This study examines consumer motivations that can explain attitudes toward purchasing fashion counterfeit goods and tests the underlying mechanism of intent to purchase fashion counterfeits based on the theory of planned behavior. A random sample of female college students (N = 336) participate in this study. Product appearance, past purchase behavior, value consciousness, and normative susceptibility are significant predictors of attitude toward buying fashion counterfeit goods. Attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control are significantly related to intent to purchase fashion counterfeit goods. This research extends the theory of planned behavior and tests two additional paths that significantly improve explanatory power of the theory and prediction of consumer intent to buy fashion counterfeit goods.

As the global environment becomes increasingly more turbulent and competitive, creativity becomes the focus when preparing current students and future citizens to deal with uncertainty and to adapt to continuous change both personally and professionally. The purpose of the study was to understand how student creative thinking could be increased in a university classroom. Creativity exercises that can be incorporated in various courses were developed. The exercises formed four learning modules: (a) what is creativity, (b) recognizing and identifying opportunities, (c) generating ideas, and (d) evaluating creative ideas. Four instructors administered the exercises in five courses. To evaluate effectiveness of the training, figural format of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) was used to assess student creative thinking before and after completion of the exercises. Creative thinking, which was operationalized as the composite Creativity Index measured by the TTCT, was significantly higher for the total group of participants after completion of the creativity exercises than before the training. Individual class analyses showed that students in four of the five participating classes had significantly higher creative thinking after completion of the exercises. The study demonstrates that by incorporating creativity exercises into existing courses, instructors can help students develop creative thinking —a critical aspect of one’s professional development.

The purpose of this study was to empirically develop a comprehensive model of undergraduate students' entrepreneurial career intention that combines both cognitive and behavioral decision-making processes. Data were collected via a questionnaire completed by textile and apparel undergraduates at four American universities (n = 345). Based on the literature, a model of personal values-attitude-behavioral intention was developed. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships in the model. Results revealed that self-actualization as a value significantly influenced attitudes, which, in turn, influenced entrepreneurial career intentions. Both entrepreneurial knowledge and skills moderated the relationship between self-actualization and entrepreneurial career attitudes. Findings shed light on the influence of personal values and entrepreneurial knowledge and skills on entrepreneurial career choice. Further testing of the model is needed.

The purpose of this study was tri-fold: (1) to evaluate the efficacy of a creative thinking course using three different assessments; (2) to analyze changes in creativity as a result of the training for individual participants; and (3) to investigate reasons for individual decreases in creativity after the training. Data was collected at the beginning and the end of a creative thinking course at a large land-grant Midwestern university. After the course, students had the most significant increase in belief in their own creative abilities, followed by an increase in attitude toward risk-taking, and creative thinking evaluated by experts. While as a group, participants had significantly increased their creative abilities, several of them demonstrated a decrease in creative abilities after the course. A statistical phenomenon, regression to the mean, was employed to explain why some participants demonstrated lower creative thinking after completing the course.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a theory‐based framework that informs a fashion retailer's entry mode choice into a foreign market.Design/methodology/approachAspects of transaction cost, bargaining, resource based, and internationalization theories were integrated to develop a conceptual framework for fashion retailers determining the best entry mode to foreign markets. Propositions were developed, which serve as bridge laws, bridging the gap between the theories and the investigation of fashion retailers' entry mode choice. A case study was used to demonstrate applicability of the developed propositions.FindingsThree groups of factors were identified that influence entry mode choice in the fashion retail market: firm‐specific factors of asset specificity, brand equity, financial capacity, and international experience; country‐specific factors of country risk, cultural distance, and government restrictions; and market‐specific factors of market potential and market competition. Nine propositions were generated, positing how each of the factors may influence a fashion retailer's entry mode choice.Research limitations/implicationsThe conceptual model and propositions require further empirical investigation. Future research also needs to systematically explore the interactions or trade‐offs between different determinate factors.Practical implicationsA fashion retailer can use the framework and propositions to systematically evaluate the company's case to justify an entry mode decision for a specific foreign market.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to describe the integration of theories to help explain factors affecting fashion retailers' entry mode choice.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of anti-consumption advertisement on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions (PIs) of an apparel product. Design/methodology/approach An experiment was conducted with a sample of college students (n=1,300) who were randomly assigned to view either a traditional advertisement for a Patagonia jacket or an anti-consumption advertisement of the same jacket. After that, consumer attitudes toward buying the jacket and PIs were measured employing online survey. In addition, consumer environmental concern (EC), perceived intrinsic brand motivation and extrinsic brand motivation (PIBM and PEBM) were measured to test a proposed research model. Findings Participants exposed to the anti-consumption advertisement reported less positive attitudes toward and lower PIs to buy the jacket than participants who viewed the traditional advertisement. Participants’ EC, PIBMs and PEBMs were found to be important predictors of the attitude and PI. Research limitations/implications This study provides a foundation for future research on consumer attitudes and PIs in the context of anti-consumption behavior and the effects of anti-consumption advertisement. Limitations of the present study include convenience sampling. Practical implications Anti-consumption advertising might be used effectively to raise consumers’ awareness on their spending habits on clothing and reduce the clutter of consuming culture. Originality/value The research findings contribute to the corporate social responsibility literature in the apparel context, specifically socially responsible marketing, by focusing on the nascent topic of anti-consumption. This was the first study that examined how anti-consumption advertisement might affect consumer attitudes toward buying products displayed in this advertisement.

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to explore strategies used by successful female entrepreneurs to manage the challenges of running a small apparel business. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research design was used. Primary and secondary data were collected on small business in three countries: Russia, South Africa and Thailand. In-depth interviews were conducted with a total of 11 female small apparel business owners. Businesses ranged from tailoring and custom clothing shops, to small-scale design and production, as well as small apparel retail stores. Findings – Three emergent themes highlight the similarities and differences that surfaced across the participants’ narratives. Key issues within the thematic areas point to the need for these women to be creative in finding resources to start and grow their small apparel businesses, and to manage the competition that they face within this industry. Research limitations/implications – It is difficult to generalize the findings of this study beyond the sample. Implications of the findings for understanding the needs of female apparel entrepreneurs and small business owners are considered. Originality/value – Despite the significance of women to the apparel industry as well as small business ownership, thus far, the role of women as apparel entrepreneurs and small business owners has been under-examined in the literature. This study offers insight into what it is like for women seeking to succeed as apparel entrepreneurs and small business owners.