PurposeTo model the relationships between consumer need for uniqueness and attention to social comparison information with fashion opinion leadership and fashion opinion seeking.Design/methodology/approachA total of 201 US undergraduate students were surveyed and standard scales were used to measure consumer need for uniqueness, attention to social comparison information, fashion opinion leadership, and fashion opinion seeking.FindingsBoth consumer need for uniqueness and attention to social comparison information were positively related to fashion opinion leadership. Attention to social comparison information was also positively related to fashion opinion seeking, but consumer need for uniqueness was negatively related to fashion opinion seeking.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are limited to US consumers and the convenience sample. Other limitations include the specific measures used, and the cross‐sectional survey method prevents one from making causal statements. The effects of other, unmeasured variables could not be assessed.Practical implicationsApparel marketers seeking to encourage opinion leaders to promote their lines of new clothing might devise appeals emphasizing the social significance of the new products and how they bestow uniqueness on their owners. Such appeals might be more effective than those not stressing these psychological motivations. Appeals to consumers more likely to seek than to give opinions might also stress the social significance of the clothing, but appeals to uniqueness might not be effective with these consumers. Perhaps a belongingness appeal would be more effective.Originality/valueThese psychological concepts have not been studied very much in the clothing/fashion product domain. They give new insights into the psychology of clothing opinion leaders and opinion seekers.

The digital marketing discipline is facing growing fragmentation; the proliferation of different subareas of research impedes the accumulation of knowledge. This fragmentation seems logically tied to the inherent complexity of the Internet, itself resulting from 50 years of evolution. Thus, our aim is to provide an integrative framework for research in digital marketing derived from the historical analysis of the Internet. Using practice theory and institutional theory, we outline a new type of institutional work: imprinting work. We apply this framework to the analysis of historical secondary sources. We find four cultural repertoires on the Internet (collaborative systems, traditional market systems, co-creation systems, and prosumption market systems) and describe the dynamics of imprinting work leading to their creation, showing how new systems are created by appropriating and assimilating existing cultural repertoires. We contribute to the digital marketing literature by providing a cultural framework and a theory explaining the dynamics of the creation of four cultural repertoires. Moreover, we outline three paths of potential evolution of the digital landscape. Our framework may help managers make sense of their digital strategy and navigate the various Internet systems.

Abstract:Purpose: This study aims at achieving a better understanding of the social dimension underlying green purchasing behaviour. While the dominant approach consists in testing the effect of consumers' individual environmental concern on their behaviour, this paper assesses the impact of environmental concern ascribed to relevant others (ECARO).Design/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted among 468 French interviewees.Using a scenario, respondents were asked to choose between two similar products: one is very fashionable but harmful to the environment and the other has comparable features with a lower negative impact on the environment.Findings: ECARO increases the probability to choose the product with a low environmental impact over the more harmful alternative. This process is mediated by perceived social risk and self-incongruity associated with the environmentally unfriendly product. Research limitations/implications:These results are specific to a particular cultural context and product category. Practical implications:Environmentally responsible consumers should be encouraged to express their convictions publicly within their social network. Social implications:This research shows that consumers tend to act consistently with the beliefs of relevant others, either to preserve their social ties or to preserve their self-congruity. Originality/value:Most studies on the determinants of green behaviour either focus exclusively on individual predispositions or tackle social influence too explicitly. By assessing the effect of ECARO instead on individual environmental concern, this research offers an original approach. Besides, the conceptualization and measurement of perceived social risk also provide interesting insights for the literature dealing with perceived risk, which tends to overlook the social dimension.

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International audienceTo encourage sustainable consumer practices, public policy makers introduce new ecological measures, including mandatory programmes that require companies to provide environmental information about their products, even if the information is not flattering. Few academic studies consider the potential impacts of such mandatory eco-labels on consumer behaviour; the purpose of this paper is to seek to identify conditions in which a generalized eco-label in stores might modify consumers’ purchase choice