Examining Consumers’ Perceptions of and Attitudes toward Digital Fashion in General and Purchase Intention of Luxury Brands’ Digital Fashion Specifically

Abstract

Digital fashion may instill transformative power into the fashion industry as it can simultaneously deliver fashionability and sustainability. Renowned for their innovativeness and creativity, luxury brands embrace digital fashion and achieve market success, indicating the future of digital fashion. This research aims to empirically investigate consumers’ general perceptions and evaluations of digital fashion and to specifically examine consumers’ purchase intention of luxury brands’ digital fashion. A total of 214 responses were collected from a U.S.-based research company’s consumer panel. Data were analyzed by using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results revealed that the general attitude toward digital fashion is influenced by four factors: the two specific attitudes toward outfitting avatars and dressing real people’s on-screen bodies in virtual spaces, the perceived social value of digital fashion, and consumer environmental involvement. Furthermore, the general attitude and perceived social value of digital fashion directly affect the purchase intention. This study attempts to extend established theories into the emerging digital fashion context and provides insights and suggestions for digital fashion marketers, particularly for luxury fashion brands.