Helena M. de Klerk, Madelein Kearns and Mike Redwood
The purpose of this paper to report on the role of luxury value perceptions and ethical concerns in consumers’ environmentally significant behaviour and purchase intent for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper to report on the role of luxury value perceptions and ethical concerns in consumers’ environmentally significant behaviour and purchase intent for genuine leather products.
Design/methodology/approach
Non-probability sampling was done and 429 South African males and females, aged 26 years and older and who fell in a household income bracket that allowed them to purchase genuine leather products, completed a structured questionnaire during September 2016.
Findings
The study determined that South African consumers’ strong functional and individual luxury value perceptions drive their above-average purchase intent for genuine leather products. Strong individual value perceptions correlated negatively with their purchase intent. Respondents’ expressed strong ethical concerns but almost never participate in environmentally significant behaviour.
Research limitations/implications
Findings have implications for the leather industry and retailers and brands who would like to enter the South African luxury leather market. Due to the sampling method, findings can, however, not been generalised to the total population.
Practical implications
The leather industry and leather brands should market themselves with the message that the highest pro-environmental and ethical standards have been maintained and that their products should therefore fulfil important individual and functional value perceptions.
Originality/value
This study was the first of its kind about the multi-cultural South African leather market’s luxury value perceptions, ethical concerns and environmentally significant behaviour.
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Keywords
Helena M. de Klerk and Thea Tselepis
The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the early‐adolescent female consumer's expectations and evaluation, as well as satisfaction relating to the fit, as a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the early‐adolescent female consumer's expectations and evaluation, as well as satisfaction relating to the fit, as a dimension of the quality of her clothes.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research style was followed and a structured questionnaire was used as data‐collecting method. A total of 120 13‐year‐old young female consumers, also known as the early‐adolescent female, participated in the study.
Findings
The results suggest that the early‐adolescent female consumer is not only concerned about the functional aspects of the fit of her clothes, but also about the emotional effect. Results further suggest that this consumer group probably does not have the expertise, knowledge and cognitive skills that can enable them, during the evaluation phase of the decision‐making process, to realistically evaluate this very important dimension of the quality of clothes, with the main purpose of giving functional comfort and emotional pleasure during the post‐purchase experience. This then contributes to the fact that, when wearing the clothes, they are, especially as regards the emotional and cognitive dimensions, mostly dissatisfied with the fit of their clothes.
Originality/value
With the buying power of this young market in mind, the main implication of the above is that brands that are specifically aimed at these young consumers should specifically be sized according to the measurements and figure proportions of the young consumer.
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Helena M. De Klerk and Stephna Lubbe
The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of aesthetics in female consumers' evaluation of apparel quality during the decision‐making process.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of aesthetics in female consumers' evaluation of apparel quality during the decision‐making process.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research style was followed and unstructured interviews and focus group interviews were chosen as data‐collection methods. A total of 45 unstructured interviews were held with 15 adult career women. The researchers used certain stimuli during the interviews, the aim of which was to give the participants something concrete to react to, and to put them in a specific decision‐making situation.
Findings
It was found that the sensory, emotional and cognitive dimensions of the aesthetic experience play a major role when female consumers evaluate the quality of apparel products during the decision‐making stage. The product's design and materials bring about these aesthetic dimensions. Especially colour and texture play major roles in bringing about the necessary aesthetic experiences.
Originality/value
Retailers and e‐tailers should purposively draw their customers' attentions to the linkage between physical properties that influence important functional properties that may play a role in the satisfaction that consumers will experience when wearing the item. Findings have further implications for retailers' and e‐tailers' fashion merchandising strategies related to buyers and visual merchandisers.
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Theresa Macheka, Emmanuel Silva Quaye and Neo Ligaraba
Young consumers are increasingly using online reviews and celebrity influence to make purchase decisions. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the influence of online…
Abstract
Purpose
Young consumers are increasingly using online reviews and celebrity influence to make purchase decisions. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the influence of online customer reviews, celebrity influencer’s attractiveness, celebrity influencer’s credibility on female millennials’ purchase intention of beauty products.
Design/methodology/approach
To validate the research questions and hypotheses, data were obtained from young female consumers using an electronic self-administered survey questionnaire that was close ended. A total of 203 valid responses were obtained from which data were analysed by making use of structural equation modelling Mplus and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 28.
Findings
The obtained results showed that the seven hypotheses of the study were positive. However, two hypotheses were negative, namely, celebrity influencer attractiveness did not have a significant influence on the attitude of consumers; and brand loyalty was not significantly correlating with young female consumers’ purchase intention of beauty products.
Practical implications
Given that millennials are known to be active users of social media and often consult online peer product reviews, marketers and practitioners of beauty industry should improve the effectiveness and usability of beauty influencers and online reviews to attract female millennial consumers.
Originality/value
This research contributes to understanding young female consumers’ attitudes towards purchasing beauty products, especially the combined influence of group influence (online reviews) and media influence (celebrity beauty influencers) on such attitudes.