• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2010

Green or an environmental consciousness has been a major issue for businesses and government offices, as well as consumers, worldwide. In response to this movement, the Korean government announced, in the early 2000s, the era of "Green Growth" as a way to encourage green-related business activities. The Korean fashion industry, in various levels of involvement, presents diverse eco-friendly products as a part of the green movement. These apparel products include organic products and recycled clothing. For these companies to be successful, they need information about who are the consumers who consider green issues (e.g., environmental sustainability) as part of their personal values when making a decision for product purchase, use, and disposal. These consumers can be considered as eco-sumers. Previous studies have examined consumers' purchase intention for or with eco-friendly products. In addition, studies have examined influential factors used to identify the eco-sumers or green consumers. However, limited attention was paid to eco-sumers' disposal or recycling behavior of clothes in comparison with their green product purchases. Clothing disposal behaviors are ways that consumer can get rid of unused clothing and in clue temporarily lending the item or permanently eliminating the item by "handing down" (e.g., giving it to a younger sibling), donating, exchanging, selling, or simply throwing it away. Accordingly, examining purchasing behaviors of eco-friendly fashion items in conjunction with clothing disposal behaviors should improve understanding of a consumer's clothing consumption behavior from the environmental perspective. The purpose of this exploratory study is to provide descriptive information about Korean eco-sumers who have ecologically-favorable lifestyles and behaviors when buying and disposing of clothes. The objectives of this study are to (a) categorize Koreans on the basis of clothing disposal behaviors; (b) investigate the differences in demographics, lifestyles, and clothing consumption values among segments; and (c) compare the purchase intention of eco-friendly fashion items and influential factors among segments. A self-administered questionnaire was developed based on previous studies. The questionnaire included 10 items of clothing disposal behavior, 22 items of LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) characteristics, and 19 items of consumption values, measured by five-point Likert-type scales. In addition, the purchase intention of two eco-friendly fashion items and 11 attributes of each item were measured by seven-point Likert type scales. Two polyester fleece pullovers, made from fabric created from recycled bottles with the PET identification code, were selected from one Korean brand and one US imported brand among outdoor sportswear brands. A brief description of each product with a color picture was provided in the survey. Demographic variables (i.e., gender, age, marital status, education level, income, occupation) were also included. The data were collected through a professional web survey agency during May 2009. A total of 600 final usable questionnaires were analyzed. The age of respondents ranged from 20 to 49 years old with a mean age of 34 years. Fifty percent of the respondents were males and about 58% were married, and 62% reported having earned university degrees. Principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to identify the underlying dimensions of the clothing disposal behavior scale, and three factors were generated (i.e., reselling behavior, donating behavior, non-recycling behavior). To categorize the respondents on the basis of clothing disposal behaviors, k-mean cluster analysis was used, and three segments were obtained. These consumer segments were labeled as 'Resale Group', 'Donation Group', and 'Non-Recycling Group.' The classification results indicated approximately 98 percent of the original cases were correctly classified. With respect to demographic characteristics among the three segments, significant differences were found in gender, marital status, occupation, and age. LOHAS characteristics were reduced into the following five factors: self-satisfaction, family orientation, health concern, environmental concern, and voluntary service. Significant differences were found in the LOHAS factors among the three clusters. Resale Group and Donation Group showed a similar predisposition to LOHAS issues while the Non-Recycling Group presented the lowest mean scores on the LOHAS factors compared to the other segments. The Resale and Donation Groups described themselves as enjoying or being satisfied with their lives and spending spare-time with family. In addition, these two groups cared about health and organic foods, and tried to conserve energy and resources. Principal components factor analysis generated clothing consumption values into the following three factors: personal values, social value, and practical value. The ANOVA test with the factors showed differences primarily between the Resale Group and the other two groups. The Resale Group was more concerned about personal value and social value than the other segments. In contrast, the Non-Recycling Group presented the higher level of social value than did Donation Group. In a comparison of the intention to purchase eco-friendly products, the Resale Group showed the highest mean score on intent to purchase Product A. On the other hand, the Donation Group presented the highest intention to purchase for Product B among segments. In addition, the mean scores indicated that the Korean product (Product B) was more preferable for purchase than the U.S. product (Product A). Stepwise regression analysis was used to identify the influence of product attributes on the purchase intention of eco product. With respect to Product A, design, price and contribution to environmental preservation were significant to predict purchase intention for the Resale Group, while price and compatibility with my image factors were significant for the Donation Group. For the Non-Recycling Group, design, price compatibility with the factors of my image, participation to eco campaign, and contribution to environmental preservation were significant. Price appropriateness was significant for each of the three clusters. With respect to Product B, design, price and compatibility with my image factors were important, but different attributes were associated significantly with purchase intention for each of the three groups. The influence of LOHAS characteristics and clothing consumption values on intention to purchase Products A and B were also examined. The LOHAS factor of health concern and the personal value factor were significant in the relationships with the purchase intention; however, the explanatory powers were low in the three segments. Findings showed that each group as classified by clothing disposal behaviors showed differences in the attributes of a product, personal values, and the LOHAS characteristics that influenced their purchase intention of eco-friendly products. Findings would enable organizations to understand eco-friendly behavior and to design appropriate strategic decisions to appeal eco-sumers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.104-119
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• 2012

Fashion cultural products represents cultural trend, and they are produced a lot in Korea to express the Korean culture and style. They are also tools that embody images of Korea. This study mainly focuses on the Korean traditional-patterned ornaments as fashion cultural products. Therefore, this study aims at developing a framework of consumers' attitudes and consumption behaviors about Korean traditional-patterned ornaments, examining how the characteristics are changed according to shopping orientation. For this purpose, a quantitative survey was carried out using 455 questionnaires from women in their 20s and over. The data were analyzed using frequency analysis, factor analysis, t-test, ANOVA, cluster analysis, and $x^2$-test. Findings of this study were as follows. First, half of the respondents were found to possess Korean traditional-patterned ornaments. However, consumers had positive attitudes and tend to purchase them for their own use rather than gifts, demonstrating that the potential for the market is large enough. Second, in accordance with their shopping orientation, consumers were sub-divided into four groups: trend/brand oriented, practicality/pleasure oriented, convenience oriented, and passive shoppers. The trend/brand oriented group showed highest levels of preference regarding purchase intentions of Korean traditional-patterned ornaments. This group also showed the strongest purchasing power on fashion items among the four groups. Third, this study presented animal, plant, geometric and abstract patterns to the respondents to examine their attitudes. It was found that consumers prefered plant-patterned ornaments rather than the others, demonstrating that they have stronger preference and purchase intention toward ornaments with more natural images.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.67-78
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• 2003

To investigate the consumer awareness and clothing purchase behavior of adolescents, questionnaire was administered to 639 middle and high school students in Daegu. The results were as follows. 1. The consumer awareness of adolescents was analyzed to 4 factors. consciousness of right. consumer information, brand-orientedness and responsibility. Respondents were clustered into three groups : utility-oriented group, brand-oriented group, and consumerism-oriented group. 2. Respondents bought their clothes at specialty stores primarily. They used ´products´, ´family's or friends advices´, and ´purchase experiences´ as information sources. The important criteria for selecting clothes were ´design´, ´price´, and ´suitability´ for oneself. Dissatisfactions after purchasing clothes were with ´price´, ´service´, ´sewing´, and ´size´. The complaining behaviors which respondents did mainly were ´telling friends about dissatisfaction with their purchased clothes´, ´asking for change dissatisfying products or asking for refund´ and ´asking for mending´. 3. Information sources were categorized into 3 factors: ´neutral information source´, ´personal information source´ and ´commercial information source´. Criteria for selecting clothes were factor-analyzed into ´harmony´, ´fashion´ and ´management of clothes´. ´The factors of dissatisfactions with purchased clothes were ´appearance´, ´quality´ and ´service´. 4. The differences by the consumer awareness in clothing purchase behaviors among consumer groups : In information sources. criteria for selecting clothes, complaining behaviors. purchasing places. three consumer groups were different significantly.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.57-71
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• 2019

This study intended to analyze the ethical clothing consumption behavior of female adolescents and use it as a basic data for education. Specifically, the female adolescents were classified according to their shopping orientation and then the differences among these groups were examined in terms of their ethical consumption behavior of clothing products, i.e., buying, using and disposing. As a result, three groups were identified: pleasure-seeking, intermediate, independence pursuing according to the shopping orientation sub-factors (loyal, enjoyment, impulsive, imitative and independent). The pleasure-seeking group were more likely to conduct ethical use behavior of clothing products, while the independence-pursuing group conducted more ethical buying and ethical disposing behavior. The lower their desire to enjoy shopping itself, the more cautious they are about their own decisions, and the more confident they about buying from the brand and store they liked, the more likely they were to conduct ethical buying behavior of clothing products. On the other hand, when the emotional and desire-seeking tendencies are combined with independent shopping tendencies, the more likely they conduct ethical use behaviors. In addition, the more they make independent purchasing decisions, the more likely they are to conduct ethical disposal behaivors. The results of this study suggest that providing detailed consumer education that considers individual differences in shopping orientation is needed.

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.21-35
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• 2011

Thanks to the popularization of golf, the population of young golfers including female players has been continuously increasing and the market specialization of golf-wear has been gradually intensifying with a growing number of new import brands in the market. This study is aimed to provide a direction to strengthen and invigorate the competitiveness of domestic golf wear brands through research on the benefits pursued by, the purchase attitudes towards local and overseas brands and the purchasing behaviors of female customers who have emerged as the newest customer group in the golf-wear market. The subjects of the research were 409 female golfers and the statistical analyses used for the study were factor analysis, cluster analysis, ANOVA, Scheffe test, and chi-square test. The results showed that there were six factors sought for golf-wear benefits: figure compensation, brand orientation, comfort, youth/fashion, maturity/conformity, and individuality. Cluster analysis showed that there were three groups of golf-wear benefits sought. Overall, the three groups were different in regard to golf involvement and golf-wear preferences. Based upon the results mentioned above, this study summarizes the key features of each group and can provide applicable suggestions for conducting strategic marketing activities.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.12
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• pp.55-67
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• 1988

The purpose of this study lies in giving a help to the rational life of clothing of consumer and presenting some measures for solving problems of the marketing policy of knitwear and the searching of feasibility of the women's knitwear market. The results of this study are as follows; 1. The characteristics of each brand is not clearly introduced to the consumer. This is owing to the lack of the establishment of the policy that emphasize the special feature of each brand. 2. The target of brand almost coincides real consumer, but fashion mood and age group are declined to specific area. So, the scarcity of casual and young age brand is prominent. 3. All brand ought to treat design as the supreme priority other than anything else on the product differentiation strategy dispite the characteristics of the brand. 4. The distribution centered department store is observed very desirable in this study. 5. According to the result of the consmer's behaviors, it has been clarified that display is the most effective sale promotion. 6. Consumer is used to make improvised decision making in the purchasing activities. Thus, it is required to improve consumer's ability of appraisal for quality and material and to establish the calculable, rational consumption pattern.

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.43-59
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to compare knitwear design preferences and purchase behaviors of university students by sex. The subjects were 493 university students in Daejeon and Gongju provinces. The research method was a survey and measurement instruments were 16 stimuli which were manipulated of knitwear shape and self-administrated questionnaire (knitwear design preference items, knitwear favorite image items, purchase behavior items and subject' demographic attributions). Data were analyzed by factor analysis, frequency analysis, t-test, Cronbach' ${\alpha}$ using SPSS program. The results of the study were as follows. First, as for pullover designs according to pullover shape factors, male preferred classic design with normal round neck, set-in sleeves and normal length, whereas female preferred various designs with normal round, normal V or deep V neck, set-in sleeves and normal or long length. Second, there was significant difference by sex in knitwear patterns and materials. Male preferred geometric patterns and 100% cotton, whereas female preferred natural patterns and blended cotton. Third, 4 factors were emerged on knitwear favorite images(casual image, modem classic image, active image and characteristic image). Especially, there was significant difference by sex in active image. Male preferred active image, whereas female did not. Fourth, as for knitwear purchases, male considered fitting as important purchase criteria, whereas female considered design or style. Male used department stores for purchasing, whereas female used Bosejeom for independent fashion. Male preferred high quality knitwear to female.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.29-47
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• 2005

In this study. we tried to provide basic materials for teachers to develop consumer's guide of internet shopping for middle and high school students through surveying their Purchase realities, clothing purchase behaviors. and clothing purchase attitudes when they use internet shopping mall. The questionaires were distributed to middle and high school students in Seoul, Daegu, Kyunggi, Chungbuk, Chungnam, Kyungbuk, and Kyungnam November, 2004. The followings are the results of this study. First, clothing items which were bought in internet shopping malls were shirts. shoes, pants, bags in order and they were below $20,000\~30,000$ won. Main payment method used was sending money to seller's account. Second, clothing purchase satisfaction degree was comparatively high but the satisfaction degree for the compensation policy was low. If they had any claims for the products. they were likely to behave more actively than passively. Third. returned items were shirts, pants, shoes in order which are the same as purchasing items and they were due to the size and the difference between the products recognised by computer screen and the real products. The $89.0\%$ of the subjects who have purchased clothing through internet expressed high intention to purchase in the future through internet. Forth the degree of attitude toward the internet shopping concerned with clothing purchase was high in the factor of 'convenience of shopping', especially they thought that the purchase through internet had the advantage of varieties and prices. The significant differences were found (1) in the experience of purchase and clothing purchase through internet according to their regions. school years, allowances per month, (2) in the purchased items through internet according to only their sexes, and (3) in the desired Purchase items through internet according to school years, their sexes. regions. The more frequently the middle and high school students use internet, the more goods they purchase through internet, especially the portion of the purchased clothing is getting bigger year by year. This suggests that we need to develope well-organized programs to teach good consumer's attitude to the middle and high school students when they purchase through internet.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.151-163
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• 2023

This study aims to explore the perceptions of MZ's on eco-friendly consumption and their preferences for eco-friendly souvenirs. The top reasons for buying upcycling products include design, price, differentiation, and environmentalism, with design having the most influence on product purchase. Design is also a top consideration when buying upcycling souvenirs. Regarding environmental issues, they were most aware of the seriousness of environmental pollution and thought that recycling of fashion products was necessary. When it comes to eco-friendly fashion purchasing behaviors, the most common choice is to buy clothes that will last longer than those that are in fashion. Upcycling products are more likely to be purchased when there is a concern for the environment or an interest in eco-friendly products. In addition, those who have purchased upcycling products are more likely to be aware of and interested in eco-friendly fashion products and recycling of fashion products. Women are more likely than men to be concerned about environmental issues, and women are also more likely to be aware of upcycling souvenirs. In future research, it would be useful to study the relationship between upcycling products, environmental issues, consumer behavior, and upcycling souvenirs.