A Structural Model of Fashion-Oriented Impulse Buying Behavior
Eun Joo Park (Dong-A University, Busan, Korea) & Eun Young Kim and Judith Cardona Forney (School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA)
BACKGROUND
Dramatic increases in personal disposable incomes and credit availability have made impulse buying in retail environments a prevalent consumer behavior (Dittmar and Drury, 2000). In the USA, impulse buying generated over $4 billion in annual sales (Kacen and Lee, 2002). Impulse purchases are more likely when consumers experience an impulse buying stimulus and then later evaluate that prospective purchase as appropriate (O’Guinn and Faber, 1989). Many researchers have provided theoretical frameworks for examining impulse buying related to psychological variables, hedonic experiences and situational variables in a shopping context. The researcher assumed that fashion-oriented impulse buying is related strongly to fashion involvement. And in the 1991, Han et al, found textile and clothing students had significantly higher impulse buying scores than students in other majors. Their finding supports a notion that fashion involvement might encourage fashion-oriented impulse buying by providing sensory or experiential cues of fashion products. Also, fashion-oriented impulse buying can be predicted by other prominent variables such as hedonic consumption tendency (Hausman, 2000) and positive emotion when shopping (Mattila and Enz, 2002).
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Few studies exist for predicting fashion-oriented impulse buying behavior. This study addresses the need to examine impulse buying behavior related to fashion products.
RESEARCH QUESTION
Exploring a model of fashion-oriented impulse buying in conjunction with product involvement and experiential aspects of consumption including hedonic consumption tendency and positive emotion among college students. And uderstanding fashion impulse buying behavior offers retailers guidance in developing strategies that create shopping opportunities.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
This study aims to examine the causal relationships among fashion involvement, positive emotion, hedonic consumption tendency, and fashion-oriented impulse buying in the context of shopping.

HYPOTHESES
Estimates for the structural model for fashion-oriented impulse buying behavior were based on six hypotheses: H1: Fashion involvement has a positive effect on positive emotion during shopping. H2: Fashion involvement has a positive effect on fashion-oriented impulse buying behavior during shopping. H3: Fashion involvement has a positive effect on hedonic consumption tendency. H4: Hedonic consumption tendency has a positive effect on positive emotion during shopping. H5: Hedonic consumption tendency has a positive effect on fashion-oriented impulse buying behavior during shopping. H6: Positive emotion has a positive effect on fashion-oriented impulse buying behavior during shopping.
LITERATURE REVIEW * Impulse buying behavior * Impulse buying behavior is a sudden, compelling, hedonically complex buying behavior in which the rapidity of an impulse decision process precludes thoughtful and deliberate consideration of alternative information and choices. (Bayley and Nancarrow, 1998) * Fashion-oriented impulse buying occurs when consumers see a new fashion product and buy it because they are motivated by the suggestion to buy new products. (Han et al., 1991) * Fashion-oriented impulse buying might be related more significantly to students with majors having high fashion involvement. (Han et al. 1991) * Emotional factors (i.e. positive feelings) might lead to fashion-oriented impulse buying when shopping. (Ko, 1993) * Fashion involvement * Involvement is the motivational state of arousal or interest evoked by a particular stimulus or situation, and displayed through properties of drive. (O’Cass, 2004) * Fashion clothing involvement related highly to personal characteristics (i.e. female and younger) and fashion knowledge, which in turn influenced consumer confidence in making purchase decisions. (O’Cass, 2000 & 2004) * Positive emotions * Emotion strongly influences actions including impulse buying. (Beatty and Ferrell,1998; Hausman, 2000; Rook and Gardner, 1993; Youn and Faber, 2000) * Consumers in more positive emotional states tend to have reduced decision complexity and shorter decision times. (Isen, 1984) * While shopping, in-store emotion can influence purchase intentions and spending as well as perceptions of quality, satisfaction, and value. (Babin and Babin, 2001) * Hedonic consumption tendency * Hedonic consumption includes those behavioral aspects related to multi-sensory, fantasy, and emotional consumption which are driven by benefits such as fun using the product and aesthetic appeal. (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982) * Consumers more likely engage in impulse buying when they are motivated by hedonic desires or by non-economic reasons, such as fun, fantasy, and social or emotional gratification. (Hausman, 2000; Rook, 1987)
RESEARCH DESIGN
The method that used in this journal to collect data is the self-administered questionnaire. The self-administered is the type of questionnaire that a respondent completes on her/his own. The self-administered questionnaire included four variables that are, fashion involvement, positive emotions, hedonic consumption tendency and fashion-oriented impulse buying. A self-administered questionnaire developed from the literature was administered to 217 college students during a scheduled class. They were enrolled at one metropolitan university in a southwestern state in the USA. A structural equation model using a correlation matrix with maximum likelihood was estimated by LISREL 8.53.
SAMPLING
The sample was college students enrolled at one metropolitan university in a southwestern state in the USA. In the USA, there are 8 million full-time college age students who represent the older segment of Generation Y consumers. Their annual purchasing power exceeds $200 billion (Gardyn, 2002). Among this consumer segment, mall shopping is a high priority with clothing shopping being the top activity.
DATA COLLECTION
The questionnaire was administered during a regularly scheduled class. Usable data were obtained from 217 Caucasian respondents who represented more female (76 percent) than male (24 percent) students. Slightly more than half of the respondents (53 percent) were ages 21 to 24 years old. Approximately 61 percent reported a monthly income/allowance of US$201 to US$1,000. The majority (75 percent) spent less than US$200 per month on clothing.
STATISTICS ANALYSIS
The statistics analysis can be analyzed by the table after doing the research and collecting the data and calculate the data. Variables | Factor Loading | Reliability | Variance Extracted | Fashion Involvement | | 0.82 | 0.62 | X1 | I usually have one or more outfits of the very latest style | 0.86 | | | X2 | An important part of my life and activities is dressing smartly | 0.81 | | | X3 | I am interested in shopping at boutique or fashion specialty stores rather than at department stores for my fashion needs | 0.70 | | | X4 | I usually dress for fashion, not comfort, if I must choose between two | 0.79 | | | Positive emotion | | 0.84 | 0.80 | Y1 | Excited | 0.96 | | | | Satisfied | 0.82 | | | Hedonic consumption tendency | | 0.91 | 0.83 | Y3 | I want to satisfy my sense of curiosity | 0.91 | | | Y4 | I want to be offered new experiences | 0.94 | | | Y5 | I want to feel like I’m exploring new worlds | 0.87 | | | Fashion-oriented impulse buying | | 0.93 | 0.82 | Y6 | I buy clothing with a new style if I see it | 0.97 | | | Y7 | I buy to try out a garment with a new feature | 0.83 | | | Y8 | I like to buy new clothing that just came out | 0.92 | | |
Notes: Variance extracted = Sum of squared standardized loadings / (Sum of squared standardized loadings + Sum of indicator measurement error); Indicator measurement error calculates as the diagonal of the measurement error correlation matrix in the LISREL output.
To assess the measurement model, all observed indicators were set free by standardizing all exogenous and endogenous latent variables. This procedure was based on the magnitude of the coefficient matrix (βs or γs) for latent variables on one observed indicator that was arbitrarily selected as a referent for the latent variables (Jo¨reskog and So¨rbom, 2002). The estimated measurement model presented in Table I consisted of four observed X variables (X1-X4) for fashion involvement, two observed Y variables for positive emotion (Y1-Y2), three observed Y variables for hedonic consumption tendency (Y3-Y5), and three observed Y variables for fashion-oriented impulse buying (Y6-Y8). Overall, the coefficients of factor loading (λij) on the latent constructs ranged from 0.70 to 0.96 (p < 0.001). Reliabilities of the latent variables ranged from 0.82 to 0.93 and confirmed the measurement model was valid and reliable (see Table I).
Descriptive analysis revealed above midpoint mean scores for each research construct: fashion involvement (M = 4.62), positive emotion (M = 4.89), hedonic consumption tendency (M = 4.39), and fashion-oriented impulse buying (M = 4.63). This finding supported previous studies where younger consumers tended to have fashion involvement (Fairhurst et al., 1989; O’Cass, 2000, 2004) and shopped for hedonic needs that encouraged impulse buying (Hausman, 2000; Piron, 1991; Rook, 1987).
DISCUSSION/RESULT
A simultaneous estimation of structural and measurement models was performed using LISREL 8.53. And for testing the hypotheses, a proposed model was estimated to examine causative relationships among latent variables.
Hypotheses testing:
H1. Fashion involvement had a positive causal effect on positive emotion (γ11 = 0.47, p < 0.001). Consumers with high fashion involvement were more likely to experience positive emotion (e.g. excited, satisfied) during shopping. H1 was supported.
H2. Fashion involvement had a significant positive effect on hedonic consumption (γ21 = 0.64, p < 0.001). Consumers who had high involvement with the latest fashion, shopping for their fashion needs, or dressing for fashion more likely exhibited a hedonic tendency (e.g. sense of curiosity, new experiences, exploring new worlds) during their shopping trip. Therefore, H2 was supported.
H3. Fashion involvement had a direct significant effect on fashion-oriented impulse buying behavior (γ31 = 0.62, p < 0.001). Consumers with high fashion involvement were more likely to buy clothing with a new style or that just came out if they saw it. This finding supported H3 and suggested that fashion involvement encourages fashion-oriented impulse buying behavior.
H4. Hedonic consumption related significantly to positive emotions (β12 = 0.37, p < 0.001). Consumers felt more excited and satisfied during their shopping trips when they expressed curiosity, the need for new experience, and feeling like they were exploring new worlds. This finding supported the involvement of hedonic or experiential shopping motivations in satisfying emotional or expressive needs, such as fun, relaxation, and gratification (Bloch et al., 1991; Roy, 1994). Moreover, this finding was consistent with previous research that found consumers’ positive feelings (e.g. fun, psychological lift) were associated with hedonic shopping experiences and the novelty aspects of hedonic shopping (Hausman, 2000). Therefore, H4 was supported.
H5. There was no significant direct effect of hedonic consumption tendency on fashion-oriented impulse buying. This result did not support a notion that impulse buying behavior is a form of hedonically-related consumption (Bayley and Nancarrow, 1998). It may be that fashion-oriented impulse buying is motivated more likely by consumers’ perception of a new design or style (Han et al., 1991). Furthermore, hedonic consumption tendency is more likely to increase consumers’ shopping motivations to fulfill their hedonic desires (Hausman, 2000; Piron, 1991), such as an in-store emotional experience (Yoo et al., 1998) that eventually leads to impulse buying behavior. Thus, H5 was not supported.
H6. Positive emotion produced a positive effect on fashion-oriented impulse buying when shopping (β12 = 0.23, p < 0.01). Consumers with positive feelings, such as being excited and satisfied, impulsively bought fashion products more during their shopping trip. This finding supported the tendency of positive emotional states to reduce decision complexity, leading to impulse buying (Babin and Babin, 2001; Hausman, 2000; Youn and Faber, 2000). H6 was supported. This finding suggested that emotional states play an important role in decision making for impulse buying clothing. When compared to the effect of positive emotion (β12 = 0.23), fashion involvement had a greater effect on fashion-oriented impulse buying (γ31 = 0.62). This result implied that, for younger consumers, fashion involvement is a more important antecedent for determining fashion-oriented impulse buying than are emotional factors.
CONCLUSION
* This study explored a structural model that examined the relationships among fashion involvement, positive emotion, hedonic consumption tendency, and fashion-oriented impulse buying behavior of US college students. * The results suggest that fashion involvement and positive emotion directly affect fashion-oriented impulse buying. * In the structural model, consumers’ fashion-oriented impulse buying behavior can be predicted by the attitudinal component (e.g. fashion involvement) and emotional factors (e.g. satisfied, excited) for young consumers. * From a hedonic perspective, positive emotion increased fashion-oriented impulse buying, whereas hedonic consumption did not relate directly to fashion-oriented impulse buying. * Retailers continually need to encourage consumers’ impulse purchases and positive emotion through store design, product displays, package design, and sales. * Retailers need to focus as much on entertainment, interest and excitement as they do on getting the right merchandise mix and pricing.
WEAKNESS OF THE JOURNAL 1. This study has limitations. a. The data were just collected from students at one university in the USA which limits generalizations. b. This journal was using only three variables (fashion involvement, hedonic consumption tendency, and positive emotion) related to fashion-oriented impulse buying. c. The study is limited by the generic use of fashion products rather than types or brands. 2. The questions in questionnaire is not clearly mentioned.