Predicting purchase intention for private sale sites Briana Martinez and Soyoung Kim Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the impacts of several consumer characteristics (fashion leadership, impulse buying, bargain shopping), web site attitude, and visit frequency on intention to purchase from a private sale site. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 164 female respondents who were members of at least one private sale site. The sample was selected mainly by using a snowball sampling technique which relied on chain referrals to recruit eligible participants. Factor analysis results suggested that fashion leadership consisted of two dimensions: fashion opinion leadership and fashion innovativeness. Regression analysis was conducted to determine how strongly purchase intention for private sale sites was predicted by fashion opinion leadership, fashion innovativeness, impulse buying, bargain shopping, web site attitude, and visit frequency. Findings – Regression results showed that ease of use was the only dimension of web site attitude that significantly predicted purchase intention. Impulse buying and bargain shopping also significantly influenced purchase intention. Implications for future research and limitations were also discussed. Originality/value – As private sale sites continue to grow in popularity, insight into the psychology and behaviors of shoppers at these sites has become more important. There has been, however, no published research that examines what motivates consumers to purchase from private sale sites. Keywords Consumer behaviour, Women, Fashion, Web sites, Internet, Internet marketing, Fashion retailing Paper type Research paper Introduction Bargain shopping is an old concept but its meaning has changed over time. There used to be a stigma associated with bargain shopping as it referred to buying low-priced items or below-average quality products; now, however, the term has evolved to mean simply getting the best value for your money. Many consumers today, regardless of age or class, engage in bargain shopping whether it be in discount stores, off-price retailers or online. The growing popularity of bargain shopping has prompted the luxury fashion market, once highly resistant to discounting, due to the potential for tarnishing its brand reputation and losing exclusivity, to also join this trend (Atwal and Williams, 2009; Danziger, 2005). Luxury fashion, comprised of apparel, accessories, handbags, shoes, jewelries, and perfume (Amatulli and Guido, 2011), not only assumes excellence in quality, distinctiveness, exclusivity, and craftsmanship but may well also become a part of the consumer’s identity (Fionda and Moore, 2009). These characteristics normally associated with luxury brands make it a challenge for companies to market these brands effectively on the internet. Showcasing the often-tactile sense of quality and craftsmanship on a computer screen and maintaining a sense of exclusivity even while making them available to everybody who has internet access requires a delicate balance (Okonkwo, 2009). Recent trends in luxury consumption, however, have changed this market and present new opportunities, particularly for fashion companies. As noted The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1361-2026.htm Received 6 May 2011 Revised 4 September 2011 8 January 2012 Accepted 18 January 2012 Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management Vol. 16 No. 3, 2012 pp. 342-365 r Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1361-2026 DOI 10.1108/13612021211246080 342 JFMM 16,3
Transcript
Predicting purchase intentionfor private sale sites
Briana Martinez and Soyoung KimDepartment of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors, University of Georgia,
Athens, Georgia, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the impacts of several consumer characteristics(fashion leadership, impulse buying, bargain shopping), web site attitude, and visit frequency onintention to purchase from a private sale site.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 164 female respondents who weremembers of at least one private sale site. The sample was selected mainly by using a snowballsampling technique which relied on chain referrals to recruit eligible participants. Factor analysisresults suggested that fashion leadership consisted of two dimensions: fashion opinion leadership andfashion innovativeness. Regression analysis was conducted to determine how strongly purchaseintention for private sale sites was predicted by fashion opinion leadership, fashion innovativeness,impulse buying, bargain shopping, web site attitude, and visit frequency.Findings – Regression results showed that ease of use was the only dimension of web siteattitude that significantly predicted purchase intention. Impulse buying and bargain shopping alsosignificantly influenced purchase intention. Implications for future research and limitations werealso discussed.Originality/value – As private sale sites continue to grow in popularity, insight into the psychologyand behaviors of shoppers at these sites has become more important. There has been, however, nopublished research that examines what motivates consumers to purchase from private sale sites.
Keywords Consumer behaviour, Women, Fashion, Web sites, Internet, Internet marketing,Fashion retailing
Paper type Research paper
IntroductionBargain shopping is an old concept but its meaning has changed over time. There usedto be a stigma associated with bargain shopping as it referred to buying low-priceditems or below-average quality products; now, however, the term has evolved to meansimply getting the best value for your money. Many consumers today, regardless of ageor class, engage in bargain shopping whether it be in discount stores, off-price retailersor online. The growing popularity of bargain shopping has prompted the luxuryfashion market, once highly resistant to discounting, due to the potential for tarnishingits brand reputation and losing exclusivity, to also join this trend (Atwal and Williams,2009; Danziger, 2005).
Luxury fashion, comprised of apparel, accessories, handbags, shoes, jewelries, andperfume (Amatulli and Guido, 2011), not only assumes excellence in quality,distinctiveness, exclusivity, and craftsmanship but may well also become a part of theconsumer’s identity (Fionda and Moore, 2009). These characteristics normallyassociated with luxury brands make it a challenge for companies to market thesebrands effectively on the internet. Showcasing the often-tactile sense of quality andcraftsmanship on a computer screen and maintaining a sense of exclusivity evenwhile making them available to everybody who has internet access requires a delicatebalance (Okonkwo, 2009). Recent trends in luxury consumption, however, have changedthis market and present new opportunities, particularly for fashion companies. As noted
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available atwww.emeraldinsight.com/1361-2026.htm
Received 6 May 2011Revised 4 September 20118 January 2012Accepted 18 January 2012
Journal of Fashion Marketing andManagementVol. 16 No. 3, 2012pp. 342-365r Emerald Group Publishing Limited1361-2026DOI 10.1108/13612021211246080
342
JFMM16,3
by Yeoman (2011) in his recent article on luxury consumption, a significant numberof consumers across all ages and social grades have now grown less motivated by theordinary and would prefer to own a small number of luxury goods than many cheapthings. Additionally, more consumers are now willing to take time to search forbetter prices on luxury products, an attitude encouraged by the recession. Observing theemergence of this new breed of luxury consumer, and in particular the recent bargain-shopping craze, Lim (2009) states that luxury can now be described as “massclusivity.”Luxury fashion is now readily available and affordable to far more consumers than itever has been due to the ready accessibility of web sites such as bluefly.com andefashionhouse.com. Even Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has recently joinedthis trend by launching a micro-site called myhabit.com (Miller, 2011).
The old way of finding luxuries for below market value no longer prevails, asconsumers no longer have to be in the major fashion cities to stake out sample sales.Now consumers can find numerous online sample sale sites also known as privatesale sites. Private sale sites offer short-term sales of a small selection of designerfashions. This type of web sites allows fashion brands and retailers to rid themselvesof excess merchandise without undermining their brand images (Sherman, 2008). Sitessuch as Gilt Groupe, Rue La La, Ideeli, and HauteLook have embodied the experience oftraditional sample sales and have effectively moved the experience online. These siteshave found a way to provide high-end luxury goods at discounted prices while stillkeeping the feeling of exclusivity and offering the rush and adrenaline of traditionalsample sales (Miller and Wortham, 2009).
Private sale sites are unique in nature as they have taken the traditional sample saleformat and have translated it to an online world, a task that has taken the luxuryindustry years to accomplish and in addition have taken bargain shopping to anexclusive level with their distinctive operations. Private sale sites are reported to havegenerated $2 billion in sales in 2010 and the market is expected to grow to $8 billion by2014 (Kothari, 2011). As private sale sites continue to grow in popularity, insight intothe psychology and behaviors of shoppers at these sites has become more important.Although many recent studies have examined the various factors encouragingconsumers to shop online for apparel products, no published research has examinedwhat has motivated consumers to purchase specifically from private sale sites.Previous studies in online apparel shopping have been conducted as follows: regardingonline apparel shopping in general but without specifying the type of retail web sites(e.g. Cho and Workman, 2011; Kwon and Noh, 2010); for web sites the respondentsfrequently used for apparel shopping (e.g. Hahn and Kim, 2009; Park et al., in press); formulti-channel retailers’ web sites (e.g. Hahn and Kim, 2009; Jones and Kim, 2010); andfor mock retail web sites (e.g. Im, 2011; Kim and Damhorst, 2010; Lee et al., 2011). Thegrowing popularity of and increasing competition among private sale retailers (Miller,2011) prompt research that could fill the void in the academic literature as well as thatcould provide insight into our understanding of shoppers of private sale sites.By understanding the motivations and behaviors of these shoppers, private sale sitescan better define their target consumers and more effectively tailor their offerings tomeet customer needs. The information may also help the luxury industry to developappropriate production and marketing strategies specifically targeted at this growingmarket.
The purpose of this study was to determine consumer characteristics that mightpredict the degree of intention to purchase from private sale sites. Many previousstudies on luxury consumption have focussed on either product characteristics that are
343
Private salesites
important to consumers such as brand image, quality, and fashionability (e.g. Husicand Cicic, 2009; Jung and Shen, 2011) or customer motives for the consumption ofluxury goods such as conspicuousness, snobbery, hedonic motives, materialism,conformity, need for uniqueness, and social recognition (e.g. Hudders and Pandelaere,2012; Park et al., 2008; Vigneron and Johnson, 1999; Wiedmann et al., 2007). Rather thanexamining which of these motives are important for online shopping of luxury fashionbrands, this study focussed on uncovering consumer characteristics that might predictintention to purchase luxury goods specifically from private sale web sites. The customercharacteristics identified through the literature review as potentially influencingshoppers’ purchase intention toward private sale sites were fashion leadership, impulsebuying, and bargain shopping. These three variables are motivational and behavioralcharacteristics that are known to explain various fashion and shopping behaviors.Additionally, two web site-specific variables, attitude toward private sale sites, andfrequency of visiting private sale sites were selected based on the literature on onlineshopping as potential predictors of purchase intention toward private sale sites.To summarize, the specific objective of this study was to compare fashion leadership,impulse buying, bargain shopping, web site attitude, and visit frequency for theirimpacts on purchase intention toward private sale web sites.
Literature reviewPrivate sale sitesPrivate sale sites originated in 2007 in the USA with the launching of Gilt Groupe.Since then numerous private sale sites such as Rue La La, Ideeli, and HauteLook haveemerged. The sales of major private sale sites have quickly grown to over ten milliondollars. Private sale sites target aspirational buyers by enticing consumers with highlydiscounted, alluring merchandise variety and an assortment of some of the most well-known luxury brands such as Marc Jacobs and Fendi (Gilt Groupe, 2010; HauteLook,2010; Ideeli, 2010; Rue La La, 2010).
Private sale sites are similar to the traditional sample sales in that sites areorganized utilizing a limited time format. Limited time formats give consumers a smallopening of time, typically between 24 and 48 hours, during which the merchandiseoffered is up for sale. Consumers get a preview of what is going to be offered, but justenough to build anticipation. Private sale sites provide a list of what designers, lines,and collections are going to be on the sales floor, and the dates they are offered.However that is all the information provided; the actual merchandise offering remainsa total secret until the designated start time. The products offered by private sale sitesvary but invariably include a collection of high-end luxury brands. Product offerings atthese companies are centered primarily in fashion and furnishings. Gilt Groupe, Ideeli,and Rue La La, however, have expanded their offerings to include hotel rooms, vacationhome rentals, and trip packages.
These web sites offer limited, members-only access. This membership-only accessallows an air of exclusivity since other shopping sites and search engines cannotaccess the information on these web sites. Some private sale sites such as Gilt Groupe andIdeeli offer different levels of membership with premium membership being offered as away of retaining loyal customers and building loyalty with especially high volume or high-value shoppers (Karimzadeh, 2010). Premium members receive additional perks such asbeing able to access the sales an hour earlier than others (Gilt Groupe, 2010; Ideeli, 2010).
Private sale sites collect information about their members’ preferences andshopping patterns in order to maintain sales data that allow them to extensively track
344
JFMM16,3
valuable data, i.e. the number of consumers continuing to look at a specific producteven after it has sold out. The companies take all of this information into account andfactor it into buying decisions in order to provide more future value for the consumer.These companies are on board with technology which is obvious through their websites alone; however, they have also established a presence in the arena of mobiletechnology as many of them now feature their own iPhone or smartphone applications,thereby ensuring that their members never need miss a sale (Gilt Groupe, 2010;HauteLook, 2010; Ideeli, 2010; Rue La La, 2010).
While some industry skeptics may take private sale sites simply as a fad, manyother retailers are jumping on the luxury exclusive club discount bandwagon. NeimanMarcus, for example, took the private sale approach and sent only a selected customerbase an e-mail informing them of limited-time sales on brands such as Gucci and Dolce& Gabbana (Corcoran, 2009). Even eBay got in on the action by opening Fashion Vault,their spin on the private sale business (D’Innocenzio, 2010). Naturally there is intenserivalry between these companies. They are fighting for shares of the market in additionto brand assortment and depth even while vying to keep their customers fromswitching to their competitors (Corcoran, 2009).
The US’ recession has created downturns in many industries and the luxuryindustry has been no exception. Deflated wealth brought on by the recession andeconomic slowdown has resulted in declining demand for high-end products, andconsequently in a significant increase in inventory levels of unsold luxury goods (Barr,2011; Fiegerman, 2011). In fact, luxury goods retailers performed much worse thanmany other retailers during the recession, only recently bouncing back (Perocchi, 2011).Somehow, in the midst of all of this, private sale retailers have found a unique niche,resulting in impressive revenue growth (Khalid, 2011; Rao, 2011a). According to arecent report published by Inc. Magazine, Ideeli earned the spot as the fastest-growingprivate business in the USA with a three-year sales growth of 40.882 percent andrevenue of $77.7 million in 2010 (Mau, 2011). Gilt Groupe posted $423 million inrevenue in 2010, up from $170 million a year ago (Oran, 2011), and recently announceda major international expansion with private sales now available to consumers in 90countries (Rao, 2011b). While there are some critics who think the success of thesecompanies is due to the recession and that these sites will be a fading trend once theeconomy bounces back, these companies are for now succeeding in a fast-paced onlinemarket.
Theoretical frameworkThe purpose of this study is to determine the individual characteristics that influenceshoppers’ purchase intention toward private sale sites. The Engel, Kollat, andBlackwell (EKB) model of consumer behavior (Engel and Blackwell, 1982) guided ourselection of variables and was used to develop the theoretical model proposed in thisstudy (see Figure 1). This model focusses on the individual aspect of consumerdecisions and views it as a process instead of a solitary act. As such, it places muchimportance on how the consumer comes to make decisions and divides the processinto five stages: problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation,purchase, and post-purchase evaluation. The EKB model also proposes that theproduct evaluation stage that leads to purchase intention is composed of several vitalcomponents such as beliefs and attitudinal and evaluative criteria. Furthermore, allstages in the decision-making process are influenced by external (environmental)factors as well as internal (individual) factors such as lifestyles, motives, norms,
345
Private salesites
values, and reference groups. Although the EKB model has been widely applied inconsumer research, its usefulness in online shopping research has been mentioned inonly a few studies (e.g. Chen, 2009; Darley et al., 2010; Lin et al., 2010; Teo and Yeong,2003). For example, Lin et al. (2010) used the EKB framework to propose a model thatexplains a consumer’s intention to use online information systems for travel products.In their model, consumers’ motives such as travel preferences and preferred onlinefeatures were proposed to influence their perceptions of online information systems,which in turn affected their overall attitudes toward those systems as well asultimately, their purchase intention. Similarly, the current study proposes a model thatincorporates the influences of consumers’ individual characteristics on purchaseintention for private sale sites. The influence of individual characteristics on consumerattitude and behavior is also highlighted in motivation theory. According to motivationtheory, human motives, whether cognitive or affective, guide individuals to engage incertain behaviors that will help them achieve individual gratification and satisfaction(Rohm, 2004). In support of this theory, numerous studies have found that consumers’motivational characteristics, such as shopping motivations and preferences, are majordeterminants of consumer value perception and further influence consumer attitudesand behaviors. For example, Lee et al. (2009) found that consumer characteristics suchas price sensitivity and compulsive buying behavior significantly affected shoppingvalue in online auctions, which in turn, influenced preferences toward online auctionsites. Morschett et al. (2005) found that grocery shoppers with different shoppingvalues formed different attitudes toward retail stores. And again, in the contextof luxury consumption, previous studies have proven that consumers’ motivationalcharacteristics such as materialism, vanity, need for social recognition, and need foruniqueness influenced purchasing behavior of luxury fashion brands (Hudders andPandelaere, 2012; Park et al., 2008; Vigneron and Johnson, 1999; Wiedmann et al., 2007).In the current study, fashion leadership, impulse buying, and bargain shopping werechosen as individual characteristics that might explain why some consumers are morelikely to purchase luxury goods from private sale sites. Researchers have argued that,in addition to individual consumer characteristics, online shopping research shouldalso consider store-specific characteristics as one of the key dimensions of purchasedecisions on the internet (Huang, 2003; Lowengart and Tractinsky, 2001; Seock, 2003).Store-specific characteristics such as web site attributes influence consumerperceptions of the store and are used, in turn, to evaluate the store from whichconsumers want to make their purchase (Lowengart and Tractinsky, 2001). Voorveldet al. (2009) conducted a meta-analysis of empirical studies to propose a theoretical
Purchase intentionFigure 1.Proposed modelof predictors ofpurchase intention forprivate sale sites
346
JFMM16,3
framework for studying consumers’ responses to web sites and argued that web sitecharacteristics as well as user characteristics are predictors of both attitudinal andbehavioral responses to a web site. Voorveld et al. further suggested that the leveland nature of the users’ exposure to web sites also influence their responses to thoseweb sites. In the current study, two web site-specific consumer characteristicswere chosen as predictors of purchase intention for private sale sites based on therelevant literature: web site attitude and visit frequency. Web site attitude representsa consumer’s attitudes toward various characteristics of a site whereas frequencyof visits to a private sale site reflects a consumer’s degree of exposure to and familiaritywith that site.
Fashion leadershipFashion leadership is one of the main avenues to the eventual acceptance ofnew fashion trends by the masses. Fashion leadership can be broken down intotwo categories: fashion innovativeness and fashion opinion leadership. Fashioninnovativeness has been defined as the likelihood to purchase a new fashion soonerthan other consumers (Sproles, 1979) whereas fashion opinion leadership is defined asthe “ability or tendency to convey information regarding a new fashion in a way thatinfluences successive purchasers to accept or reject it” (Workman and Johnson, 1993,p. 64). Consumers with high levels of fashion innovativeness are among the first towear a new fashion (Goldsmith and Stith, 1993; Goldsmith et al., 1999; Sproles, 1979)whereas consumers with high level of fashion opinion leadership are more apt topersuade the masses through communication usually during social groups where theycan discuss why the fashion is acceptable (Gordon et al., 1985; Sproles, 1979).
Consumers with high levels of fashion leadership are more involved in fashion,enjoy shopping often, are not price conscious, and are not likely to be practical abouttheir purchases (Goldsmith and Stith, 1993; Gutman and Mills, 1982). Fashion leaders,particularly fashion innovators, are also more likely to shop at specialty stores anddepartment stores whereas non-fashion innovators are more price conscious and tendto shop at discount stores (Lumpkin and McConkey, 1984). Private sale sites, by theirvery nature, can be comparable to specialty stores as they specialize in designer-brandfashions and furnishings; however private sale sites are also similar to off-price storesin that the merchandise offered is discounted to a degree. Because of the unique natureof these web sites, and also given that there is no empirical research studying fashionleadership and shopping at private sale sites, it is of interest to investigate how thesetwo dimensions of fashion leadership might be related to intention to purchase fromprivate sale sites. Given that fashionability, innovativeness, and uniqueness are someof the key product attributes that characterize luxury fashion brands (Amatulli andGuido, 2011; Fionda and Moore, 2009; Husic and Cicic, 2009; Tynan et al., 2010) fashionleadership, reflecting increased interest in new and trendy fashions, seems likely tolead to a stronger intention to buy luxury goods from private sale sites. The positiverelationship between fashion leadership and purchasing behavior of luxury brands isalso supported by a study by Lim (2009) who found that fashion leaders with higherfashion interest had a higher level of emotional attachment to luxury fashion brands.Additionally, Shang et al. (2005) suggested that fashion involvement might influenceconsumers’ intention to shop online. Accordingly, the following hypothesis was proposed:
H1. Fashion leadership will positively influence purchase intention for privatesale sites.
347
Private salesites
Impulse buyingImpulse buying has been defined as an instant, compelling, emotion-driven behavior inwhich the impulse decision precludes consideration of choices or alternative (Bayleyand Nancarrow, 1998). Similarly, Rook (1987) defined it as the relentless urge to buy anitem instantly. Park et al. (2006) found that apparel shoppers are more likely to bemotivated to impulse purchase by their fashion involvement and positive emotion,suggesting that impulse buying is strongly related to a shopper’s involvement with theproduct and that it also helps the shopper to achieve emotional gratification. Theassociation between impulse buying and emotional factors is widely accepted andmany researchers agree that impulse buying is motivated by hedonic motivations suchas feelings of excitement and pleasure (Baumgartner, 2002; Sharma et al., 2010). It isalso recognized that impulse buying is triggered not only by internal stimuli suchas hedonic motivations and product involvement but also by external stimuli suchas shopping environment and marketing communications (e.g. coupons, lottery)(Virvilaite et al., 2011). Dawson and Kim (2010) investigated external cues on apparelweb sites that encouraged impulse buying and found that sales promotions and noticeof new styles are among the various features of apparel web sites that triggeredimpulse buying. Because private sale sites offer deals and merchandise that change ona daily basis, impulse buying may play a significant role in increasing the shopper’sintention to purchase from private sale sites:
H2. Impulse buying will positively influence purchase intention for privatesale sites.
Bargain shoppingBargain shopping is motivated by the shopper’s belief in the importance of obtainingprice-related bargains, whether through shopping efforts, bargain vigilance, or usingcoupons (Hill and Harmon, 2009). Moye and Kincade (2003) sought to segment USfemale apparel shoppers based on their shopping orientations and found bargainshoppers to be one of four distinct market segments. In their study, bargain shoppersliked to shop around for bargains, tended to shop on sale days, and tended to look foradvertisements that focussed on low pricing, coupon sales, and clearance merchandise.This segment significantly differed from other segments in their store patronagepreferences and attitudes toward their preferred store. Although a majority of bargainshoppers chose department stores as their preferred store the researchers argued thatthis shopping segment would not be a viable market for department stores because ofshoppers’ reluctance to pay full price. Hill and Harmon (2009) found that bargain-hunting activities are more common among females than males and that males weremore concerned about the time and image implications of bargain-related behaviors.Previously, bargain shopping was viewed mostly from an economic perspective asa way for lower-income consumers to achieve economic benefits (Bardhi and Arnould,2005). However, it is now widely acknowledged that bargain shopping occurs across allincome levels (Kwon et al., 2009) and for reasons beyond economic value (Cox et al.,2005; Schindler, 1998). In an experiment conducted by Darke and Dahl (2003), the actof returning the money that participants saved through bargaining did not reducetheir satisfaction, proving that values beyond the financial had been achieved throughthe experience. Schindler (1998) noted feelings of pride and satisfaction amongthose consumers who engaged in bargain shopping, and found that consumersexpressed more positive feelings when they felt responsible for the bargain. For luxury
348
JFMM16,3
consumers particularly, bargain shopping can be a way to measure how much theyhave won in the game of bargain shopping; for luxury consumers it is not about thefinancial savings but the thrill of the hunt (Danziger, 2005). Lim (2009) coined the termluxe-bargain shopping and defined it as “purchasing a luxury brand at a bargain,which generates values in association with both the product (luxury brand) andprocess (bargain shopping)” (p. 4). Given that one of the major attractions of privatesale sites is bargain shopping, it was proposed:
H3. Bargain shopping will positively influence purchase intention for privatesale sites.
Web site attitudeBecause web sites provide the only means for many pure online retailers such asprivate sale sites to communicate with their customers, the quality of their web sitesserves as a significant environmental cue affecting consumer behaviors (Chang andChen, 2008). Researchers have argued that web site characteristics influence users’online experiences and their evaluations of site performance, ultimately affecting theirdecision making at any given site (Huang, 2003). Consumer evaluations of a siteperformance or attitudes toward a site reflect their reactions toward many differentsite characteristics such as product information, enjoyment level, and ease of use,handling of transactions, and design. Accordingly, web site attitude is a multi-dimensional concept with the number of dimensions ranging anywhere between fiveand 12 for transaction sites (Loiacono, 2000). The characteristics that are deemedimportant for web site attitude will vary since the information and relationshippreferred by a consumer can differ by product or service (Burke, 2002; Elliot andFowell, 2000; Lynch et al., 2001). Lynch et al. argue that web site attitude is moreimportant for retailers with high-touch goods such as apparel.
In Chang and Chen’s (2008) study, web site attitude was proposed to influencepurchase intention through trust as a mediating variable. The researchers found thatcustomers’ perceptions of the web site quality for the online retailers they frequentlybrowsed positively affected their trust toward those retailers which, in turn,significantly increased their purchase intentions. Jones and Kim (2010) examined theinfluence of brand trust, offline patronage, clothing involvement, and perceived website quality on online apparel shopping intention. The researchers focussed on apparelmulti-channel retailers such as Banana Republic and Urban Outfitters. In theirstudy, perceived web site quality was divided into three dimensions, of which twofactors, usability and information quality and visual appeal and image, were found tobe significant predictors of online apparel shopping intention. Interactivity andinnovativeness did not significantly influence online apparel intention. The influenceof perceived web site quality or web site attitude on purchase intention or satisfactionis well supported in other previous studies on online apparel shopping (Alhasoun,2010; Kim and Jones, 2009; Kim and Lee, 2006; Kim et al., 2003; Kim and Stoel, 2004;Seock, 2003). Seock (2003) examined the impacts of attitude toward a favorite apparelweb site on purchase intention. In her study web site attitude was measured usingFishbein and Ajzen’s (1980) expectancy-value model of attitudes and consisted of fivedimensions: product information, customer service, privacy and security, navigation,and auditory experience/comparison shopping. The results of her study revealed thatattitude toward a favorite apparel web site was positively related to intention to searchfor information at that site as well as to intention to purchase from the site. Recently,
349
Private salesites
Alhasoun (2010) investigated the relationship between web site attitude and purchaseintention for three different retail web sites, including one apparel web site, andobserved that overall web site attitude was a significant predictor of purchase intentionfor all three web sites. In her study, overall web site attitude was determined bythe shopper’s perceptions of web site attributes such as ease of use, usefulness,informativeness, and entertainment. Even though private sale sites have a web sitelayout that differs from typical online apparel sites, previous work on retail websites provides enough evidence to support the relationship between customers’web site attitude and purchase intention. Therefore it was proposed:
H4. Consumers’ positive attitudes toward private sale sites will significantlyincrease purchase intention for these sites.
Visit frequencyThe frequency with which shoppers visit stores or shopping centers is an importantbehavioral characteristic of shoppers and has been a key topic in retailing research(Roy, 1994). Most of the research, however, has focussed on exploring motivationaland demographic characteristics of shoppers who frequently visit certain stores andshopping centers. For example, Roy examined the characteristics of shoppers whomade frequent trips to shopping malls and identified the frequent mall shopper as anindividual in the age group of 40-60 years who had relatively high income, was notparticularly sensitive to deals, and considered shopping an enjoyable recreationalexperience. Visit frequency has also been treated as one of the indicators of storepatronage and studied in conjunction with such variables as demographiccharacteristics, store image, store attitude and satisfaction (Gustafsson et al., 2005;Korgaonkar et al., 1985; Pan and Zinkhan, 2006). For example, Pan and Zinkhanconducted a meta-analysis of empirical findings on the predictors of store patronage asmeasured either by store choice or shopping frequency and observed that the twodimensions of store patronage were explained by two different sets of predictors.Personal factors such as demographics and store attitude seemed to be the dominantpredictors of frequency of visit whereas market and product relevant variables weremore likely to influence store choice. Web managers have argued that a person whotends to visit a web site often can be considered to be loyal to the web site and thatrepeat users tend to spend much more than non-repeat users (Bhatnagar and Ghose,2004). For members of private sale sites, however, frequency of visiting the sites maynot be just a simple manifestation of their loyalty to the site but may representa behavioral characteristic more complex in nature. As private sale sites feature daily,limited-time sales with short advance notice only on brands, but not on specificmerchandise to be on sale, this tends to encourage shoppers to visit these sites morefrequently than other retail sites. Some shoppers may visit private sale sites frequentlysimply because they are checking to see if their favorite brands will be featured orbecause they enjoy browsing constantly changing merchandise. Accordingly, frequentvisits to private sale sites may not necessarily indicate that a shopper neither holdsa strong loyalty to those sites nor makes frequent purchases from them. Even so, it isexpected that frequent visits to private sale sites might increase users’ willingness topurchase from the sites due to change in their attitudinal and behavioral responsesresulting from increased exposure to the sites (Voorveld et al., 2009). Gefen et al. (2003)found that familiarity with an online retailer and with its web site reduces uncertaintywhile increasing the user’s purchase intention. Similarly, Flavian et al. (2006) observed
350
JFMM16,3
that familiarity with a web site leads to a strong loyalty. Additionally, Pavlou andFygenson’s (2006) study found that getting product information from a retailer’s website positively influenced purchase intention for that retailer’s site. Accordingly, thosewho visit a private sale site more frequently, even if those visits are motivated mainlyby information search or entertainment value, may reveal a stronger intentionto purchase from the site. Accordingly, it was hypothesized:
H5. Visit frequency will positively influence purchase intention for privatesale sites.
MethodologySurvey descriptionThe scale for fashion leadership included 12 items measuring fashion opinionleadership and fashion innovativeness on a seven-point Likert scale (1, stronglydisagree; 7, strongly agree). Fashion opinion leadership was measured with six itemsdeveloped by Flynn et al. (1996) (e.g. “I often influence people’s opinion aboutfashionable clothing” and “I often persuade others to buy the fashions that I like”) andfashion innovativeness was measured with six items developed by Goldsmithand Hofacker (1991) (e.g. “I am the last in my circle of friends to purchase a new outfitor fashion” and “I do little shopping for new fashions”). Impulse buying was measuredwith seven items developed by Rook and Fisher (1995) (1, strongly disagree; 7, stronglyagree). Examples of the scale items included “I often buy things without thinking” and“If I see something I want, I buy it.” The reliability coefficient was 0.92. Bargainshopping was measured using three items adapted from Cox et al. (2005) and one itemdeveloped by Lim (2009) (1, strongly disagree; 7, strongly agree). Example itemsincluded “I enjoy hunting for a bargain” and “I get a thrill out of finding a real bargain.”The reliability coefficient was 0.87. Purchase intention was measured using three itemsadapted from Lim (2009) on a seven-point Likert scale (1, strongly disagree; 7, stronglyagree) (e.g. “I would purchase luxury merchandise at private sale sites in the future”and “The probability that I would consider buying luxury merchandise from a privatesale site is high”). The reliability coefficient was 0.94.
In measuring web site attitude, Fishbein and Ajzen’s (1980) expectancy-value modelof attitudes was applied. The model explains that a person’s attitude toward an objector an entity is based on the person’s belief about the object’s performance on variousattributes as well as the importance the person attaches to those attributes.Accordingly, web site attitude in this study was measured as a shopper’s beliefs aboutthe performance of the web site on different attributes (belief) weighed by the extent towhich these attributes are important to the shopper (importance). A total of 16 itemsadapted from a study by Kim and Stoel (2004) were used to assess various web siteattributes such as aesthetics, ease of use, and information quality. Example itemsincluded “The website adequately meets my information needs,” “The website designis innovative,” and “I find the website easy to use.” The belief component of theweb site attitude scale was measured with a seven-point Likert scale askingthe respondents to rate their perceptions of web site attributes (1, strongly disagree;7, strongly agree). The importance score was measured by asking the respondentsto indicate the level of importance for each web site attribute (1, not important; 7, veryimportant).
The survey also covered demographic questions including age, income, andethnicity, frequency of visiting private sale sites, and the names of private sale sites
351
Private salesites
that the respondents were familiar with. Survey participants were asked in thebeginning of the survey to identify all private sale sites of which they were members.Then prior to the completion of the section for web site attitude, respondents wereasked to name the private sale site they were most familiar with and to keep this site inmind when answering the questions followed.
Data collectionThe sample for this research included females aged 18 and older who were membersof at least one private sale site. The sample was selected mainly by usinga snowball sampling technique which relied on chain referrals to recruit eligibleparticipants. The researchers also posted the survey link on their personalfacebook pages as well as the facebook pages for several private sale sites suchas Gilt Groupe, Rue La La, and HauteLook. Twitter was also utilized to aid in snowballrecruiting. The sample for this study targeted female private sale sites’ members;having purchased an item from a private sale site however was not a requirement forparticipation.
A total of 214 respondents who met the criteria for participation in the study agreedto take part in the survey. Of these, however, 50 respondents failed to complete thequestionnaire, resulting in a total of 164 usable surveys for analysis. The demographiccharacteristics of the sample were presented in Table I. Over half of the respondentswere in the age range of 18-24 (58.2 percent) while 27.4 percent were in the age group of25-34. Almost three-quarters of the respondents (74.5 percent) classified themselves asCaucasian and 7.6 percent as African American while approximately half (51.8 percent)stated that their annual household incomes were less than $70,000. A total of 30respondents (18.3 percent) reported an income of less than $10,000 indicatinga substantial proportion of students included in the sample.
ResultsFactor analysesA principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation showed that the scaleof fashion leadership consisted of two factors with an eigenvalue of one or greater(see Table II). The first factor, composed of five items reflecting fashion opinionleadership, explained 44.87 percent of the variance with an eigenvalue of 5.38. Thesecond factor included three items representing fashion innovativeness and explained13.16 percent of the variance with an eigenvalue of 1.58. The two factors togetheraccounted for 58.03 percent of the total variance. Both factors had a high internalreliability with Cronbach’s a values of 0.89 and 0.81, respectively.
Factor analysis was also performed separately for the two components of web siteattitude: belief and importance statements. Three factors with an eigenvalue of one orgreater emerged for the belief component whereas a four-factor solution was obtainedfor the importance component. The results were then reviewed to find common factorsbetween the two components. Three factors were identified, each containing two itemsand they are: web site innovativeness, information quality, and ease of use. Thetwo belief and importance statements loaded on each factor were multiplied toproduce a web site attitude score. Accordingly, three web site attitude scores (web siteinnovativeness, information quality, and ease of use) were calculated and used in allsubsequent analyses. Because these factors contained only two items each, correlationcoefficients were examined as a measure of reliability. The factor items and correlationcoefficients are presented in Table III.
352
JFMM16,3
Frequency (%)
Age18-24 85 58.225-34 40 27.435-44 10 6.845-54 7 4.855-64 2 1.465þ 2 1.4GenderFemale 164 100RaceWhite/Caucasian 108 74.5African-American 11 7.6Hispanic 9 6.2Multi-racial 8 5.5Asian/Pacific Islander 9 6.2Native American Indian 0 0Other 0 0Incomeo$10,000 30 20.7$10,000-$29,999 21 14.5$30,000-$49,999 24 16.6$50,000-$69,999 10 609$70,000-$89,999 12 8.3$90,000-$109,999 9 6.2$110,000-$129,999 9 6.2$130,000 or more 30 20.7Frequency of access to private sale sitesDaily 58 39.72-3 times a week 30 20.5Weekly 25 17.12-3 times a month 8 12.3Once a month 15 10.3
Table I.Demographic profile of
sample
FactorsFactor
loadings
Fashion opinion leadershipI often influence people’s opinion about fashionable clothing 0.89People I know pick fashionable apparel based on what I have told them 0.82I often persuade others to buy the fashions that I like 0.82Other people come to me for advice about choosing fashionable apparel 0.75I know more about new fashions before other people 0.65Fashion innovativenessI am the last in my circle of friends to purchase a new outfit or fashiona 0.87I do little shopping for new fashionsa 0.87I am the last in my circle of friends to know the names of the latest designers and fashiontrendsa 0.67
Note: aReverse-coded items
Table II.Factor analysis results for
fashion leadership
353
Private salesites
Correlation analysesCorrelation analyses were conducted to examine bivariate relationships among thevariables (Table IV). Impulse buying was positively correlated with fashion opinionleadership (r¼ 0.21, po0.01) and purchase intention (r¼ 0.32, po0.001) but was notrelated with any of the three factors of web site attitude. Bargain shopping waspositively correlated with web site information (r¼ 0.21, po0.05) and purchaseintention (r¼ 0.32, po0.001). Fashion opinion leadership was strongly correlatedwith fashion innovativeness (r¼ 0.44, po0.001) whereas the three factors of website attitude were positively correlated with each other (r¼ 0.44, po0.001 for website innovativeness and information; r¼ 0.38, po0.001 for web site innovativenessand ease of use; r¼ 0.68, po0.001 for information and ease of use). Purchase intentionwas positively correlated with all three factors of web site attitude (r¼ 0.27, po0.01 forweb site innovativeness; r¼ 0.43, po0.001 for information; r¼ 0.56, po0.001 for easeof use). Frequency of visiting private sale sites was positively correlated with fashionopinion leadership (r¼ 0.27, po0.01), fashion innovativeness (r¼ 0.26, po0.01),bargain shopping (r¼ 0.19, po0.05), information (r¼ 0.37, po0.001), ease of use(r¼ 0.25, po0.01), and purchase intention (r¼ 0.25, po0.01).
Regression analysisMultiple regression analysis using the enter method was conducted to examinehow strongly purchase intention was predicted by individual characteristics (fashionopinion leadership, fashion innovativeness, impulse buying, bargain shopping),
Correlation coefficientsFactors Belief Importance
Website innovativeness 0.77 0.70The web site is innovativeThe website design is innovativeInformation 0.68 0.68The web site adequately meets my information needsThe information on the web site is effectiveEase of use 0.72 0.71It would be easy for me to become skillful at using the websiteI find the web site easy to use
Table III.Factor analysis results forweb site attitude
frequency of visiting private sale sites, and web site attitude (web site innovativeness,information, ease of use). The four individual characteristics were entered into theregression model as the first block (Model 1), followed by visit frequency as the secondblock (Model 2) and the three factors of web site attitude as the third block (Model 3).The regression model between four individual characteristics and purchase intentionwas significant with F(4, 137)¼ 10.75, po0.001. As shown in Table IV, the varianceexplained by the model increased from 24 percent to 29 percent with the addition ofvisit frequency (Rdiff
2 ¼ 0.05, po0.01) (F(5, 136)¼ 11.06, po0.001). Further additionof the three web site-attitude factors also significantly improved the model (Rdiff
2 ¼ 0.20,po0.001) (F(8, 133)¼ 15.90, po0.001). Examination of the tolerance and varianceinflation factor (VIF) values indicated that tolerance values ranged from 0.86 to 0.98and all VIF statistics were below 1.17 for Model 2. For Model 3, tolerance values rangedfrom 0.90 to 0.95 and all VIF statistics were below 1.11. These two indices suggestedthat multi-collinearity was not present in the models as multi-collinearity is generallyconsidered present if tolerance is less than 0.20 and if VIF is larger than four (Fox,1991). The results showed that purchase intention was significantly predicted bybargain shopping (b¼ 0.23, po0.01) and impulse buying (b¼ 0.27, po0.001), therebysupporting H2 and H3, respectively. Of the three web site-attitude factors, ease of usepositively influenced purchase intention (b¼ 0.41, po0.001), lending partial supportfor H4. Neither fashion opinion leadership nor fashion innovativeness was significantin predicting purchase intention, therefore rejecting H1. Frequency of visiting privatesale site was significant at first, resulting in support for H5, but became insignificantwhen the three factors of web site attitude were added to the model (Table V).
DiscussionDespite the rapid growth of online private sale businesses no published study hasexamined shopping behaviors at private sale sites. The current study attempts to fillthe void in the literature on luxury consumption by investigating the extent to whichseveral consumer characteristics affected shoppers’ intention to purchase luxury goodsfrom private sale sites. The study framework is based on the EKB model and includesthree consumer characteristics (fashion leadership, impulse buying, bargain shopping)and two site-specific variables (web site attitude, visit frequency). From the practical
perspective, this study’s results provide suggestions for more focussed marketingstrategies in targeting private sale shoppers in the US market.
In this study the concept of fashion leadership was found to consist of two factors:fashion opinion leadership and fashion innovativeness, consistent with findings ofKang and Park-Poaps (2010) and Workman and Johnson (1993). As in these previousstudies, fashion opinion leadership and fashion innovativeness emerged as stronglycorrelated yet distinguishable factors. The finding that purchase intention wassignificantly correlated with fashion opinion leadership but not with fashioninnovativeness is particularly interesting. The level of intention to purchase fromprivate sale sites increased with the level of desire to express opinions about fashionand to influence others, but not with the level of desire to seek new fashions and trends.This finding may be reflective of the perceived trendiness of merchandise at privatesale sites. Although private sale sites set themselves from many other bargain fashionsites by focussing on the latest fashion merchandise, thus attracting fashionopinion leaders, their merchandise may still be not considered innovative enough forfashion innovators. Another possible explanation deals with different primaryshopping motivations for fashion opinion leaders and fashion innovators. According toKang and Park-Poaps, fashion innovativeness is positively associated with hedonicshopping motivations such as adventure and excitement and negatively withvalue shopping motivations whereas fashion opinion leadership is positively relatedto utilitarian shopping motivations. Considering this argument, one may conclude thatfashion opinion leaders are more drawn to private sale sites than fashion innovatorsfor practical reasons such as the source of fashion information and the convenientplace to purchase new fashions at a large discount. These findings imply to privatesale retailers that fashion leadership is an important element to consider for theidentification of their target consumer segments. Considering that these sites maybe considered a good source of fashion information for opinion leaders, private salecompanies may want to feature a weekly column on their sites describing currentfashion trends or any other information that could be viewed as extremely valuable bythese shoppers. On the other hand, if they wish to make their sites more attractive tofashion innovators, they should perhaps make efforts to include a selection of highlyinteresting and unusual merchandise and also incorporate some degree of adventureand excitement into the shopping experience at their sites.
When considered along with other important independent variables, however, thepredictive power of fashion opinion leadership weakened to an insignificant level andH1 was therefore rejected. Therefore, it can be concluded that if everything else wereequal an individual’s likelihood of purchasing from a private sale web site would have noassociation with whether the shopper were a fashion leader or a fashion follower.Although fashion leadership was not a significant predictor of purchase intention in thecurrent study, it could be interesting to examine how and if fashion leadership is relatedto the use of private sale sites as a source of information. By separately offering differentbrands each day private sale sites may provide a convenient and exciting venue forwindow shopping and therefore some shoppers may frequently visit these sites just tobrowse with little intention to buy. This possibility is supported by the strong correlationbetween two dimensions of fashion leadership and visit frequency. The positivecorrelations suggest that those with high levels of fashion opinion leadership and fashioninnovativeness visit private sale sites more frequently. Accordingly, a further explorationof fashion leadership in association with motivations for visiting private sale sites mayprovide an increased understanding of the shoppers of these web sites.
356
JFMM16,3
In support of H2 and H3, both impulse buying and bargain shopping were found tobe significant predictors of purchase intention for private sale sites. Because privatesale sites operate under a limited time sales format, members who are prone to impulsebuying may be more stimulated than others to make a spontaneous purchase decisionin such a shopping environment. Additionally, private sale sites only have a limitedquantity of each product and, knowing this, impulse buyers may feel a stronger urge tobuy immediately in order not to lose the chance. On the other hand, individuals drivenby bargain shopping may find financial value and satisfaction in buying from privatesale sites due to the extreme discounts offered, thus resulting in a stronger intention topurchase from these sites. The significant impact of bargain shopping on purchaseintention for luxury goods at private sale sites has interesting implications. Prestige orpremium pricing has traditionally been an important strategy for the marketing ofluxury fashion brands as consumers use a price cue as a surrogate indicator of prestigewith a high price indicating high levels of quality and status (Fionda and Moore, 2009;Wiedmann et al., 2007). However, the results of this study suggest that private sale sitesmay attract a different set of luxury consumers for whom bargains and deals donot necessarily decrease the value of luxury goods but instead can make them moreattractive.
When the three factors of web site attitude were considered simultaneously, ease ofuse was the only factor that significantly predicted purchase intention, thus partiallysupporting H4. This finding suggests that individuals who held more favorableattitudes toward the usability of the sites were more likely to purchase in the future.Despite the significant correlations with purchase intention, web site innovativeness,and information quality were not significant in predicting purchase intention whenconsidered along with other variables. These results contradict a recent study by Kimand Jones (2009) on online apparel shopping which found appearance-related qualitiesand usability to be almost equally important in predicting purchase intention. It shouldbe noted, however, that Kim and Jones investigated web sites of multi-channel apparelretailers and the different results may be therefore due to the difference in category ofthe targeted retail sites. It should also be pointed out that Kim and Jones studied theinfluence of web site quality in terms of perceptions of web site attributes whereasthe current study examined the influence of web site attitude as measured byperceptions multiplied by the importance given to web site attributes. The findings ofthe current study suggest that when allocating their limited resources, private salesites should focus on improving usability before addressing other aspects of theweb sites. An interesting topic for future research regards the possible existence ofa hierarchy clarifying the importance of different aspects of web site quality. As withMaslow’s (1954) hierarchy of needs, it is possible that various aspects of web sitequality are rank-ordered; certain web site attributes (e.g. usability) may beprerequisites which need to be satisfied before higher-order attributes (e.g. web siteinnovativeness) can be fully appreciated and hold influence over the user’s ultimatebehavioral intention. The establishment of such a hierarchy of web site-qualitydimensions should help companies devise a specific strategy as to how to prioritizetheir resources and efforts yielding web sites that deliver maximum benefit.
The hypothesis suggesting the relationship between visit frequency and purchaseintention (H5) was supported. When two dimensions of fashion leadership, impulsebuying, and bargain shopping were controlled, visit frequency positively predictedpurchase intention suggesting that those who visit private sale sites frequently showeda stronger intention to purchase from the site. This finding demonstrates that the
357
Private salesites
widely argued notion that repeat visitors of a web site are more likely to makepurchases from the site (Bhatnagar and Ghose, 2004) is also applied to private salesites. The correlations between visit frequency and other variables also provideinteresting insights into shoppers of private sale sites. The frequency of visitingprivate sale site was positively correlated with bargain shopping but not with impulsebuying. Visit frequency was also positively correlated with information and ease of usebut not with web site innovativeness. The results suggest that those who frequentlyvisit private sale sites are also likely to be drawn by bargains and that they are alsolikely to have more favorable attitudes toward information quality and usability of theweb sites. Favorable attitudes toward information quality and usability may reflect theshoppers’ familiarity with the web sites based on their frequent visits to the sites. It isnoteworthy that bargain shoppers are more likely to visit, as well as to purchase fromprivate sale sites whereas impulse shoppers are likely to purchase from the sites butnot more likely to frequently visit the sites. Additionally, bargain shoppers are morelikely to hold favorable attitudes toward information quality and usability whereasimpulse shoppers showed no tendency toward favorable web site attitudes. The lack ofcorrelation between impulse buying and web site attitude is not surprising because inthat impulse shopping is an emotion-driven behavior, impulse shoppers may not basetheir purchase decisions on rational evaluations of a web site. These results suggestthat bargain shoppers and impulse shoppers represent two valuable and distinctmarket segments for private sale retailers to target. It may be easier to target bargainshoppers as they are relatively easier to locate online. Companies might wish to placeadvertisements on other bargain sites, both fashion or non-fashion related, targetingbargain shoppers by encouraging repeat visits and emphasizing savings to be had.In contrast to this, with respect to impulse shoppers companies should focus on how toevoke an emotional response to their site offerings. Additionally, despite theirpropensity to buy from private sale sites impulse shoppers do not often visit thesesites. Therefore, it will be important for retailers to find a way to encourage theseshoppers to visit their sites more often, possibly yielding further sales.
As this study was the first step toward better understanding shoppers of privatesale sites, some of the key issues in luxury research have been left out of the scope. Onesuch issue is how shoppers of private sale sites evaluate luxury goods offered atdiscounts and how the format of private sale retailing affects their perceptions ofthe value of the goods. Selling luxury brands on the internet presents a complexchallenge for retailers (Okonkwo, 2009). Luxury brands represent images in theconsumer’s mind that suggest a high level of price, quality, aesthetics, rarity, andspecialty and they are differentiated from each other not merely through the functionalbenefits of the products, but more importantly through the symbolic benefits orpersonalities they communicate (Heine, 2009). Luxury companies have found it difficultto effectively translate over the internet the image, identity, and lifestyle associatedwith a luxury brand (Okonkwo, 2009). The difficulty of communicating the symbolicbenefits of luxury brands is compounded by the inherent challenge of the internet ineffectively showcasing functional benefits of luxury goods such as high levels ofcraftsmanship and quality of materials (Seringhaus, 2005). An additional challengeof the online luxury retailer is that of maintaining perceived exclusivity and rarityamong consumers, two of the key attributes often defining the value of luxury (Tynanet al., 2010) while simultaneously taking advantage of the accessibility offered by theinternet. Private sale retailers attempt to preserve the notion of exclusivity and rarity ofluxury brands by making access to their sites exclusive to their members and by
358
JFMM16,3
making every product available in only limited quantity and for a limited period oftime. Nonetheless, their memberships are not difficult to obtain and their discountpricing makes it difficult to evoke this feeling of exclusivity, as consumers havehistorically used the high price of luxury goods as an indicator of their exclusivity(Husic and Cicic, 2009). Authenticity, another key attribute of luxury brands (Yeoman,2011), is another challenge faced by online luxury retailers, and in particular discountretailers. Online auction sites such as eBay have found that buyers are hesitant topurchase luxury goods from their sites because these buyers are unable to determinethe authenticity of the goods (Qin et al., 2009). Although many private sale sites haveattempted to address such concerns by offering a 100 percent authenticity guarantee,some of them still suffer from the perception that damaged, secondhand, or even fakeluxury goods are sometimes sold at private sale sites (Sherman, 2010). As such, privatesale sites present a complex yet unique retail environment for researchers of luxuryretailing to study and should therefore warrant more extensive studies.
The current study was conducted with a US sample. As some US private sale sitessuch as Gilt Groupe, Myhabit, and Modnique ship internationally, it would be of greatinterest to see if the same findings would be observed in comparable samples fromother countries. A few recent studies have noted differences between mature markets(e.g. USA, Canada, Italy, France) and emerging markets (e.g. Russia, India, China) forluxury purchase intentions (Christodoullides et al., 2009; Jung and Shen, 2011; Shuklaand Purani, in press), suggesting the importance of the location factor in luxuryresearch. Several studies show that consumers in emerging markets are more likely topurchase luxury goods to display their wealth whereas western consumers purchaseluxury goods to communicate their individual styles (Amatulli and Guido, 2011).Accordingly, future studies are needed to compare shoppers of private sale sites inmature markets with their counterparts in emerging markets. Additionally thosestudies should examine other consumer characteristics such as conspicuousconsumption in order to better capture cultural or national variations.
There are several limitations to this study that should be considered in interpretingthe results. Foremost, the current study did not require respondents to have made apurchase from a private sale site and instead only required that they be members of atleast one private sale site. Although visit frequency was investigated as a measure ofthe amount of experience a respondent had with the web site, this variable does notreflect the level of the respondent’s purchase experience from the site. Previouspurchase experiences measured either by frequency of purchases or by satisfactionwith previous purchases might have shed additional light upon this subject. Anotherrelated variable that might play a role in predicting purchase intention for private salesites is frequency of general online shopping. It would be particularly interesting to seeif frequency of visiting private sale sites would still influence purchase intention whenonline shopping frequency is considered as the controlling variable. Furthermore,although in this study product characteristics were not considered as factorsinfluencing purchase intention, future studies may want to incorporate this componentinto their theoretical framework to determine how product-related attributes (e.g. brandand merchandise selection, uniqueness, fashionability) influence shoppers’ perceivedvalue of the web site and ultimately their purchase intention. In addition, there areother methodological problems that limit the generalization of the findings, includingthe small size and the unique composition of the sample. The sample for this studyincluded a substantial proportion of young female consumers with a low householdincome. Although the respondents indicated that they were members of private sale
359
Private salesites
sites, these sites tend to target shoppers with higher income levels despite the largediscounts offered and, therefore, it may be difficult to view the sample as representativeof the target population. Future research employing a different sampling strategy mayachieve a better sample representative of the target population. Previous research hasshown that shoppers’ demographic characteristics such as age, income, and familycomposition affect their perceptions of the benefits of online shopping (Dholakia andUusitalo, 2002). Future studies with larger samples are needed not only to corroboratesignificant findings of this study but also to investigate the impacts of demographicvariables on shopping behaviors at private sale sites. Finally, future researchemploying qualitative methods such as interviews is also recommended to uncoverother variables that might have an impact on shopping on private sale sites.
References
Alhasoun, N. (2010), “The impact of website design on online consumer purchasing intention”,unpublished master’s thesis, University of Sheffield, Sheffield.
Amatulli, C. and Guido, G. (2011), “Determinants of purchasing intention for fashion luxurygoods in the Italian market”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 15 No. 1,pp. 123-36.
Atwal, G. and Williams, A. (2009), “Luxury brand marketing-the experience is everything!”,Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 16 Nos 5/6, pp. 338-46.
Bardhi, F. and Arnould, E.J. (2005), “Thrift shopping: combining utilitarian thrift and hedonictreat benefits”, Journal of Consumer Behavior, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 223-33.
Barr, A. (2011), “Online flash sales less flash as inventory shrinks”, available at:www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/17/tech-us-flashsales-idUKTRE79G41X20111017 (accessedDecember 12, 2011).
Baumgartner, H. (2002), “Toward a personology of the consumer”, Journal of Consumer Research,Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 286-92.
Bayley, G. and Nancarrow, C. (1998), “Impulse purchasing: a qualitative exploration of thephenomenon”, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 99-114.
Bhatnagar, A. and Ghose, S. (2004), “An analysis of frequency and duration of search on theinternet”, Journal of Business, Vol. 77 No. 2, pp. 311-30.
Burke, R. (2002), “Technology and the customer interface: what customers want in the physicaland virtual store”, Journal of the Acadmeny of Marketing Science, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 411-32.
Chang, H.H. and Chen, S.W. (2008), “The impact of online store environment cues on purchaseintention”, Online Information Review, Vol. 32 No. 6, pp. 818-41.
Chen, C.-A. (2009), “Information-oriented online shopping behavior in electronic commerceenvironment”, Journal of Software, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 307-14.
Cho, S. and Workman, J. (2011), “Effects on multi-channel choice and touch/non-touch preference inclothing shopping”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 363-82.
Christodoullides, G., Michaelidou, N. and Li, C.H. (2009), “Measuring perceived brand luxury: anevaluation of the BLI scale”, Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 16 Nos 5/6, pp. 395-405.
Corcoran, C.T. (2009), “Rushing into the club: private sale web sites new boom in e-tailing”,WWD: Women’s Wear Daily, Vol. 198 No. 30, p. 6.
Cox, A.D., Cox, D. and Anderson, R.D. (2005), “Reassessing the pleasures of store shopping”,Journal of Business Research, Vol. 58 No. 3, pp. 250-9.
Danziger, P.N. (2005), Let Them Eat Cake Marketing Luxury to the Masses-as well as the Classes,Dearborn Trade Publishing, Chicago, IL.
360
JFMM16,3
Darke, P.R. and Dahl, D.W. (2003), “Fairness and discounts: the subjective value of a bargain”,Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 328-38.
Darley, W.K., Blankson, C. and Luethge, D.J. (2010), “Toward an integrated framework for onlineconsumer behavior and decision making process: a review”, Psychology & Marketing,Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 94-116.
Dawson, S. and Kim, M. (2010), “Cues on apparel web sites that trigger impulse purchases”,Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 230-46.
Dholakia, R.R. and Uusitalo, O. (2002), “Switching to electronic stores: consumer characteristicsand the perception of shopping benefits”, International Journal of Retail and DistributionManagement, Vol. 30 No. 10, pp. 459-69.
D’Innocenzio, A. (2010), “EBay makes a big play for fashion”, available at: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36149060/ns/business-retail/ (accessed April 2, 2010).
Elliot, S. and Fowell, S. (2000), “Expectation versus reality: a snapshot of consumer experiences withinternet retailing”, International Journal of Information Management, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 323-36.
Engel, J. and Blackwell, R. (1982), Consumer Behavior, 4th ed., The Dryden Press, Chicago, IL.
Fiegerman, S. (2011), “The new, new rich: wealth after the recession”, available at:www.mainstreet.com/article/lifestyle/luxury/how-rich-survived-recession?page¼ 3(accessed December 12, 2011).
Fionda, A. and Moore, C.M. (2009), “The anatomy of the luxury fashion brand”, Journal of BrandManagement, Vol. 16 Nos 5/6, pp. 347-63.
Fishbein, M. and Ajzen, I. (1980), Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior,Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Flavian, C., Guinalıu, M. and Gurrea, R. (2006), “The influence of familiarity and usability onloyalty to online journalistic services: the role of user experience”, Journal of Retailing andConsumer Services, Vol. 13 No. 5, pp. 363-75.
Flynn, L.R., Goldsmith, R.E. and Eastman, J.K. (1996), “Opinion leaders and opinion seekers: twonew measurement scales”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 24 No. 2,pp. 137-47.
Fox, J. (1991), Regression Diagnostics, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Gefen, D., Karahanna, E. and Straub, D.W. (2003), “Inexperience and experience with onlinestores: the importance of TAM and trust”, IEEE Transactions on EngineeringManagement, Vol. 50 No. 3, pp. 307-21.
Gilt Groupe (2010), available at: www.giltgroupe.com (accessed April 15, 2010).
Goldsmith, R.E. and Hofacker, C.F. (1991), “Measuring consumer innovativeness”, Journal of theAcademy of Marketing Science, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 209-21.
Goldsmith, R.E. and Stith, M. (1993), “The social values of fashion innovators”, Journal of AppliedBusiness Research, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 10-7.
Goldsmith, R.E., Moore, M.A. and Beaudoin, P. (1999), “Fashion innovativeness and self concept:a replication”, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 7-18.
Gordon, W.I., Infante, D.A. and Braun, A.A. (1985), “Communicator style and fashioninnovativeness”, in Solomon, M.R. (Ed.), The Psychology of Fashion, Lexington Books,Lexington, MA, pp. 161-75.
Gustafsson, A.D., Johnson, D. and Roos, I. (2005), “The effects of customer satisfaction,relationship commitment dimensions, and triggers on customer retention”, Journal ofMarketing, Vol. 69 No. 3, pp. 210-8.
Gutman, J. and Mills, M.K. (1982), “Fashion life style, self-concept, shopping orientation, andstore patronage: an integrative analysis”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 58 No. 2, pp. 64-86.
361
Private salesites
Hahn, K.H. and Kim, J. (2009), “The effect of offline brand trust and perceived internet confidenceon online shopping intention in the integrated multi-channel context”, InternationalJournal of Retail and Distribution Management, Vol. 37 No. 2, pp. 126-41.
HauteLook (2010), available at: www.hautelook.com/support (accessed April 15, 2010).
Heine, K. (2009), “Using personal and online repertory grid methods for the development ofa luxury brand personality”, Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, Vol. 7 No. 1,pp. 25-38.
Hill, C.J. and Harmon, S.K. (2009), “Attitudes toward coupon use and bargain hunting:an examination of differences by gender”, Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, Vol. 13No. 1, pp. 67-78.
Hudders, L. and Pandelaere, M. (2012), “The silver lining of materialism: the impact ofluxury consumption on subjective well-being”, Journal of Happiness Studies, Vol. 13 No. 3,pp. 411-37.
Huang, M.-H. (2003), “Designing website attributes to induce experiential encounters”,Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 425-42.
Husic, M. and Cicic, M. (2009), “Luxury consumption factors”, Journal of Fashion Marketing andManagement, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 231-45.
Ideeli (2010), available at: www.ideeli.com/pages/what_is_ideeli (accessed April 15, 2010).
Im, H. (2011), “The effect of perceptual fluency and enduring involvement on situationalinvolvement in an online apparel shopping context”, Journal of Fashion Marketing andManagement, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 345-62.
Jones, C. and Kim, S. (2010), “Influences of retail brand trust, off-line patronage, clothinginvolvement and website quality on online apparel shopping intention”, InternationalJournal of Consumer Studies, Vol. 34 No. 6, pp. 627-37.
Jung, J. and Shen, D. (2011), “Brand equity of luxury fashion brands among Chinese andUS young female consumers”, Journal of East-West Business, Vol. 17 No. 1,pp. 48-69.
Kang, J. and Park-Poaps, H. (2010), “Hedonic and utilitarian shopping motivations of fashionleadership”, Journal of Fashion Marketing & Management, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 312-28.
Karimzadeh, M. (2010), “Gilt noir: Gilt Groupe for the elites”, available at: www.wmagazine.com/w/blogs/editorsblog/2010/01/12/gilt-noir-gilt-groupe-for-the.html (accessed September 15,2010).
Khalid, K. (2011), “Flash sale sites spark billion-dollar industry”, available at: http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/26/smallbusiness/flash_sales_ideeli_hautelook_gilt/index.htm (accessed December12, 2011).
Kim, J. and Damhorst, M.L. (2010), “Effects of level of internet retailer’s service quality onperceived apparel quality, perceived service quality, perceived value, satisfaction, andbehavioral intentions toward an internet retailer”, Clothing and Textiles Research Journal,Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 56-73.
Kim, S. and Jones, C. (2009), “Online shopping and moderating role of offline brand trust”, DirectMarketing: An International Journal, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 282-300.
Kim, S. and Lee, Y. (2006), “Global online marketplace: a cross-cultural comparison of websitequality”, International Journal of Consumer Studies, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 533-43.
Kim, S. and Stoel, L. (2004), “Apparel retailers: website quality dimensions and satisfaction”,Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 109-17.
Kim, S., Williams, R. and Lee, Y. (2003), “Attitude toward online shopping and retail websitequality: a comparison of US and Korean consumers”, Journal of International ConsumerMarketing, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 89-111.
362
JFMM16,3
Korgaonkar, P.K., Lund, D. and Price, B. (1985), “A structural-equation approach towardexamination of store attitude and store patronage behavior”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 62No. 2, pp. 39-60.
Kothari, A. (2011), “Is the online sample sale industry destined for a shakeout or more growth?”,available at: www.businessinsider.com/is-the-online-samples-sales-industry-destined-for-a-shakeout-or-more-growth-2011-1#ixzz1JHBwfpRT (accessed April 18, 2011).
Kwon, K.-N., Schumann, D.W. and Fairhurst, A. (2009), “Consideration of an expected future dealin assessing the value of a present deal: forward-looking bargain shopping”, Journal ofBusiness Research, Vol. 63 No. 1, pp. 84-90.
Kwon, W.-S. and Noh, M. (2010), “The influence of prior experience and age on matureconsumers’ perceptions and intentions of internet apparel shopping”, Journal of FashionMarketing and Management, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 336-49.
Lee, H.-H., Damhorst, M.L., Campbell, J.R., Loker, S.L. and Parsons, J.L. (2011), “Consumersatisfaction with a mass customized internet apparel shopping site”, International Journalof Consumer Studies, Vol. 35 No. 3, pp. 316-29.
Lee, M.-Y., Kim, Y.-K. and Fairhurst, A. (2009), “Shopping value in online auctions: their antecedentsand outcomes”, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Science, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 75-82.
Lim, C.M. (2009), “Luxe-bargain shopping: consumer orientations, perceived values,satisfactions, and future intentions”, unpublished doctoral dissertation, University ofTennessee, Knoxville, TN.
Lin, W.-B., Wang, M.-K. and Hwang, K.P. (2010), “The combined model of influencing onlineconsumer behavior”, Expert Systems with Application, Vol. 37 No. 4, pp. 3236-47.
Loiacono, E.T. (2000), “WebQualt: A website quality instrument”, unpublished doctoraldissertation, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
Lowengart, O. and Tractinsky, N. (2001), “Differential effects of product category on shoppers’selection of web-based stores: a probabilistic modeling approach”, Journal of ElectronicCommerce Research, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 142-56.
Lumpkin, J. and McConkey, W. (1984), “Identifying determinants of store choice of fashionshoppers”, Akron Business and Economic Review, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 30-6.
Lynch, P.D., Kent, R.J. and Srinivasan, S.S. (2001), “The global internet shopper: evidence fromshopping tasks in twelve countries”, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 41 No. 3, pp. 15-23.
Maslow, A. (1954), Motivation and Personality, Harper, New York, NY.
Mau, D. (2011), “Flash sales site Ideeli ranked #1 fastest-growing company of 2011”, available at:http://fashionista.com/2011/08/flash-sales-site-ideeli-ranked-1-fastest-growing-company-of-2011/ (accessed December 12, 2011).
Miller, C.C. (2011), “Amazon enters the flash sale fray with Myhabit”, available at: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/amazon-enters-the-flash-sale-fray-with-myhabit/(accessed December 14, 2011).
Miller, C.C. and Wortham, J. (2009), “Secret’s out: sample sales move online”, The New YorkTimes, December 7, p. A1.
Morschett, D., Swoboda, B. and Foscht, T. (2005), “Perception of store attributes and overallattitude toward grocery retailers: the role of shopping motives”, International Review ofRetail, Distribution and Consumer Research, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 423-47.
Moye, L.N. and Kincade, D.H. (2003), “Shopping orientation segments: exploring differences instore patronage and attitudes toward retail store environments among female apparelconsumers”, International Journal of Consumer Studies, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 58-71.
Okonkwo, U. (2009), “Sustaining the luxury brand on the internet”, Journal of BrandManagement, Vol. 16 Nos 5/6, pp. 302-10.
363
Private salesites
Oran, O. (2011), “Gilt Groupe: riding the gilded wave of growth”, available at: www.thestreet.com/story/11271683/2/gilt-groupe-riding-the-gilded-wave-of-growth.html (accessed December12, 2011).
Pan, Y. and Zinkhan, G.M. (2006), “Determinants of retail patronage: a meta-analyticalperspective”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 83 No. 3, pp. 229-43.
Park, E.J., Kim, E.Y. and Forney, J.C. (2006), “A structural model of fashion-oriented impulse buyingbehavior”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 433-46.
Park, E.J., Kim, E.Y. and Funches, V.M. (in press), “Apparel product attributes web browsing ande-impulse buying on shopping websites”, Journal of Business Research, doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.02.043.
Park, H.-J., Rabolt, N.J. and Jeon, K.S. (2008), “Purchasing global luxury brands among youngKorean consumers”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 244-59.
Pavlou, P.A. and Fygenson, M. (2006), “Understanding and predicting electronic commerceadoption: an extension of the theory of planned behavior”, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 30 No. 1,pp. 115-43.
Perocchi, A. (2011), “Economy is in crisis, yet luxury brands, Tiffany’s, LVHM still report salesgrowth”, available at: www.forbes.com/sites/annaperocchi/2011/08/05/economy-is-in-crisis-yet-luxury-brands-tiffanys-lvhm-still-report-sales-growth/ (accessed December 12, 2011).
Qin, L., Gulati, A., He, L. and Fang, W. (2009), “Adverse selection for luxury goods in onlineauctions”, Journal of Internet Commerce, Vol. 8 Nos 3/4, pp. 268-87.
Rao, L. (2011a), “Flash sales site Ideeli raises J$41 million”, available at: http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/28/flash-sales-site-ideeli-raises-41-million/ (accessed December 12, 2011).
Rao, L. (2011b), “Gilt goes global: expands flash sales site to over 90 countries”, availableat: http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/08/gilt-goes-global-expands-flash-sales-site-to-over-90-countries/ (accessed December 12, 2011).
Rohm, A. (2004), “A typology of online shopper based on shopping motivations”, Journal ofBusiness Research, Vol. 57 No. 7, pp. 748-57.
Rook, D.W. and Fisher, R.J. (1995), “Normative influences on impulsive buying behavior”, Journalof Consumer Research, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 305-13.
Rook, D.W. (1987), “The buying impulse”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 14 No. 2,pp. 189-99.
Roy, A. (1994), “Correlates of mall visit frequency”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 70 No. 2,pp. 139-61.
Rue La La (2010), available at: www.ruelala.com/common/about (accessed April 15, 2010).
Schindler, R.M. (1998), “Consequences of perceiving oneself as responsible for obtaining adiscount: evidence for smart-shopper feelings”, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 7No. 4, pp. 371-92.
Seock, Y.-K. (2003), “Analysis of clothing websites for young customer retention based on amodel of customer relationship management via the internet”, unpublished doctoraldissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA.
Seringhaus, F.H.R. (2005), “Selling luxury brands online”, Journal of Internet Commerce, Vol. 4No. 1, pp. 1-25.
Shang, R.-A., Chen, Y.-C. and Shen, L. (2005), “Extrinsic versus intrinsic motivations forconsumers to shop online”, Information & Management, Vol. 42 No. 3, pp. 401-13.
Sharma, P., Sivakumaran, B. and Marshall, R. (2010), “Exploring impulse buying and varietyseeking by retail shoppers: toward a common conceptual framework”, Journal ofMarketing Management, Vol. 26 Nos 5/6, pp. 473-94.
Sherman, L. (2008), “By invitation only”, Forbes, Vol. 181 No. 4, pp. 70-1.
364
JFMM16,3
Sherman, L. (2010), “Cartier sues HauteLook for over $2 million”, available at: http://fashionista.com/2010/08/cartier-sues-hautelook-for-over-2-million/ (accessed December 19, 2011).
Shukla, P. and Purani, K. (in press), “Comparing the importance of luxury value perceptions incross-national contexts”, Journal of Business Research, doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.10.007.
Teo, T.S.H. and Yeong, Y.D. (2003), “Assessing the consumer decision process in the digitalmarketplace”, Omega: The International Journal of Management Science, Vol. 31 No. 5,pp. 349-63.
Tynan, C., KcKechnie, S. and Chhuon, C. (2010), “Co-creating value for luxury brands”, Journal ofBusiness Research, Vol. 63 No. 11, pp. 1156-63.
Vigneron, F. and Johnson, L. (1999), “A review and conceptual framework of prestige-seekingconsumer behavior”, Academy of Marketing Science Review, Vol. 1999 No. 1, pp. 1-15.
Virvilaite, R., Saladiene, V. and Zvinklyte, J. (2011), “The impact of external and internal stimulion impulsive purchasing”, Economics and Management, Vol. 16, pp. 1329-36.
Voorveld, H.A.M., Neijens, P.C. and Smit, E.G. (2009), “Consumers’ responses to brand websites:an interdisciplinary review”, Internet Research, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 535-65.
Wiedmann, K.-P., Hennings, N. and Siebels, A. (2007), “Measuring consumers’ luxury valueperception: a cross-cultural framework”, Academy of Marketing Science Review, Vol. 2007No. 7, pp. 1-21.
Workman, J.E. and Johnson, K.K.P. (1993), “Fashion opinion leadership, fashion innovativeness,and need for variety”, Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 60-4.
Yeoman, I. (2011), “The changing behaviours of luxury consumption”, Journal of Revenue andPricing Management, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 47-50.
Further reading
Chang, M.-L., Lai, M. and Wu, W.-Y. (2010), “The influences of shopping motivation on adolescentonline-shopping perceptions”, African Journal of Business Management, Vol. 4 No. 13,pp. 2728-42.
Dillman, D.A. (2000), Mail and Internet Surveys, Wiley, New York, NY.
Kemp, M.B., Overby, C.S., Wise, J. and Lugo, J.-Y. (2009), “Social computing strategies for luxurybrands”, available at: www.forrester.com/rb/Research/social_computing_strategies_for_luxury_brands/q/id/47308/t/2 (accessed December 19, 2011).
Okonkwo, U. (2007), Luxury Fashion Branding: Trends, Tactics, Techniques, Palgrave Macmillan,New York City, NY.
About the authors
Briana Martinez received a Master’s of Science in Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors from theUniversity of Georgia. Her research interests are in the luxury market and online apparelshopping.
Soyoung Kim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Textiles, Merchandising andInteriors at the University of Georgia and her research interests are in online apparel shopping.Soyoung Kim is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected]
To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints
365
Private salesites
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
