The purpose of this study was to understand the factors and/or constructs that influence intent to pursue entrepreneurship. The study of entrepreneurship as a theoretical framework has increased significantly over the past two decades. Many undergraduate and graduate programs now have courses, majors, and minors dedicated to entrepreneurship education. Therefore, it is critical to understand what influences one to pursue entrepreneurship so that the most effective concepts can be taught. Eight major constructs were presented in this study to test their influence both directly and indirectly on intent: perceived desirability, perceived feasibility, subjective norm, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, prior exposure to entrepreneurship, future family commitments, future unemployment, and creativity. Responses were collected via an online survey from 120 students with majors in textiles, apparel design, and merchandising. Of the responses received, 102 were deemed usable. Exploratory factory analysis was used to test the significance of the data. Perceived desirability and perceived feasibility were shown to have a direct influence on intent. All other factors were tested to see if they impacted desirability and/or feasibility. Only subjective norm was found to effect both perceived desirability and perceived feasibility. Significance was also found between perceived feasibility and entrepreneurial self-efficacy and future unemployment. No correlation was found between perceived desirability and/or perceived feasibility and prior exposure to entrepreneurship, future family commitments, or creativity. The results strengthen previous literature on the major factors that influence entrepreneurial intent. Future research should focus on surveying students mid and post degree to gage intent to pursue self-employment.

This paper is a reflection on an actor’s journey through the Graduate Acting Program at the University of Texas at Austin which culminated in a thesis production of Intimate Apparel directed by Melissa Maxwell. This paper examines the tools and techniques acquired in training both in the classroom, production and outside experiences. In addition, this paper will provide an in-depth examination of how the character of Mayme in The University of Texas’s production of Intimate Apparel was created using said tools and techniques as well as new skills acquired during the process. / text

Perceived value is important in determining brand loyalty. Although studies have shown that consumers perceived values change over time, understanding which values are influenced by self-image congruity is necessary, because the relationship consumers form with brands they favor will help marketers develop strategies that can motivate their brand loyalty. Therefore, this study sought to assess which perceived values consumers acquire from consumption of their favorite sportswear brand. It also examined the influence of self-image congruity on these values. The objectives of the study were to: identify the perceived value of sportswear brands of college students; investigate the effect of perceived value on brand loyalty; test the mediating effect of the self-concept in the relationship between perceived value and brand loyalty; and identify the relationship among perceived value, self-concept and brand loyalty. An online survey was administered to college students. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression. The results showed that participants were loyal to their favorite sportswear brands given key values. The study identified two clusters of participants based on their self-image congruity, those with high self-image congruency and those with low self-image congruency. High self-image congruency group considered price and quality value in their favorite sportswear brand. Thus, their brand loyalty was mainly as a result of the price and quality value they got from the brand. The low self-image congruency group considered emotional and price value in their favorite brand. Thus there brand loyalty was mainly due to the emotional value and price value they got from the brand. None of the groups were influenced by social value. Therefore, since the self influences consumption, focusing on marketing strategies that enhance self-image congruity for each of the groups could help companies sustain brand loyalty among their customers given the competitiveness in this retail sector.

Over the last few decades, the global consumption of luxury brands has rapidly ýincreased. ýThere are many internal and external factors that motivate consumers to buy a ýluxury brand. ýAlthough there is some evidence of the impact of functional, social, and ýindividual values on ýluxury purchase intention, little has been done to compare cultures in ýterms of these values, ýespecially in the Middle East. Thus, the purpose of this research ýwas to compare Western and ýMiddle Eastern culture (individualism and collectivism) ýregarding the consumers intention to purchase a luxury brand in terms of ýthree main ývalues (functional, social and individual), while also addressing consumer guilt. ý The data for this study were collected from two countriesthe United States and ýSaudi ýArabia. A total of 478 university students participated in this study via an online ýsurvey: 171 ýfrom the United States and 277 from Saudi Arabia. The reliability of research ýscales was ýassessed ýthrough Cronbachs alpha. Pearsons correlation coefficient was ýapplied to test the correlations ýbetween the study variables. Data was assessed using ýSEM. Before testing the proposed ýstructural model, the measurement model was tested ýby a confirmatory factor analysis using the ýAMOS 21 program. Model fit was assessed ývia the chi-square statistic. The results revealed that ýFunctional and Social values ýsignificantly predicted Luxury Purchase Intention while Individual ýValue did not. ýCultural Dimension did not moderate the relationship between Functional Value ýand ýLuxury Purchase Intention. Individualism moderated the relationship ýbetween ýConspicuousness and Luxury Purchase Intention. The relationship between ýConspicuousness and ýLuxury Purchase Intention was stronger within the high ýindividualism group. Meanwhile, Guilt ýmoderated the relationship between Uniqueness ýand Luxury Purchase Intention. The relationship ýbetween Uniqueness and Purchase ýIntention was stronger within the high guilt group. However, ýCultural Dimension and ýConsumer Guilt did not moderate the relationship between Individual ýValue and Luxury ýPurchase Intention. Attitude toward Luxury did not mediate the relationship ýbetween ýFunctional and Social Value and Luxury Purchase Intention but it is partially mediated ýby ýthe relationship between Individual Values and Luxury Purchase Intentions. These results ýadd ýto the existing literature by addressing consumer guilt and Middle Eastern culture to ýluxury ýmarketing, which can then be used for marketing purposes and to increase the sales ýof luxury ýbrands. Theoretical and practical implications were provided based on the ýresults.ý

Social media is being used as platforms for viral marketing. Although there is some evidence on the usefulness of viral marketing from the marketers perspective, little is known about the motivations, attitudes, and behaviors of consumers engaged in this marketing instrument. As the social media platform continues to grow, understanding the characteristics and motivations of key players is invaluable for marketers and communicators who deal with message strategy and media outreach. Fashion companies have noticed this change and want to be present in the social media in different ways. This research represents a comprehensive attempt to examine the factors that impact on consumer usage of social media and their behavioral intentions to forward fashion viral messages by developing an attitudinal model that integrated uses and gratification theory and elaboration likelihood model; proposing that the relationship is moderated by individual dynamic traits, message traits and consumer fashion traits. Empirical data was collected from a convenience sample of 381 college students in two southeastern universities via an online survey. Validity and reliability of research scales were assessed. Hypothesized relationships and moderating effects were tested using two-step structural equation modeling approach. Within the general model the findings show that individuals will forward a fashion viral message if they have stronger favorable utilitarian and value-expressive attitudes towards the message. Motivations did not significantly impact attitudes of the consumer with an exception of the dimension of interpersonal utility that impacts individuals value expressive attitude. The results of moderating variables indicate that message traits (functional and experiential oriented) impact consumers utilitarian and value-expressive attitudes. In relation to consumer fashion traits, there was no significant difference among consumers with high or low fashion leadership and those with high or low fashion involvement. Individual dynamics traits (viral dynamics and structural social capital) showed some moderating effects on the relationships between motivations and attitudes toward a social media marketing message. The results add to existing literature related to viral marketing and validate the claim that viral marketing can be used for marketing purposes resulting in increased business for firms. Theoretical and practical implications were provided based on research findings.

The purpose of this study is to explore the application of a pre-existing apparel design process model and design framework to the development of a conceptual slow fashion apparel design process and framework. A content analysis of slow design and slow fashion literature identified 38 themes related to specific design criteria, which were applied to design considerations from the Lamb & Kallal Functional, Expressive, and Aesthetic (FEA) model (1992). Additional design considerations were revealed due to the nature of the research topic and relationship to the stages in the applied design framework. For the Slow Fashion Apparel Design model five considerations were established: functional, expressive, aesthetic, designer, and other. The Slow Fashion Apparel Design Framework established six considerations associated with six stages of the apparel design process framework: material, quality, production, design, evaluation, and implementation. Design criteria were placed into each consideration category according to design theory and Lamb & Kallals model and framework. A sample of 71 textiles, apparel design, and merchandising professionals with membership in the International Textiles and Apparel Association completed a survey regarding the application of the design criteria found in the content analysis to the design considerations established using the FEA model. Apparel design participants from the sample who volunteered for a follow-up survey were interviewed regarding creative scholarship and apparel design processes. Analysis of survey and interview results revealed a differentiation in the application of design criteria within the design considerations established for the design process model and design framework. These differentiations were divided into required, highly recommended, and recommended design criteria. The Slow Fashion Apparel Design Process model had 17 design criteria across five considerations distributed into the three levels of importance. The Slow Fashion Apparel Design Framework had 14 design criteria across four considerations distributed into only required and recommended differentiations. It was revealed that evaluation and implementation consideration categories were not included in the design criteria within the Slow Fashion Apparel Design Framework. Further study is needed to seek explanations for this occurrence. Future research will include the application of this conceptual model to develop of a slow fashion apparel collection.

Brand extension and lifestyle branding have been the most commonly used marketing strategies. Unlike other consumer goods, fashion products, or other lifestyle products contains strong meaning of the users identity, thus, once done well, the parent non-fashion brands could benefit from not only the profit generated by the extension, but also creating a closer and stronger relationship with customers. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to examine how fashion product attributes affect consumers behavioral intention towards the fashion extension, to examine how perceived fit and brand extension authenticity affect consumers behavioral intention towards the fashion extensions, to explore the important parent brand factors and examine how these factors affect consumers behavioral intentions of fashion extensions; and to test the influence of ownership status and consumer characteristics on consumers behavioral intension of the fashion extensions. Data was collected through Qualtrics with a national sample. A total of 453 valid responses were collected. Structural equation modeling, factor analysis and MANOVA were used to test the hypotheses. Results show that compared to parent band affect, the other independent factor, brand extension attribute evaluation, contributes a larger portion on brand extension behavioral intention through the mediating effects of fit, brand extension authenticity, and brand extension attitude. Brand extension behavioral intention is directly affected by attitude toward the extension, perceived, and parent brand affect. The results of sub-model testing show that parent brand affect is impacted by other parent brand factors, including parent brand trust, consumer-brand identification, parent brand identity expressiveness, parent brand prestige image, and parent brand quality. Among these factors, parent brand identity expressiveness and consumer-brand identification contributes the largest portion to the parent brand affect, which consequently leads to a favorable brand extension behavioral intention. Parent brand ownership status and consumer characteristics, including brand engagement, product knowledge, and need for self-expression moderate the effects on brand extension behavioral intention. These results provide some suggestions to both brand managers and manufacturers who intend to be licensees of the brands. Future research may focus on emerging market and the impact of cultural differences on consumers perception of fashion extensions, and explore co-branding strategies.

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Consumer spending accounts for over sixty-five percent of the Gross Domestic Product in the United States, greatly affecting the economy, as well as the retail sector. The consumer, rather than business or government, has become the dominant factor in shaping the course of the aggregate U.S. economy (Curtin, 1982). The purpose of this study is to examine whether the economy, as perceived by consumers, has any effect on the apparel purchase expenditures of consumers, and if so, how personal factors such as gender, age, income, educational attainment, race, and marital status contribute to their perceptions and decisions. A research model was created using consumers' current economic perceptions, future economic perceptions, and importance of fashion as predictors of apparel expenditures. Demographic variables were included to see if demographics had any significant influence on current and future perceptions, importance of fashion, and/or apparel expenditures. Data for this study was obtained by administering a paper and internet survey to 166 consumers in the stratified market of Roanoke, VA. One-way ANOVA analysis findings indicate that age had an influence on consumers' future economic expenditures. Age and education had an influence on consumers' importance of fashion, while marital status had an influence on apparel expenditures. Regression analysis indicated that consumers' perceptions of current and future economic conditions and importance of fashion were significant predictors of consumers' apparel expenditures. Recommendations include collecting real expenditure amounts, comparing perceived economic conditions data to real economic indicators, and comparing Consumer Expenditure Survey data with real economic indicators. / Master of Science

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