to explain retail therapy motivations, such as loneliness, boredom, mood alleviation, and others. (Atalay & Meloy, 2011; Kang & Johnson, 2011). However, little research has been done to understand or draw linkages between personal characteristics (as antecedents) and retail therapy. Therefore, understanding what factors influence retail therapy and how the factors motivate retail therapy is critical. Consequently, this study aims to 1) examine the antecedents of retail therapy and 2) explore the impact of personal characteristics on retail therapy. more...

The study examined direct and indirect effects of retail environmental characteristics on impulse buying behavior. Guided by the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model and impulse buying literature, the study investigated whether and how three characteristics (i.e. ambient, design, and social) of the retail environment influenced consumers' positive emotional responses which, in turn, affected impulse buying behavior. Whether and how individual factors (i.e. hedonic motivation) moderated the relationship between these characteristics and consumers' positive emotional responses were also examined. Survey data were collected using a store intercept method from 212 consumers of a retail store offering outdoor merchandise. The study found direct effects of (a) ambient/design characteristics of the retail environment on consumers' positive emotional responses to the retail environment and (b) consumers' positive emotional responses to the retail environment on impulse buying behavior. Hedonic motivation mode... more...

It is important to understand the military service members’ and their families’ weight and body image perceptions in order to adequately develop intervention programs for the service members and their families. Also, preschool-age children hold negative attitudes toward peers who are overweight or obese, and these attitudes may be related to their experiences in family environments (Holub, 2008). Thus, it is important to understand children’s body image. The purpose of this study is to understand body image perceptions and educational needs of military parents of preschool children. more...

We examine how hedonic and utilitarian motivations have impact on emotions, and in turn, influence perceived quality from Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) perspectives. Previous studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of different factors on quality of fabrics by considering product related attributes (such as fabric types, touch feelings, price, etc.) and individual characteristics (such as personality) (McCann et al., 2005). They have counted the functional aspects of fabrics but have not convincingly answered how psychological attributes influence consumers’ perceptions about the quality of fabrics; practitioners need this vital information to better understand and conduct business around how consumers formulate their perceptions. For example, our findings can guide emotional design in sportswear fabrics (Hassenzahl, 2006). Also, we develop a more sophisticated theory that investigates what psychological constructs need to be considered. We, therefore, provide initial contributions that are both relevant to practitioners and rigorous to researchers. more...