Purpose -This study aims to investigate the conceptual structure of fast fashion avoidance among young consumers in Korea. The effects of negative beliefs on the behavioural intention regarding fast fashion avoidance are empirically examined. Design/methodology/approach -A conceptual model of fast fashion avoidance is proposed and tested based on the literature and blog analyses. Web-based online survey data are analyzed by second-order factor analysis and hierarchical regression. Findings -The second-order structure of eight negative beliefs is statistically supported. Among these negative beliefs, poor performance and deindividuation have positive effects on fast fashion avoidance. While inauthenticity has a negative effect, big store discomfort and foreignness have an interaction effect with regards to the lack of alternatives.Research limitations/implications -The results are based on convenient sampling of young female adults. However, it is tested in Korea, of which global fast fashion retailing is in its growing stage. Originality/value -This study represents a new attempt to apply the concept of brand avoidance to an explanation of fast fashion avoidance, and test it using empirically-collected survey data.

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PurposeAs consumers spend more time shopping online, traditional retailers are facing a decline in on-site shoppers. To help the industry in the omnichannel era, we propose that a virtual tour of a store could affect brand equity and promote store visit intentions, based on a well-established brand experience account.Design/methodology/approachThe virtual tour stimuli were created using 360-degree photos of real stores. Participants explored the store virtually and then completed an online survey. With 240 responses drawn from the general population in the US, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used.FindingsResults showed that store brand experiences significantly affected consumers and the four brand experience dimensions exerted differentiated effects. Sensory and behavioural experiences directly increased intentions to visit the store, whereas intellectual and emotional experiences promoted visit intentions via enhanced brand equity.Originality/valueThis is the first retail study investigating a virtual tour through the lens of brand experience. It is also one of a handful that examined the distinctive effects of the four brand experience dimensions, which deserve scholars’ attention and further inquiry. The virtual tour can be a powerful branding tool in the online-dominant retailing era. Retailers can employ a virtual tour not only to increase brand equity but also to cultivate consumers’ intentions to visit their stores. Furthermore, the use of 360-degree interactive media to evoke the virtual experience of a store renders higher generalizability and extendibility in future research and practice.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand how augmented reality (AR) try-on experiences facilitate consumers’ shopping decision. Focusing on the immersion and psychological ownership, the study investigated how the properties of AR experiences (environmental embedding (EE) and simulated physical control (SPC)) affect decision comfort. Design/methodology/approach This research theoretically and empirically analyzes how each property of AR experiences affects consequential psychological states and then further increases decision comfort by employing an existing AR try-on mobile application. A total of 99 valid responses were used for the partial least square structural equation modeling analysis. One’s prior AR try-on experience was predicted as a moderator and analyzed using SPSS-based PROCESS macro. Findings The results demonstrated that EE and SPC evoke immersion and the feeling of ownership of a virtual product, which increased decision comfort. The moderating effect of one’s prior AR try-on experience showed that the impact of EE and SPC on immersion was attenuated for those with prior experience. Further, immersion mediated the effect of EE but SPC on the feeling of ownership, which corroborated the direct effect of SPC on the feeling of ownership. Practical implications Firms must consider technological and user-experience features that can induce users to perceive high levels of AR characteristics such as EE and SPC. Practitioners should develop realistic content that can correctly place virtual products on users to enhance EE. Including more interactive features is encouraged to provide users with a feeling of control toward the virtual product that directly leads to ownership and positively affects decision making. Further, practitioners need to be cautious about consumers getting used to the new technology; retailers and marketers need to focus on creating new and innovative content to continually engage customers. Originality/value This study adopted EE and SPC to determine how each property of AR experience forms the consequential psychological states, particularly depending on one’s prior experience. Methodologically, the study provided external validity in conducting an experiment by adopting an existing AR mobile application available in the market and employing an objective measure of respondents (e.g. prior AR try-on experience).

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to conceptualize luxury customer value and empirically test the reliability and validity of the proposed structure of it. In addition, it aims to identify luxury customer value factors that influence brand relationship and behavioural intention.Design/methodology/approachA thorough literature study produces a comprehensive model of luxury consumer value. For an empirical test of the model, a web‐based on‐line survey is performed using a consumer sample in Korea. Statistical tests including CFA, second order factor analysis and structural model testing using covariance analysis are conducted.FindingsThe findings show that the luxury customer value represents a second‐order construct. The results provide satisfactory support for the four‐value structure model composed of utilitarian, hedonic, symbolic and economic values. Utilitarian value includes excellence and functional values, whereas hedonic value encompasses aesthetic, pleasure and experiential values. Symbolic value is reflected in self‐expressive and social values. Regarding the effect of luxury customer value on relationship quality, customers who perceive high symbolic, economic and functional values for luxury brands are more likely to develop a positive relationship with the brands.Originality/valueIn an attempt to confirm the luxury customer value structure in an emerging economy under a collective culture, this study expands previous studies on the conceptualization of luxury customer value. Through the empirical phase of the study, measures with both high reliability and validity for luxury customer value are produced, which will provide great benefits for further studies in the subject area. The association between customer value and brand relationship is examined.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how geographic cues embedded in a website affect Chinese consumers’ cross-border shopping experiences. The study simultaneously explores the effect of telepresence on shoppers’ perceptions of product authenticity and their trust in retailers, key drivers of behavioral intentions. Design/methodology/approach Two experimental conditions were utilized. Geographic cues depicted a famous shopping district in the retailer’s country (South Korea) or the shopper’s country (China). Study participants were female Chinese consumers in their 20s and 30s who had purchased Korean fashion products in the past (n=236). Structural equation modeling was conducted using AMOS 21.0. Findings Results indicate that participants in the “retailer’s country” experimental condition experienced higher telepresence and greater perceptions of product authenticity. Furthermore, telepresence increased participants’ trust in the retailer and perceived product authenticity, which led to positive behavioral intentions. Practical implications Findings offer important implications for cross-border online retailing. First, results suggest a highly successful tactic for enhancing shoppers’ perceptions of product authenticity and retailer trust on a cross-border platform. Second, cross-border online business professionals should focus on the role of telepresence. Finally, this study provides insight about Chinese cross-border shoppers. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on cross-border online shopping. It suggests that the strategic use of geographic cues on a website can provide an experiential benefit, telepresence, to cross-border shoppers. The study’s findings provide a novel insight into possible unique success factors in cross-border e-commerce.

The ethics of the fast fashion industry have been called into question with the emergence of new consumption paradigms, such as anti-consumerism and sustainable consumption. This study aims to explore the conceptual structure of fast fashion avoidance beliefs that have led to the anti-consumption of fast fashion. Data were collected from female consumers aged between 20 and 39 years with experiences of purchasing fast fashion brands in Korea and Spain. The structure of avoidance beliefs was compared through second-order factor analysis, and the data were analyzed using multiple regression. The structure of avoidance beliefs showed satisfactory validity and reliability in Korea, whereas deindividuation and foreignness were not included as negative beliefs in Spain. An analysis of the association between negative beliefs and anti-consumption showed that deindividuation and foreignness had positive effects on the anti-consumption of fast fashion in Korea. In Spain, poor performance and irresponsibility had positive effects, while overly trendy style had a negative effect on the anti-consumption of fast fashion. These findings contribute to the literature on anti-fast fashion consumption as part of the ethical apparel consumption movements. We can understand global consumers’ anti-consumption of fast fashion, diagnose the current status of fast fashion in the global market, and even suggest future directions for fast fashion retailers.