Jennifer Paff Ogle

Predicting patronage behaviors in a sustainable retail environment: Adding retail characteristics and consumer lifestyle orientation to the belief-attitude-behavior intention model

This study investigated consumer patronage (i.e., shopping and making purchases) at Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), specifically examining consumer response to REI’s incorporation of sustainable design principles at their Denver flagship store. Data were collected using a consumer intercept survey at the Denver REI store (n = 186). Of particular interest was the role of store atmospherics—including sustainable store design, historic preservation, and urban renewal efforts—in shaping consumers’ future intentions to patronize REI Denver. Consumers’ intentions to patronize REI were modeled using the classic belief-attitude-behavior intention model (i.e., attitude and subjective norm) based upon the theory of reasoned action, and an extended model that included variables external to the theory. Findings suggest that, when used to predict consumer patronage behaviors, the classic belief-attitudebehavior intention model should be extended to include retail characteristics, notably store atmospherics and merchandise assortment; a social context or social identity variable such as consumer lifestyle orientation; and demographics.

Appearance Cues and the Shootings at Columbine High: Construction of a Social Problem in the Print Media

In this study, we used an interpretive approach to examine print media (newspaper) representations of the relationship between appearance and the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado. Our work was guided by the social constructionist definition of a social problem. Grounded theory analyses revealed that both primary and secondary claims-makers staged claims and/or counterclaims contributing to the construction of Columbine as an appearance-linked social problem. The content and form of these claims varied according to the stage in the construction of the problem. Further, although both primary and secondary claims were made with respect to the conceptualization of the problem, an explanation for it, and solutions to it, the roles of primary and secondary claims-makers in constructing the problem varied. Implications of claims made within the media and related to the role of appearance in the shootings are considered, and a call is made for future work in this area.

Mothers and Daughters Interpersonal Approaches to Body and Dieting

The interpretive study reported in this article focused on the process by which mothers and daughters interact about body and dieting. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 mothers and their adolescent daughters. Constant comparison analysis of data revealed four patterns of mother-daughter interaction about body and dieting: (a) the direct verbal approach, including encouragement/facilitation, dissuasion, and fault-finding messages; (b) the avoidance/guardedness approach; (c) the modeling approach; and (d) the laissez-faire approach. These four patterns of communication varied in terms of content and were used in different contexts and combinations. These mother-daughter interactions (a) were shaped by mothers’ and daughters’ thoughts about the self, the other, and the mother-daughter relationship; (b) were used by mothers and daughters to plan future interactions with one another; and (c) served to guide lines of personal action with respect to dieting, especially in the case of daughters.

Exploring Gen Y Responses to an Apparel Brand’s Use of Cause-Related Marketing Does Message Matter When It Comes to Support for the Breast Cancer Cause?

This study explored Gen Y’s responses to cause-related marketing (CRM) in apparel advertising. Data were collected from 349 Gen Y consumers to examine the influence of CRM on attitudes and purchase intentions toward an apparel brand. Attitude toward the brand was predicted by awareness of the apparel brand, perception of CRM, evaluation of the advertisement, involvement in the breast cancer cause, and gender. The theory of reasoned action was used to predict Gen Y’s purchase intentions and the utility of the classic model was compared to that of an extended model that included variables external to the theory. In the classic model, purchase intention was predicted by attitude toward the brand and subjective norm. In the extended model, purchase intention was predicted by attitude toward the brand, subjective norm, awareness of the apparel brand, evaluation of the advertisement, and involvement in the breast cancer cause. A calculated F-ratio indicated that the extended model provided additional explanatory power.

Feminist Theory of the Dressed Female Body: A Comparative Analysis and Applications for Textiles and Clothing Scholarship

The purpose of this analysis was to synthesize diverse theoretical positions advanced within contemporary feminist literature on the dressed female body and to consider the varied ways in which these theoretical positions may have bearing on the field of textiles and clothing. Feminist perspectives of the dressed body are discussed as related to (a) modern feminist readings of the body, (b) postmodern feminist readings of the body, (c) feminist musings about the possibility of the body as a vehicle for empowerment, and (d) feminist perspectives on ambivalence and the body. Throughout the discussion, feminist theories of the dressed body are compared and situated with respect to broader feminist ideologies and assumptions. Concluding this work, suggestions are provided for future applications of feminist theory of the dressed body to textiles and clothing scholarship.

Social Support for Women Who Have Undergone Bariatric Surgery

We explored the role that social support plays in the lives of women who have undergone bariatric surgery. We conducted in-depth interviews with 13 women who had had bariatric surgery (M age = 53.0 years) and analyzed the data using constant comparison processes. We found that individuals in participants’ lives offered support by acting as role models and providing information, offering empathy and expressions of concern and caring, assisting with everyday responsibilities, and serving as companions. In turn, these forms of support guided participants’ behavior, calmed their concerns, enhanced their self-esteem, relieved them of daily responsibilities, and offered them companionship in their bariatric journeys. Consistent with the existing theory, differently situated individuals specialized in offering particular types of support. Although participants appreciated the support received, many indicated a desire for more or “better” support, pointing to a need for resources guiding supporters in how to best offer support to bariatric patients.

College students’ responses to prosocial marketing claims on apparel hang tags

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore consumers’ responses to prosocial marketing claims presented on apparel hang tags. Guided by the theory of reasoned of action, this study examined the impact of varied prosocial claims (environment, labor, cancer charity) upon college students’ evaluations of hang tags used to promote university-branded apparel (i.e. t-shirts) as well as their attitudes and patronage intentions toward the apparel. Design/methodology/approach – An intercept survey approach, with an experimental design component, was used to administer a written questionnaire to 262 college students. The experimental design component required participants to examine a university-branded t-shirt and to read the information provided on the product hang tag attached to the t-shirt. Findings – In total, 60 percent of college students read apparel hang tags on a very frequent or frequent basis to gain information about brand name, care instructions, and fiber content. Further, college students ev...

The role of maternity dress consumption in shaping the self and identity during the liminal transition of pregnancy

The present interpretive work explores the consumption experiences of pregnant women transitioning to mother roles, focusing specifically upon the consumption of maternity dress, which has not been previously considered within the context of liminal consumption. Of particular interest were if and how the consumption of maternity dress may shape the self during the liminal transition of pregnancy. Findings revealed that consumption of maternity dress during pregnancy both complicated and supported participants’ embodied experiences as liminal, pregnant selves and their transition to motherhood. Three overarching themes were identified and reflect the ways in which participants’ consumption practices were tightly bound with their identities, which, in turn, represented a repertoire of possible selves that often diverged from the participants’ current identities. Specifically, the three emergent themes included: (1) maternity dress consumption representing disruption in the ‘Woman I Am Most of the Time,’ (2) maternity dress consumption to affirm one’s new identity as ‘Pregnant/Expectant Mother,’ and (3) maternity dress consumption to maintain continuity in the ‘Woman I Am Most of the Time.’ Findings also underscored that consumption during liminality is complex, both inciting and relieving ambivalence during role transition.

Jointly Navigating the Reclamation of the ‘‘Woman I Used to Be’’: Negotiating Concerns About the Postpartum Body Within the Marital Dyad:

This interpretive study explored the marital dyad as a context for the negotiation of concerns relative to the postpartum body, and in particular, the reconfiguration of this body so as to more closely approximate the pre-pregnant body/self. The research was guided by symbolic interactionism and the work of Erving Goffman. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with 14 married couples expecting their first child. Analyses revealed that wives and husbands negotiated meanings relative to recapturing, redefining, and reclaiming wives’ bodies after childbirth in a way that suggested a repertoire of possible selves, including the Woman I/My Wife Used to Be (before pregnancy), the Woman I Fear I/My Wife Could Become (i.e., a woman who cannot get her old shape back), and the Women I/My Wife Hope(s) to Become (i.e., a woman who can get her old shape back) (cf. Guy & Banim, 2000). Within this general system of meanings, three overarching themes emerged: (a) aspirations for the postpartum body, (b) the navigation of concerns relative to the appearance of the postpartum body, and (c) reclamation projects planned and/or undertaken by wives. In varied ways, interactions within the marital dyad shaped the wives’ efforts to navigate their concerns about the postpartum body and to plan or undertake bodily reclamation projects. Generally speaking, husband-wife interactions were described by wives as a source of reassurance in the journey back to The Women They Used to Be. Findings provide support for interactionist proposition that the people come to understand the body through others’ eyes.

Body Satisfaction and Attitude Theory: Linkages with Normative Compliance and Behaviors Undertaken to Change the Body

Reasoned action theory is adapted to study the influence of body satisfaction and subjective norm (the role of others) on behavioral intention and behavior to change the body. Data are collected from 301 female undergraduate students. Causal model analyses are conducted by a maximum-likelihood estimation procedure using LISREL 8.72. Overall, fit of the model is highly adequate. Participants who have high body satisfaction scores are less likely to want to change their bodies. Participants who think that significant others (parents, siblings, and friends) want them to change their bodies and who are inclined to comply with those significant others are more likely to want to change their bodies. Participants with greater intention to change their bodies are more likely to try to change them. The results support reasoned action theory.