Chinese Consumers and the Fashion Market

Consumers’ desire for novelty and uniqueness drives consumers to consistently seek new products that differentiate them from others. New goods are purchased frequently and disposed of quickly by consumers, which provide a short-term experience of novelty and newness but increase landfill wastes. Apparel customization provides consumers with an option to create their own personalized clothing items, which can increase product longevity because it results in personal attachment from customized styles and well-fitted garments. The study investigated the influence of shopping motivations and perceived enjoyment on consumer intention to purchase customized apparel for Chinese consumers. By applying the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study considers that engaging in customization is not only from an individual’s values and self-interest, but also from social values. An online survey was conducted with 321 Chinese consumers. The SEM analysis results indicate the three shopping values (adventure shopping, idea shopping, and achievement shopping) significantly influence the intention to purchase customized apparel products in an indirect way, and the significant effect of perceived enjoyment on the intention toward apparel customization is also confirmed. Further, the mediating effects of TPB components were also confirmed among Chinese participants. This study highlights the role of shopping values and perceived enjoyment on the adoption of apparel customization and provides guidance for the retailers and marketers who provide apparel customization services in the Chinese market.

The purpose of this study is to identify what triggers Chinese consumers to become a luxury goods buyer from a non-buyer. The objectives of this study are: (1) to compare Chinese luxury goods buyers and non-buyers by examining their key differences; (2) to identify potential cultural and demographic determinants of Chinese consumers’ final purchase of luxury goods; and (3) to explore the effective strategies of how to trigger more consumers to purchase luxury goods in China. A survey was conducted in summer 2016 in China through WeChat, a social media app, and a total of 1,549 returned questionnaires were useful. Factor analysis, MANOVA, and logistic regression were chosen for data analyses. The results show that Chinese luxury goods buyers and non-buyers are significantly different in both cultural orientation and demographics. Chinese luxury goods buyers are short-term oriented, individualism focused, and power/status focused, whereas non-buyers are more long-term oriented, collectivism focused, and less power/status focused. They show significant differences in education level, family income, and location of residence. Chinese luxury goods buyers are more likely to be consumers who have higher family income, have higher education level, and live in more advanced and developed cities. Non-buyers have strong interest in luxury goods and show strong purchase intention. The high price point is the main issue. When they are ready to make the first purchase, they are more likely to buy luxury watches, clothing, cosmetics, or accessories in mainland China off-line. Implications and limitations are addressed.

In recent years, apparel mobile commerce has experienced a rapid development in China, which is largely fueled by proliferation of smartphones, decreased cost of mobile data, increasing number of m-tailers, and shift of consumer shopping style toward mobility and time flexibility. Some apparel m-tailers can attract millions of visitors to their web sites everyday while others seem not appealing to consumers. Thus, this study aims to identify the effects of key features of mobile web site quality on the Chinese consumer satisfaction that in turn affects their intent to shop apparel via mobile web sites. Six dimensions of mobile web site quality, including web site visual appeal, apparel visual appeal, brand trust, web site informativeness, web site response time, and web site security, were investigated. Using the primary data collected via an online survey, multiple regression analysis was applied to test the proposed relationships. Results reveal that web site informativeness, web site visual appeal, apparel visual appeal, and web site security positively affect consumer satisfaction toward apparel m-commerce web site while web site response time and brand trust show insignificant impacts on consumer satisfaction. With higher satisfaction on apparel m-commerce web site, consumers are more likely to purchase apparel through the web site.

The purpose of this study was to examine how attitudes toward technology (ATT), habitual use of digital activities, and frequency of use of internet shopping features differ among male and female Chinese and US college students. Participants were 114 male, 92 female students from a Midwestern US university and 100 male, 93 female students from Lanzhou University in China. Results revealed that US and Chinese students shared some attitudes and behaviors (positive ATT, use of internet shopping features) but differed in others (negative and anxious/dependent ATT, habitual use of digital activities). US (vs. Chinese) students indicated more habitual use of all digital activities. Men and women did not differ in positive or negative ATT but women indicated greater anxiety/dependence on technology than men did. Women indicated more habitual use of total digital activities, social media, and smartphone than men. Implications for Chinese consumers and the fashion market are provided.

The scale of environmental and social impacts from global apparel production and consumption makes sustainability increasingly important in the contemporary business environment. This study explores the Chinese young consumers’ perceptions of and attitudes toward sustainable clothing. Specifically, the study aims to answer the following two research questions: (1) How Chinese college students view and feel about sustainable clothing in terms of their perceived risks, and (2) How their sustainability knowledge, their personal values, and perceived risks impact their attitude toward and willingness to buy sustainable apparel products. The study results based on data collected from 381 Chinese post-90s’ college students demonstrate that apparel sustainability knowledge strongly and positively predicts consumer attitude and willingness to buy. The study also reveals that consumer attitude and willingness to buy are significantly predicted by personal values and consumer perceived risks toward sustainable clothing. The study provides valuable baseline information for the Chinese textile and apparel industry and global sustainable textile and apparel marketers.

This study intends to shed some light on understanding how consumers evaluate and accept global brands’ apparel extension in the world largest consumer market to provide practical directions for apparel manufactures to make licensing decisions. Specifically, this study applied the brand concept mapping (BCM) approach to evaluate an auto brand’s fashion clothing extension. Snowball sampling was used to collect data in major cities in China. Sixty participants were recruited and divided into four groups to collect responses toward two auto brands and the two auto brands’ apparel extensions, respectively. Consensus maps were generated based on individual maps. The comparison of BCMs showed that strong brand associations from the parent brand transferred well to the apparel extension, even when the “fit” between the parent brand and its apparel extension was poor. In the category of apparel, country of origin can be leveraged for manufacture licensees to compete for a market share. However, brand personality plays a more important role in consumers’ acceptance of such a long-distance brand stretching. In addition, the level of individual consumer’s brand engagement can be a good indicator for identifying target customer segment.

With rising disposable incomes and male consumers’ increasing interest in personal grooming products, the Chinese menswear market is growing tremendously. Shirt is one of the most popular menswear items chosen by Chinese male consumers. While the shirt market is growing and many Chinese fabric manufacturers possess great capacity in producing high-end fabrics and supply to globally known upscale shirt brands, no fabric brand is in existence in China for high-end shirts. Appreciating the additional value from the branded ingredient (fabric), especially for upscale products (shirts), it might be to the great benefits of the current large fabric enterprises to brand their fabric products. To meet the increasing demand for high-end men’s shirts in the Chinese market and to help Chinese textile industry establishing high-end shirt brands, it is important to understand Chinese male consumers’ shirt consumption behavior for high-end shirts. Focusing on consumers’ preference of fabric attributes, this study conducted a two-step cluster analysis with a survey of 170 Chinese male consumers. As a result, three distinct clusters in the Chinese men’s shirts market were identified: premium consumers, pragmatic consumers, and economic consumers. Results of this study will not only provide implications to the practitioners in the industry in their efforts to better meet the Chinese male consumers’ needs for high-end shirts, but also contribute to the literature on male consumers’ shirt consumption behaviors.

The Chinese knitwear industry is in crisis and needs to adapt to survive. Chinese knitwear brands face the problems of a shrinking domestic market, an aging consumer base, and lack of appeal to new generations. Meanwhile, products created by the industry are becoming more homogeneous. Influenced by globalization, Chinese consumers have a wide choice of products with different styles and brands in the fashion market. As more and more international brands enter into the Chinese market, offering clothes that appeal to younger consumers, the challenge for many established Chinese fashion brands, especially in knitwear, is increasing. This paper reports on research into creative design in Chinese knitwear brands, which revealed that the Chinese knitwear industry is lacking a creative culture. In many knitwear companies in China, the lack of understanding of the value of design stems from a number of factors: restricted creative freedom for designers in companies and an absence of practice in the design education system for creative processes to develop. This results in companies lacking confidence in their designers’ creative abilities. This paper introduces the Chinese knitwear market and fashion consumers in China. It discusses why many Chinese consumers prefer luxury or international brands rather than domestic brands and analyses the gaps in creative design between Chinese and successful international brands. This is based on research into consumer behavior for knitwear. It concludes by making recommendations on how the industry can turn things around.