Comparisons of fabric care performances between conventional and high‑efficiency washers and dryers

Jessie H. Chen‑Yu,JoAnn Emmel 한국의류학회 2018 Fashion and Textiles Vol.5 No.1

High-efficiency (HE) washers use 35–50% less water and about 50% less energy per load than conventional washers. However, there has been a consistent debate as to whether HE washers perform better or worse in garment care than conventional washers. Consumers need research-based information that would help them make informed decisions concerning the purchase of a clothes washer. The purpose of this study was to compare fabric hand, appearance retention (strain removal, color change, and fabric smoothness), and dimension stability (dimensional change and skewness change) after the specimens were repeatedly washed and dried for up to 20 cycles in three combinations of washer and dryer used: (a) conventional washer and dryer, (b) HE washer and conventional dryer, and (c) HE washer and dryer. The results showed that the specimens washed in the HE washer had better fabric hand and were smoother (fewer wrinkles) than those washed in the conventional washer. Conventional and HE washers performed similarly in color change, dimensional change, and skewness change. In regard to dryer, all results except those for stain removal showed no significant differences between the specimens dried in the conventional dryer and those dried in the HE dryer. In stain removal, when a softener was not used, the conventional dryer removed more stains from the specimens than the HE dryer. However, when a softener was used, the stains on the specimens dried in the conventional dryer were more difficult to remove than those on the specimens dried in the HE dryer.

Antecedents of product satisfaction and brand satisfaction at product receipt in an online apparel shopping context

Jessie Chen-Yu,Jihyun Kim,Hsiao-Ling Lin 한국마케팅과학회 2017 Journal of Global Fashion Marketing Vol.8 No.3

This study investigates the antecedents of satisfaction with the product and satisfaction with the brand of consumers when they have received the garment ordered online and tried it on for the first time. We propose four antecedents of product satisfaction and brand satisfaction: (a) brand-based product expectation at purchase, (b) perceived product performance at product receipt,(c) website-visible-attribute expectancy disconfirmation (discrepancy between product expectation and perceived performance of the product attributes that are visible on the website, such as style and color), and (d) website-invisible-attribute expectancy disconfirmation (discrepancy between product expectation and perceived performance of the product attributes that may not be distinguishable on the website, such as fabric, fit, and workmanship). The research design was a 2 (levels of brand-based product expectation) x 2 (levels of perceived product performance) factorial experimental design. We developed two mock-up apparel retailer web pages for the data collection, and 120 participants provided usable responses. The findings revealed that brand-based product expectation and product performance did not influence product or brand satisfaction. Both types of expectancy disconfirmation were determinants of product satisfaction; however, only website-visible-attribute expectancy disconfirmation was the antecedent of brand satisfaction. Based on the findings, theoretical and pragmatic implications are presented.

Effects of consumer characteristics and product presentations on online apparel impulse buying

Chen-Yu Jessie H.,Kincade Doris H.,Rhee YoungJu 한국마케팅과학회 2022 Journal of Global Fashion Marketing Vol.13 No.3

In the current study, we examined three consumer characteristics (i.e. perceived hedonic value of apparel, perceived symbolic value of apparel, and impulsive apparel shopping tendency) and ten online product presentation methods (i.e. organized product displays, attractive product displays, detailed product descriptions, large images, good quality pictures, products pictured from various angles, products pictured in all available colours, images that coordinate various items, helpful size charts, and a visual model) to understand the interactions between themselves and their relationships with online apparel impulse buying. The data were collected by an online survey that involved U.S. college students of ages 18 to 22 who had purchased apparel online within the past six months, and 262 useful responses were received. The results show that perceived hedonic value and symbolic value of apparel are antecedents of impulsive apparel shopping tendency. Impulsive tendency is a predictor of online apparel impulse buying. Three of the ten product presentation methods have both significant direct effects on online apparel impulse buying and moderating effects on the relationship between impulsive tendency and impulse buying. Four presentation methods do not have significant direct effects but have significant moderating effects, making the effect of impulsive tendency on impulse buying stronger.

Consumer characteristics as predictors of purchase intentions and willingness to pay a premium for men’s mass-customized apparel

Jessie H. Chen-Yu,Jung-Ha Yang 한국마케팅과학회 2020 Journal of Global Fashion Marketing Vol.11 No.2

The purposes of the study were to identify consumers’ characteristics as predictors of purchase intentions (PI) of men’s masscustomized (M-C) apparel and to examine whether the predictors of PI were also predictors of willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for M-C apparel. Nine consumer characteristics were proposed as potential predictors: fashion innovativeness, three types of perceived behavioral control (self-efficacy, time availability, and money availability), two types of experience (experience in apparel mass customization (MC) and experience in a product category), and three demographic variables (age, education, and household income). Seven hypotheses were developed based on theories and relevant research. An online survey was used for the data collection, and 474 male consumers in the United States were recruited for the study. The results, obtained by bootstrapping Structural Equation Modeling, indicated that fashion innovativeness, self-efficacy, time availability, experience in apparel MC, and age were predictors of PI. Time availability and age were predictors of WTP a premium. Young male consumers were more likely to purchase M-C dress shirts and more willing to pay a premium. The applications of the findings were discussed.

Brand perception and brand repurchase intent in online apparel shopping: An examination of brand experience, image congruence, brand affect, and brand trust

Jessie Chen-Yu,Siwon Cho,Doris Kincade 한국마케팅과학회 2016 Journal of Global Fashion Marketing Vol.7 No.1

With continuous growth in online apparel shopping, many consumers have experience not only in purchasing brand products online, but also in making repeat purchases. Although repeat purchases are critical to the success of branded companies, especially in online apparel shopping, limited academic research is found examining factors that infl uence online shoppers’ intent to repurchase apparel of a particular brand. This research investigated the effects of four types of brand perception (i.e. brand experience, brand imagecongruence, brand affect, brand trust) on brand repurchase intent in online apparel shopping. An online survey was conducted with a U S national sample of 217 online apparel shoppers who had purchased and worn product s from a particular apparel brand. Bootstrapping Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the proposed model and research hypotheses. The findings showed that brand experience and brand image-congruence were antecedents of brand affect. Brand image-congruence and brand affect significantly influenced brand trust. Brand image-congruence and brand trust also had direct effects on brand repurchase intent in online apparel shopping.

Effects of price discount on consumers’ perceptions of savings, quality, and value for apparel products: mediating effect of price discount affect

Jung Eun Lee,Jessie H. Chen-Yu 한국의류학회 2018 Fashion and Textiles Vol.5 No.1

Extending the price–quality–value model (Monroe and Krishnan in The perception of merchandise and store quality 209–232, 1985) and means-end model (Zeithaml in J Mark 52:2–22, 1988), we developed a conceptual model to investigate the mediating role of price discount affect (feeling aroused by price discounts) in the relationship between price discounts and consumers’ perceptions (perceived savings, quality, and value) and in the relationship between perceived value and purchase intentions in the context of online apparel products. A between-subject experimental design with four levels of price discounts (10, 30, 50, and 70%) was used. Jeans were selected as the product stimulus. Web pages were developed to create a fictional online store and to collect data. A total of 209 usable responses were collected by a research firm in the United States, and structural equation modeling was performed to analyze the data. The results showed that price discount affect played an important mediating role in the relationship between price discounts and consumers’ perceptions. When the direct effect of price discounts on perceived quality was examined, consumers perceived the apparel product with higher discounts as lower quality (i.e., a negative direct relationship). However, when price discount affect served as a mediator, the feelings created by a price discount led to a positive perception of product quality (i.e., a positive indirect relationship). By considering the influence of price discount affect, our model provides a better understanding of the effect of price discounts on consumers’ perceptions of apparel products.

An integrative somatic mutation analysis to identify pathways linked with survival outcomes across 19 cancer types

Park, Sunho,Kim, Seung-Jun,Yu, Donghyeon,Peñ,a-Llopis, Samuel,Gao, Jianjiong,Park, Jin Suk,Chen, Beibei,Norris, Jessie,Wang, Xinlei,Chen, Min,Kim, Minsoo,Yong, Jeongsik,Wardak, Zabi,Choe, Kevin Oxford University Press 2016 Bioinformatics Vol.32 No.11

<P>Motivation: Identification of altered pathways that are clinically relevant across human cancers is a key challenge in cancer genomics. Precise identification and understanding of these altered pathways may provide novel insights into patient stratification, therapeutic strategies and the development of new drugs. However, a challenge remains in accurately identifying pathways altered by somatic mutations across human cancers, due to the diverse mutation spectrum. We developed an innovative approach to integrate somatic mutation data with gene networks and pathways, in order to identify pathways altered by somatic mutations across cancers. Results: We applied our approach to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset of somatic mutations in 4790 cancer patients with 19 different types of tumors. Our analysis identified cancer-type-specific altered pathways enriched with known cancer-relevant genes and targets of currently available drugs. To investigate the clinical significance of these altered pathways, we performed consensus clustering for patient stratification using member genes in the altered pathways coupled with gene expression datasets from 4870 patients from TCGA, and multiple independent cohorts confirmed that the altered pathways could be used to stratify patients into subgroups with significantly different clinical outcomes. Of particular significance, certain patient subpopulations with poor prognosis were identified because they had specific altered pathways for which there are available targeted therapies. These findings could be used to tailor and intensify therapy in these patients, for whom current therapy is suboptimal.</P>