PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate market segmentation of affluent Chinese consumers and develop profiles of identified segments for potential target markets for luxury fashion goods.Design/methodology/approachThe data are from the 2006 edition of an annual survey called the “China's New Rich Study”. The respondents form a representative sample of affluent consumers, 18 to 45 years old, residing in China's 12 largest cities. A psychographic segmentation approach is employed to classify these consumers.FindingsFive distinct market segments of affluent Chinese consumers are identified and profiled. Of these segments, three seem the most promising target markets for luxury fashion goods.Practical implicationsWhen companies understand the similarities and differences between consumer segments as well as the unique characteristics of segments, they have a meaningful basis for selecting receptive target markets and formulating and implementing effective marketing strategies. The findings of this study can be useful not only to companies that offer luxury fashion goods, but also to those targeting the upscale market with a plethora of products and services like yachts, luxury cars, high‐end electronics, resort vacations, and credit cards and other financial services.Originality/valueThis is the first study on segmentation of Chinese consumers for potential target markets for luxury fashion goods. Results reveal heterogeneity among affluent urban Chinese consumers. Strategies for marketing luxury fashion goods to promising target markets in China are outlined on the basis of segment profiles and culturally based motivations for purchasing such goods.

This article examines household expenditure patterns for categories of clothing; identifies major factors that influence household expenditures for different categories of clothing for men, women, boys, and girls; and analyzes income elasticities by clothing category. A sample of 1,364 husband‐wife families with at least one child aged 3 to 15 was selected from the 1984‐1985 Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey. Results of tobit analysis indicate that after‐tax income was the most important determinant of clothing expenditures in concert with family characteristics. Some parents' preference‐related variables had a stronger effect on their own clothing expenditures than on children's. Although all clothing categories examined had income elasticities below 1, those categories that are thought to have a stronger function in conveying social psychological meanings tended to have higher income elasticities than the categories that have less of such a function.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the influence of attitudes toward particular clothing web sites, specifically favorite ones, on information search at those web sites and on the choice to purchase items from those web sites and from non‐internet channels after finding the items at the web sites.Design/methodology/approachUsing survey data from 414 US college students who had online shopping experience and favorite clothing web sites that they especially like to visit, hypothesized relationships among attitude toward internet web sites, online information search and channel choices for purchasing were tested using path analysis.FindingsResults showed that participants' attitudes toward their favorite clothing web sites had a direct, positive effect on their intentions to search for information at those web sites as well as intentions to purchase clothing items from those web sites after finding the items there. Additionally, operating through information‐search intentions at the web sites, participants' attitudes toward those web sites had an indirect, positive effect on their intentions to purchase clothing items from non‐internet channels after finding the items at the web sites.Research limitations/implicationsResults cannot be generalized to the larger population of young consumers and to other consumer groups. Future research should include other population groups.Practical implicationsThis research provides insights into how college students' attitudes toward internet web sites affect their information search at the web sites and their channel choices for purchasing. Our results suggest potential benefits of multi‐channel retailing for online clothing retailers targeting US college students and the importance of building effective web sites to elicit those consumers' positive attitudes toward the web sites.Originality/valueThis study is the first to investigate young adult online shoppers' attitude towards internet web sites and their information search and channel choices for purchasing.

Family member and per capita clothing expenditures are estimated via tobit, using 1980-1981 Consumer Expenditure Survey data. Occupation categories are developed and implicit wage rates imputed for each wife in the sample. Employed-wife households have higher expenditures for clothing than do nonemployed-wife households and wife's occupation differentially affects family member expenditures. Wife's implicit wage is not significant, while wife's unearned income has a positive impact on all categories of expenditures except for infants. These results indicate that it is not possible to generalize across family members about the influence of income and sociodemographic variables on clothing expenditures.The dramatic increase in married women's labor force participation has resulted in two-earner, husband-wife families outnumbering families in which the wife is not employed (Hayghe and Haugen 1987). In the past, wife's employment was viewed as secondary or intermittent but married women are now a significant and permanent part of the paid work force.Wives' employment frequently leads to more dependence on the marketplace for goods and services as wives' time for home work and leisure declines (Strober 1977;Vickery 1979). Employed-wife families appear to substitute one-use goods and purchased services, e.g., meals away from home and child care, for wives' home time (Bellante and Foster 1984), but appear to spend less on at least some durables when wives devote more time to paid labor due to comple-

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore factors affecting secondhand clothing acquisition among a sample of US female consumers based on an economic perspective. Design/methodology/approach This research is descriptive in nature, utilizing a survey of 500 US female consumers to explore relationships between five modes of secondhand clothing acquisition and selected consumer characteristics. Logistic regression was used to analyze the data. Findings The significant variables were income, age, number of toddlers and children ages 6-17 present in households, and sewing and repair skills. Income was found to be negatively related to purchasing secondhand clothing, suggesting that consumers view used clothing as an inferior good. Consumers in Gen Y were more likely to be involved in various means of secondhand clothing acquisition, holding income constant, than Baby Boomers. Practical implications Overcoming the stigma of inferiority associated with secondhand clothing, encouraging repair skills, and the repair of clothing, reaching out to consumers to build on their interest in DIY projects, and utilizing new technology (e.g. apps for sharing clothes) are practical implications. Originality/value The paper examined multiple modes of clothing acquisition rather than a single mode, and contributes insight regarding the economic concept of secondhand clothing as an inferior good.