Publicação
Understanding the consumption of fashion as a communication medium: the role of civic engagement
| Resumo: | The aim of this research is to investigate the factors that lead consumers to use fashion for civic engagement purposes and as a communication medium. In order to achieve this aim, several objectives were set: (RO1) to critically review prior studies to identify the role of brand engagement, self-concept, and media influence on civic engagement; (RO2) to identify the causes consumers support through the use of fashion; (RO3) to understand the variables that influence the consumption of fashion as a communication medium; (RO4) to understand civic engagement’s role in promoting consumer’s fashion choices (communication). The literature review shows that brand engagement, self-concept and media influence contribute to civic engagement and communication through fashion leading to the development of a research model entailing the relationship among these variables. This study used a sequential mixed approach. The investigation began with qualitative research (semi-structured interviews), followed by quantitative research (online administrated questionnaires). The interviews were analyzed using content analysis, focusing on motivations about civic engagement, how citizens communicate social issues via fashion. The outcomes of the qualitative data were used to further develop and refine the research model. A survey was applied to test the proposed model. Data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the hypotheses. Results show that self-concept, traditional and non-traditional media influence impact citizens’ civic engagement. Brand personality does not have a significant impact in citizens’ civic engagement. In addition, political, social and environmental civic causes impact fashion as a communication medium. This study contributes to knowledge by shedding light on the motivations to use fashion to communicate civic engagement. Fashion garments can display not only one’s identity essence, but also as an expressive meaning towards certain political and social matters. |
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| Autores principais: | Helmy, Farah Khaled Fouad Abdelrahman |
| Assunto: | Civic Engagement Brand Engagement Self-Concept Media Influence Fashion as a Communication Medium Engajamento Cívico Engajamento da Marca Autoconceito Influência dos Media Moda como Meio de Comunicação |
| Ano: | 2023 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | tese de doutoramento |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade do Minho |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho |
| Resumo: | The aim of this research is to investigate the factors that lead consumers to use fashion for civic engagement purposes and as a communication medium. In order to achieve this aim, several objectives were set: (RO1) to critically review prior studies to identify the role of brand engagement, self-concept, and media influence on civic engagement; (RO2) to identify the causes consumers support through the use of fashion; (RO3) to understand the variables that influence the consumption of fashion as a communication medium; (RO4) to understand civic engagement’s role in promoting consumer’s fashion choices (communication). The literature review shows that brand engagement, self-concept and media influence contribute to civic engagement and communication through fashion leading to the development of a research model entailing the relationship among these variables. This study used a sequential mixed approach. The investigation began with qualitative research (semi-structured interviews), followed by quantitative research (online administrated questionnaires). The interviews were analyzed using content analysis, focusing on motivations about civic engagement, how citizens communicate social issues via fashion. The outcomes of the qualitative data were used to further develop and refine the research model. A survey was applied to test the proposed model. Data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the hypotheses. Results show that self-concept, traditional and non-traditional media influence impact citizens’ civic engagement. Brand personality does not have a significant impact in citizens’ civic engagement. In addition, political, social and environmental civic causes impact fashion as a communication medium. This study contributes to knowledge by shedding light on the motivations to use fashion to communicate civic engagement. Fashion garments can display not only one’s identity essence, but also as an expressive meaning towards certain political and social matters. |
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