Millennials are becoming more conscientious of the products they buy, as well as the social and environmental implications behind them. However, Millennials with low discretionary incomes have limited choices in today’s marketplace, and it is unclear as to how these consumers perceive low-cost apparel options, including fast fashion apparel and second-hand apparel. The purpose of this study is to explore and compare Millennials’ perceptions of inexpensive fast fashion and second-hand apparel. The Q methodology was employed to determine patterns among perceptions. Participants sorted 14 statements describing ideal clothing items into a Q sort grid. The Q sort grid forced participants to rank statements by the degree to which they agree (or disagree). Once the Q sort grid was completed, participants shared their thoughts (qualitatively) as to why they ranked each statement the way that they did. The findings indicate that there are varied perceptions across the Millennial generation, which resulted in the emergence of four distinct factors for both fast fashion and second-hand apparel. The findings of this study are extensive. Fast fashion retailers and consignment shops will need to update their future strategies in order to target the Millennial generation.

Apparel and textile products are filling landfills and contributing to extensive waste found across the world. Much of the textile waste is due to the typical consumer not being aware of the care for, disposal of, and sustainable options for textile products. To identify consumers’ intention to engage in sustainable practices and the intention to purchase sustainable apparel options, this study measured consumers’ attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral controls. Data were collected from a sample of 397 participants through a Qualtrics online survey disseminated on Amazon’s MTurk. Results of the multiple regression analysis yielded three of note: (1) a positive attitude toward recycling and the environment is related to a higher intention to engage in sustainable behavior, (2) a positive attitude toward green apparel products leads to a higher intention to purchase sustainable products, and (3) family and friends and the convenience of finding sustainable apparel products in stores have also influenced the purchase of sustainable apparel. Thus, this study provides significant insights into both intention to engage in sustainable behavior and the intention to purchase sustainable products and serves as a foundation for future studies on the sustainable engagement and purchase intention toward sustainable products.

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Introduction: Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce marketplace, represents a 50% share of the United States (U.S.) e-commerce market and inspires intense loyalty among shoppers with its Prime membership program (Chen et al., 2016). Both Amazon and Amazon Prime have grown in popularity and have completely transformed consumer expectations for online shopping (Wilson, 2018). As Amazon's dominance made it harder for retailers to meet consumers' expectations, many prominent retailers are closing stores or filing for bankruptcy in recent years (Barrabi, 2019). Thus, retailers must clearly understand the expectations and preferences of both Amazon Prime members and non-Prime shoppers (regular shoppers without Amazon Prime membership). Little research has been carried out to understand the online apparel purchasing behavior of Amazon Prime members and non-Prime shoppers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify and explain the perceived benefits that Amazon Prime members and non-Prime shoppers in the U.S. engaged when developing an intention to purchase apparel online. A conceptual model was extended from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) by incorporating external variables such as convenience, time-savings, price, and product variety. Literature Review:The spending of consumers quantifies consumer confidence, a major indicator of consumer behavior (Bennur et al., 2018). There are noticeable differences exist in the spending pattern and shopping preferences of Amazon Prime members and non-Prime shoppers. For instance, Amazon Prime members in the U.S. spend more than twice as much as compared to non-Prime shoppers (Wilson, 2018). Prime members' motivation for shopping on Amazon was mainly driven by conveniences. Akram (2018) reported that convenience had the strongest influence on consumers' intention to purchase apparel online. The convenience of shopping from anywhere and at any time, avoiding crowds, and elimination of cash payments enabled consumers to save both time and effort (Duarte et al., 2018). Since purchasing apparel online is flexible and efficient, consumers can achieve time-savings benefits (Wei et al., 2018). However, Ariffin et al. (2018) argued that buying products online could be a waste of time due to the complex process of placing an order and time spent searching for product information. Amazon Prime members and non-Prime shoppers also cited price as one of the major reasons for shopping on Amazon (Epsilon.com, 2018). A price benefit such as discounts, price promotions, or lower prices increased shopping satisfaction, and in turn escalated the intention to purchase apparel online (Khan et al., 2015). Moreover, online apparel shoppers were found to be variety seekers. Thus, Sethi et al. (2018) recommended that online retailers should offer a strong product line (i.e., depth and breadth) to increase consumers' number of choices and purchase intention. Since consumers' beliefs about perceived shopping benefits direct behavioral intention to purchase apparel online, TPB w...

Owners of small businesses may struggle to utilize online communication technologies effectively. To understand this challenge, this study investigated communication technology contributions, the use of online communication technologies, and how those perceptions relate to small business success. Data from a small business values survey (Marshall & Wyatt, 2019) was used consisting of 511 business owners. An integrated model using the Diffusion of Innovation and the Technology Acceptance Model served as a theoretical foundation. Relationships between variables were tested using multiple regression and confirmed that small business owners perceive that easy-to-use communication technologies are not useful or contribute to business success. However, communication technologies that are perceived to be useful do contribute to business success. Business owners who are younger, located in urban areas, and in business for a shorter time are also more likely to use communication technologies. This study supports current literature, as it was unclear how small business owners perceive communication technologies for use in their businesses.