Social values and female fashion leadership: A cross‐cultural study

As international marketing activities grow in importance, researchers are paying increased attention to cultural differences in market segments. The present study examined the relative importance placed on social values by women fashion leaders compared with nonleaders in two samples, one from the U.S. and one from the United Kingdom. A self‐report scale of fashion leadership was carefully validated for both samples and used to identify fashion leaders. As hypothesized, these consumers reported the value of excitement to be more important than nonleaders. This finding suggests that, at least where value appeals are used in fashion advertising, similar appeals stressing the excitement of new fashions may be suitable in both countries.