Researcher ORCID Identifier

0009-0000-4642-4317

Graduation Year

2025

Date of Submission

4-2025

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Psychology

Reader 1

Sherylle Tan

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2025 Cayman E Chen

Abstract

Fashion leaders are social leaders who derive their power from what they wear and how they influence others. There are three types: 1) fashion innovators, who are early adopters of trends, 2) fashion opinion leaders, who legitimize new styles and influence others, and 3) innovative communicators, who exhibit the behaviors of both fashion innovators and fashion opinion leaders. This study investigates motivational differences between different fashion leaders through their values. We then investigate how fashion leadership and value-based advertising appeal predicts intention to purchase sustainable fashion products. 213 student participants were administered the Portrait Values Questionnaire, the Domain-Specific Innovativeness Scale, and the Opinion Leadership Scale. Participants then reported their purchase intention after viewing an advertisement for a mock sustainable fashion company, emphasizing either openness to change, self-enhancement, or neutral advertising appeal. This study found significant correlations for 10 values and indicates an overall shared value structure for fashion leadership. Results also showed that value-based advertising appeal did not significantly influence purchase intentions for sustainable products across fashion leadership groups. Our study points to limitations in the definitions and measurement of fashion leadership and we suggest that future research should re-evaluate fashion leadership constructs to account for changes that have reshaped the fashion industry in the 21st century.

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