reading club research 1 english v
TRANSCRIPT
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8/20/2019 READING CLUB RESEARCH 1 English V
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Journ
a
l o f Fa shio
n
\1a
rk
eting and
Man
a
gement
25 -
40
1 Emerad Group Pu bli s
h
ing Limited
1 36
1
- 2
026
DO 10 . 1 10
&
'1 36 2 0 I B . ' > 1 l05
5
Fa
s
hion opinion
I
ntroduction
C on sumer
s influence each other in se vera ways.
The
y co py
e ac
h o
th e
r
'
s b
eha
viour
they
tal
k to each other, thereby
e xcha
nging information via
ca
s
ua l conver
sations; and
the
y seek and give
opinion
s . R es
earc
hers recognize th is l ast form of
i
nterpersonal
co
mmunication (opinion
leader
s
hip
a
nd opinion
s e e k
i
ng) as one
o
f th
e
most important
word-
of-mouth (WOM)
influence
s on product sales and brand cho ice
(Bri
stor 1 990;
Weim
a
nn 1 99
4
) . The study
o
f WOM
h
ark e n s back to the
e a
rliest
d
ays
o
f US consumer
Abstract
Purpose -
To
m
odel th e re l
a
tion
s
h i p
s
be
twee
n consu m
er
n eed fo
r uniq
uen
ess a
nd
atte
n t i on to s
oc
i
a
l
comp
ari
son i nf onnation
wi
th
fa
shion op i nion le aders hi p
and fas
hion op i n i on se ek
in
g .
Design/methodology/approach -
A tot
a
l of 2 01 U S un dergraduate st
u
de nt
s
we re surv eye d
an
d
standard scales we re use d to
m
ea sure cons
um
er n eed fo r un
iq
ue n ess, atte n t i on
t
o so c i a l compa
ri
so n
in
fo
nnati
on
,
f as hion opinion l
ead
ers
hi
p
a
nd fas
hi
on opinion s
ee k i n g
.
B oth
co
n
s
um e
r
need for
unique
n
ess and atte
ntion to s
oc i a
l
com
pa rison
in fo n n ati
on
w
ere
p
o
s
itive
l
y
r
e
l
at
e
d t
o
fashion
o
pini
o
n
l
ea
d
e
r
s
hip
.
A tt
e
n ti
o
n t
o
s
oc i a l co
mp
a
ri
s
on
in
fo
nn
a
ti
o
n w
as a
l
s
o
po
s
iti
v
e
l
y re l a
t
e
d
to f a
s
hi
on opini
o
n s
ee
k in
g but con
sum
er
n
ee
d
for
un iqu
e
n
ess was
n
ega
t
ive l
y
re
l
a
t
ed
to fas
hi
on opin i on se e k in g.
Research limitations/implications - Th e
findin
gs are lim i
t
ed
to
U S
co
n
s
umers a
n
d th
e
co
nven
i
e
nce
sa
mp le . Other limit
a
tion
s
include the spe ci f i c
measures
used
an
d the cross - secti onal surve y method
prev en ts one f ro
m m
ak in g cau
sa
l s ta
t
em en ts . Th e ef fects of other un me as ure d va
ri
a
ble
s
could
not be
as se ss
ed
.
Practica implications
-
A ppa re l
m
ar
k e t
ers se ekin g
t
o encourage
o
p
i
n ion
l
eaders
to
pr o
m
ot
e the
ir
lin es
of
ne
w
cl
o
thin g
mi
ght
de v i se
app
ea
l s
e
mph a
s i z i n
g
the
so c
i
a
l s
ignifica
nce of
t
he n
ew
pr oduct
s a
nd
how
they
be stow un iqueness on the i
r
own ers. S uch
appea
l
s
m i
gh
t be
m
ore e ff ec tive
than
those not
s
tress ing these psyc
ho
l
o
gi
ca l
m
ot i v
a
t
i
on
s . Appea
l
s
to
consumers m
o
re like
l y t
o see
k
than
to
give opin i on s
m i g
ht a
l so st
ress the soci
al s
ignifica
nce of the
c l
oth
ing but a
ppe a
l s
to
uniqu
en
ess might
n ot
be
e
ffectiv
e
with these con
s
umers . Perhaps a be l ongingn
ess
appeal wo
uld
be
m
ore
effecti
ve.
Originality/value
-
Th
ese p
s
yc
ho
l
og i
ca l co
n
ce p
t
s
ha
v
e
n
o
t
bee n
s
tud
ied v
e
r
y
muc
h
in
th
e
clo thin g/f as
hi
on
product do
m
ain .
Th
ey give
n
ew ins i ght s in t
o
the psyc
ho
l
o
gy
of
clo thin g op in ion
l
eaders and
opini
o
n se ek
er
s
.
Keywords M
otiv
a
tion
(psy c
ho l o
gy )
C onsum er b
e
h
a
v
i
our
C on su
m
er
resear
ch
C on
s
um
er
psychology
Fas
hi
on
U nited
S ta t
es
of America
Paper
type R esearc
h
pa
p
er
f f
f
Laurent Bertrandias
Ronald
E .
Goldsmith
Flo
rida ,
•
Th
e cur r
e n t iss u
e
a n d
full
t e xt a
rchi
v
e
of this j our n a l i s av a il abl
e a
t
www
.emeraldins
ight
com/136 l-2
026.htm
ome psychological motivations for fashion opinion leadership and fashion opinion seekingertrandias, Laurent;Goldsmith, Ronald Eournal of Fashion Marketing and Management; 2006; 10, 1; ProQuest Centralg. 25
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research 1959) . Moreover, current interest in WOM is
evidenced by the appearance in recent years of severa notable best-selling business
books (Gladwell, 2000; Keller and Berry,
2003;
Rosen, 2000) . Sorne even argue that
WOM is growing in importance and threatens to eclipse advertising asan influence on
product and brand choice
(Donaton
,
2003).
Thus, the twin topics of opinion leadership
(OL) and opinion seeking (OS) are of keen importance to both consumer behaviour
theory and marketing management practice.
Research into WOM was stimulated by Katz and Lazersfeld's
(1955)
study of
personal influence and continues unabated today. Topics include ways to hamess
WOM in support marketing programmes, explanations for its power, and the best
ways to measure opinion leadership Summaries of this research revea demographic
and social descriptions of sorne of the characteristics of opinion leaders (Tumbull and
Meenaghan, 1980; Weimann, 1994) . However, little attention has been paid to studying
the psychology of opinion leadership. This is even truer of opinion seeking. In fact,
Bristor (1990, p. 61) argued " .. word of mouth research needs to place more emphasis
on investigating the receiver". Sorne reasons for OL
(e.g.
product, self, message, and
other involvement; Dichter, 1966) and opinion seeking
(e.g.
risk reduction, saving time;
Bristor, 1990) have been described, but less known about the motivational psychology
of both OL and O S. This is especially true for fashion. Because preoccupation with
appearance seems to be directly linked to the personality of consumers (Marion,2003),
this justifies the necessity to investigate the psychological nature of the motivations to
share or to seek information related to fashion clothing. Moreover, if marketing
management is to understand and make the best use of these concepts, we should
carefully study the motivational processes of WOM.
Because WOM is preeminently a social behaviour, we propose that psychological
characteristics relevant to social interaction are prime candidates for study. Thus, we
focus on two variables that describe individual reactions to the social environment:
consumer need for uniqueness
( C N F U )
and attention to social comparison information
(A TSCD . Consumer need for uniqueness is a specific manifestation of a more general
personality trait, need for uniqueness (Snyder and Fromkin, 1977). Consumers differ in
the extent to which they seek to acquire and display material goods that differentiate
them from others (Tian al . , 2001) . Linked as it is to the concept of conformity, CNFU
deserves study as a motivating factor in WOM. The concept of ATSCI is derived from
the broader trait of self-monitoring, which refers to the extent that people observe their
own behaviour and adapt it to the behaviours of those around them (Snyder, 1974).
Consumers differ in the how much they pay attention to other consumers and how
much others influence their behaviour (Bearden and Rose,
1990).
Because we focused on the social context of WOM, our chosen product category was
clothing, a visibly consumed good high in social and symbolic significance. Moreover,
fashion clothing exposes consumers to
other
's judgement and thus is a socially risky
product (Burnkrant and Cousineau , 1975), so that the appropriate way to dress oneself
is likely to generate intensive flows of WOM communication. Thus, CNFU and ATSCI
were conceptualized and measured at the broad or global leve of generality, but OL
and OS were conceptualized and measured as domain specific (clothing) constructs.
Consequently, the purpose of the present study was to test hypothetical associations
between CNFU and ATSCI with both fashion OL and
OS .
W
e
chose these constructs
because:
6
J F M M
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-
8/20/2019 READING CLUB RESEARCH 1 English V
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Alth
oug
h
bo
th
con
structs ar
e
th
eo
reti
ca
lly
a
nd
prac
ti
ca
lly im p
o
rt
a
nt the research
lit
e
rature provi de s more infonnation on opinion
l
e ad
e
rs th an
o
n op in i
o
n se e k
e
rs. Th
e
abundant opinion
leade
rship r
e s e ar
ch ca n be divided
in t
o three m
ai
n streams :
identif y in g o
pini
on l e ad
e
rs (see f or exa
m pl
e
B en -Miled and L
e
L ouam 1 994; Childers,
1 9 8 6
;
Flynn 1996
;
G
o
ldsmith and De sborde s , 1991
;
K in g and Summers,
1 9 7 0
) ,
delin e a
ti
n
g th eir ro
l
es
i
n
he al
th, f as hi
on
agric
ulture, sc i
en
ce
(
see
W eim ann
1 99
4
,
fo
r a
re v
i
ew) and pro filing them (
e
.
g
Piirto, 1 99
2
) .
Thi
s last describes opinion l e ader
cha
ra
cteris tics in order to und
ers
tand their motivation s and to
im p
rove marke
tin
g's
appe a
l
s t
o
th em. This study
i
s in keep
i
ng with this
l
ast stre am .
A ltho ugh op inion l e adership has been defined in many ways, the co n ce pt is
c
on
s i
s
tently asso
ciat
ed with influe
n
ce (Fl
y
nn 1996; G
o
ldsmith and
De
Witt, 2 0 0 3;
R
oge r
s and
C
a
rtan
o,
1 9 62
)
,
with
inform
a
tio
n
s
harin
g
(Eli
as
hb
e
rg
a
nd Shu
ga
n
,
1 9 9 7
;
Gilly 1998; King
a
nd S u m m e r
s, 197
0)
o
r
bo
th (Engel 1 9 9 5 ,
p
.
960)
.
Fo
r
examp
le,
Rogers and Cartano (196
2
) def in
e
opinion lead
e
rs as
i
n div id ua ls
w h
o
e x ert an
un e
qua l amount of influ
e
nce on th e d
ec
i s i ons of o
ther
s
;
but E l iashbe
r
g and Shugan
( 1 9 9 7) describ
e
opin ion
l
e ad
e
rs as persons
w h
o
are regard
e
d by a group ,
o
r
b
y
o
th
e
r
pe opl
e
as having e xpertis
e
and kn
o
wl
e
dge and wh
o
are con s id
e
r
e
d as
app
ropriate
s o
ur
ces
f o
r
infonnati
on
a
nd
adv i ce
.
The
re
ason
s w hy
o
pini
o
n
le ad
ers
engage
in
infonnati
o
n sharing and
w h
y they influ
e
nce others ar
e
im p
o
rtant to companies that
want to target opini
o
n l
e ader
s
a
nd t
o
m
otí
vate
p
os iti
ve
w
o
rd-
o
f-rn
o
uth
b
e
haviour
s .
Thi
s co n ce m raises th
e
issu
e o
f a
nte
ce dents
o
f opinion leadership
The main antecedent,
w hi
ch is supposed to explain the mo
tiv
ation to share
infonnation and
leader
s
'
influ
en
ce
,
s e e
ms to be
endurin
g product
in
vo lvem
e
nt (Cristau
and Stra
z
z
i e
ri, 1 9 9 6
;
Richins and Root-Shaffe r , 1 9 8 8
;
V e n katraman 1990) .
Produc
t
enthusiasts are interested in a produc
t
ca tegory
e ve
n if they do n ot a
n ti
cípate
pur
c
h
ases N e
vertheless
th i
s
va
ri able is una
bl
e to
expl
ain
exclusiv
ely the tendency to
s
har
e infonnation
a
nd to
i
nfluenc
e o
th e rs. Enduring in vo lv
e
m
e
nt s
e e m
s t
o a
ct
a
s a
necessary
c
onditon but probably n
o
t a sufficient
o
n
e
.
O th
e
r
p
sy
cho
logical
me chan is ms must p l ay a role see M arsha l l and Gitosudanno 1 9 9 5 ) .
Fashion op
i
nion
l
eaders are a prime example of th is social
ph
en om
e
n on. lndeed
Weim
a
nn
(1994) explain
s th
a
t
the
y play th
e
dual role of
end
orse rs and infonnation
sour
ce
s . Their influence is both
verb
a
l
and v
i
sual. In a semin a
l
paper, Darden and
•
they
ar
e
a
rgued to be
i
mp
ort
ant
in flu
e
n c
es on a variety
o
f
co ns
umer
b
e
haviour
s
Fashion opinion
(Bearden and Rose , 1990
;
Tian al .
2001) ,
but nota lot is
k n
own of the scope of
their effects, especially as they b
e
ar on opinion leader
s
hip
a
nd o
pini
on seeking
• OL and OS are
im p
ortant
t
o
pic
s of
co n c
em for mark
e
tin g
m
an
ag
ement (Keller
a
nd B
e
rry,
2003)
, so that
und
e rstanding more about the
p
s
y
c
hol
ogy
o
f thes
e
two
be h
aviou
rs
ma
y helpmarke tin g mana
g
ers de velop e f f ective ways
o
f influencing
th
e
O
L I
OS exchange ( e .g G o ldstein , 1999)
;
and
•
b
oth CNFUand ATSCIare co nsur ner characteris
ti
cs that ca n b
e
in co rp
o
rat
e
d in t
o
marke
tin
g strategies that en courage opin ion leaders to pro mote advertised brands .
W e w i
ll
suggest how they ca n be used to d
e v
elop adve
rti
sing th
a
t encourages
co
nsume
r
s
t
o seek o
pini
ons as
we l
l .
eproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
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8/20/2019 READING CLUB RESEARCH 1 English V
4/16
G
a
ti
gnon and
R obertso
n ( 19
86)
co
n
sider i
n te
rp
e
rso
n
a l
influ
ence as an excha
n
g
e
p
rocess and focus
o
n
bo
th i
n
formation give
r
s a
n
d
o
n i
n
formation see
k e r
s
Int
erp
e
rson a
l i
n f o
rmati
on about p
rod
ucts
a
nd b
ra
n ds clearly has
va
lue
. O pin
ion
leaders l ook like parti cular info
rm
ation
s
up
pl
ier
s ,
and opinion seekers l oo k
lik
e
p
art
icul
ar informa
t
ion
de
mand
e
rs ;
w
hil
e bot
h are
in vo
lv
e
d in
the
process
o
f
interpe
r
so
n
al
in fo
rma
tio
n
e xch
a
n
ge. This
ra
ises
the f o
ll
ow
in g questions:
w hy
opi
n io
n
l e aders tend to
s
hare a l ot of
in
f ormation ,
w
hi
ch
kind
s of re
w
ards given by opi
n i
on
se e k
er
s a
r
e
associa
t
e
d
w
ith this
b
e h
avio
u
r?
Social e xcha
n
ge t
h
eory (B la
u , 1
964, p
p. 88-97;
E
k eh
,
1 9 7 4
)
ce n tr
es on th
e
concept
o
f
re ciproc i ty: an individu al w ho
sup
p lies
rewardin
g services to an o
th
er obl
igat
es him. To
di
sc
harge th is obl igati on , the second person m ust furnis h be n e f its to the first. In the
cont
e
xt of in f orm ation e xchan ge , this theory illustrates
t
h
e
n eed t
o
pay att
e
n tion t
o
psyc
h
ol ogica l
pro f il
es
o
f
b
oth
op
inion leaders a
n
d se e kers;
n deed ,
i t
s e e m
s n ecessary
t
o
un derstand the
m
otiva
ti
on of
givin
g and s e ek in g informat
io
n in ord
er
to explain
th
em
f ully .
B
e cause i n centives are not
m
on
etary
then
,
why do op in ion le aders
ma
k e th e e f f ort
t
o give informati
o
n and w
h
y do opin
io
n s e e k ers e s
pec
ially co
n
centrate th
e
ir
in f o
rr n ation
search
o
n interperso
n
al source s
?
Th
e
a
n
swers s
h
ould
be f o
und at a
p
syc
ho
l
og
i
ca
l l e ve
l .
F
or opin ion l eade rs hip,
C
han and M isra
( 1
9 9 0
)
propose an
explana
tion pointin g out
th
at
opin ion l eaders n
ee
d to b
e
publicly individ uat
e
d.
Public
in d
iv
iduati
o
n is a state in
w
hich
peopl
e
f
ee
l
differe
n ti
ated
f ro
m
o
th
er
p
eo
pl
e and
c
h
ose
t
o
act
diff e re
ntly
fr
o
m
th
e
m
(M as l
ac
h 1
9
8 5 ) .
B
y
giv in
g
ad
vice, op
in io
n l
eade
rs aim at
sta
nding
o
ut in group
situati
on s and diff erentiatin g
them
se lve s
. Th
eir
kn
ow ledge and in terest in a particular
prod
uct
cl
ass provid
e
th
e
m
th
e
op p
o
rtunity to
s
atisfy
in
divi
du
a
tio
n n
ee
d
s.
Th
e m ot
i
vation
s
o
f opin
io
n
se e k
ers stay practica lly unex
p lo
r
e
d .
Fl
ynn (
1 99
6)
ar
gu
e th
at
op
i
n io
n s
eek in
g
sati
sf ies a
n e e
d
th
at e x c e e
d
s the simple wi
llin
gness to
improve
th
e
produ
ct choice and to re
du
ce perceiv ed
ris
k . For i nstance
,
K atz and
L az arsf e ld (195
5
)
stated
th
at the de sir
e
t
o ente
r a group
o
r to enhan ce th
e
r
e
lat
io
nship
with th
e
group is a motivating
f act
or for
as
king a
dv
ices a
bou
t produ
cts.
Int
e
rp
e
rso
n
al
R
e y
n o
lds (
1
972)
tr
i
e
d
t
o
profile op
i
n io
n le a
der
s for men's apparel
f a
shi
on
s They
fo
und
tha
t
ch
a
r
ac
t
eristics s
uc
h as
f a
s
hio
n i
nt
erest[l] or fashion
ve
ntur
e s om en
ess are related
to o
pini
on l e ad
ers
h
ip
. B ut in a syn thesis on the
s
ub ject, Weimann
(
1 994) m ention s
th
at
researc
he
rs g l obally f a
il
ed to assocat
e
p
e
rson ality
tra
its
w
ith f a
s
hi
o
n
le
ad
ers
hip.
O p
i
n i
o
n
se e
king
i
s a
m
o
r
e
recent and
s
till
und
e r
d
e v
elo
ped
co
n
ce
pt
(F e
i
ck
1 9
8 6
) .
S orn e r
esearc
hes use very p
rox
i
ma
te but un sa
tisfac
tory co n
ce p
t
s Gill
y
( 1 998)
propase a d
yadi
c m
ode l
to e x
plai
n the
i
n f l uen ce of inte
rpe
r
s
on a
l
sources and
-------- inte grate a var
i
able ca lled " w ord-of -mouth
pre
fe rence of s e e k er" ; and
te s ting an
al
temative mod
e
l,
B
ansal and Voyer (2000) u
s
e th
e
variable "
wor
d
-
of
-
m outh ac
ti
vely
These
st
udies e s
t
ablish th
e
im
p
ortance of opin i
o
n
se e
king to the success of
man y p
rodu
cts, representing an adapted co n cept to co n vey tho
s
e two
i
d
eas
the
inten sity of interper
s
o
n al i n
f o
rmati
o
n search and th
e
pr
e
fere n ce for i nterperson al
sources.
O pi
n ion seeking is co
n ce
ptual iz ed as a
subdi
v i
s
i on of
e x
t
e
rna
in
fo
rmation
search
th
at
h
appens
w h
en ind
iv id u
als sea
rc
h for a
d
vice f ro m
oth
ers
w h
en makin g a
purch
ase
decisio
n
(F
lynn
1 996; P
unj and S
taelin
, 1 98
3; S ch
m i
d
t and S p
ren
g
1 99
6
)
. O
p
in
i
o
n
se e
king
r
e
pr
e se
nt
s
th
e
co
mplementary
sid
e
o
f
op
in i
o
n
l
e a
d
e
r
s
hip
(Fe
i
c
k
al . 1 986), but very little is kn
ow
n about fashi
o
n opin i
o
n
s e e k e
rs
J F M M
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5/16
Co
n sume
r
s' propen s
i
ty to use soc
i
al cue s to de f in e their behav
i
our
i
s
li
kel y to influen ce
the te
nd
e
n
cy to
s
hare
o
r to
se e
k
in fo
rm
a
tio
n . Atten ti
on to
soc i
a
l
compari son
infonn
a
ti
o
n
co
m
es
fr
o
m
t
h
e
r
e v
i
s
i
o
n
o
f
S n
y
d
e
r
's
(
1
9
74
)
se
lf
-
m
o
n
i
t
or in
g
co
n
cept
th
a
t
den o
te
s the
te
nden cy to reguate one's behaviour
i
n order to presenta particul
a
r se lf
i
n
a social context
(S ny
de
r ,
1
98 7 )
. Pe o
pl
e w ith a h
ig
h
se
lf - mo
nitor
in g
leve
ma
n
age the ir
o
wn
b
e
havio
ur
us
in g
oth
er's
e x
pr
ess
i o
n
s in
th
e
soc i
al
settin
g as a gu
i d
e
lin e; w
h
er
eas
low
se l
f - m on ito
r
s conduct th
ei
r behavio
ur
s f rom person a l
di
spos
iti
ons, b
e
liefs and
a
ttitudes (C ram er and Gruman 2 002 )
.
The
r
e v ised
con
s
tru
ct prop
ose
d by
L e n n
ox and
Wolfe
( 1 98 4
) ca lled attenti
o
n to
soc ial co
mpari
so
n
i
n
f o
nn
at on
f o
c
u
ses on o
n
e's
co n
ce
m about others'
r
eacton s
t
o her/his own behav
i
our. Co n sumers
se
n s
iti
ve
t
o so
ci
a
l
co
m p
arison
in
formation are a
w
are of and appre hen s
i
ve about others'
r
e ac tion
s;
they
strongly ca
r
e about wh
a
t other peop
le
think about them . This co ns
tru
ct is co rre
l
ated
The con ce pt
o
f CNFU
i
s
b
ased
o
n
S ny
der and Fromkin's ( 1 977) theory of
u
niquen ess.
A c c ording to this theory,
peop
le find a
hig
h
l
e ve ] of si
m
ila ri ty to o
th
ers
un
p leasant
a
nd
se ek to
mak
e
th
em
s
e lves
di f ferent
a
t l east to
sorn
e e
x
tent
( S n yd
er
a
nd
Fro rnkin , 1 9 8 0 )
.
B eca
use need for uniqueness is en visaged as a trait, it varíes across í n d
ivi
duals
and
i
s lik e
l
y to
i
nduce counte
r
co n f o
rm i
st behav
i
ours Counte
r
-c onform
i
ty can be defined
in refere nce to co n f o
rm i
ty,
w
hich repre se n ts the tendency to co mply with group n o
rm
s
(B umkrant
a
nd
Cous
in e au
,
1 97 5 )
. Count
e
r-conf orm
is ts
d
o
n o
t to be i
nd
epe
n d
ent
f ro
m
n orms,
but
re
fuse congrue
n ce wi
th
n orm
s.
The n
eed for
uniqu
e
n
ess
co n stru
ct
h
e
l
ps
u
s t
o
understand th is de viatio
n:
they want to
m
ain tain th
e
ir
ide
ntity
w
hich
i
s thre a
te
ned by a
hi
g
h
-
per
ce
i
ve
d
le v
e]
o
f
s
imil
arity with
o
th
ers.
Th
e
co
unt
er-on
f o
rm is
t
b
e
h
avi
o
ur
o
f
a
do
pti
o
n results
f ro
m the d
e s i
re
o
n
on
e
ha
nd to perceive o
n e se
l
f as dissim
i l
ar with o
th
ers
and on the oth
e
r hand to be perce ived as d
i f fere
nt by others.
In a
co
n sum er co n te x
t
people
ca
n be
m
otivated by co unterac ting n orr n s and by
di f
f er
entiatin g themselves, through their possess
i
ons and consum er cho ices. Tian
(
2 00 1
p .
5
2 )
d
ef in e CN F
U
as "
th e
trait o f pursuing diffe
r
entness
r
e l ative to
o
thers thr
oug
h
th
e ac
qui
si
tion , ut
iliz a
t
io
n , a
nd di
spos i
t
i o
n
good
s for
th
e
purp
ose of
develo p
ing o
n e
's
se
lf
-
i
mage and socia l image . Co n sumer go ods used for satisfying
co
un
terco
nf ormity
m
o
t
iv a
tio
n re fer to product categories, brands and versi ons or stye" . They
co
n ce ptu a lize
C
N FU as three
-di
m en s
i
on a
l
co n
st
ruct
w
here e ach d
i
m
en s
i
on rep
r
e se n ts a behavioura l
m
anifesta
tion
. Thr
oug
h the fi
rs
t on
e,
co n
sum
e
r
s e xpress
th
eir
co
unte
r
co n
f o
nnity by
m ak in
g
c
r
e a
ti
ve
c
h
oices;
th
ey
d
o
n
o
t seek
t
o
a
ffirm
t
h
e
ir
uniqu
e
n
ess
b
y
ca
u
si
n
g
th
e
di
sapprova
l
of others; on the co ntrary
th eir
c
ho ices ca n be regard
e
d as good and origina
l
(T ian al
2001) .
Through the second on e
,
co n sum e
r
s
e x p
li
ci
tly in tend to deviate
f r
om
group
n
o
nn
s and vo l
un ta ri l
y chose pro
du
cts and b
ra
nd lik ely to
e x
pose t
h
emselves to
social dis approval . The last be hav
i
o
ur
a
l
inten tio n simply
in dicat
es the de s
ir
e
t
o re
pl
ace
products or cha
ng
e brands as soon as they b
eco m
e
c
ommon place in ord er
t
o m a
in
tain
uniqueness.
Thi
s di m en sion is called avo
id
ance of simi l
a
rity.
infonnati
on seeking may a
l
so si
gn
ify that indivi
dual
s want to
unders
tand a group's Fa
shion opinion
values and b
e li
e
f
s in ord er to
co m
p ly with i
t
s n o
nn
s.
Th
at is w hy sorn e psychological
traits
,
e
specíally e xpress
in
g orientation toward oth ers, should ex
pla
in both the
te
ndenc
y to give and to seek
i
nterperson
a
l
in f onnation . This
l
eads us to our nex t top
ic
.
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Why would fashion opinion leaders
posses
s a higher leve of need for uniqueness?
Sorne contradictory results about opinion leaders ' conformism strengthen the
relevance of this question. On the one hand, sorne findings seem to show that opinion
leaders, in spite of their tendency to innovate and to stimulate changes in a social
system, are more conformist than the rest of the population (Marshall and
Gitosudarmo, 1995; Rogers, 1961) . Gur
-
Arie a l .
(1979)
found that opinion leaders
were as conformistas non-leaders, even if their motivations are different. On the
oth
er
hand, Dawson and Ridgway (1987) reported a non-significant correlation between
fashion leadership and need for uniqueness, but note that
lea
ders prefer fashion brands
that they view as unique
.
These results suggest that the general trait of need for
uniqueness is a poor descriptor of opinion
leadership
suggesting instead that CNFU is
more appropriate ata consumption
leve
, this variable may be
releva
nt to characterize
opinion leaders.
M o re o ve r
,
Chan and Misra
(1990)
found that opinion leaders tend to
score higher on the scales measuring public individuation, a state in which people feel
confident enough to individua te themselves (Maslach 198 5) . This result seems to
show that difference seeking represents a motivation for opinion leadership.
The association between fashion leadership and CNFU should be related to leaders'
motivations to deviate from the norm and to the advantages resulting from the
adoption of counterconformist behaviours. Simonson and Nowlis
(2000)
studied the
reasons that people give to explain unconventional choices. They propose that the
effects of need for uniqueness on choices emerge when consumers have the opportunity
with the fear of negative evaluations(r
=
0 .64) and neuroticism (r
=
0.29), which
denote social anxiety. Lennox and Wolfe (1984) also suggest that ATSCI may be a
useful measure to predict a durable disposition to conform.
In a consumer context , sources of social comparison information are multiple and
diverse. Bearden and Rose
(1990)
mention exterior appearance of others, verbal and
expressional reactions about the appropriateness of the consumption of certain
products or services made by significant referents, the social rewards and sanctions
system, and attributions about responses from group members to the consumer's
behaviour. The main interesting property of this variable is its ability to moderate the
effects of normative influence on conformity (Bearden and Rose, 1990). People who
score high on ATSCI are more sensitive to normative social influence, they are more
aware of group norms and expectations, and they respond by adopting conformist
behaviours At the opposite pole
,
people who have a low score on ATSCI seem more
able to resist normative influence and to keep their independence. Independence is
strictly opposed to conformity. Counter - conformity, however, represents a negative
reaction to normative influence. Independent people simply do not take into account
group norms, whereas counter-conformist people
volunt
arily adopt behaviours that
they expect to break the norms.Thus, if counter-conformity s a consequence of CNFU,
and tendency to conform
i
s a manifestation of ATSCI, then CNFU and ATSCI should
be negatively associated (Tian al
.
2 0 0 1 ) . CNFU
s
uggests a propensity to counteract
norms, whereas ATSCI implies a tendency to comply with norms.
M o re
over, Tian and
Bearden (2002) report a negative correlation of - 0.23between CNFU and ATSCI. We
propase the following hypothesis to replicate their findings
Hl
ATSCI and CNFUare negatively ass
o
ciated
.
]FMM
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In or
de
r t
o d
i ffer
e
n ti
a
te th
e
mselves
f ro
m othe r ,
i
n di
vid ua
s with a hi
g
h
l
eve of CNFU
n
eed t
o searc
h for
i
nf
o
rm a
tio
n
l
e adi ng to b
e
hav
i
ours th at rein force th e
ir
un
i
q u
e
ness.
F e stin
ger
'
s
(1 9
5 4
)
soc
i
a
l
co
m
par
i
so
n
th
eory
po in t
s
o
ut th
a
t
p
eopl
e
ge n e ra
l l
y
hav
e
t
o
u
se
others as ref e
r
ence poin ts espec ia
l l
y when they want to avoid l oo k i ng s imilar to o
th e
r
person s.
F
o
ll
o
w in g
thi
s f irst
po
in t ,
i
t w
o
uld
be
reaso
nable
t
o
propose a positive
associ
a
tion
b
etween C
N F
Uand f as hion opin ion see
k i
ng N e v e r t
h
e less, the m
o
tiv atio
n
s
o
f
se e ke rs se em to be opposed to th
e
pursuit
o
f un iqu
e
n
e s s
. Feick 1
986,
p .
302)
me
n tio
n th
a
t
op i
n i
o
n seekers
co l l
ect
" in
formation or
op
in
ion
s from in te
rp
erso
n
al
sour
ces
in ord
e
r to f ind
ou
t ab out
a
nd evaluate
p
rod ucts, services,
cu
rr
e
nt a f fa
i
rs, or other
a
reas
of n t
erest"
.
Th
eir main preoccu
pa
tion is to
m a
k e the right cho ice orto improvetheir own
pro
du
ct or bra nd
e valuati
on s . This
fi
rst
uti
litarian motivation se e
m
s to be
unre
l ated
t
o
the search
o
f co
unte
rco n fo
rm i
ty: wh
e
n they ask for
ad
v i ce, o
pini
on s ee
k
ers are pl
ac e
d
i
n
a pos iti
o
n of accepting in f
o
rm
at
on a
l
influ
e
nce
(B
rown and R
e
in
ge
n , 1 987; D uh an
1997 ) . Furthermore,
F l
ynn
( 1 99 6
) s uggest that opinion se e
k in
g ca n be an a l y z ed as a
soc
i
a
l i
z a
ti
o
n
pr
ocess.
B
y
co
mmuni
ca
ting
abo
ut
p
ro
du
ct
s
a
nd
b
ra
n d
s,
se e
k
ers
m
ay
f in
d
an
o
pp
o
rtunity to
c
reate or to strengthen their ties with a group and they ar
e
implicitly
r
e ce
pti
ve to n orma
ti
ve influen ce s .
Th
e man if e s
t
a
ti
on of normative i
nflu
en ce acceptan
ce
i
s
clearl
y co n fo
rm i
ty to
gro
up
n
orms
a
nd e x p e ct
atio
ns
(Bear
d
e
n 1 9 8 9
;
Bumkrant
and Cousin e au , 1 975; L ascu and Z inkhan, 1 9 9 9
) . O p i
n ion
s e e k e
rs
'
motivati
o
n
i
s
essentia
ll
y risk reduction and for co n spi
c
uous pro
du
cts, soc
i
a
l
r
is
k
r
educ
ti
on
;
that is
why they should pre
f e
r
co
nfo
rm i
st behaviours and
avoi
d appearing too
diff e
rent.
F
or
these reaso ns the foll
o
wing hy pothe s
i
s is su
gges
t
e
d:
H3. CNFU and O p
i
n i
o
n S e e k in g in fashion ar
e
negative ly assocated .
Th
ese
argume
n ts
j
ustify
t
he fo
ll
owing hypothes
i
s:
H2. C
NFU
i
s positively associa
t
ed with opinion l
e a
dersh ip in
f as hi
on.
to explain their decisions and do n ot e xpect to be
indi
vidu al l y e va luated . This idea is
Fashion opinion
very s imil
a
r with the
op
i
n
ion
le a
ders' t
e
n d
e
ncy t
o
sh
a
r
e i
n fo
rmati
on
abo
ut products
and
br
a
nds.
A c
c
ording to these authors,
un
con ventiona
l
cho
i
ces should
f ac
ilitate and
m
o
tívat
e
communi
ca
tion
abo
ut produ
c
ts
:
individ ua l s ar
e
aware th at origina
l
ch
o
ices
dr
a
w
m
ore
at
t
e
n ti
o
n
f r
o
m
o
th
e
r
s
a
nd tend to
e
s
t
a
bli
s
h a kind
o
f
su
peri
o
rit
y
o
f the
c
re ati
ve
o
r
ori
gi
n
a
l co n
s
um e
r , e s
p
ec
i a
lly w
h
en s/he
h
as the
opp
ortunity to t
a
lk
a
bout
his/her
c
ho i ces. M oreove r , un co n ven tiona
l
pref
e
r
e
n ces
s e e
m more surp
ris
in g and so,
31
attrac tive . The r
easo
ns w
h
y original
p
ro
du
cts
o
r bran ds are
c
hos en ar
e
n atura l l y
inte
restin
g
a
nd
arou
se c
uriosi
ty
Th
ese
argu
m e n ts
re ce i
ve more attenti
o
n f ro m
o
th
e
r
p
e o
ple
a
nd s
h
ou
l
d e
xe
rt a s tro nge r
i
m
pac
t on
a
tt
itud
es of in
forma
ti
o
n s ee
k e
rs
(S
im
o
n son and N ow lis
2000) .
Conse
qu
e n tly,
o
pinion
leade
rs' i nfluence should
be
partia lly e xplained by the
pe
rce i ved originality or novelty
o
f the ir produ ct cho ices.
B rie
fl
y, h
ig
he
r
se o
re s
o
f
C
N F
U
s
up
pose a
grea
ter
l ik elihoo
d to m
ak
e
o
rigi
na a
nd
un conv
en
ti on
al
br
a
nd and
p
ro
duc
ts ch
o i
ces th
a
t are m
o
r
e
lik e
l
y to
b
e s
p
otted
b
y other
people. That is a possibl
e
e x pl an ation for :
•
fas
hi
o
n
le a
d
e
r
s'
se
l
ectio
n as
recom m
e
n da
ti
o
n
s o
ur
ce s
;
•
f as
hion l e ade
r
s' m otivation to ta l k about products or brands; an d
•
fas
hion
l
e ad
e r
s' influence.
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The que s
tionn
a
ire co
nta
ined
multi-ite
rn
s ca l
es t
o me asure the f o
ca l co ns
truct
s.
T
o
enhance data qu
a
lity, two items w ere pl
ac
ed within the other me
a
sures to gu
a
rd
against bogus re sponding (Dolling
e
r
a
nd D iL
a
lla, 1996) . O n
e
ítem r
e
ad: " I h
a
v
e
tried t
o
answer ali of
th e
se questions honestly and accur
a
te ly"
a
nd used a Likert
re s
p
o
nse
format w he
r
e
1
=
strongly
disagre
e to 7
=
strongl
y a
gre
e (of w h ich an
an
swer
o
f less
than 6 warranted re moval of the respondent). The se cond ítem re ad
,
" If
yo
u re
a
d
th i
s
ítem, do not resp
o
nd t
o i
t" (for
w hi
ch
a
ny
a
n swer warranted
re m o
val) . Of th
e
origin
al
209 que s tionnaires distributed, eight were
r
emoved either because these quality che ck
items ca ught b
a
d re spondents or b
e ca
use the ques tion naire contained
l
arge se ction s of
miss
ing
da
ta
leav in
g
2 0 1
r
es
pondents for th
e s
tudy.
We employed multi-item s
cale
s for the co
n
structs that were used in
e arli
er studies
and ha ve
pro
ved to be valid and reliable m
e asur
es of their respective variables To
measure f ashion
l e a
dership and opinion se eking
i
n f ashion, we used the
s ca l
es
3
1 0 1
Do opinion leade
r
s and opinion s e e k ers pay more attention to socia l c
o
m parison
information? Obviously , opinion
s e e k e r
s display an interpersonal orientation. To
collect information about products
a
nd services they have to obs
e rve
other's
behaviour
s
.
The
pr
e
ference for information
fr
o
m interpersonal sources
al
so
indi
c
ates
that s
e e k
ers feel concern ed for the
soci
a
l
a
dequ
a
cy of their choices
.
Thus, opinion
s e e k i n
g may be the explicit
e x
pression of an implicit anxiety. To
a
lle
via
te soc
i a
l
-------- anxiety, o
pini
on se e k
e
rs pay
attenti
on t
o othe
rs in order t
o
find out how
th
ey sh
o
uld
beha
ve
.
W e
prop
ose
o
ur n ext
hypoth
esis to test this
noti
on :
A TSCI
a
nd o
pin
i
on s ee
k in
g in f ashion are positive ly
assoc i a
ted .
Th
e
a
sso
ciation between ATSCI
a
nd o
pini
on leadership se ems more comple x .
F
ashion
leaders
a
re
e x
pected to have higher le v
e l
s of fashion
in n
ov
a
tiveness than most other
consumers
(Fl
ynn
a l
, 1996),
w
hich sh
ow
s
the
ir ability to be
de tac
hed f ro m social
n o
rm
s. Re s e arch ers,
ho
w e ve r , find opin ion l e aders in f ashion to have higher leve ls of
s
elf-m
o
nit
o
rin
g than
n
o
n-leaders
(Davi
s and Lennon,
1985) .
I n d e e d
, o
pini
o
n
l
e a
d
e
r
s
hip
in volv e
s
the dis
closur
e
of
hi
s or her self
- irn
age t
o
oth ers by means
o
r v
e
rbal and
n
o
nverba l overt behaviour (Weimann , 1 99 4
)
; opinion l e a
der
s may
regul
ate their own
behaviour in order to
pr
e sent a particular
im
age of
them
selves This f ind
i
ng is
th e
ore
tica
lly co ngruent with Chan
a
nd M
is
r
a
's
(1990) findin
g o
f
a p
os iti
ve associa
ti
on
between o
pin
ion leadership and
publi
c indiv id uatio
n;
if opinion l e aders want to be
publicly d
i
f ferentiated
,
they
mu
st con sciously or unconsc
i
ous ly adopt a se lf co
ntr
olled
behav
i
our
C ha
n
a
nd M isra ( 1990) also argue th
a
t th
e
ac t of dissem
inatin
g in f orm
ati
on
through w o rd -of -mouth c
ommunic a
tion mak es o
pin
ion leaders stand out am on g their
group
a
nd makes them "different"
f r
om the other
m e m b e
rs; but this disse
m in a
tion
generates social anxiety, es
peciall
y when their
a
ctio n s
a
re publicly v
i
sible.
Con s eque
ntly
when l
e ader
s
ch o
se to
giv
e in fo
rm
atio
n ,
they m ust be willin g and
able to
handl
e
th i
s
a
nxi
e
ty
be ca
use they might
f
ee
l
co
ncerned
b
y
oth
ers'
r
e ac
ti
o
ns
a
nd
judge
m
ents
. In
orde
r t
o
alle viate this
an x ie
ty, opini
o
n le
a
ders might
m
onitor th
e
soc
ial
cu
es of f e
r
ed by others in order to avoid
b
ein g rej
e c
ted
b
y the
m.
The
r
efo
r
e
,
the
follow in g h
y po
the s is
a
re sugg
e st
ed :
H
5 . ATSCI
a
nd f ashion
l
ead
e rs
hip
a
re pos
i
ti
ve l
y associated
.
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-
8/20/2019 READING CLUB RESEARCH 1 English V
9/16
I
n
prel
im
i
n
ary
a
n
alyses
co
mm
on
factor
a
n
a
lys
i
s
fo
ll
ow e
d
b
y an
ob
li
que
rota
t
ion was
used to co nfirm that e ac h scale was e ither unidim
e
n s i on a l (o pin ion leadership and
opinion se e k
i
n g) or correspo
n d
ed to the
multi-
f ac tor structure described by the sca
l
e
deve
l
ope
rs . The f acto r
l oadi
ngs of a
li
the i tems we
r
e at
l
east 0 .4 5 in size . After
app
ro
priate ítem
r
eversa
ls
t
h
e
indiv
idua l
i te
ms
w e r
e
s
ummed to form
sca
l e seores so
t
ha
t
hig he
r seores i
n dicate
d hi
gh
er
level
s
o
f
th
e
respecti
ve
co ns
tru
ct
s. Re li
ab i l
ity
an
aly
s
i
s
w
as performed to
co
m pute co e f f i
c
i
ent alp ha for e ac h sca
l
e as
e s t
i
m
a
t
es of
intern
a
co nsiste
n
cy. These
res
ults
app
e ar Table I and a
r
e
acce
p
ta
bly hi
g
h
,
ex c eeding the
0 .
70
reco
mme
n d
ation of Nunna
ll
y
(
1
9 7 8 )
and
in f ac
t
e x ce e d i
ng the
average alp ha
coeffici
e n ts repor
te
d in mu
c
h of co nsum er research (P e
t
erson
1
994) .
Descriptve statis
ti
cs appear in Table
Th
e
n
egat
iv
e
corre
l
a
t
ions in
T
a
bl
e
I
o
f age
w
ith fas
hi
o
n
O
L
r
=
0
22)
an
d
O
S
(r
= .2 5 )
a
re
t
o be e
xpec
ted given s
imil
ar re s
ult
s r
e
po
rte
d by S um mers ( 1 9 7 0
) ,
Coult
e
r ( 2 0 0 0)
,
a
nd O
'C a
ss (2 0 00). A lthough n ot shown by the co
rr
e lations t-
t
ests
of mean differen ces between m en and women sh
ow e
d th at th e wom en co n sumers
report
ed
hi
gher
l
evels of cl o
thin
g o
pin io
n
l
eade
rs
hip
th
an me
n ,
ju
s
t as O'Cass (2 0 0 0 )
described. Thus , these
pre lim
inary
r
e s
ult
s are largey in accord w ith previous studies,
lending confidence to our
f i n d
i
ngs
r
egarding the
soc i
a l i
n ftu
ence var
i
ables.
The
correlat
ons
al
so show that fashion
l
e ade
r
ship and opinion se eking
i
n fashion
were
po
sitiv
el
y
correlat
ed (
0
. 2 4), a re
l
ati
o
n
s
hip pre
dict
ed by Fe ick
( 1
986),
d
ep
ic
ted
in Keller and Berry's (200 3)
di
scussion of inftu
en ti
a l A m e r ica n s, and
si
m ilar to
t
hose
de velop ed by Fly nn (
1
996)
.
These we re writt
e
n
t
o be do
ma
in spe
c
ific measures of
Fashion opinion
clothing OL and O S .
S a
mp
le
i
te m
s
r
ead
: o
f
te
n
inftu
e
n
ce
p
e ople's
o
pini
o
n s about
clothes
"
a
nd "
I l
ik
e to
get
oth
ers'
o
pini
on
s
b
efare
I bu
y a
n
ew
cl othin
g
i
t
em " . W e
meas
ur
ed co n sum er n
ee
d for
unique
ness
w
ith the 1
3- ite
m scale deve oped by
Tia
n
( 2 001 )
.
A
n exam p
l
e item re ad : "As a rul
e,
1
di
s
lik
e produ cts or
br
ands that are
cus
tomaril
y purchased by everyon
e" .
We measured atte
n ti
on to social co mpari son
information w ith the 13 items shown in B earden
( 1
9 89 ) . O ne
exa
mp
l
e read
:
" M y
be
hav
i
o
ur
d
epends on
h
ow I
f
ee
l o
thers
w
ish me to
b
ehave".
The da
ta carne
f r
om a
co n ve
n i
en ce sam
ple
o
f
und
e
rgradua
te
stud
e
n
ts
a
t a major US
un iversity. S tu de n ts in classes
i
n
co
n sum er behaviour co m pl e
t
ed the quest on n aire and
r
ecrui
te
d on e f riend to do so a
l
so.
A
lthough
th i
s co n ve n ien
ce
sa
m
ple l
i
mits
genera
lizabi
lity, the purpose of t
h
e st
ud
y was to test t
h
e o
r
e
ti
ca
l r
e
l
a
tio
n
s
hips on ly an d
n
ot to m
a
k e po int
a
nd
in terval estimat
es of
th
e
m
e an seores
o
n
th
e sca
les,
and so
sh
ould
be appro pria
t
e for theory t
es
tin g purposes (C ald
e
r al
1
9 8 1 ) . M oreove
r
,
the sam ple was
app
ro p
riate f or the study because the pro
du
ct topic was clothing and fas
hi
on abl e wea
r
a
pro
du
c
t
ca
t
egory of
i
n
terest
t
o
th
is
s
tud
e
nt
-aged
sam
pl
e;
W O
M
pl
ays
a
n
im p
o
rt
ant role in
th
e diffu
s i
on of clot
h in
g
styl
es
(E v an s,
1989; Veme
t
te, 2 0 0 4
)
;
a
nd
youn
g
peop l
e
su
ch as
th
ese place a
sp
ecia
l
e
m ph
as
i
s
o
n
W O M
co ns
ide
rin
g
i
t m
or
e im p
o
rtant than
adve
rti
s
in g
(K eller and Berry 2003, pp 8
,
The samp
l
e co mpris ed 92 (45 .8 per
ce
nt) men and
1
09
(54.2
per cent) wom e
n
. A ges
ran ge d
f ro
m
1
8 to 4 1 with a
m
e an age of 2 1 .5
y e ar
s (SD 2 .
6)
. There
w e r
e
1
53 (7 6.1
p
er
ce n t
) whi t
e responden
ts,
1 5 (7.5
per ce
nt)
A fri
ca
n
-A
rne
rica
ns, 29
( 1 4
.
4 p
er ce
nt
)
H ispa
n i
cs, and 4
(2
per
ce
nt) A s i
a
n-A
r n
erica
n
s .
T
h
e
re was no
statisticall
y significan t
P 0 . 05 ) diffe rence in mean age between the
m
en and w o
m
en [2).
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-
8/20/2019 READING CLUB RESEARCH 1 English V
10/16
In
depe
nde n
t
vari
a
bl
es S E
P
art
adj
M 2
0
.
15 3
* *
te
p
1
A ge .
5
2 3
0.18
2
0
190
-
2 . 91 * *
0
. 1 89
S ex
ª
4
829
0 . 9
2 8 0 .
34 0
52 1
**
0
339
S t
ep
2
0.
238* *
0 . 09
8* *
A ge
-0.422
0.178
-0.15
2
-
2 . 36
**
-
0.1 4
6
Sexª
4 . 72 5
0
.
88
1
0 . 333
-
5.36
**
0
331
CN FU 0 . 1 36 0 . 030
0 . 294
4 . 62* *
0 . 2 8 5
A TS
CI
0 . 104 0 .
038 0
. 1
78
2 .71
**
0. 167
Step
1
0 . 05 9*
*
A g e 0
. 7 9 2
0 .
2 2 3
0 . 2 44
35 5 * *
0 . 2 44
S exª
.287
1. 139
0078
- 1 . 13
0.077
Step
2
0 . 2 7
0 * *
0.216
**
Ag e - 0 . 4 70
0 .
2 04
-
0. 145
2
3
1 * *
-0 .139
Sexª -0 .868
1.005
0 . 0 5 2
0 . 86 005 2
C N F U
- . 0 128
0 .
034
-0.237
3.81 * *
-
0.2 3
1
ATS CI
0.245
0 .
044 0 . 3
6
1
5 .59 **
0.338
Table 1 1 .
Regress
i on results
N otes: ª O= women and 1 = men ; * 0 . 05 ;
**
0 . 01
reported by Flynn (1996) . This r
es
ult verifies the idea that " ... there's often a
d i al ogue between peop le who
s
pread the w ord about a product and tho
s
e
wh
o are on
the receiving end"
(R o
s
en , 2 0 0 0 , p .
8 1 )
. Th
e
n
e ga
tive correlati
o
n between CNFU and
ATSCI (r -0.23)
s
upports
Hl
and is similar to that reported in Tian and Be arden
(2002). Apparently, consumers who are more likely than their peers to
s
ee
k uniqueness
through purchasing are less likely to attend to so
cia
l cu e
s
Linear regr
e s s
ion t
e s
ted the remaining hyp
o
the ses (see Table
II)
. Th
e
a
ppro
ac h u
s e
d
w a
s to test two sequential models In the
f ir
st model , the de
p e n de
n t variable,
o
pini
o
n
J F M M
Variables
CN F
U A TSCI OL
os
A g e
M
ean 56.9
5 0 . 5
2 5
. 8
2 4 . 2
2 1 . 5
S td .
de
v . 1 5.
3
1 2.2
7 . 1
8
.3
2
.
6
L o
w
2
0
1
6
8 6
18
H igh
98 85
41 42
41
S k e w ne ss '' 0.
377
( 0 . 1
72 )
-0
.
049 ( 0 . 1
72
)
-0.4
34 (0.172) 0.117 ( 0 . 1 72)
5 . 01
(0.172)
Kurtosis''
0. 1
90
(0 . 34 1 )
0.52 5
(0 .
341)
0.190 ( 0
.3 4
1 )
0
.5 7
8
(0.341 )
3
4.2 (0.341)
C
N F
U
(0 . 91 ) "
ATS CI
o
. 23* *
(0
. 8 6 )
OL
0 .24 * *
0
.
1 8 *
(0
.
89)
os
0
.33** 0 .
46
**
0
.
2 4
**
( 0 . 86)
A ge
0 . 03
-0.
2 6
**
-0.
2 2 * *
-0.25**
Table l.
Notes: * * p
0.
01, * p
0
. 05 . ª Cronbach 's a
lph
a
co e
f fi
c
i en ts shown
in p
arenthe ses
on the dia
go
n
a
l;
Desc
ripti
ve
stati
s ti
cs an d
b
sta
n da rd e rr
or
s in
p
arentheses .
C N F U = Cons
umer need
f a
r uniquen
ess;
ATS CI A t t en
tion to
co
rre
lation s
so c i a l com pa r i so n information ; O L
Fa
shion opinion l
ea
de rs hip
;
OS = Fas hion op i n ion seekin g
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8/20/2019 READING CLUB RESEARCH 1 English V
11/16
Wha
t are fashion l
ea
der
s
an d
op i
nion
see
kers in
fas h
ion l ik e? Ou
r s
tud
y so
ug
ht to
co
ntribute t
o
their descri ption s by exa
m
i
n in
g th e
psych
ology
of clo
thin g op
in io
n
l
ea
der
s
a
n d seeke
rs.
In th
e
case
of clothin
g
OL an d OS , it
a
p
pe a
r
s that
i n add i tion
t
o
b
ein
g yo
un ge
r th
an n on - l
ea
d
ers an d no
n-
se e
kers,
an d
i n
th
e
case
of opinion l
ea
de rs hip ,
more
lik
e
l y
to
be
fem
a
l e , b
oth op
i
n
ion
l ea
d
e
r
s an d
o
p i n
io
n se e
k
ers a
r
e more
attenti
v
e to
socia l cues than are non
-lea
ders an d n on-seekers. While fas hion opinion l eaders are
a
l
so
more l i kely
to need to
e
xpress th
e i
r
n ee d
for
uniquen
ess tha
n non
-
l
ea
ders , fa
s
hion
leaders hi p o
r o
p i n i o n seeking, w
as regresse
d firs t acro
ss t
he l
eve
l
s
of
age a
n d sex.
Th
e Fas
hion opinion
seco
n d step added the
foca
l var ia
bles
C N F U
an d A
TSCI,
t o the mo de l t
o
determin e if their
re l
a
tionships were independen t of
th
e demographi
c
v
a
riables. In
s
pection of
the
co
llinearity s
tati
s
tics
showed
th
at
multi- collin
earity
w
as
n ot
a
facto
r
in these an
a
l
yses as
t
ol
eran
ce
for
a
l i
the variabl
es
was
0
. 8 . 5 o
r
b
e
tter
,
a
nd
none
of
th
e
VIFs
w
ere
l
arge
r
than
1 . 2 .
In
the
firs
t an a l ys i
s,
f as
hion
O
L
was
f i rs
t
r
egresse
d ac r
oss age an d
sex.
The
res ult
s
showed
th
a
t age
w
as
nega tive l y re l
ate
d to opinion leaders
hip
a
nd that
women we re mo re
lik e
l
y to be cl
o
thin g
o
pin
ion
l
ead
ers th a
n m
e
n
.
Then
C
N F
U
a
nd A
TS C I we
r
e added i n th e
seco
n d s
t
ep . The stan dar diz ed regressio n
coe
fficie
n ts
we re all sta
tis
ti
ca
l l y sign ificant.
Bo
th
CN F U
a
n d A TSCI
we
r
e positive l
y
assoc i ated with
clot
hin g
op
inio
n
lea d
ers
hip
,
suppo rtin
g H
2
an d H
S . E ve n w ith
th
e
effects of age a
n d
sex
accou
nted
for , c l othin
g
op ini
o
n l ea
ders hip
w
as assoc i a
ted w i t
h
hi
g
her J e v
e
ls
of
nee d for un
i quen ess a
nd highe
r
l evels of atten ti o n to
soci
al co
m
pa riso n inf orm ation . A pp ar en tly , clo thin g opin ion l ea ders
fee l
th
e need to be unique
and
ar e more atte n tive to
socia
l cu
es than
non - l eaders[3] .
In th
e secon d an a l
ysis
cl
othin g
o
pin
ion
see
k in
g was f irst regresse
d
across the
l
ev
el
s
o
f age
a
n d
sex,
a
n d
th
e
n CN F
U
a
n d
A TSCI
were
a
dd
ed to
th
e
e
qu
a
tio
n .
Th
e
r
es
ult
s
s
howed th
at
r
es
pon dent
age
wa
s
n
ega
t
ive
l y re l
a
ted t o OS in
fas
hion ,
but tha
t
respon
d
ent sex was n
o
t .
Y oun ge
r
con
sumers a
pp
ear
to
be
mor
e
l i
k e l y
to
be
clo
thin g
o
pini
o
n se e
k
ers
th
a
n old
er
con
su
m
ers,
bu
t
m
en an d wo
m
en are e
q
ua lly likely to seek
clo thin
g
advice . A ttention t o
so c
i
a
l compar ison i n fonn
a
tion
was
positive l y related to
clothin
g
op i nion
see
k in g ,
s
uggestin
g th at
consu
mers
wh
o a
re atte
n ti
ve t
o
socia l
in fo
nnat
io
n see
k cl
o
thin
g
a
dv i
ce
f ro m oth
e rs . H
oweve
r , con
s
um er
n
ee d fo
r
un
i
que
ness
was negative l y re l ated t
o cl
ot hin g
op in
ion see
k
i
ng,
suggest
in
g that t
h
e mo re a
consumer seeks to be un i que , and the less lik ely th ey seek clo thin g advice f ro m others.
Th
ese
r
es
ult
s su
pp o
rt H3 and
H4 .
F
o
r b
o
th variable
s, res idu
a l a
n
al yses s
how ed
that t
h
e
regress i on
as s
um
ptions
we r
e
l arge l y met for :
• the as s
um p
t i
o
n
of lin ea
ri ty
fo
r t
h
e ov era
l l
equatio
n
a
n
d for th e i n depe n d
en
t
variables;
• th
e
ass
umption o
f
homoscedast i c
it
y; an d
• the
assumption of nonn
a
l i
ty
of
t
h
e error ten n o
f
th e va
ria
te (
H ai
r 1
998)
.
To ex
p
l ore t
h
e i nfluen
ce
of
clo
th i
n
g i
n
volveme
n
t o
n
t hese relations
hips
we u
sed a
th
re e
-
itern scale to measure
clo
th i ng i n volvemen t 0 . 93) . A f te r mean ce ntr i n g the
variables, we
in
clud ed
th
e in teracti
o
n tenns
of
C N
F
U
an d
in vo l ve me
n t
a
n d
A
T
S C I
a
n d
in vo l
ve m
e
n t
in the re gressio
n
an a
l yses.
No
n
e of
these
ef f
ec t s were s
t
a
tis tica
lly
significa n t
P
<
0 . 05
)
, suggestin
g th a
t
the
l
eve
] of re s
p
on den t
s'
in vo lv
em
e
nt with
c l
o
thin
g did
no
t
influ
e
nce
the
e
f f
ec
t
s
of
C N F U a
n d
A
T
S C
I
on
fas
hi
o
n
OL a
n d
OS
.
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-
8/20/2019 READING CLUB RESEARCH 1 English V
12/16
opinion seekers are
le
ss likely to need to express their uniqueness than non-seekers.
Thus, we are gaining more insight into the psychology of both types of fashion buyers.
Bristor (1990) presents a summary of sorne of the factors (individual, product, or
situational) that motívate opinion leadership Individual factors include such variables
as involvement with the product category, anxiety reduction, and identification with
group standards Motives for opinion seeking usually include risk reduction and
timesaving. From the theoretical perspective, our study adds to the profile of fashion
leaders and se e k
e
rs. At
lea
st two
oth
er psychological factors also play a role in these
behaviours Broad descriptions of these two types of consumer behaviours predicted
the relationships, so that the re sults are consistent with existing theories of OLIOSand
contribute insight into the motivational forces of these socialbehaviours In the domain
of clothing, our results suggest that leaders and seekers act complementarily: fashion
leaders innovate in order to feel unique and
s e e k e r
s are gu
i
ded by leader orientations
and ad vice because they are very attentive to social cues. CNFU and ATSCI could
r
e
pres
e
nt particularly relevant psychological traits to
expla
in the dynamics of
d
i
ffusion and renewal of fashion clothes in
groups
For managers in the clothing domain, knowing that their opinion leaders are likely
to express uniqueness and to pay attention to soc
i
al cu es may provide important
contributions to strategy development. In appealing to OL, e
n
couragin g them to spread
positive WOM, strategies that reinforce their
s
ocial acuity in s
copin
g out what
o
thers
think and stressing how they
ca
n enhance their
uniquene
ss by
endorsin
g a brand,
might increase the effectiveness of the
strategy
When it comes to
OS ,
messages
en
c
ouraging them to seek out OL to get advice about
bra
nds, it might be m
o
re effective
it the messages
stres
s once again how e
f f
ective the
co n
sumer is in picking up soc i a l
cues. However, for OS, the promotional m e ssa
g
es should not
empha
s
ize
that they will
be come more unique by seeking clothing advice
,
but in fact
,
may in better with their
s
ocial
conte x
t by doing
s o
.
Our findings are limited in generalizability by the homogeneous convenience
sample. To accurately assess the size of these
relation
ships in the population at l
arge
,
random samples such as
th o
se used by commercial m
a
rket re s e arch companies are
needed. A second limitation comes from the use of a single product category in which
we assessed these relationships Future
studie
s should focus on replicating and
extending our findings in other product fields
.
Finally,
w
e used self-reports to measure
and a cross- sectional survey
To determine if these
re l
a
tionships are causal,
experimental studies are required.
One particularly important avenue for future research would be to assess whether
the
C N F U
/ATSCI --+ OLIOSrelationship depends on the type of product being studied.
Clothing is high in social influence, and the social context is important because it is a
publicly consumed good with high symbolic value to consumers W ould these same
relationships obtain for privately consumed goods or necessities as well (Bearden and
Etzel, 1982)? Questions also arise regarding the overlap between fashion
innovativeness and opinion leadership. Are there two kinds of innovative
consumers, those who also act as opinion leaders and those who do not?
Baumgarten (1975) raised this issue but it has received little research attention
since. The findings of the present study suggest that these differences do exist and that
they might be dueto the influence of personality constructs such as ATSCI and CNFU.
36
J F M M
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-
8/20/2019 READING CLUB RESEARCH 1 English V
13/16
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Notes
T hi
s
r
esul
t i
s
co
h
e
r
e
n t with the
es t
ab
l i
she d
re l at i
on
s
h
i
p b
et
we en
e
ndurin g
i
n vo
l
veme n t and
opin
i
on
l
eade r
s
hip ( Ritch
i
ns an d
R oo
t
-
S haf f
er,
1 9
88 ;
Venk atr
a
m
a
n 1 990
)
.
2 .
R ace was n
o
t in cl
ud
ed i n t
h
e
a
nal
y
ses
b
ec ause
t
here we
r
e fe w non -
whit
e r
espo
nde
n ts, a
n
d
w
e
h
ad
no t
h
eoreti
ca
l rea so n t
o a
ss
um
e the re
would
be r
ac
i
a
l dif f
e
rences
in
these
relation
s
h
i
p
s
.
3
.
F
or o
p
in i on l
ea
de rship ,
a
nal ys i s of
o
ut l i ers sho
we
d th at only on
e
case had
a
stan dard iz e
d
r
es
idu a
l l
a
r
g
er
t
ha
n
3
. 0 .
Th i