Due to the success of apparel online shopping, many researchers in consumer behavior hope to extend the existing consumer behavior theories into the electronic commerce area to assist apparel marketers to develop effective marketing strategies to understand, attract, and maintain their consumers (Goldsmith & McGregor, 1999). Many apparel researchers have investigated Consumer Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction (CS/D) with online shopping (Hou, 2005; Jiang & Rosenbloom, 2005; Kim, Kim & Lennon, 2006; Lee, 2004). However, most of these studies focused on CS/D with apparel websites or e-service quality, rather than CS/D with the products purchased online. In apparel online shopping, consumers cannot examine the textures, hand, or color of the fabric or try on the garment. Because of the intangibility of apparel products on the website, consumers may use extrinsic cues, such as brand image, to judge if the brand is worthy of the price and to make an inference of the product quality (O'Neal, 1992). Previous studies about brand image mainly discussed about how brand image influences consumers' perception and evaluation of product quality (d''Astous & Saint-Louis, 2005; Dodds, Monroe & Grewal, 1991) and the impact of brand image to consumers' purchase intention (Ataman & Ulengin, 2003; Li, 2004; Park & Stoel, 2005). No research has examined how brand image influences consumers'' expectations at purchase and the perceptions of product performance at the product-receiving stage, and the role of brand image in CS/D after receiving products, especially in the realm of apparel online shopping. Therefore, a study investigating the roles of brand image and product performance in CS/D with apparel online shopping is essential. The purpose of the study was to examine the factors related to CS/D with the purchased product and with the brand in apparel online shopping at the product-receiving stage. The four objectives of the study were to examine (a) the relationships between consumers'' individual differences (i.e., brand sensitivity, brand familiarity, brand self-congruity and demographics) and perceived brand image at the purchase stage, (b)the influence of consumers'' perceived brand image at purchase on their expectation for product performance and on perceived product performance, (c) antecedences of CS/D with the product and CS/D with the brand, and (d) antecedences of product return intention and repurchase intention. A model of CS/D with the purchased apparel product and with the brand in an online shopping context was proposed as the framework of this study. Different from the two stages (i.e., purchase stage, product-consumption stage) usually proposed in the studies of offline shopping, an extra product-receiving stage was included between purchase and product-consumption stages to illustrate the process of CS/D after consumer receive the product that they ordered online. Fifteen hypotheses were developed according to the relationships proposed in the framework. A 2 X 2 between-subjects factorial experimental design was developed to conduct this study. The treatment variables were brand image and product performance. Two levels of brand image at the purchase stage (i.e., higher, lower) were manipulated by two brand names and logos. Two levels of product performance at the product-receiving stage (i.e., higher,lower) were manipulated by two sweatshirts with different levels of quality. A website was developed to simulate the apparel online shopping process, and a questionnaire was developed to measure the variables included in this study. A structural equation model was developed to examine the proposed relationships and hypotheses. Results in this study showed that both brand image and product performance significantly influenced CS/D with product and CS/D with the brand. Product performance was the most important factor on consumers'' satisfaction with the product that they ordered online. Brand image at purchase played a direct role in CS/D with the brand but an indirect role in CS/D with the product. Brand image at purchase positively influenced product performance expectation; product performance expectation positively influenced the perception of product performance; and then, perceived product performance affected satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the product. Visible attribute (i.e.,style, color) expectancy disconfirmation was also found to be an antecedence of CS/D with the product. If perceived product performance of style and color was better than what they expected, participants tended to be more satisfied with the product. CS/D with the product was found to be a significant antecedence of CS/D with the brand. CS/D with the product was found to be the direct factor influencing product return intention, and perceived brand image at the product-receiving stage and CS/D with the brand were antecedents of repurchase intention. In conclusion, this study suggests that brand image and product performance were significant factors on CS/D with the purchased product and with the brand at the product-receiving stage in apparel online shopping. This study is beneficial to consumer behavior researchers and apparel e-tailers by identifying the roles of brand image and product performance in apparel online shopping. Based on the results, marketing strategies in apparel online shopping were provided. / Master of Science

This study gives a platform to three old retired people who are constructed to be enjoying well-being and life satisfaction or going through life dissatisfaction after retirement. The epistemological framework was social constructionism. In-depth interviews with these three individuals were carried out. The premises of qualitative research were followed. The ‘case study approach’ was chosen as the most suitable method to gather information. Thematic content analysis was employed as a method of analysis of life stories of old retired people, which were reconstructed in terms of themes. Recurring themes in the life stories were then discussed and linked with the broader literature. The research allowed rich and informative information about life stories of three old retired people to emerge. Among the identified themes were financial status relating to adequate and appropriate sustenance after retirement; social networks and their effects on life satisfaction and dissatisfaction after retirement; health status; and cognitive functions in late adulthood. Everyone wishing to understand life in old age after retirement is encouraged to read this story. It is necessary to be sufficiently equipped in the event of an extended lifespan. / Psychology / M.A.(Psychology)

The aims of the studies were to assess body image perceptions, the role of stress and other possible associated psychopathologies within a non-clinical sample. The prevalence of body image concern is increasing and is widely considered as secondary to evolving socio-cultural trends. Negative self-perceptions about body image can be manifest as measurable indicators of physiological stress, or even psychopathology. This thesis describes two quantitative studies into the role and relevance of various causative factors in the development of negative body image in cohorts of volunteers drawn from the general population of the University of Bradford in West Yorkshire, UK. In Study One, subjects (n=360) completed a self-directed questionnaire that psychometrically measured satisfaction/dissatisfaction with personal appearance, queried which external sources influenced those opinions, and correlated these with demographic information. In particular, we sought to examine how a subject's opinion about their personal appearance varied with age, gender, ethnicity, mental health, relationship status, sexual orientation and Body Mass Index (BMI). Subjective views regarding personal appearance were determined by answers given to specific body image questions that revealed a subject's day-to-day appearance concerns, all preoccupations, and the extent to which these concerns resulted in distress, all social impairment. Overall, the results demonstrated that BMI values were positively correlated with personal appearance concerns. High BMI values correlated with greater dissatisfaction with personal appearance. Self ratings of appearance values were negatively correlated with BMI scores. Subjects who gave themselves high appearance ratings were relatively unaffected by media influence with regard to their image, compared to subjects rating themselves less attractive. These latter subjects also showed higher peer pressure scores in terms of both the amount of time they compared themselves to peers, and the degree to which peer comparisons affected their self-appearance ratings. Based on responses to the body image questions specifically, the entire cohort of subjects were categorised into principal clusters: those largely unaffected by any body image concerns; and those profoundly distressed by their self assessed body image. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of these findings is that the scores for this latter (n=17) group of subjects on the body image questions revealed a degree of personal distress this is almost identical to the scores expected from those people diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Collectively, these results suggest that high BMI values in subjects negatively impact on self-appearance ratings, render subjects more prone to media messages that portray body image ideals, and elicit frequent comparisons with peers to validate self-image concerns. Furthermore, severely affected subjects with high BMI scores may show similar psychopathology to that of BDD sufferers. In Study Two, a small cohort of subjects (n=60) were given questionnaires and were interviewed to further investigate self-appearance ratings and mood/depressive traits. The body image questions used in Study One to assess image concerns and the magnitude of distress were repeated in Study Two. Mood and depressive state were measured using the validated Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI). In parallel, subjects completed the Derriford Appearance Scale 59 (DAS 59), which is a valid psychometric indication of an individual's perception of their appearance as 'normal' or 'disfigured', and used as a tool by plastic surgeons to inform decisions regarding the necessity for surgery to correct an individual's appearance. Physiological markers were recorded before and after exposure of subjects to a physical and a psychological stressor: these were saliva concentrations of cortisol and sIgA (an immune marker), blood glucose and blood pressure. The results of Study Two revealed no changes in scores for any of the physiological measures following stressors. BDI scores for most subjects fell within normal ranges, although females scored higher than males, but not at a pathological level. Those subjects with a history of mental illness or those who reported feeling a high degree of stress on a daily basis, or those who expressed greater self-appearance concerns, all had significantly elevated BDI values. Perhaps the most intriguing finding from Study Two, as in Study One, was that subjects again tended to fall within specific categories for body image concerns: those unaffected or minimally affected by body image concerns, and those (n=6) greatly and deleteriously affected by body image concerns. This subsection of subjects also scored very high on the DAS 59 for disfigurement. On the basis of these findings it would seem that body image concerns may be severe enough for some individuals for them to perceive themselves as actually being disfigured, or that the DAS 59 (a widely used assessment tool in plastic surgery), may not be entirely appropriate for assessment of an individual's need for surgery because it cannot distinguish between those genuinely disfigured and those merely expressing severe body image concerns.

The aims of the studies were to assess body image perceptions, the role of stress and other possible associated psychopathologies within a non-clinical sample. The prevalence of body image concern is increasing and is widely considered as secondary to evolving socio-cultural trends. Negative self-perceptions about body image can be manifest as measurable indicators of physiological stress, or even psychopathology. This thesis describes two quantitative studies into the role and relevance of various causative factors in the development of negative body image in cohorts of volunteers drawn from the general population of the University of Bradford in West Yorkshire, UK. In Study One, subjects (n=360) completed a self-directed questionnaire that psychometrically measured satisfaction/dissatisfaction with personal appearance, queried which external sources influenced those opinions, and correlated these with demographic information. In particular, we sought to examine how a subject¿s opinion about their personal appearance varied with age, gender, ethnicity, mental health, relationship status, sexual orientation and Body Mass Index (BMI). Subjective views regarding personal appearance were determined by answers given to specific body image questions that revealed a subject¿s day-to-day appearance concerns, all preoccupations, and the extent to which these concerns resulted in distress, all social impairment. Overall, the results demonstrated that BMI values were positively correlated with personal appearance concerns. High BMI values correlated with greater dissatisfaction with personal appearance. Self ratings of appearance values were negatively correlated with BMI scores. Subjects who gave themselves high appearance ratings were relatively unaffected by media influence with regard to their image, compared to subjects rating themselves less attractive. These latter subjects also showed higher peer pressure scores in terms of both the amount of time they compared themselves to peers, and the degree to which peer comparisons affected their self-appearance ratings. Based on responses to the body image questions specifically, the entire cohort of subjects were categorised into principal clusters: those largely unaffected by any body image concerns; and those profoundly distressed by their self assessed body image. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of these findings is that the scores for this latter (n=17) group of subjects on the body image questions revealed a degree of personal distress this is almost identical to the scores expected from those people diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Collectively, these results suggest that high BMI values in subjects negatively impact on self-appearance ratings, render subjects more prone to media messages that portray body image ideals, and elicit frequent comparisons with peers to validate self-image concerns. Furthermore, severely affected subjects with high BMI scores may show similar psychopathology to that of BDD sufferers. In Study Two, a small cohort of subjects (n=60) were given questionnaires and were interviewed to further investigate self-appearance ratings and mood/depressive traits. The body image questions used in Study One to assess image concerns and the magnitude of distress were repeated in Study Two. Mood and depressive state were measured using the validated Beck¿s Depression Inventory (BDI). In parallel, subjects completed the Derriford Appearance Scale 59 (DAS 59), which is a valid psychometric indication of an individual's perception of their appearance as ¿normal¿ or ¿disfigured¿, and used as a tool by plastic surgeons to inform decisions regarding the necessity for surgery to correct an individual's appearance. Physiological markers were recorded before and after exposure of subjects to a physical and a psychological stressor: these were saliva concentrations of cortisol and sIgA (an immune marker), blood glucose and blood pressure. The results of Study Two revealed no changes in scores for any of the physiological measures following stressors. BDI scores for most subjects fell within normal ranges, although females scored higher than males, but not at a pathological level. Those subjects with a history of mental illness or those who reported feeling a high degree of stress on a daily basis, or those who expressed greater self-appearance concerns, all had significantly elevated BDI values. Perhaps the most intriguing finding from Study Two, as in Study One, was that subjects again tended to fall within specific categories for body image concerns: those unaffected or minimally affected by body image concerns, and those (n=6) greatly and deleteriously affected by body image concerns. This subsection of subjects also scored very high on the DAS 59 for disfigurement. On the basis of these findings it would seem that body image concerns may be severe enough for some individuals for them to perceive themselves as actually being disfigured, or that the DAS 59 (a widely used assessment tool in plastic surgery), may not be entirely appropriate for assessment of an individual's need for surgery because it cannot distinguish between those genuinely disfigured and those merely expressing severe body image concerns.