Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 60 (2021) 102457

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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconser

The role of product history in consumer response to online second-hand

clothing retail service based on circular fashion
Naeun (Lauren) Kim a, Hongjoo Woo b, *, Bharath Ramkumar c
a
Design, Housing, and Apparel, College of Design, University of Minnesota, 368B McNeal Hall, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 55108-6136, United States
b
Department of Clothing & Textiles, Yonsei University, 423 Samsung Hall, Yonsei University, Seodaemun-gu, Yonsei-ro 50, Seoul, 03722, South Korea
c
Fashion and Textiles, The Department of Human Ecology, The State University of New York at Oneonta, 214 Human Ecology Building, SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, NY,
13820, United States

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The circular fashion system (CFS) posits that clothes not only need to be designed and produced sustainably but
Circular fashion also need to circulate among consumers for as long as possible to minimize waste. Fashion industry experts
Narrative believe that circular fashion will be the dominating future trend of the industry, and many brands and start-ups
Product history
have launched platforms following the CFS where consumers can exchange or donate their used clothes. How­
Second-hand clothing
ever, circular fashion still needs to overcome the negative images associated with second-hand clothes, such as
contamination. What can decrease consumers’ concerns with used clothes as well as promote circular fashion
effectively among consumers? Based on the narrative competence theory, this study examines the effects of
providing the product history of clothes on enhancing consumers’ trust, perceived benefits, attitude, and usage
intentions toward circular fashion service. An online experiment was conducted with 238 U.S. consumers. Re­
sults revealed that providing product history enhances consumers’ trust toward the service and the perceived
hedonic, social, and economic benefits of the service. Greater trust and hedonic benefits of the service enhance
consumers’ attitude toward the service, which consequently increase their intentions to use the service. Impli­
cations and suggestions for future research are discussed in this paper.

1. Introduction (Shirvanimoghaddam et al., 2020). The core strategy of the CFS is to

The global fashion industry is under scrutiny more than ever before
owing to the industry’s single-minded pursuit of efficiency, productiv­
ity, and profitability while ignoring the ecological repercussions of its
manufacturing and consumption practices. Fast fashion, the poster child
of modern fashion, which specializes in cost-effective and “rapid design,
production, distribution, and marketing” of fashion goods (Cohen, 2011,
p. 12), is at the forefront of an industry that contributes to almost 10% of
global greenhouse gas emissions (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017).
An increasing awareness of the industry’s disregard for the environment
has resulted in key industry, government, and consumer stakeholders
taking note. A strong demand for change has forced these stakeholders
to revisit the entire supply chain, from the way raw materials are
sourced to how products are disposed (Daveu, 2020). One of the most
promising emerging solutions is the “circular” fashion system (CFS),
which vows to be a more sustainable alternative to the currently un­
sustainable “linear” system that relies on a cradle-to-grave approach
minimize waste through a take-make-reuse approach to apparel pro­
duction and consumption, where a product, once ethically produced,
does not leave the system until it has been reused or recycled to the point
that it cannot be reused anymore, after which it is safely returned to a
biodegradable state (Brismar, 2017). In this CFS, not only are new
clothes designed to last longer, but used clothes that are no longer
needed find a new owner, instead of ending up in a landfill (Kunz et al.,
2016).
Of the billions of garments that are currently in use across the world,
less than 15% are likely to be recycled at the end of their use, with a
majority ending up in landfills (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017).
Although clothing donations to thrift shops and charities have been
touted as a sustainable option to keep clothes out of the landfill, only
20% of donated clothes are resold in the domestic market, while the
other 80% are either recycled, further exacerbating carbon emissions, or
forcefully exported to developing countries that do not need the clothes
(Bryant, 2018). Furthermore, clothes hoarded in closets around the

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: nlkim@umn.edu (N.(L. Kim), h_woo@yonsei.ac.kr (H. Woo), Bharath.Ramkumar@oneonta.edu (B. Ramkumar).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102457
Received 16 July 2020; Received in revised form 21 December 2020; Accepted 21 December 2020
Available online 12 January 2021
0969-6989/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
N.(L. Kim et al.
globe loom as potential waste that could eventually end up in landfills
(Harris et al., 2016). A potential solution to the energy intensive recy­
cling and landfilling practices can be found in the form of online resale
markets that have provided a promising way of dealing with used
clothes. These marketplaces allow a seller to directly or indirectly offer
their product to a buyer over an e-commerce platform, such as Posh­
mark, thredUP, Depop, and ClosetShare (Price, 2019). With the steady
growth of such online second-hand retail (YPulse, 2019), there is a need
to understand specific aspects of the online shopping experience that
encourages these second-hand purchases. For this reason, this study
focuses on second-hand clothes shopping to further understand clothing
reuse as a form of circular fashion.
Although studies exploring consumer behavior in second-hand
clothes consumption exist, a majority are in the context of offline
shopping, such as thrift or consignment shopping (e.g., Bardhi and
Arnould, 2005; Cassidy and Bennett, 2012; Seo and Kim, 2019). A recent
exploration of second-hand shopping at thrift stores and street fairs
revealed consumers’ desire to learn about the history of the used product
as being a key factor in eliciting perception of hedonic, economic, and
social benefits (Machado et al., 2019). Although such perception of
benefits can help form favorable attitudes and purchase intention to­
ward a CFS in both online and offline setting (Padmavathy et al., 2019),
the ability to provide detailed product narratives is greater on online
platforms than offline stores (Nepomuceno et al., 2014). However,
among the limited number of studies that exist in the online
second-hand shopping context (e.g., Park and Armstrong, 2019; Sihvo­
nen and Turunen, 2016; Xu et al., 2014), none have attempted to un­
derstand the impact of providing a product history narrative on
consumers’ attitude toward and intention to use a CFS. This study ad­
dresses this gap with the help of narrative competence theory, which
posits that businesses can leverage product history as a way of story­
telling to make consumers more comfortable with their purchase deci­
sion (e.g., Gilliam and Zablah, 2013; Lundqvist et al., 2013). This study
aims to empirically test the effect of providing product history on con­
sumers’ attitudes toward and intention to use a CFS that sells
second-hand clothes online. The mediating role of perceived hedonic,
social, and economic benefits on the relationship between product his­
tory and consumer attitude is also tested.
2. Theoretical background
2.1. Circular fashion: the rise of second-hand clothing e-tailers
Circular fashion, stemming from the circular economy concept, is a
system where clothes are designed and produced with the goal of
keeping the items within the supply chain for as long as possible before
they are returned to the environment in a biodegradable manner (Bris­
mar, 2017). The result is a potentially “restorative and regenerative”
system that aims at “narrowing, slowing, and closing the resource and
energy flows” (Pal et al., 2019, p. 298). As consumer interests in and
demand for circular clothing increase (Vehmas et al., 2018), the tran­
sition from a linear to a circular model of fashion seems inevitable. Of
the three key sustainable models emphasized in the circular fashion
approach, namely reduce, reuse, and recycle, the reduce and reuse
models are the most effective and preferred (Kunz et al., 2016; US
Environmental Protection Agency, 2020). This is because recycling
(which often includes repurposing, recovering, and upcycling) demands
high labor and energy-intensive processes, with many technological,
economical, and logistical barriers involved (Pitcher et al., 2019; Shir­
vanimoghaddam et al., 2020). The reduce model, which involves the
decrease of clothing quantities manufactured, environmentally harmful
substances in clothing, as well as consumption quantities (Ellen Mac­
Arthur Foundation, 2017), has been touted as the most sustainable op­
tion of all because it better mitigates critical issues such as resource
depletion, waste generation, and energy consumption (Kunz et al.,
2016). However, given that the clothing industry has doubled
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 60 (2021) 102457
production in the last 15 years while consumers’ clothing utilization has
almost halved, 73% of all clothing and textiles produced have been
burned or buried in landfills (Souchet, 2019). The industry continues to
produce more than 100 billion items of clothing a year, leaving poten­
tially hundreds of billions of pieces that are likely to end up in landfills in
the years to come (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017). Although the
reduce model can be extremely effective in avoiding future waste and
other forms of emissions, one of the most sustainable solutions to
address clothing surplus is keeping the existing pieces of clothing in
prolonged circulation through reuse (Farrant et al., 2010).
Reusing clothing can primarily occur through hand-me-downs, do­
nations, and resale (Xu et al., 2014). Traditionally, donation and resale
outlets, such as Salvation Army, were destinations to perform “thrift”
shopping activities that were driven by a purely monetary motive
(Bardhi and Arnould, 2005). Gradually, with increased ecological
awareness, thrift shops transformed into destinations for purchasing
second-hand clothes as a sustainable alternative (Park et al., 2020), so
much so that the value of the second-hand clothing market is expected to
more than double from $24 billion in 2018 to $64 billion in 2028, which
is one and a half times the projected size of the fast fashion industry in
2028 (thredUP, 2019). Although it attracts consumers of all ages,
second-hand shopping is led by Gen Z and millennial consumers’ incli­
nation to shop sustainably (thredUP, 2019; Zaman et al., 2019) and their
willingness to buy used clothes (Price, 2019). These consumers
increasingly prefer e− and m-commerce platforms to shop second-hand,
as evidenced by the rise in second-hand clothing e-tailers, such as
thredUP, The RealReal, Poshmark, Swap, etc. (YPulse, 2019). This trend
has been further fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, with online
second-hand clothing retail set to grow by 69%, compared to a meager
2% growth in offline second-hand clothing retail by 2021 (Thredup,
2020).
2.2. Second-hand clothes shopping literature
Research examining consumers’ engagement in second-hand clothes
shopping predominantly focuses on brick-and-mortar consumption. In
general, consumers’ attitudes and perceptions toward buying second-
hand clothes have been positively impacted by increasing environ­
mental consciousness around sustainability issues in the apparel in­
dustry (Reints, 2019; Seo and Kim, 2019; Yan et al., 2015). However, the
second-hand shopping trend is more than just an environmentally driven
phenomenon. For instance, studies have found the role of critical, eco­
nomic, utilitarian, and hedonic motivations in second-hand clothing
purchase to be important (Bardhi and Arnould, 2005; Cassidy and
Bennett, 2012; Machado et al., 2019). Studies have also shown that
consumers who shop for second-hand clothes seek uniqueness and style
and want to feel special about themselves (Laitala and Klepp, 2018;
Machado et al., 2019; Yan et al., 2015). Apart from identifying shopping
motivations, researchers have also attempted to categorize second-hand
shoppers. In one such study, Ferraro et al. (2016) identified three main
second-hand shopping segments, namely: infrequent fashionistas, fash­
ionable hedonists, and thrill-seeking treasure hunters. Likewise, Zaman
et al. (2019) identified second-hand clothing shoppers through six
consumer orientations: style consciousness, fashion consciousness,
ecological consciousness, nostalgia proneness, frugality, and
dematerialism.
Of the few studies that exist in the online shopping context, Xu et al.
(2014) found low interest among respondents to shop for second-hand
clothing online. However, the online second-hand clothes shopping
market has mushroomed in the years following this study, warranting a
fresh look at this phenomenon. In a qualitative study of online flea
market forums, Sihvonen and Turunen (2016) found that price and
quality of used clothing were key determinants of how consumers
perceived the value of the used clothes brand. However, this study did
not explore whether such perceived value led to purchase intention or
behavior. Most other studies conducted on online second-hand shopping
N.(L. Kim et al.
did not focus on a specific product category (e.g., Ertz et al., 2015;
Padmavathy et al., 2019; Swapana and Padmavathy, 2018), leaving the
implications hard to apply to circular fashion. This study is an attempt to
fill this gap in understanding a consumer’s intention to use an online
second-hand retailer as a CFS.
2.3. Narrative competence theory
Narrative competence theory posits that humans have the ability to
read and understand others’ narratives, thus empathizing with others’
emotions and intentions reflected on the narratives (Gallagher and
Hutto, 2008). Narrative competence theory shares common ground with
the theory of mind, which is one of the most well-established theories in
developmental psychology. According to the theory of mind, humans
have an ability for empathy in nature and develop this ability to un­
derstand others’ minds, such as perception, intention, motive, consid­
eration, and emotion, as they grow from children to adults (Gallagher,
2011). This is the reason young children have limited abilities to fully
understand others’ intentions and nuances; however, they do become
more intuitive as they grow (Gallagher, 2011). Narrative competence
theory is particularly focused on such human ability that is gained and
performed by the means of narrative. Humans develop narrative
competence that they can comprehend, interpret, and can be touched by
the stories written or spoken by others, and empathize with what others
try to communicate (Westby et al., 1989). Because of this skill, humans
are not only able to communicate meanings through narratives but also
feel attachment and social connections from their exchanges (Gallagher
and Hutto, 2008). Thus, narrative competence theory provides a theo­
retical basis for the power of storytelling, which often creates more than
just delivery of written or spoken contents, such as the transfer of sig­
nals, emotions, and social connections from the sender to the receiver
(Kent, 2015).
The effects of storytelling are visible in consumer and marketing
studies. Researchers have found that brands and sellers providing a story
are more effective brand/product marketers. For instance, consumers
who had an opportunity to learn about the story behind a brand were
found to feel a deeper brand experience than those who did not
(Lundqvist et al., 2013). Incorporating storytelling in advertising en­
hances consumers’ feelings of empathy through emotional appeal (Park
and Lee, 2014). The effects of storytelling are also clear in face-to-face or
one-on-one interaction, such as retail and service encounters. Service
provider’s offer of narrative strengthens the retailer-customer relation­
ship and often enhances customers’ trust and favorability toward the
product or service (Gilliam and Zablah, 2013). The provision of stories is
also effective in business-to-business exchange, as it builds a trustful
relationship between the buyer and the seller (Gilliam and Flaherty,
2015).
Recent studies reveal that stories from consumer to consumer can
also enhance consumer experience and empathy as an effective mar­
keting element. Although marketing messages used to be generated by
brands/companies in the past, today’s marketplace is observing diverse
forms of consumer-to-consumer exchange and communications, such as
consumer-to-consumer selling (e.g., Etsy, second-hand product selling/
exchange, etc.), and exchanges of information through blogs, social
media, and customer reviews. Hsiao, Lu, and Lan (2013) found that the
storytelling elements in the narratives on the blog enhance readers’
empathy toward the writer as well as their participation intentions.
Delgadillo and Escalas (2004) found that narratives incorporated in
word-of-mouth (WOM) communications among consumers can enhance
memory, recall, and brand attitude. Like these examples, stories can also
be provided in the second-hand product exchange encounters, such that
sellers provide a history of the product that can increase interest among
potential buyers. Van Laer et al. (2019) asserted that more research
should examine the effects of storytelling in consumer-to-consumer
communications in the digital era, and suggested that the narrative
transportation effect can be stronger when the story falls in a
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Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 60 (2021) 102457
commercial (compared to non-commercial) domain and is
user-generated (compared to professional-generated). This suggests that
providing a story from the previous owner may add an effective element
to second-hand products for consumers in CFS.
According to the narrative competence theory, consumers are able to
read and empathize with the product history (narrative) provided by the
previous owner in CFS, and this kind of storytelling is expected to
enhance consumers’ perception toward the product. That is, under­
standing the background of the product through a narrative is likely to
decrease uncertainty and doubtfulness about the product, thus miti­
gating the risk of purchasing the product and enhancing consumers’
trust toward the product (Pappas, 2016).
2.4. Relations among trust, perceived benefits, attitude, and purchase
intention
The development of consumer trust is one of the most decisive factors
in determining consumers’ engagement in online shopping (Eastlick and
Lotz, 2011), especially for second-hand products (Lee and Lee, 2005).
Trust in a service provider or retailer not only helps alleviate concerns
regarding security and privacy but is also an expectation that consumers
have in a business’ ability to deliver what was promised (Beldad et al.,
2010). This expectation can be amplified in the second-hand online
clothes shopping scenario, where consumers expect the e-tailer to
deliver used clothes as per the description on their website (Lee and Lee,
2005). Aligning with this theory of trust, this study adopts Mayer et al.,
1995, p. 712) definition of trust, which is “the willingness of a party to
be vulnerable to the actions of another party, based on the expectation
that the other will perform a particular action important to the truster,
irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party.” Among
the various trust-building mechanisms found in literature, the use of
personal narrative has been identified as an effective strategy in
enhancing trust due to the ability of these narratives (or stories) to
portray an image that is friendly and caring than of a business trying to
sell a product (Gabbay and Leenders, 2003). In the case of purchasing
second-hand clothing online, using a narrative technique, such as
communicating the history of the product, can not only enhance the
perceived value of the product (Sihvonen and Turunen, 2016) but also
build trust and a long-term relationship (Teichert and Rost, 2003;
Wuestefeld et al., 2012). Therefore, the following hypothesis was
posited:
H1. Product history enhances consumers’ trust in circular fashion
service (CFS).
Human beings engage in shopping behaviors with the interest of
gaining benefits from their action beyond just the acquisition of a
product (Tauber, 1995). These motives for shopping, especially through
the internet, have been identified in literature through two main clas­
sifications: functional (utilitarian) benefits, such as convenience, qual­
ity, and price, and nonfunctional (hedonic) benefits, such as social and
emotional motives related to pleasure, enjoyment, fun, and excitement
(Bhatnagar and Ghose, 2004; Childers et al., 2001; Forsythe et al.,
2006). Although social benefits have been conceived as being part of the
hedonic motive in the aforementioned studies, more recent research has
classified social benefits under a separate category (not under hedonic),
as social benefits go beyond pleasure and enjoyment to include other
needs, such as acceptance, sense of belonging, and improved image
among one’s community (Kuo and Feng, 2013; Sicilia and Palazón,
2008). Of the benefits discussed here, the present study focuses on the
economic (price), social, and hedonic elements found to be the key
benefits that consumers seek from second-hand online shopping
(Hamari et al., 2016; Jiao, 2015; Padmavathy et al., 2019).
In order to fulfill these benefit-seeking tendencies, it is important to
consider the role of product history in second-hand clothes shopping.
Consumers are often attracted to brands and products that have a his­
torical narrative that emotionally connects them to the brand or product
N.(L. Kim et al. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 60 (2021) 102457

(Wuestefeld et al., 2012). Sihvonen and Turunen (2016) found that population, who were recruited by a professional research firm from
when buying used clothes, consumers rely heavily on product history their consumer panel. The general population was selected because the
cues to form favorable associations with a retailer and their products. second-hand clothes market is rapidly growing by attracting consumers
Respondents in their study highly valued used products that came with a of all ages (thredUP, 2019), and as one of the initial attempts to examine
rich narrative of the product’s life story, including the origin, brand, age, consumer perception toward an online second-hand clothing retail ser­
owner, events the product went through, etc., providing symbolic vice based on circular fashion system, it is beneficial to explore diverse
meaning by eliciting pleasurable and exciting feelings, such as nostalgia consumers’ perception instead of limiting the sample to a certain age
(Guiot and Roux, 2010). Moreover, consumers see the act of buying group. Upon IRB approval, participants were randomly assigned to one
second-hand clothes as a treasure hunt that enhances their hedonic of the two conditions, one with product history provided and the other
shopping experience (Machado et al., 2019). Together with hedonic without product history provided (NProduct history = 117, NNone = 121). As
benefits, product history can also influence consumers’ perception of the stimuli, participants were exposed to a virtual website of CFS, which
economic benefits that they receive from purchasing the product in mimicked one of the most popular existing circular fashion service web
terms of value for money and the risk involved in losing money sites, displaying an ordinary jean product. In addition to the website
(Wuestefeld et al., 2012). In addition to this economic-hedonic duality image that describes the exchange system that collects and re-distributes
of second-hand shopping, Guiot and Roux (2010) also highlight the second-hand clothes among users, supplementary explanations about
social benefits of buying a unique and original product, which are the service was provided along with the virtual website to ensure par­
conveyed through product history narratives, and gained from ticipants’ understanding of how CFS works: “… this is an online shopping
perceived acceptance and positive image among their community website that you can donate or trade-in your used clothes, and buy used
members, also corroborated by the findings from Machado et al. (2019). clothes from others.” For the experimental group, product history was
Overall, product history narratives can boost the economic, social, and manipulated as a personal narrative written by the former owner of the
hedonic benefits perceived by consumers when shopping for second-hand product: “I first purchased this on my birthday in 2016. This
second-hand clothes through an online CFS (Wuestefeld et al., 2012). only shares good memories through my college years. Currently, I’m waiting
for a baby and need a new pair in a larger size!“. On the contrary, for the
H2. Product history enhances the perceived hedonic benefit of CFS.
control group, there was no product history provided.
H3. Product history enhances the perceived social benefit of CFS.
H4. Product history enhances the perceived economic benefit of CFS. 3.2. Measures
Consumers often develop predispositions, also called attitude, to
behave in a certain manner, such as making a purchase decision and After viewing the website, participants in both conditions evaluated
whether to patronize a particular service provider (Teo et al., 2003). The the perceived existence of product history, trust toward the service,
importance of attitude formation has been held strong not only in the perceived hedonic, social, and economic benefits of the service, attitude
traditional online shopping literature (Teo, 2002), but also in more toward the service, and intentions to use the service. All of the mea­
recent online second-hand shopping contexts (Padmavathy et al., 2019). surement items are provided in Table 1. The perceived existence of
Among the various factors responsible for establishing a favorable atti­ product history was measured as a manipulation check. Trust toward the
tude toward a service provider, trust has been repeatedly shown to be service was measured by using nine items modified from Flavián et al.
critical (Chen and Dibb, 2010; Hajli, 2014; Jarvenpaa et al., 1999). (2006), encompassing three dimensions: perceived competence, integ­
Furthermore, enhanced economic, social, and hedonic benefits have rity, and benevolence of the service. Perceived hedonic, social, and
shown to significantly influence consumers’ attitude toward an e-service economic benefits of the service were measured by five items (hedonic),
or e-tailer, such as a CFS (Childers et al., 2001; Forsythe et al., 2006; three items (social), and three items (economic), respectively, adapted
Hamari et al., 2016; Parsons, 2002). Finally, the above discussed ante­ from Hamari et al. (2016). Attitude and use intentions toward the
cedents of attitude, including trust and the perceived benefits, can
indirectly influence purchase intention, mediated by attitude (Chen and Table 1
Dibb, 2010; Padmavathy et al., 2019). Therefore, attitude, which is Descriptive statistics of the participants.
widely accepted as a key predictor of behavior (Ajzen, 1991), is a pre­ Variable Category Frequency (%)
dictor of online shopping intention (Lin, 2007), including in the context
Age (mean: 38.02) 20–29 68 (28.6)
of second-hand clothes shopping through a CFS (Hamari et al., 2016; 30–39 62 (26.1)
Padmavathy et al., 2019). Thus, H5–H9 are developed as follows: 40–49 60 (25.2)
50–59 48 (20.2)
H5. Consumers’ trust toward CFS positively influences their attitude Gender Male 106 (44.5)
toward it. Female 132 (55.5)
Ethnicity Asian/pacific islander 17 (7.1)
H6. The perceived hedonic benefit of CFS positively influences con­ Hispanic 25 (10.5)
sumers’ attitudes toward it. Black or African American 3 (1.3)
White or European American 40 (16.8)
H7. The perceived social benefit of CFS positively influences con­ Mixed or others 133 (55.9)
sumers’ attitudes toward it. Choose not to disclose 17 (7.1)
Education Some high school or less 11 (4.6)
H8. The perceived economic benefit of CFS positively influences High school degree 64 (26.9)
consumers’ attitudes toward it. Some college or technical degree 86 (36.1)
College degree 53 (22.3)
H9. Consumers’ attitudes toward using CFS positively influence their Graduate degree 23 (9.7)
intentions to use it. Choose not to disclose 1 (0.4)
Income Less than $10,000 24 (10.1)
$10,000 – $29,999 57 (23.9)
3. Research methods $30,000 – $49,999 55 (23.1)
$50,000 – $69,999 31 (13.0)
3.1. Study design $70,000 – $89,999 28 (11.8)
$90,000 and above 37 (15.5)
Choose not to disclose 6 (2.5)
In order to test the hypotheses developed, an online experiment was
conducted. The sample comprised 238 consumers from the U.S. general N = 238 (experiment: 117, control: 121).

4
N.(L. Kim et al. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 60 (2021) 102457

service are measured by three items for each, which are modified from Table 2
Van der Heijden, Verhagen, and Creemers (2003). All items utilized a Measurement items and exploratory factor analysis results.
7-pt Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). Items Factor AVE Composite Cronbach’s
Loadings Reliability alpha
4. Results Perceived Existence of .801 .923 .875
Product History
4.1. Descriptive statistics and manipulation check Looking at the website, I .908
found the history behind
the product provided by
Descriptive statistics revealed that the participants’ age, gender, the owner.
education level, and income level were fairly distributed following Looking at the website, I .917
normal distribution (see Table 1). The average age of the participants found the background
was 38 years, with ages ranging from the 20s–50s. About half of the about the product
provided by the owner.
participants were male (44.5%) and the rest were female (55.5%). Many
Looking at the website, I .858
of the participants were mixed races (55.9%), followed by White or found the explanation
European American (16.8%), and Hispanic (10.5%). Most of the par­ about how the product
ticipants had college education (58.4%) and $10,000–49,999 as their was purchased and used
monthly income (47.0%). The participants’ state of residence was by the owner.
Perceived Hedonic Benefit .790 .950 .934
diversely distributed across 21 different states. I think using this online .875
For manipulation check, an independent sample t-test was conducted shopping service would be
comparing the perceived existence of product history between the enjoyable.
experimental condition and the control condition. Results indicated that I think using this online .898
shopping service would be
the participants in the experimental condition perceived a significantly
exciting.
higher level of product history (Mexperiment = 4.96) than those in the I think using this online .883
control condition (Mcontrol = 4.34) (t = 3.13, p < .01). An additional shopping service would be
analysis of variance (ANOVA) also indicated a significant mean differ­ fun.
ence between the experimental condition and the control condition (F = I think using this online .893
shopping service would be
9.800, p < .01), confirming the different level of perception about interesting.
product history between the conditions. Thus, manipulation of product I think using this online .895
history was confirmed. shopping service would be
pleasant.
Perceived Social Benefit .811 .928 .884
4.2. Reliability and validity
Using this online .901
shopping service would
Before testing the hypotheses, measurement reliability and validity improve my image in the
were examined (see Table 2). First, the reliability indicators yielded community and society.
satisfactory results. All constructs’ Cronbach’s alpha values exceeded I would feel accepted by .918
the community and
the threshold of 0.7 (Hair et al., 2010) and showed composite reliability society if I use this online
(CR) higher than the recommended value of 0.7 (Hair et al., 2016). All shopping service.
indicator loadings were also greater than 0.6 (Bagozzi and Yi, 1988). Using this online .883
Convergent validity was established since the average variance extrac­ shopping service would
allow me to be part of a
ted (AVE) values were over 0.5 (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). Discrimi­
group of people with
nant validity was evaluated by comparing the square roots of the AVE similar interests.
values with the corresponding estimates of the correlation values and Perceived Economic Benefit .762 .906 .844
confirmed that the correlations were indeed lower than all of the square I can save money if I .842
roots of the AVE (Fornell and Larcker, 1981) (Table 3). Finally, we participate in using this
online shopping service.
checked for multicollinearity through the variance inflation factor (VIF), My participation in using .907
and all VIF values were inferior to 3.3 (Hair et al., 2011). As a result, the this online shopping
measurement items fulfilled the reliability and validity requirements for service would benefit me
further analysis. financially.
My participation in using .869
this online shopping
4.3. Analysis of the measurement model service can improve my
economic situation.
The data was analyzed through the partial least squares path Trust toward Service .630 .939 .926
modeling technique (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 3.0 software. As a This online shopping .773
service provides a robust
component-based modeling approach, PLS is often preferred to the and safe environment.
covariance-based approaches, such as structural equation modeling (CB- This online shopping .855
SEM) and multiple regression when estimating a complex model with service would fulfill the
less than 250 cases (Chin, 1998; Reinartz et al., 2009). Recent studies commitment it assumes.
I have confidence in the .793
show that PLS could also be a proper analysis method for experimental
promises that this online
studies, by fulfilling the purpose of examining the effect of the inde­ shopping service makes.
pendent variable on the dependent variable as well as by providing Information offered by .766
additional statistical information, such as, the results of testing the this online shopping
entire theoretical model at once, model fit, CFA, and tests of multiple service is sincere and
honest.
dependent variables, which are not achieved by traditional ANOVA This online shopping .782
(Breitsohl, 2019). PLS and other multiple indicators multiple causes service is frank and clear
(MIMIC) models are also suggested to resolve measurement error bias by (continued on next page)
explicitly modeling measurement errors (Breitsohl, 2019). Thus, in this

5
N.(L. Kim et al. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 60 (2021) 102457

Table 2 (continued ) hedonic benefit (β = 0.472; p < .001), social benefit (β = 0.453; p <
Items Factor AVE Composite Cronbach’s .001) and economic benefit (β = 0.411; p < .001), supporting H1, H2,
Loadings Reliability alpha H3, and H4. Among these variables, trust (β = 0.341; p < .05) and he­
about the products that
donic benefit (β = 0.484; p < .001) had a significant effect on con­
they offer. sumers’ attitudes toward circular fashion service; hence, H5 and H6
This online shopping .860 were supported. On the other hand, social benefit (β = − 0.081; p > .05)
service is a source of and economic benefit (β = 0.159; p > .05) did not have a significant
dependable information.
influence on attitude. Thus, H7 and H8 were not supported. Lastly, it
This online shopping .731
service is concerned with was confirmed that consumers’ attitude toward CFS hada significant
the present and future of impact on their intention of use (β = 0.875; p < .001), supporting H9.
users. In addition to testing the proposed relationships, we further tested
The design and .771 the effects of perceived benefits on use intentions in case these variables
commercial offer of this
online shopping service
were directly influencing intention. It was found that while hedonic
takes into account the benefit had a significant influence on attitude then ultimately intention
desires and needs of its (H6), it did not influence use intention directly (β = 0.054, p = .684).
users. Social benefit did not affect attitude (H7) but showed a direct effect on
This online shopping .804
intention (β = 0.238, p < .05). Economic benefit did not influence
service is receptive to the
needs of its users. attitude (H8) nor intention (β = -0.103, p = .362).
Attitude toward Service .844 .942 .906
The idea of using this .923 5. Discussion
online shopping service is
appealing.
I like the idea of buying a .923
Guided by the narrative competence theory, this study investigated
product from this online the effects of product history presence on enhancing consumers’ trust,
shopping service. perceived benefits, attitudes, and usage intentions toward CFS. First, we
Using this online .911 found that providing product history information through a narrative
shopping service to buy a
increases consumers’ trust toward the online CFS (H1). This suggests
product would be a good
idea. that learning the story behind a product’s usage and about the previous
Intention to Use Service .821 .948 .927 owner alleviate the risk and uncertainty associated with utilizing CFS, a
All things considered, I .872 relatively new concept that may have been unfamiliar to many con­
expect to use this online sumers. The influence of product history on trust was the greatest in
shopping service often in
magnitude (β = 0.518), compared to its influence on the other endog­
the future.
I can see myself engaging .939 enous variables. This highlights the role of a narrative as an effective
in this online shopping strategy in enhancing trust toward the service provider, which aligns
service in the future. with previous research (Gabbay and Leenders, 2003; Gillian and Zablah,
I can see myself using this .924
2013; Wuestefeld et al., 2012).
online shopping service if
possible. Second, the proposed influence of product history on hedonic, social,
It is likely that I will .889 and economic benefits was supported in the analysis (H2, H3, H4),
frequently use this online bolstering our reasoning that disclosing the background of the shared
shopping service in the product elicits pleasurable feelings, such as nostalgia or treasure-
future.
hunting type of thrills (H2) (Guiot and Roux, 2010; Machado et al.,
2019). Furthermore, the results affirm that product history narratives
study, a nonparametric bootstrapping procedure (1000 samples) was allow consumers to derive greater economic value from participating in
conducted to test the significance of path coefficients. The structural CFS (H3) (Wuestefeld et al., 2012) and reinforce their social acceptance
model was evaluated using the determination coefficients R2 for and engagement (H4) (Guiot and Roux, 2010). Among the three benefit
endogenous variables. As shown in Table 3, the R2 of the endogenous types, the effect of product history was the most significant for hedonic
variables exceeded the minimum level of 0.1 (Falk and Miller, 1992). In benefits (β = 0.472), implying that the incorporation of storytelling is
addition, the standardized root means square residual (SRMR) of our more effective in creating emotional appeal than rational appeals as
model, which is often used to assess the goodness of fit for PLS-SEM economic benefits. This finding aligned with the literature on the
(Henseler et al., 2009), was less than the maximum value of 0.08, narrative competence theory and how storytelling is known to stimulate
indicating a good fit. the audience’s empathy through emotional appeals (Park and Lee,
The results of the path coefficients are summarized in Fig. 1 and 2014).
Table 4. The analysis revealed that product history significantly influ­ Third, we posited that consumers’ trust and perceived hedonic, so­
enced trust toward using circular fashion service (β = 0.518; p < .001), cial, and economic benefits positively influence their attitudes toward

Table 3
Correlation matrix.
Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Attitude 5.099 1.369 .919

Economic Benefit 4.973 1.264 .681 .873
Hedonic Benefit 4.977 1.299 .768 .730 .889
Intention 4.746 1.465 .804 .663 .761 .906
Product History 4.646 1.535 .400 .354 .428 .423 .895
Social Benefit 4.577 1.393 .593 .656 .715 .666 .400 .901
Trust 5.023 1.050 .750 .728 .770 .757 .468 .638 .794

The lower triangle of the matrix represents the correlation coefficients between constructs.
The diagonal values (boldfaced values) represent the square root of the average variance extracted of each construct.

6
N.(L. Kim et al. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 60 (2021) 102457

Fig. 1. PLS path modeling results of hypotheses testing.

acknowledge that CFS helps save money, it is not the driving factor that
Table 4
leads them to participate in CFS. This echoes media reports that many
Structural model results.
thrifters, especially the younger generation, engage in resale shopping
Relationship Model with Hypotheses Path Coefficients (β t- not just for the money but to be socially and environmentally conscious
Direct Effect standardized) statistics
and to enjoy the thrill of it (THV11, 2018).
H1. History → Trust Accepted .518*** 7.006 In addition, trust continued to play a key role in enhancing con­
H2. History → Hedonic Accepted .472*** 6.268
sumers’ attitudes (H5). Such a result is not surprising, given that CFS
H3. History → Social Accepted .453*** 5.942
H4. History → Economic Accepted .411*** 5.129 hinges on the idea of sharing used products that are often associated
H5. Trust → Attitude Accepted .341* 2.458 with a high degree of uncertainty and product risk. Thus, trust-building
H6. Hedonic → Attitude Accepted .484** 3.397 is a critical component of CFS. Finally, it was confirmed that consumers’
H7. Social → Attitude Rejected -.081 .736 attitudes toward CFS are a significant predictor of their service usage
H8. Economic → Attitude Rejected .159 1.009
intentions (H9) in accordance with Ajzen’s (1991) well-established
H9. Attitude → Intention Accepted .875*** 25.296
attitude-behavior relations.
*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.
R2 (Trust) = 0.219; R2 (Hedonic Benefit) = 0.183; R2 (Social Benefit) = 0.160; R2
6. Implications and limitations
(Economic Benefit) = 0.125; R2 (Attitude) = 0.659; R2 (Intention) = 0.646;
SMRM = 0.052.
This study contributes to developing the literature on the circular
fashion system by providing one of the first empirical models that
using CFS. However, only trust and hedonic benefits were significant in explain product history as a factor that increases consumer interest in
enhancing consumers’ attitudes (H5 and H6), while social and economic participating in CFS and how trust and perceived values mediate this
benefits did not (H7 and H8 rejected). When we further tested the direct impact. This empirical model can be applied and expanded in future
effects of the perceived benefits on use intentions, social benefit research toward other contexts of product/service type and geographic
demonstrated a significant path, whereas hedonic and economic bene­ market, and we hope this study activates more research to promote
fits did not. This discovery differs from previous studies wherein circular fashion among consumers. Also, to the researchers’ knowledge,
perceived economic, social, and hedonic benefits all affected consumers’ this study is the first and only attempt to examine how providing
attitudes toward online retailing services (Childers et al., 2001; Forsythe product history could enhance the perceived value of second-hand
et al., 2006; Parsons, 2002). This may be because CFS is a unique type of apparel products based on narrative competence theory. Through its
an e-tailer whose motivations for participation may be different from findings, this study provided empirical evidence that adding a narrative
traditional online shopping. Our findings demonstrate that the hedonic enhances the perceived value of a second-hand product, and narrative
benefit, such as excitement and fun, is the chief factor in increasing competence theory applies to the context of circular fashion research by
consumers’ favorability toward CFS. This corresponds with prior explaining the role of narrative in creating additional values of the
research on offline second-hand shopping, where consumers treated the circulated product. Additionally, the study revealed that consumers’
shopping experience as a treasure hunt (Machado et al., 2019). attitudes and intentions toward CFS are mainly driven by trust toward
Furthermore, perceived social benefit played a significant role in the service provider as well as hedonic and social reasons. Such dis­
increasing consumers’ CFS intentions directly, which lends support to covery is noteworthy given that prior studies have mainly focused on the
the idea that CFS offers a sense of belongingness to a community with economic benefit of secondhand consumption.
like-minded people and provides social acceptance, ultimately contrib­ The findings of this study also provide implications to marketers,
uting to consumers’ adoption intentions (Hamari et al., 2016; service providers, activists, educators, and public administrators that
Möhlmann, 2015). On the other hand, the insignificant paths between intend to promote circular fashion. Exchanging used products with
perceived economic benefit and attitude/intention was surprising since strangers has acted as a major psychological barrier to many consumers,
economic elements (price) have been identified as a key benefit of which has delayed active diffusion of the circular fashion movement.
secondhand shopping (Hamari et al., 2016; Jiao, 2015; Padmavathy Our findings suggest that adding an element of humanity, such as the
et al., 2019). Our finding suggests that although consumers

7
N.(L. Kim et al.
narrative of the product history written and exchanged between con­
sumers, can be a promising factor to increase consumers’ trust and
perceived product values; thus, driving more active participation. This
shows that the story of the previous owner’s firsthand experience is an
effective trust-builder for second-hand clothes, and consumers seek this
human-to-human communication in online platforms, like circular
fashion service. Given that the online CFS model is one of the most
recently emerged business models that represent the future era of retail,
it is interesting that consumers still prefer a humane element to it.
Based on this, marketers and retailers that aim to enhance consumer
acceptance toward an online second-hand clothing retail service may
consider the following strategies. Instead of providing only the mini­
mum level of product information such as price and style, it can be
effective to add a humane narrative, that communicates the story behind
the product. Because second-hand clothing is associated with different
psychological risks than new products, such as consumers’ concerns
about sanitation, authenticity, age, and the previous owner, it is
important to apply strategies that could relieve these concerns. The
product history that provides more details about how the product was
purchased, used and donated/sold by the previous owner is found to be
effective to relieve these concerns. Therefore, marketers and retailers of
online second-hand clothing retail services based on circular fashion
system need to consider clarifying such information when collecting
merchandises from previous owners, by increasing transparency and
trustworthy of the services. This kind of action may also be helpful to
enhance consumers’ experience of using online second-hand clothes
shopping by adding an element of virtual interpersonal interaction,
which can build a stronger customer community culture in the long-
term. Doing so can also accentuate the hedonic and social nature of
the secondhand transaction, which were found to be the key drivers of
consumers’ attitudes and intentions toward CFS.
Despite these implications, the results of this study have some limi­
tations. Because this study utilized an experimental setting where only
the intended variable (existence of product history) was manipulated,
there could be other variables that additionally influence consumers’
response toward CFS, such as consumers’ previous experience with
using online second-hand clothing retail service. This calls for future
research on this topic. Based on this study as a stepping stone, future
research should further examine when the effects of product history are
maximized, such as under the influence of other product-related and
consumer-related variables including their previous awareness and
exposure to such service. Also, this study only examined consumers in
the U.S. Given that CFS is a fairly new concept, consumers in other
countries might be less familiar with the concept and provide different
viewpoints. For a wider generalization of our findings, a cross-cultural
comparison of consumers’ opinions toward circular fashion service
would be useful.
Declaration of competing interest
None.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Re­
public of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-
2019S1A5A8041031). This paper is based on the conference abstract,
“Story makes a difference: The effects of providing product history in
promoting circular fashion among consumers”, presented at the Inter­
national Textiles and Apparel Association (ITAA) Annual Conference,
2020.
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Naeun (Lauren) Kim, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Retail Merchandising Program at
the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include sustainable consumption, in­
ternational retailing and branding. Her work has been published in several international
refereed journals such as the Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Management
Decision, and International Journal of Market Research.
Hongjoo Woo, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clothing & Textiles at
Yonsei University. Her research areas include fashion business management, consumer
behavior, and corporate social responsibility. Her research has been published at Business
Ethics: A European Review, International Marketing Review, Journal of Retailing and
Consumer Services, Journal of Product and Brand Management, etc.
Bharath Ramkumar, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Fashion and Textiles in the
Department of Human Ecology at the State University of New York at Oneonta. His
research focusses on e-consumer behavior and sustainable production and consumption
practices. His work has been published in international refereed journals including Journal
of Retailing and Consumer Services, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, and
Fashion and Textiles.