• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.117-149
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• 2007

It can be explained by congruity theory as a process that consumers engage in a matching process to identify personal community that is congruent with their self-images to find the identification between the self and the personal community. Personal community cues that evoke certain images are viewed as activating similar beliefs about the self (e.g., high status). Individuals prompt a comparison process to determine whether the personal community and self-image are congruent and imagine prototypical users of the personal community and select ones that maximize similarity to their actual or desired self-concept. Identity is devided into personal identity and social identity. Consumers are likely to be influenced by both personal identity and social identity. In this article the influencing factors of the commitment to on-line personal community are explored by the sources of both personal identification and social identification. The results are as follows. The maintenance expression and enhancement expression of personal self influence the level of personal identification positively and the maintenance expression and enhancement expression of social self influence the level of social identification positively. The level of both social and personal identification positively influence the commitment to on-line personal community which gives positive responses to the source enterprise that allows the cyberspace and the other benefits to be used.

• The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.23-45
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• 2011

People could possess different self-identity under virtual world from physical world because of anonymity of the virtual world and this difference could influence their behavior in the virtual world. Based on self-discrepancy theory, this research proposes that continuous use model in self-expression goal. We defined the difference bet ween actual self~identity and ideal self~identity in the virtual world as "self-discrepancy in virtual world", and the difference between actual self-identity in the physical world and actual self-identity in the virtual world as "cross-world self-discrepancy". Before testing hypothesis, we compare the actual self-identity in the online community with the actual self-identity in the physical world, and with ideal self-identity in the virtual world. We derived an index for two different types of self-identity in terms of Personal Self-identity and Social Self-identity through factor analysis. Our results show that online community members have a higher level of ideal self-identity than actual self-identity in online community, and they have better personal self-identity in online community than physical world while a lower level of social self-identity in online community than physical world. The results of the hypothesis testing analysis based on 300 respondents showed that "self-discrepancy in virtual world" negatively influenced perceived usefulness for self-expression while "cross-world self-discrepancy" positively influenced perceived usefulness for self-expression. The perceived usefulness for self-expression and ease of use positively influence both continuous use and knowledge contribution. Specially, the effect of perceived usefulness for self-expression on knowledge contribution is much bigger than the effect of ease of use. This study extends self-discrepancy theory to virtual worlds by suggesting various types of self-discrepancy and by applying the effect of self-discrepancies in online community. Also, this study extends technology acceptance model in the personal goal in terms of self-expression. This study hopes to offer practical insights by suggesting positive effect of self-discrepancy on behavior in the online community.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.51-83
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• 2013

Personal creativity is critically important for organizations seeking to survive and thrive in today's highly turbulent business environments. Organizations must effectively identify and mobilize the creative resources of their members. When organizational members perceive a work environment that restricts or fails to encourage individual creative expression, a gap may exist between the level of individual creative potential and the actual amount of individual creativity practiced within the organization. In this situation, this paper will examine the impact of role conflict, role ambiguity, creative self-efficacy, and personal initiative on personal creativity. Creative self-efficacy is the subjective belief in one's personal ability to be creative, that is, a personal assessment of one's own creative potential. A strong internal belief in one's ability to successfully engage in creative behaviors is generally considered an important part of the creative process. Personal Initiative refers to behaviors, mainly directed toward work and organizational issues, that are characterized by the following aspects: self-starting, proactive, and persistent in overcoming barriers. Creativity-related creative self-efficacy and personal initiative are critical components to understand motivation that coordinates the relationship between perception and behavior of individual employees. Based on role theory, researchers have focused on role conflict and role ambiguity as the two key ingredients of role stress. Role ambiguity is defined as an evaluation about the lack of salient information needed to perform a role effectively. Role conflict results from two or more sets of incompatible demands involving work-related issues. Employees are usually pursued work-roles more than one in work-focused organization. Too many work-roles and perceived uncertainties at employee's work can be obstacles to personal creativity. In an analysis of results, while role conflict is not negatively related significantly to creative self-efficacy, role ambiguity is negatively related significantly to creative self-efficacy. While role conflict is significantly related to personal creativity, role ambiguity is negatively related significantly to personal creativity. Creative self-efficacy mediates the relationship among role conflict, role ambiguity, and employee creativity. Personal initiative mediates the relationship between creative self-efficacy and employee creativity. This paper shows that creative self-efficacy and personal initiative are the driving force behind personal creativity. Organizations can get some implications of creative-related role conflict and role ambiguity that employees have experienced. As a result, organizations must not only encourage creativity of employees by greater involvement but also encourage their input towards their-focused own works and tasks. And employees should be developed to pace with the organizational needs and development. Management must enable employees to think of new ideas and practices that promotes personal creativity.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.418-430
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• 2022

This study aims to analyze consumers' purchase decision-making process of buying avatar fashion items on the Metaverse platform. Drawing on the connection between the self-expression tendency of the MZ generation and that of avatars in the Metaverse, this study uses a qualitative research method to analyze how consumers express their self-image through the appearance of their avatars. Unlike previous studies on the clothing purchase decision-making process, this study shows that purchasing and consumption behavior involve the following six stages: recognizing desire, collecting information, evaluating alternatives, making purchases, evaluating the consumption, and post-purchase action-taking. In the first stage of the purchase decision-making process, consumers' desire arises with self-image expression and confirmation. In the second stage, consumers have a high tendency to shop in the best item category. In the alternative evaluation stage, consumers tend to seek items that match their highest standard while considering their personal preferences. In the fourth stage, when making actual purchases, unplanned purchase behavior often occurs along with an active practice of alternative evaluation. In the fifth stage, the evaluation of the consumption shows that consumers achieve satisfaction by applying a style to their avatars that they are unable to try in the real world. In the last stage, consumers often use their purchases to communicate their various styles with other online consumers. Therefore, we conclude that the online purchase decision-making process differs from the offline process as it is divided into six stages.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.689-697
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• 2014

This study aims to analyze the representation forms of bloggers' personal style on the fashion blogs and enlighten their values which can be actively applied to design and marketing in fashion industry. Image representation of fashion bloggers is reflected by the characteristics in the digital environment, which are the creative manipulation of expression and the production of virtual and fantastic images by taking advantage of the composite medium such as images, music, videos, articles, etc. Also real time updates in blog indicate the latest trends in terms of the representation of image as the actual currency. The study conducted case studies of 5 women's personal fashion blogs through the verification of a variety of global fashion media and blog ranking sites: Style Bubble, Style Rookie, The Cherry Blossom Girl, The Blond Salad, and Fashion Toast. Research findings are as follows. First, the application of creative design elements is indicated as symbolic items, self-made designs, DIY, and various mix and match emphasizing design elements such as color, patterns, proportion, etc. Second, the virtual representation is very highlighted on the story telling applied by film like production or digital effect. Third, the commercial application with mainly sponsored wardrobe and designer collaboration indicates promoting a updated trend as well as a specific brand or designer to make their business profits.