• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.65 no.7
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• pp.101-117
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• 2015

Along with the development of overall internet service, online fashion communities appeared and have started to thrive. The growth of mobile service has led to an even bigger expansion of these communities, and will wield a strong influence for the foreseeable future. The purpose of our study is to investigate the relationship between the behavior of these fashion communities and personality characteristics of the community features. For our data analysis, our study used 302 men and women, aged from their 20's and their 40's. The study results are as follows: First, some features, such as interaction, entertainment, promotion, information, and system technique, were drawn as the factors of the online fashion communities. Second, we could divide the community behavioral types into three different groups: buyer, maven, and onlooker groups. Third, all three groups showed different community characteristics. The primary concern for the buyer group was promotion while the mavens and the on-lookers were most interested in information. Fourth, they also showed different demographic characteristics in terms of gender, age, duration of membership, on-line time per visit and number of visits per week. These results show that a new strategy is necessary for online fashion communities to differentiate themselves and their marketing to consumers and their community behavioral types.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.15 no.1 s.66
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• pp.58-67
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• 2007

The popularity of communities on the Internet has captured the attention of marketing professionals and more consumers are involved in online activities of fashion brands. The primary purpose of this research was to explain the process of how online interactivity influence members' relational market behavior. Subjects of this study were male and female members of online communities of fashion brands. Online survey data were obtained from 416 respondents. Empirical findings of this study were suggestive of two types of interaction in fashion online communities: community-customer interaction and customer-customer interaction. Fashion online community customers' relational market behavior (word of mouth and repurchase intention) was significantly influenced by both types of interactivity. The influence of interactivity on relational behavior was stronger for word of mouth intention than for repurchase intention. This study highlights the importance of interactivity in cyberspace as well as relational market behavior and contributes to e-relationship marketing strategies of fashion brands.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.45 no.10
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• pp.21-31
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to clarify the factors that characterize the fashion brand online communities that have a high participation rate among high school students, and to determine the impact of those factors on the high school students' commitment to the community, especially in relation to their demographics. The study was implemented through a descriptive survey method using an online questionnaire. The sample consisted of 301 members of online fashion brand communities operated on the Daum portal site. The data were analyzed by frequency, factor analysis, and regression analysis. The results are as follows: (1) Factor analysis revealed that the characteristics of a fashion brand online community are associated with three factors ; compensation/interest, interactivity, and information. (2) Regression analysis showed that the more compensation/interest, opportunity for interaction, and information the community provides, the more likely high school student members are to show a higher level of commitment to the community. (3) There was no difference in the effect of community attribute factors on the high school student members' commitment to the community according to gender. The group of students majoring in human and liberal education was the most influenced by the attributes of fashion brand online communities. The interactivity factor had a greater impact on the group of students majoring in art and physical education than on the other groups. The greater the use of the Internet, the greater the impact of community attributes on commitment. (4) In the process of developing an online community, marketers should fully consider the fact that information factors have the biggest impact on high school students' commitment to the community. Therefore, greater effort should be made to differentiate between community attributes based on high school students' majors and their amount of Internet use in order to motivate commitment to the community and brand loyalty as well.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.208-217
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• 2014

This study focuses on analyzing a subset of consumer activities (especially social medium) in their wedding preparation. The focus of this study is on wedding online communities and understanding the impact of communities on selective behavior for information-acceptance. Data was compiled based on female consumers in their 20s and 30s who actively participate in online community forums. It included female consumers preparing for their weddings and individuals interested in weddings. A total of 211 questionnaires were collected from January $10^{th}$ to $23^{rd}$ in 2012. The online communities were identified from Naver, Yahoo, and online search portals; subsequently, they were rank-sorted based on number of members, visitors, and forum posts. We identified four different characteristic based on the findings from the analysis of on-line wedding communities. The characteristic of these communities were divided into sharing experience, functionality of the webpage, informativeness, and interactivity; consequently, use of these online communities is based on trust and significant personal relationships between the members online. Out of the four different community characteristics, sharing experience was found to have a greater impact for the selective behavior of wedding dresses and information- acceptance than the functionality of the webpage, interactivity, and informativeness. We conclude that trust in information provided by members with marriage process experience is the foremost important factor in the behavior of individual consumers wit iexplore.exe -extoff hout marriage process experience. Therefore, the impact of these online communities catering to would-be brides is based on the trust of posters and how well it is articulated.

• International Journal of Costume and Fashion
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.15-29
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• 2013

Today's technology enables consumers to trade millions of dollars, conduct online banking, access entertainment, and do countless other activities at the click of a button. Online social networks (OSN) have become a cultural phenomenon that allows for individualistic consumerism. Consumers are increasingly utilizing OSN to share ideas, build communities, and contact fellow consumers who are similar to themselves. The relevance of online communities to the music is immense especially because musicians are now using social media to build global audiences. Not only is information about music and performance disseminated online, but musical commodities are sold and traded online. Online music communities allow consumers to elect and create new identities online through the purchase of subcultural commodities. Given the growing economic importance of online music communities it is important to get a holistic view of subcultural communities online. This study utilized content analysis of online music community websites using the Netnography methodology as developed by Kozinet for data collection to analyze consumers' purchasing and consumption behavior of subcultural commodities online as related to the formation of subcultural identities. Findings showed that subcultural items are predominantly purchased online, especially digital music, and there is a need for more custom craft items. The authors presented a new conceptual taxonomy of online subcultural consumer classifications based on online behavior patterns.

• Fashion, Industry and Education
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.31-39
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• 2016

With the emergence of online communities, the role of online communities in establishing brand equity has been greatly emphasized. In order to enhance our understanding of commitment in online brand communities, the present study attempts to investigate how three dimensions of community commitment (continuance, affective, and normative commitment) influence each component of brand equity (brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, and brand loyalty) in the context of company-initiated online brand community. An online survey was conducted with a sample of online brand community members. The results found differential impacts of three types of community commitment on brand equity components, emphasizing the role of continuance and affective commitment. Continuance community commitment positively influenced brand awareness and brand association. Affective community commitment positively affected perceived quality, while among the three, only continuance and affective community commitment influenced the enhancement of brand loyalty. The results suggest that brand marketers need to focus on continuance and affective commitment factors in their online communities to effectively enhance brand equity possessed by consumers. Theoretical and managerial implications are provided.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.63 no.2
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• pp.1-13
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to examine how the features of network in the Internet fashion community affect the diffusion of fashion information to members in the online community with other variables (informative features, consumer features). Communities that actively exchange fashion information among their members were selected for the social network analysis and hypothesis verification. As a result, we found that a few information activists influenced most of the information receivers in the network features of fashion communities. Also, we found that the informative features (usefulness, reliability), consumer features (NFC, innovation) as well as the network features (connectivity, power), have a significant influence on the diffusion of Internet fashion information which verified the importance of the network features in the study on the Internet.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.286-294
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of marketing activities to apparel brand community on interaction of the community. Subjects of 317 members for 9 selected apparel communities responded the questionnaire in the home-page or in the attached file. Data were analyzed by exploratory factor analysis, one-way ANOVA, scheffe-test. The results were as follows: Significant differences among three community groups classified based on the levels of interactions(interaction of company to members and interaction among members) were found in several types of marketing activities(award to activities, added services, conveyance of community's purpose and acceptance of negative responses) to apparel brand community. These types of marketing activities were operated in communities with high level interactions higher than in communities with low level interactions. Therefore, marketers need to operate these types of community marketing activities to increase interactions which can contribute members' satisfaction of interest, transaction and relationship needs through apparel brand online community.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.877-889
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• 2011

This study investigates the effects of social media's fashion advertisements. A survey was taken among men and women in their twenties who had experiences with fashion brand social media. A total of 270 questionnaires were used in this analysis. The results are as follows: First, the factors of content and pursuit of information had positive (+) impacts on advertisement attitude for both men and women in the fashion brand communities. Only the pursuit of information had positive (+) effects on men's brand attitude; however, economy, self-satisfaction, and the pursuit of information influenced women's brand attitude and purchase intention. Secondly, in fashion brand video UCCs, pursuit of information and the formation of relationships had positive (+) impacts on men and women, respectively. The formation of relationships had positive (+) impacts on men's brand attitude; however, the formation of relationships and the pursuit of information influenced women's brand attitude. The pursuit of information and formation of relationships had a positive (+) influences on men's and women's purchase intention, respectively. Men had differences in the pursuit of information and advertisement attitude in the two types of fashion brand communities and video UCCs; however, women had differences in economy and self-satisfaction, advertisement attitude, and brand attitude in the two types. The study results provide basic data by examining men and women in their twenties who have easy access to the Internet for advertisement attitude, brand attitude, and purchase intention in social media as an online fashion advertising media as well as useful information for establishing marketing strategies.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.65 no.6
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• pp.25-35
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of members and communities that have significant influence in the online fashion community through their word-of-mouth activities. In order to identify the influence and the diffusion of word-of-mouth in fashion community, the study selected one online fashion community. Then, the study sorted the online posts and comments made on fashion information and put them into the matrix form to perform social network analysis. The result of the analysis is as follows: First, the fashion community network used in the study has many active members that relay information very quickly. Average time for information diffusion is very short, taking only one or two days in most cases. Second, the influence of word-of-mouth is led by key information produced from only a few members. The number of influential members account for less than 20% of the total number of community members, which indicate high level of degree centrality. The diffusion of word-of-mouth is led by even fewer members, which represent high level of betweenness centrality, compared to the case of degree centrality. Third, component characteristic shares similar information with about 70% of all members being linked to maximize information influence and diffusion. Fourth, a node with high degree centrality and betweenness centrality shares similar interests, presenting strain effect to particular information. Specially, members with high betweenness centrality show similar interests with members of high degree centrality. The members with high betweenness centrality also help expansion of related information by actively commenting on posts. The result of this research emphasizes the necessity of creation and management of network to efficiently convey fashion information by identifying key members with high level of information influence and diffusion to enhance the outcome of online word-of-mouth.