Fashion store personality: Scale development and relation to self-congruity theory, a retrospective commentary

Kim Willems,Malaika Brengman 한국마케팅과학회 2019 Journal of Global Fashion Marketing Vol.10 No.3

The authors are grateful to the Journal of Global Fashion Marketing for awarding this “JGFM Achievement Certificate for High Scholarly Impact” to their 2011 “Fashion Store Personality” article. The present paper first provides a retrospective review that examines how subsequent research extended the 2011 findings. In particular, the retrospect focuses on the one hand on advancements on brand personality conceptualization and measurement. On the other hand, the review sheds light on how knowledge on self-congruity theory has increased over the past years. After looking back, this paper provides a comprehensive outlook suggesting specific directions for further research, both with respect to brand personality measurement from a methodological point-of -view, as well as concerning the advancement of brand personality and self-congruity theory building and further conceptualization.

時裝商店個性: 量表發展和自我認知理論的關系

( Kim Willems ),( Gilbert Swinnen ),( Wim Janssens ),( Malaika Brengman ) 한국마케팅과학회 2011 Journal of Global Fashion Marketing Vol.2 No.2

Over five decades ago, Martineau (1958, p. 47) introduced the notion of store personality (SP), which he defined as "the way in which the store is defined in the shopper`s mind, partly by its functional qualities and partly by an aura of psychological attributes". The strategic role of these symbolic, humanlike attributes that can be attributed to stores, has been empirically demonstrated, with respect to customer satisfaction and perceived retail differentiation (Chun & Davies, 2006), as well as with respect to store patronage and loyalty behavior (Sirgy & Samli, 1985; Zentes, Morschett, & Schramm-Klein, 2008). A potential and reasonable explanation of the power of associations with humanlike personality, can be found in the self-congruity theory. This theoretical framework argues that if retailers can position their stores in such a way that the store`s personality is congruent with that of target shoppers, they are likely to succeed in attracting and retaining these consumers (Bellenger, Steinberg, & Stanton, 1976; Zentes et al., 2008), which would in turn enhance profitability (Sirgy, Grewal, & Mangleburg, 2000). However, self-image congruity is still in its infancy in retailing research (Chebat, El Hedhli, & Sirgy, 2009; O``Cass & Grace, 2008; Sirgy et al., 2000), in comparison to the extensive corroborations of the theory across many product categories (Sirgy, 1982). The present study aims to fill this gap in the literature, focusing on fashion retailing in particular. As image and identity concepts are arguably more salient in fashion retailing than in any other sector (Cheng, Hines, & Grime, 2008; Zentes et al., 2008), store personality perceptions can be expected to be particularly relevant in this area of the retail industry. Compared to weekly grocery shopping, for instance, shopping for clothes is an opportunity for self-expression par excellence (Buttle, 1992; for an overview of the role of clothing, see Burns, 2010). We start by introducing "concept-scale interaction" effects in Section 1. This phenomenon implies that rather than applying general brand/store personality scales such as the ones that were developed by Aaker (1997) or d``Astous and Levesque (2003), it is advisable to adopt a contextual approach by developing a SP scale tailor-made for fashion retailing. In Section 2, we subsequently define the construct "fashion store personality" according to Rossiter`s (2002) C-OAR-SE procedure and Section 3 briefly discusses self-congruity theory and its applications in a retail context. Subsequently, a measurement instrument is developed for Fashion Store Personality (FSP) in Section 4. The scale construction procedure consists of three steps. First, repertory grid analysis is carried out in fifty-one individual interviews, in order to generate adjectives that people naturally use to describe the personality of fashion stores. Female participants dominate throughout this study as the interest in fashion is characteristic among women within this age range (Evans, 1993) and clothing for men is often bought by their female partner (Banister & Hogg, 2004). After a preliminary purification of the elicited item pool, a consumer survey (n=481) is carried out. By means of Principal Component Analysis with Varimax rotation five underlying FSP dimensions are identified in the resulting dataset: "chaos", "innovativeness", "sophistication", "agreeable- ness", and "conspicuousness". The psychometric properties of this measurement instrument are checked and the scale`s reliability, stability and validity meet the common standards. Subsequently, based on this operationalization, the role of self-congruity in the context of fashion retailing is explored in Section 5. First, the extent to which consumers shop in fashion stores with a personality that they perceive to be similar to their own, is studied (Section 5.1). An inspection of the correlations between the consumer`s self-image and her perceptions of FSP of her most patronized fashion store supports the idea of SC theory in fashion retailing. Furthermore, a multidimensional scaling (MDS) visually identifies, in a multidimensional space, which types of consumer personality do or do not cluster with certain types of fashion store personality. Overall, the findings indicate that (1) agreeable consumers seem to patronize agreeable fashion stores, (2) open-minded and extraverted consumers correspond to innovative fashion stores, (3) sophisticated and little chaotic stores match best with conscientious consumers, and (4) neuroticism in a consumer is found to be associated with conspicuousness and chaos in a fashion store. Finally, the relative importance of the five FSP dimensions in explaining fashion store choice is assessed using a stepwise multiple discriminant analysis (Section 5.2). Overall, the results indicate that it is worthwhile to take FSP into consideration when explaining consumers store choices. In particular, chaos and sophistication are the two FSP dimensions that consumers mind most when choosing a fashion store to patronize. As self-image congruence seems to have an impact on consumers` store choice, the findings of the present study highlight the role of FSP in retailing positioning strategies. In order for retailers to exhibit a personality that matches the one of their target group, a wide variety of tools can be used (Brengman & Willems, 2009, on determinants of fashion store personality). Further research could provide additional support for this scale`s superiority over general brand/personality scales. Moreover, a cross-cultural validation as well as a study of the scale`s use among male consumers would be valuable.

Adult Neurogenesis and Gliogenesis: Possible Mechanisms for Neurorestoration

Zoltán Rusznák,YuHong Fu,Willem Henskens,Emma Schofield,Woojin S. Kim 한국뇌신경과학회 2016 Experimental Neurobiology Vol.25 No.3

The subgranular zone (SGZ) and subventricular zone (SVZ) are developmental remnants of the germinal regions of the brain, hence they retain the ability to generate neuronal progenitor cells in adult life. Neurogenesis in adult brain has an adaptive function because newly produced neurons can integrate into and modify existing neuronal circuits. In contrast to the SGZ and SVZ, other brain regions have a lower capacity to produce new neurons, and this usually occurs via parenchymal and periventricular cell genesis. Compared to neurogenesis, gliogenesis occurs more prevalently in the adult mammalian brain. Under certain circumstances, interaction occurs between neurogenesis and gliogenesis, facilitating glial cells to transform into neuronal lineage. Therefore, modulating the balance between neurogenesis and gliogenesis may present a new perspective for neurorestoration, especially in diseases associated with altered neurogenesis and/or gliogenesis, cell loss, or disturbed homeostasis of cellular constitution. The present review discusses important neuroanatomical features of adult neurogenesis and gliogenesis, aiming to explore how these processes could be modulated toward functional repair of the adult brain.

Investigating the origin of third harmonic generation from diabolo optical antennas

Shi, Liping,Andrade, José,R. C.,Kim, Hyunwoong,Han, Seunghwoi,Nicolas, Rana,Franz, Dominik,Boutu, Willem,Heidenblut, Torsten,Segerink, Frans B.,Bastiaens, Bert,Merdji, Hamed,Kim, Seung-Woo,Morgn American Institute of Physics 2017 Applied Physics Letters Vol.111 No.17

The East-Asian VLBI Network: Recent Progress and Results of the First Imaging Test Observation

Kiyoaki Wajima,Duk-Gyoo Roh,Se-Jin Oh,Taehyun Jung,Jongsoo Kim,Yoshiaki Hagiwara,Kazuhiro Hada,Noriyuki Kawaguchi,Hideyuki Kobayashi,Yuanwei Wu,Kenta Fujisawa,Tao An,Willem A. Baan,Wu Jiang,Zhi-Qiang 한국천문학회 2016 天文學會報 Vol.41 No.1

CURRENT STATUS OF THE EAVN EXPERIMENTS

HAGIWARA, YOSHIAKI,AN, TAO,JUNG, TAEHYUN,RHO, DUK-GYOO,ZHANG, MING,HAO, LONGFEI,FUJISAWA, KENTA,YONEKURA, YOSHINORI,BAAN, WILLEM,KIM, JONGSOO,KOBAYASHI, HIDEYUKI The Korean Astronomical Society 2015 天文學論叢 Vol.30 No.2

VLBI experiments have been conducted by radio telescopes in the East Asia VLBI Network (EAVN) in which 14 telescopes in China, Japan, and Korea participated. One of the aims of the EAVN is to obtain higher angular resolution that is provided by the 6,000 km baseline between China and Japan and better sensitivity by adding large telescopes. Data were recorded at 1 a Gbps recording rate at all stations and processed on the Korea-Japan Joint VLBI Correlator (KJJVC) at the Korea-Japan Correlation Center (KJCC) after experiments. Fringes were obtained from these experiments conducted at 8 GHz and 22 GHz and post-correlation data analysis of the experiments is undergoing. The outcomes of these experiments open the possibility of conducting EAVN observations with global VLBI networks. In this presentation, the recent status of these experiments and future prospects are presented.

Epithelial Barrier Theory: The Role of Exposome, Microbiome, and Barrier Function in Allergic Diseases

Losol Purevsuren,Sokolowska Milena,Hwang Yu-Kyoung,Ogulur Ismail,Mitamura Yasutaka,Yazici Duygu,Pat Yagiz,Radzikowska Urszula,Ardicli Sena,Yoon Jeong-Eun,Choi Jun-Pyo,Kim Sae-Hoon,van de Veen Willem,A 대한천식알레르기학회 2023 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.15 No.6

Allergic diseases are a major public health problem with increasing prevalence. These immune-mediated diseases are characterized by defective epithelial barriers, which are explained by the epithelial barrier theory and continuously emerging evidence. Environmental exposures (exposome) including global warming, changes and loss of biodiversity, pollution, pathogens, allergens and mites, laundry and dishwasher detergents, surfactants, shampoos, body cleaners and household cleaners, microplastics, nanoparticles, toothpaste, enzymes and emulsifiers in processed foods, and dietary habits are responsible for the mucosal and skin barrier disruption. Exposure to barrier-damaging agents causes epithelial cell injury and barrier damage, colonization of opportunistic pathogens, loss of commensal bacteria, decreased microbiota diversity, bacterial translocation, allergic sensitization, and inflammation in the periepithelial area. Here, we review scientific evidence on the environmental components that impact epithelial barriers and microbiome composition and their influence on asthma and allergic diseases. We also discuss the historical overview of allergic diseases and the evolution of the hygiene hypothesis with theoretical evidence.