Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International

Journal
A profile of Koreans: who purchases fashion goods online?
Heewon Sung Yangjin Jeon
Article information:
To cite this document:
Heewon Sung Yangjin Jeon, (2009),"A profile of Koreans: who purchases fashion goods online?", Journal
of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, Vol. 13 Iss 1 pp. 79 - 97
Permanent link to this document:
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13612020910939897
Downloaded on: 14 March 2016, At: 10:39 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 20 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 3337 times since 2009*
Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:
Jennifer Rowley, (2009),"Online branding strategies of UK fashion retailers", Internet Research, Vol. 19 Iss
3 pp. 348-369 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/10662240910965397
Helen McCormick, Charlotte Livett, (2012),"Analysing the influence of the presentation of fashion garments
on young consumers’ online behaviour", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International
Journal, Vol. 16 Iss 1 pp. 21-41 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13612021211203014
Eun Young Kim, Youn-Kyung Kim, (2004),"Predicting online purchase intentions for clothing products",
European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 38 Iss 7 pp. 883-897 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03090560410539302

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:409465 []
For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for
Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines
are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company
manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as
providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee
on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive
preservation.

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1361-2026.htm

ACADEMIC PAPER A profile of

Koreans
A profile of Koreans: who
purchases fashion goods online?
79
Heewon Sung
Department of Clothing and Textile, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju City, Received July 2007
South Korea, and Revised January 2008
Accepted May 2008
Yangjin Jeon
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

Department of Fashion Design, Myongji University, Yongin City, South Korea

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to classify internet users by fashion lifestyles, to profile the
demographic and internet usage characteristics of each segment, and to examine evaluation for
fashion e-retailers’ attributes.
Design/methodology/approach – A total of 1,211 internet users who have visited an online
fashion mall at least once participated in a web survey. Lifestyles were analyzed by factor analysis,
generating five factors. Five segments were obtained by k-mean cluster analysis. Descriptive analysis,
ANOVA, chi-square tests, and radar charts were employed.
Findings – Internet users were classified into Economical Shopper, Recreational Shopper,
Fashion/brand Shopper, Fashion Follower, and Individualistic Shopper. Each segment presented
different characteristics in demographics and internet usages. In addition, segments evaluated
e-retailers’ attributes differently. Fashion/brand Shopper presented the highest levels of overall
satisfaction and intention to purchase fashion goods online, while Fashion Follower showed the
opposite.
Research limitations/implications – A profile of each segment explained who they are and why
they buy or shop for fashion goods online. Evaluation for e-retailers’ attributes indicated how online
marketers responded to potential buyers’ needs and values.
Originality/value – The paper offers valuable recommendations to apparel e-retailers based on
characteristics of each segment.
Keywords Market segmentation, Lifestyles, Internet shopping, Electronic commerce, Fashion,
South Korea
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Now internet is ubiquitous and has become a major marketing channel to expand
business opportunities. Online market has shown its rapid growth all over the world.
In the US online market, 132 million people spent more than $130.3 billion in 2006 and
annual spending per buyer had increased from $457 in 2001 to $784 in 2006
(Machrotech, 2007). Korean e-retailing sales volume in 2006 was more than 13.4 trillion
won (approximately $14 billion), increased by 26.1 percent from the previous year, and Journal of Fashion Marketing and
clothing/fashion related products took the largest part of merchandise (Korean Management
Vol. 13 No. 1, 2009
National Statistical Office, 2007). The number of e-retailers selling clothing/fashion pp. 79-97
related products was increased to 49.8 percent of those in 2005. E-commerce market q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1361-2026
size of People’s Republic of China reached 1.1 trillion yuan in 2006 (approximately 15.2 DOI 10.1108/13612020910939897
 JFMM billion), which was almost 48.6 percent increased in 2005 (National Internet
13,1 Development of Agency of Korea, 2007).
Customers in one market – online market – may be too heterogeneous in their
needs and values. Hence, marketers are trying to identify relatively homogeneous
groups with similar product desires or interests. Within a number of segmentation
variables, lifestyle has been suggested as one of the most fundamental factors (Vyncke,
80 2002). Since physical product attributes have become more comparable due to
technology development while consumers are much more complicated than before,
marketers have relied on psychological variables of consumers rather than physical
attributes of products. Understanding consumers’ lifestyles would help marketers to
communicate properly with their target audience and develop marketing strategies
effectively.
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

This study examined Korean online users to provide e-market segments for fashion
products by fashion lifestyles. In comparing the number of internet users in Asia
countries in 2005, China (111 million), Japan (66milllion), India (60million), and Korea
(33million) were ranked in order, whereas the internet usage rate of Korea (68.35
percent) was highest (Japan, 51.54 percent, China, 8.44 percent, India 5.44 percent)
(National Internet Development of Agency of Korea, 2008). According to the same
source, the internet usage rate of Korea reached 75.5 percent in 2007. As Korea is one of
the leading countries with well-developed infrastructure of the internet use and about
three-quarters of population have used the internet, it would be appropriate to examine
Korean consumers as a representative e-retailing market in Asia. The internet users
generally possess high propensity to become the first-time buyer at online shopping
mall. As Korea is considered as a testing market for new products from a global
marketing perspective (Park, 2007), Koreans are fastidious and sensitive in styles and
fashions. Investigating fashion lifestyles of Koreans will provide information about
shopping orientation of Asians who are very refined in fashion tastes.
The purpose of this study was to identify a lifestyle typology relevant for predicting
individual differences in evaluation for online fashion mall attributes. In order to
accomplish this goal, first, we classified online users based on fashion lifestyles, and
then profiled different fashion lifestyle segments with regard to demographics and
internet usage trends. Finally, we identified differences among segments in terms of
online shopping mall attributes. The findings of this study would offer guidelines for
fashion e-retailers to improve market segmentations and corresponding strategies.

Literature review
Lifestyles
Lifestyles are defined as “patterns in which people live and spend time and money,
reflecting a person’s activities, interests, and opinions, as well as demographic
variables” (Blackwell et al., 2001, p. 219). Psychographic variables such as lifestyle
provide more underlying reason of consumer behavior while demographics provide
physical attributes of consumers that are easily observable to identify homogeneous
groups. Psychographic variables help to construe why they buy, while demographic
variables focus on who buy products. Lifestyles change more rapidly than value
(Blackwell et al., 2001), so marketers must keep track contemporary lifestyle trends of
targets and reflect in product development, communication message, or promotion
strategy.
 Lifestyle is subdivided into product-related lifestyle which is a person’s activities, A profile of
interests, and opinions about specific products (Ahn et al., 2005). Consumers’ response Koreans
to the internet shopping mall would vary according to product categories, so we
measured fashion lifestyles to focus on fashion products online. Fashion lifestyles
consist of fashion orientation (fashion consciousness, fashion leadership) and clothing
shopping orientation (brand/retailer loyalty, utilitarian/hedonic orientation, and
impulsive/planned orientation) (Kim and Lee, 2004). Although demographic 81
characteristics are identical, an individual’s interests or shopping activities
regarding fashion-related items would lead to different buying process. Thus,
fashion lifestyle would be a useful factor for market segmentation to understand
changes in consumers’ values and to interpret consumers’ buying behaviors.
Gutman and Mills (1982) profiled consumers by employing fashion lifestyle scales.
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

They used four fashion lifestyle factors and classified consumers into seven segments.
Shopping orientations or shopping specific lifestyles were also useful for market
segmentation (Bellenger and Korgaonkar, 1980; Moy and Kincade, 2002; Shim and
Kotsiopulos, 1993). Literatures indicated that lifestyle segments differed in evaluation
or selection on retail attributes. A number of studies employed fashion lifestyles as
market segmentation for Korean consumers and compared differences in store
selection criteria or intention to purchase fashion products on e-shopping mall (Park
et al., 2004; Park et al., 2005).

Online shopping mall attributes

Whether to succeed or fail to e-shopping mall depends on online service quality in
addition to merchandise assortment and prices. Consumers choose a specific product
when consumer characteristics and store characteristics correspond in specific
purchase situation (Blackwell et al., 2001). An individual selects the best products
which meet his or her needs based on personal characteristics such as lifestyles. Then,
consumers’ different characteristics and past experiences would lead to different
evaluation of store attributes. Consumers who have positive attitudes toward online
service attributes are more likely to present high level of customer satisfaction, leading
to high purchase intentions (Jiang and Rosenbloom, 2005).
Online retailers include store attributes as like brick-and-mortar retailers do. Online
store’s attributes generally consist of product information/description, product
assortment, web site layout and image, speed of loading, easy of ordering, shipping
and handling, customer support, order tracking, and on-time delivery service (Cao et al.,
2003; Jiang and Rosenbloom, 2005; Park and Kang, 2005). Jiang and Rosenbloom (2005)
reported that ‘at checkout customer satisfaction’ and ‘after delivery customer
satisfaction’ increased the level of customer intention to return to e-shopping malls.
Performance of online shopping mall services is especially important to transform
first-time buyers into loyal customers. If the first-time buyer satisfies his/her purchase
experience, he or she visits more often to the shopping mall and buys more products.

Methodology
Instrument and data collection
The instrument consisted of three sections, including 45 items. The first section
included 21 items modified from previous studies (Park et al., 2004; Park et al., 2005;
Shim and Kotsiopulos, 1993). In the second section, 13 items were adapted from
 JFMM evaluation measurement scale for online fashion mall attributes (Jiang and
13,1 Rosenbloom, 2005; Park and Kang, 2005). Also, one item for general satisfaction and
one for intention to purchase at online fashion malls were included in this section.
Overall satisfaction was defined as customer’s overall evaluation of general online
service quality, and purchase intention indicated customer’s likelihood of buying from
e-retailers. Each item was measured using five-point Likert-type scales ranging from
82 “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (5). The last section included demographic
information (age, gender, occupation, and annual income per household), internet
usages (total hours to use the internet a day, total number of connecting internet per
day, the number of visiting fashion e-retailers per month), and purchasing experience
of fashion e-retailers. Also, respondents were asked to write the number of items in
each category of casual wear, sports wear, formal wear, under wear, bags/purses,
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

shoes, cosmetics/perfumes, and other accessories where they purchased during six
months.
The data were collected from the internet users through the web survey. Web
survey was conducted by the internet research institute during two weeks of January,
2006. The sample was directed to a web site by clicking on the URL to the survey.

Final sample
The total of 1,211 useful data were obtained. Over 52 percent of the samples were
female. About 34.8 percent were between the ages of 15-24 years, 43.7 percent were
between 25-34 years, and 21.6percent were between 35-39 years. About 53 percent
reported that total annual household incomes were in the $20,000-49,999. Respondents
used the internet about 3 hours per day. All of respondents had visited the online
fashion mall at least one time, and approximately 70 percent of them had experienced
to buy fashion items. The average number of items purchased during six months was
7.71. The most frequently purchased items were casual wears, followed by
cosmetics/perfume, accessories (ornaments), and shoes.

Results
Results on fashion lifestyle factors
Principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to identify the
underlying dimensions of fashion lifestyle scale. Five factors were generated,
explaining 59.5 percent of the total variance. Factor 1 was the inclination to be aware of
latest fashion trends, labeled as “fashion consciousness”. Factor 2 was labeled as
“shopping enjoyment”, which was a tendency to enjoy shopping itself regardless of
any plan to buy. Factor 3, labeled as “brand consciousness” represented the confidence
and quality in connection with well-known brands. Factor 4, labeled as “personality
pursuit” was a tendency to value personal tastes above anything else. Factor 5 was
named as “economical orientation”, which was the inclination to consider values for the
money. The factor loadings, means (SD), and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were listed
in Table I. The mean of “personality pursuit” factor items or “economical orientation”
factor items was generally higher than the mean of the other three factors. That was,
respondents in general seemed to emphasize personal tastes and economical aspects of
fashion products.
 Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

Factor Eigen % of
Factor title (Cronbach’s a) Items loading value variance Mean SD

Fashion consciousness (0.79) Many people regard me as being a fashion leader 0.820 3.392 16.15 2.67 0.89
I am the first to try new fashion 0.808 2.70 0.79
I am confident in my ability to recognize fashion
trends 0.765 2.99 0.79
I consume a time to coordinate color or style of my
garments 0.517 2.99 0.89
I buy styles which I see on TV or the internet 0.466 2.92 0.87
Shopping enjoyment (0.73) I like to shop for fashion products even though I have
no intention to buy 0.714 2.464 11.74 3.20 0.99
I am pleased to shop 0.710 3.36 0.89
It is my pleasure to buy fashion products 0.615 3.17 0.89
I make my shopping trip fast 20.605 3.25 0.86
I often go shopping even though I do not need
anything 0.499 2.69 0.91
I usually shop with others 0.390 3.36 0.91
Brand consciousness (0.80) I can trust in well-known brands 0.884 2.275 10.83 3.23 0.90
A well-known brand means good quality 0.850 3.17 0.87
I purchase well-known brand products although they
are expensive 0.707 2.75 0.98
Personality pursuit (0.62) Clothes are one of the most important ways to
express my individuality 0.690 2.237 10.65 3.59 0.77
It is important to be well-dressed 0.628 3.41 0.81
I buy clothes I like, regardless of current fashion 0.590 3.73 0.80
I try to choose clothes that are new and unique 0.559 3.05 0.90
Economical orientation (0.68) I buy clothes when they are in sales 0.784 2.119 10.09 3.53 0.83
I buy clothes by comparing prices in different stores 0.720 3.61 0.90
I consider value for money 0.658 3.73 0.81

scores of fashion
Koreans

lifestyles
Factor analysis and mean
83

Table I.
A profile of
 JFMM Results on profiling market segments
13,1 Factor scores from the five lifestyle factors were used to conduct cluster analysis to
identify market segments. Five clusters were obtained by the SPSS k-means clustering
method, which was appropriate for large data sets (Allred et al., 2006). Table II showed
differences between lifestyle clusters by analysis of variance with Duncan tests. Each
segment was labeled based on fashion lifestyle factors which best described its
84 characteristics.
The first cluster (N ¼ 237) showed the second highest level of personality and
economical perspectives, but did not care about fashion or brand names, and do not
enjoy shopping at all, so it was called “Economical Shopper”. Cluster 2 (N ¼ 215)
showed the highest levels of shopping enjoyment and economical orientation, named
as “Recreational Shopper”. This group enjoyed shopping for fashion products,
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

considered values for money, but also considered well-known brands. Cluster 3
(N ¼ 249) showed the highest level of fashion and brand consciousness, but less cared
about shopping enjoyment or economical orientation, so called as “Fashion/Brand
Shoppers”.
Cluster 4 (N ¼ 286) showed the second highest levels of fashion, brand
consciousness and shopping enjoyment, but lowest in personality and economical
orientation, naming as “Fashion Follower”. The last group (N ¼ 224) displayed the
highest level of personality and brand consciousness, but did not care about
practicality or fashion, naming as “Individualistic Shopper”. This cluster had neither
desire for fashion leadership nor any interest in fashion, but cared about personality
and well-dressed appearance.
The classification results indicated 98 percent of original cases were correctly
classified. Classification analysis of the 1,211 cases showed correct classification
ranging from 96.8 percent for Fashion/brand Shopper to 99.3 percent for Fashion
Follower. A classification matrix for five-group discriminant analysis was reported in
Table III. The results demonstrated that the discriminant functions were fairly
accurate in predicting group membership.

Profile of demographic and internet usages characteristics

Tables IV and V presented respondents’ demographics and internet usage
characteristics. Chi-square analyses and ANOVA tests with Duncan tests were used
to identify differences among five segments. Significant differences were found in
gender, age, occupation, household annual income level, total hours to use the internet,
and total number of visiting fashion e-retailers. In addition, five segments were
significantly different in purchase experience in online fashion malls and in the number
of items purchased on e-retailers. Significant differences between clusters are noted.
Economical shopper. More than 50 percent were male, and about 74 percent were
ranged in age from 25 to 39 years, with the highest proportion (27 percent) in age
between 30 and 34 years old. Government related occupation showed higher proportion
than the total counts. The proportion of annual household income between $
2,000-2,999 (30 percent) was higher than the total proportion (24.7 percent). About 75
percent of this group had experience to buy fashion items on e-retailers. Although this
group spent much time to use the internet, the mean of visiting fashion e-retailers was
lowest.
 Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5

Economical shopper Recreational shopper Fashion/brand shopper Fashion follower Individualistic shopper
Fashion lifestyle factors n ¼ 237 n ¼ 215 n ¼ 249 n ¼ 286 n ¼ 225 F

Fashion consciousness 20.414 D 20.213 C 0.982 A 0.324 B 20.862 E 202.845 * * *

Shopping enjoyment 20.872 D 1.208 A 2 0.226 C 20.030 B 0.052 B 217.897 * * *
Brand consciousness 20.894 C 20.133 B 0.622 A 20.254 B 0.707 A 160.357 * * *
Personality pursuit 0.248 B 20.166 C 0.320 B 20.917 D 0.711 A 148.702 * * *
Economical orientation 0.553 B 0.766 A 0.395 C 20.929 E 20.572 D 257.709 * * *
Notes: A, B, C, D, E ¼ significant mean differences by Duncan tests; * * * p , 0.001
Koreans

differences by fashion
Cluster means and

lifestyle factors
85

Table II.
A profile of
 Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

86
13,1

analysis
JFMM

Table III.

five group discriminant

Classification matrix for
Predicted group membership
Economical Recreational Fashion/brand Fashion Individualistic
Number shopper shopper shopper follower shopper
Actual group of cases n % n % n % n % n %

Economical shopper 237 233 98.3 1 0.4 1 0.4 0 0.0 2 0.8

Shopping maven 215 1 0.5 210 97.7 1 0.4 3 1.4 0 0.0
Fashion/brand shopper 249 0 0.0 1 0.4 241 96.8 5 2.0 2 0.8
Fashion follower 286 1 0.3 0 0.0 1 0.4 284 99.3 0 0.0
Individualistic shopper 224 1 0.4 0 0.0 0 0.0 4 1.8 219 97.8
 Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5

Economical Recreational Fashion/brand Fashion Individualistic
Total count shopper shopper shopper follower shopper
(% within cluster) (19.6%) (17.7%) (20.6%) (23.6%) (18.5%) Tests
M % M % M % M % M % M % Chi square (x2)

Demographics
Gender
Male 578 47.7 136 57.4 23 10.7 128 51.4 175 61.2 116 51.8 150.63 * * *
Female 633 52.3 101 42.6 192 89.3 121 48.6 111 38.8 108 48.2
Age
15-19 157 13.0 18 7.6 41 19.1 24 9.6 38 13.3 36 47.13 * * *
20-24 264 21.8 44 18.6 61 28.4 49 19.7 56 19.6 54 24.1
25-29 263 21.7 56 23.6 44 20.5 55 22.1 73 25.5 35 15.6
30-34 266 22.0 64 27.0 37 17.2 54 21.7 69 24.1 42 18.8
35-39 261 21.6 55 23.2 32 14.9 67 26.9 50 17.5 57 25.4
Occupation
Students 423 34.9 70 95 44.2 76 30.5 99 34.6 83) 37.1 72.163 * * *
Service-related job 108 8.9 19 8.0 11 5.1 20 8.0 40 14.0 18 8.0
Gov./Org.-related job 253 20.9 63 26.6 40 18.6 53 21.3 52 18.2 45 20.1
Prof. technicians 101 8.3 21 8.9 10 4.7 18 7.2 29 10.1 23 10.3
Enterprisers 61 5.0 13 5.5 1 0.5 20 8.0 18 6.3 9 4.0
Professional and manager 65 5.4 9 3.8 10 4.7 21 8.4 15 5.2 10 4.5
Housewives 151 12.5 29 12.2 42 19.5 28 11.2 28 9.8 24 10.7
Others 49 4.0 13 5.5 6 2.8 13 5.2 5 1.7 12 5.4
Annual income
Less than $20,000 398 32.9 75 31.6 74 34.4 61 24.5 117 40.9 71 31.7 34.688 *
$20,000-29,999 299 24.7 71 30.0 58 27.0 55 22.1 66 23.1 49 21.9
$30,000-49,999 345 28.5 65 27.4 54 25.1 86 34.5 68 23.8 72 32.1
$50,000-69,999 106 8.8 16 6.8 16 7.4 30 12.0 26 9.1 18 8.0
$70,000-89,999 30 2.5 4 1.7 5 2.3 9 3.6 4 1.4 8 3.6
More than $90,000 33 2.7 6 2.5 8 3.7 8 3.2 5 1.7 6 2.7
Internet usages
Fashion e-mall experience
Yes 844 69.7 178 75.1 170 79.1 201 80.7 141 49.3 154 68.8 82.98 * * *
No 367 30.3 59 24.9 45 20.9 48 19.3 145 50.7 70 31.3

Notes: Numbers indicate frequencies (percentage) or means; * p , 0.05; * * *; p , 0.001

Koreans

characteristics by fashion
lifestyle segments
Demographic and
internet use
87

Table IV.
A profile of
 Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

88
13,1
JFMM

Table V.

internet use
Demographic and

lifestyle segments
characteristics by fashion
Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5 Tests
Total Economical Recreational Fashion/brand Fashion Individualistic ANOVA
M SD shopper shopper shopper follower shopper F

Internet usages
Fashion e-mail experience
Total hours per day 2.95 1.41 3.18 A 3.03 A 3.03 A 2.55 B 3.07 A 8.16 * *
Numbers of connecting internet per
day 6.18 8.22 6.29 5.23 6.80 5.80 6.79 1.548
Number of visiting fashion e-retailers
per month 11.48 17.30 8.65 C 15.18 A 13.10 AB 10.19 BC 10.79 BC 5.15 * *
Numbers of items purchased online 7.71 11.28 6.34 C 9.39 A 9.20 AB 6.30 C 6.79 BC 3.31 *
Notes. A, B, C ¼ significant mean differences by Duncan tests; * p , 0.05; * *; p , 0.001
 Recreational shopper. The majority was female (89.3 percent), with the higher A profile of
observation number in 15-19 years and 20-24 years of age. Students and housewives Koreans
took highest proportions (44.2 percent, 19.5 percent respectively) within the group as
well as between groups. The household income distribution was almost similar to
Economical Shoppers. Nearly 80 percent had bought fashion items on e-retailers. As
Recreational Shopper enjoyed shopping and spent time for shopping most, this group
showed the highest numbers of visiting fashion e-retailers, contrary to Economical 89
Shopper. These characteristics were also consistent with the highest number of items
purchased on e-retailers (M ¼ 9:39).
Fashion/brand shopper. A little over half of this segment was male. Respondents
between 35 and 39 years presented the highest proportion (26.9 percent) within group
as well as across groups. Enterpriser, professional/manager occupations were a
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

slightly higher than the overall sample. This segment presented a relatively higher
proportion of high income levels than did the other four groups. Almost 81 percent of
this segment had purchased fashion items on e-retailers which was the highest
proportion among five clusters. This group showed the second highest numbers of
visiting e-fashion mall (M ¼ 13:1) and fashion items purchased (M ¼ 9:20).
Fashion follower. More than 61 percent of this group was male, which represented a
heavier proportion of male consumers than the overall sample distribution. Almost 50
percent was age ranged from 25 to 34 years old. These two age groups showed higher
proportions compared with the overall distribution of respondents. Service-related and
professional technician jobs were more highly represented in this segment than the
overall sample. The lowest household incomes (less than $20,000) showed highest
representation than expected within this segment. A little over half of this segment did
not purchase any fashion items on e-retailers, which was the largest proportion of
inexperienced consumers for e-retailers between groups.
Individualistic shopper. About 52 percent was male, and three age groups (15-19,
20-24, and 35-39 years) showed higher representation compared with the overall
sample distribution. High representation in students and professional technician jobs
might be related to age distributions. This group had a relatively higher representation
of $ 30,000-49,999 than the overall sample. About 31.3 percent of this group did not buy
any product on fashion e-retailers, which was closed to the overall sample distribution.
Although this group used the internet as similar to other three groups, this group did
not visit fashion e-retailers neither purchase fashion items as similar as Fashion
Follower did.

Results on differences of clusters in evaluation of e-retailers’ attributes

In total 13 online fashion mall attributes were reduced into three factors by factor
analysis, using the principal component method (Table VI). The first factor was labeled
as “product presentation attributes”, including product information and visual
presentation of fashion goods. The second factor was labeled as “checkout attributes”
of online, which included charging service, speed of ordering, order tracking, and price
perceived to the internet users. The third factor was named as “after service
attributes”. This included the services received after checkout fashion goods.
Respondents who had bought fashion items online would respond their online
shopping experience. Respondents who did not buy any fashion goods would reflect
 Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

90
13,1
JFMM

Table VI.
Fashion e-retailer’s
service attributes by
fashion lifestyle segments
Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5
Economical Recreational Fashion/brand Fashion Individualistic
Total shopper shopper shopper follower shopper
E-retailer’s attributes M SD (19.6%) (17.7%) (20.6%) (23.6%) (18.5%) F

Product presentation attributes

(a ¼ 0:78)
Site design 3.14 0.67 3.03 CD 3.23 B 3.42 A 2.94 D 3.12 BC 21.078 *
Speed of product search 3.21 0.77 3.10 C 3.28 B 3.49 A 2.96 D 3.25 B 18.650 *
Product description 3.05 0.81 2.90 B 3.01 B 3.36 A 2.96 B 3.04 B 12.414 *
Product info. updates 3.22 0.74 3.14 BC 3.21 B 3.51 A 3.02 C 3.25 B 16.607 *
Variety of products 3.50 0.81 3.56 B 3.67 AB 3.71 A 2.99 C 3.68 AB 43.473 *
Checkout attributes (a ¼ 0:80)
Price perception 3.58 0.82 3.68 A 3.77 A 3.80 A 3.06 B 3.69 A 43.147 *
Speed of ordering 3.50 0.78 3.64 AB 3.63 AB 3.73 A 3.03 C 3.55 B 38.384 *
Easy of charging 3.50 0.79 3.61 B 3.63 AB 3.76 A 3.03 C 3.55 B 38.794 *
Order tracking 3.41 0.81 3.42 B 3.56 AB 3.64 A 3.04 C 3.48 B 24.425 *
After service attributes (a ¼ 0:79)
Customer support 2.98 0.84 2.78 C 2.95 B 3.27 A 2.96 B 2.91 BC 11.451 *
On-time delivery 2.97 0.80 2.78 C 2.95 B 3.22 A 2.93 B 2.95 B 9.785 *
Exchange/return policy 2.68 0.96 2.37 C 2.57 B 2.93 A 2.93 A 2.50 BC 18.638 *
Product met expectations 2.86 0.83 2.71 C 2.77 BC 3.09 A 2.91 B 2.79 BC 8.250 *
Overall satisfaction 3.12 0.74 3.06 BC 3.13 B 3.37 A 2.94 C 3.09 B 12.400 *
Intention to purchase 3.15 0.76 3.13 B 3.27 A 3.38 A 2.90 C 3.12 B 15.747 *
Notes: A, B, C, D ¼ significant mean differences by Duncan tests; * p , 0.001
 their expectation or indirect experience, influenced by their social community. A profile of
Chronbach’s alpha was ranged from 0.74 to 0.80. Koreans
In general, respondents presented positive evaluation toward product presentation
attributes and checkout attributes. Checkout attributes, reflecting the benefits of online
shopping, presented relatively high mean of each item compared to the other two
attribute factors. The means of after service attribute items were lower than the mid
score, indicating that respondents were less satisfied with delivery service or exchange 91
policy online than other attributes. Nevertheless, respondents displayed relatively
higher scores than mid points of overall satisfaction (3.12) and intention to purchase
fashion items online (3.15).
ANOVA with Duncan tests were used to examine differences among five lifestyle
segments in evaluation of online fashion mall attributes. Table VI showed that all of
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

e-retailer’s attributes were differently evaluated. Fashion/brand Shopper showed the

highest evaluation and Fashion Follower showed the lowest evaluation in product
presentation and checkout attributes in general. Economical Shopper and
Individualistic Shopper presented a similar tendency, at the middle level. In terms of
after service attributes, Fashion/brand Shoppers showed highest evaluation as well.
However, Fashion Follower exhibited the second highest positive evaluation, similar to
Recreational Shopper, and Individualistic Shoppers showed the lowest evaluation.
When compared with overall satisfaction and intention to purchase online among
five segments, Fashion/brand Shopper showed the highest levels of overall satisfaction
and intention to buy, followed by Recreational Shopper, Individualistic Shopper,
Economical Shopper, and Fashion Follower.

Discussion
We profiled market segments of potential consumers who would buy fashion items on
e-retailers. Internet users belonged to one of five fashion lifestyle segments. In order to
provide the differences between clusters graphically, Figures 1-5 were drawn based on
factor scores in Table II. We provided distinctive characteristics of each segment.

Figure 1.
Fashion/brand shopper
 JFMM
13,1

92
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

Figure 2.
Recreational shopper

Figure 3.
Economical shopper

Fashion/brand shoppers (20.6 percent)

As demonstrated in Figure 1, this segment is heavily conscious about latest fashion
trends and well-known fashion brands. Interestingly, although they care about fashion
leadership and newest fashion trends, they do not enjoy shopping. Thus it is said that
this group is somewhat lack of fashion leader predisposition, since fashion leaders tend
to enjoy shopping, and are not conscious of the cost or practicality (Gutman and Mills,
1982). This group is likely to buy well-known brand products, and they are less
concerned about the price. The proportion of enterpriser, professional/manager jobs
indicates that these occupations lead to exhibit high interests in fashion resulting in
high number of visiting to fashion e-shopping malls. With the high number of
connecting e-fashion mall as well as the highest evaluation of e-shopping mall
attributes, overall satisfaction and intention to purchase on e-retailers, this group
 A profile of
Koreans

93
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

Figure 4.
Individualistic shopper

Figure 5.
Fashion follower

would be the first major target for e-retailers. Finding is comparable with the
Fashion/brand Shopper of Park et al.’s study (2005).

Recreational shopper (17.7 percent)

Consumers in this segment heavily enjoy shopping and highlight values for the money,
and moderately consider brand names (Figure 2). The majority is female, young
students or housewives. Occupations seem to highly correlate with gender and age.
This segment is comparable with the previous studies. Bellenger and Korgaonkar
(1980) presented that recreational or hedonic shoppers spent more time for shopping
even after making a purchase, were active information seekers and bargain hunters
than economical shoppers did. Also, the same researchers mentioned that recreational
shoppers regarded high-quality, variety of merchandise, and visual aspects of retailer
as important. This segment perhaps visits fashion e-retailers not only shopping but
 JFMM also collecting information about fashion products since they are practical and
13,1 recreational shoppers. The highest number of visiting fashion e-malls or buying
fashion items with high level of purchase intention indicates that this segment is
another important target for e-business.

Economical shopper (19.6 percent)

94 Approximately one fifth displays the tendency of Economical Shopper. As presented in
Figure 3, members in this cluster display the second highest levels of economical
orientation and personality pursuits, but are no interests in fashion, shopping or
brands. The high proportion of male and older age groups in addition to conservative
occupations (government related jobs) would support these characteristics. Economical
shopper is comparable to utilitarian shopper who is likely to minimize searching
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

process or social interaction and to consider convenience and controlling their

shopping (Lee and Littrell, 2005). Economical Shopper presents somewhat opposite
features from recreational shopper. Both segments value economical aspects. However,
Recreational Shopper who values shopping enjoyment presents positive attitudes
toward e-retailers, while Economical Shopper shows mid to low levels of evaluation for
e-retailers’ attributes. Especially members of this segment seem to be dissatisfied with
after service attributes. Nevertheless, the mid level of purchase intention indicates that
they would keep going to shop at e-retailers since this type of retail format is
corresponding with their fashion lifestyles.

Individualistic shopper (18.5 percent)

As demonstrated in Figure 4, consumers in this segment are concerned about
well-dressed, personality rather than fashion trends and moderately enjoying
shopping. These characteristics are similar to those of “Negatives” in Gutman and
Mills’ (1982) study. However, the Negatives are conscious of the cost or practicality to
some extent, while Individualistic Shoppers are not concerned about the economical
aspects but about well-known brand names. They might consider that well-known
brands stood for well-dressed. Among five segments, this group presents the middle
levels of evaluations of fashion e-retailer attributes as well as overall satisfaction and
intention to purchase. Compared with internet usage, they show low level of fashion
e-retailer visits, so it is necessary to develop appropriate marketing strategy to
transform this segment into potential, active e-shoppers.

Fashion follower (23.6 percent)

This segment takes largest proportion of the total sample. The members of this group
display similar predisposition to fashion leaders, but a lower scores on fashion
interests, brand orientation, and shopping enjoyment (Figure 5). As fashion followers
are not concerned about price or practical aspects of fashion products (Gutman and
Mills, 1982), economical orientation is lowest, although the proportion of the lowest
household incomes is highest among five segments. The largest proportion of
inexperienced consumers for fashion e-retailers or the lowest number of purchased
items compared with the number visiting fashion e-malls are notable. It appears that
either they are afraid of or not accustomed to checkout through the internet. The lowest
evaluation of checkout attributes would support it. Otherwise, they presumably visit
e-shops to get information about fashion products and/or still prefer off-line stores.
 Evaluation for product presentation attributes indicates that the advantages of the A profile of
speed to search or variety of products do not appeal to them. Accordingly the lowest Koreans
level of overall dissatisfaction or purchase intention is presented despite to relatively
high level of evaluation for after service attributes. Thus, it is necessary to highlight
the benefit of using or shopping online to create positive attitudes toward fashion
e-retailers’ attributes.
95
Conclusion and recommendations
This study aims to classify internet users by fashion lifestyles. Involvement with
fashion leads consumers to specific buying behaviors. We focus on age ranged from 15
to 39 years, representative age groups of heavy internet users. Almost 70 percent of
1,211 internet users have bought fashion items on e-retailers, who are potential to
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

become loyal consumers. About 30 percents who do not buy any fashion item online
are potential consumers to become first-time buyers since they have visited fashion
e-retailers at least once.
Five lifestyle segments are Fashion/brand Shopper, Recreational Shopper,
Economical Shopper, Individualistic Shopper, and Fashion Followers. The first two
segments are the most potential and important target market for e-business. Luxury
brand or flagship store marketers in addition to multi shop retailers who collect
exclusive fashion items from various well-known brands are suitable to target
Fashion/brands Shoppers. Since consumers in this segment have needs for
high-quality products with premium brands, proper product assortments that are
compatible with consumers’ tastes and current fashion trends are necessary.
Individual Shopper is similar to Fashion/brand Shopper in terms of brand or
personality pursuits but different in fashion consciousness. Thus Individual Shopper
could be the second target market for exclusive fashion brands.
Fashion e-retailers such as fast fashion brands are proper for Recreational group
because this segment needs for a high-quality, wide variety of merchandise at valued
prices. Characteristics of McFashion brands would satisfy this segment of both
economical and brand orientations. Economical Shopper is typical, practical online
users, so basic items at valued prices rather than trendy, well-known brand items are
appropriate. To enhance the purchase of fashion goods online for this segment,
e-retailers require reinforcing after service attributes and price-related promotions.
Fashion Follower segment exhibits relatively negative attitudes toward fashion
e-malls, so it would be difficult to satisfy them. However, since this segment is
interested in fashion, brands, and shopping, there is possibility to increase online
shopping usages by stimulating these inclinations. Besides, it is necessary to inform
positive aspects of online shopping so that this segment is comfortable with e-retailers.

Limitations and future research

Respondents in this study visit online fashion shopping malls at least once, and about
30 percent evaluates e-retailers’ attributes without their purchasing experiences. They
seem to evaluate the web site performances based on indirect experiences from other
product categories, so caution is necessary in interpreting findings. Demographic
characteristics of respondents, such as occupations or income levels were widely
distributed. However, investigating a newly emerging group of internet users, such as
silver groups is also worthwhile. In addition, the instrument for the present study is
 JFMM modified based on previous studies, all elements of fashion lifestyles associated with
13,1 apparel purchasing behaviors may not have been captured.
Findings of this study cannot be generalized to all internet users in Asian market.
However, Research design would be replicable to consumers in different nations. If
findings are comparable with this study it is assumed that increasing global impact of
mass media and information power of consumers generates similar lifestyle segments.
96 That is, the nature of segment orientation can be highlighted over geographic
segmentation in the global market. If findings are different, we can learn about the
propensity to shop online and fashion lifestyles of consumers in various Asian
countries, probably caused by different stage of internet infrastructure or different
involvement in fashion.
The primary goal of the present study is to reveal and profile fashion lifestyle
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

segments for online fashion mall users. E-business marketers can create online store
environments and marketing mix strategies by supplementing negative perspectives
of online fashion mall attributes in accordance with each segment’s characteristics.

References
Ahn, K., Hwang, S. and Chung, C. (2005), Fashion Marketing, Soo Hak Sa, Seoul.
Allred, C.R., Smith, S.M. and Swinyard, W.R. (2006), “E-shopping lovers and fearful
conservatives: a market segmentation analysis”, International Journal of Retail
& Distribution Management, Vol. 34 Nos 4/5, pp. 308-33.
Bellenger, D.N. and Korgaonkar, P.K. (1980), “Profiling the recreational shopper”, Journal of
Retailing, Vol. 56 No. 3, pp. 77-92.
Blackwell, R.D., Miniard, P.W. and Engel, J.F. (2001), Consumer Behavior, 9th ed., South-Western,
Mason, OH.
Cao, Y., Gruca, T.S. and Klemz, B.R. (2003), “Internet pricing, price satisfaction, and customer
satisfaction”, International Journal of Electronic Commerce, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 31-50.
Gutman, J. and Mills, M.K. (1982), “Fashion life style, self-concept, shopping orientation, and
store patronage: an integrative analysis”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 58 No. 2, pp. 64-86.
Jiang, P. and Rosenbloom, B. (2005), “Customer intention to return online: price perception,
attribute-level performance, and satisfaction unfolding over time”, European Journal of
Marketing, Vol. 39 Nos 1/2, pp. 150-74.
Kim, S. and Lee, E. (2004), “A documentary study to determine the concept of clothing shopping
orientation”, Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, Vol. 28 Nos 3/4,
pp. 472-82.
Korea National Statistical Office (2007), 2006 Annual Statistical Report of Cyber Shopping Mall,
available at: www. nso.go.kr (accessed February 13, 2007).
Lee, S. and Littrell, M. (2005), “Global e-tailing: US consumers’ intention to shop for cultural
products on the internet”, International Journal of Retailing & Distribution Management,
Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 133-47.
Machrotech (2007) Vol. 13, E-commerce Market Size and Trends, available at: www.machrotech.
com/services/ecommerce-marketsize-statistics.asp (accessed February 13, 2007).
Moye, L.N. and Kincade, D.H. (2002), “Influence of usage situations and consumer shopping
orientations on the importance of retail store environment”, International Review of Retail,
Distribution and Consumer Research, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 59-79.
 National Internet Development of Agency of Korea (2007), The Internet Industry Report of A profile of
People’s Republic of China in 2006, available at: http://isis.nida.or.kr (accessed January 24,
2008). Koreans
National Internet Development of Agency of Korea (2008), The Number of Internet Users of Each
Nation, available at: http://isis.nida.or.kr (accessed January 24, 2008).
Park, E.J. and Kang, E.M. (2005), “Effect of shopping mall attributes and shopping values on
online purchase intentions”, Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, Vol. 29 97
No. 11, pp. 1475-84.
Park, E.J., Kang, E.M. and Ha, M.J. (2005), “A study on internet fashion shopping mall
environments and purchase intention by shopping orientation”, The Research Journal of
the Costume Culture, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 564-75.
Park, H., Shin, E. and Chung, H. (2004), “College students’ apparel shopping orientations and
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)

store selection for purchasing jeans”, Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and
Textiles, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 547-58.
Park, Y. (2007), Korea Is a Global Test Market, available at: http://weekly.chosun.com/site/data/
html_dir/2007/11/16/2007111600863.html (accessed January 24, 2008).
Shim, S. and Kotsiopulos, A. (1993), “A typology of apparel shopping orientation segments
among female consumers”, Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 73-85.
Vyncke, P. (2002), “Lifestyle segmentation: from interests, and opinions, to values, aesthetic
styles, life visions and media preferences”, European Journal of Communication, Vol. 17
No. 4, pp. 445-63.

Corresponding author
Heewon Sung can be contacted at: hsung@gnu.kr

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com

Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints
 This article has been cited by:

1. Colin Campbell, Carla Ferraro, Sean Sands. 2014. Segmenting consumer reactions to social network
marketing. European Journal of Marketing 48:3/4, 432-452. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
2. Siwon Cho, Jane E. Workman. 2013. Shopping Orientations of Young South Korean and U.S. Consumers.
Journal of International Consumer Marketing 25, 319-331. [CrossRef]
3. Soyoung Kim, Briana Martinez. 2013. Fashion consumer groups and online shopping at private sale sites.
International Journal of Consumer Studies 37:10.1111/ijcs.2013.37.issue-4, 367-372. [CrossRef]
4. Karen W. Miller, Michael K. Mills. 2012. Contributing clarity by examining brand luxury in the fashion
market. Journal of Business Research 65, 1471-1479. [CrossRef]
Downloaded by California State University Fresno At 10:39 14 March 2016 (PT)