Annotated Bibliography from POL 452: Leaders Versus Entrepreneurs Final Paper
Research Topic:
Social Entrepreneurship in the Mass Fashion and High Fashion Industries
Research Question:
What are the different leadership methods of high fashion versus mass fashion? How do these leaders approach sustainability in the fashion industry? Does attention to sustainability help or hinder the fashion industry?
Annotated Bibliography:
Armitage, John, Joanne Roberts, and Yasmin K. Sekhon. 2017. “Luxury Products and Services and the Sustainable Value Chain: Six Management Lessons from Gucci.” In Sustainable Management of Luxury, edited by Miguel Angel Gardetti, 259–79. Environmental Footprints and Eco-Design of Products and Processes. Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2917-2_12.
Armitage starts with what sustainability is, what luxury goods are, and how luxury goods can become part of the sustainability movement using the sustainable value chain. He uses Gucci as a case study to show six management lessons on helping the marketing and branding of luxury companies. He concludes that luxury industry leaders should focus on sustainability, as an integral part of the company’s production.
While this chapter is not peer reviewed, it is still a scholarly source. The works cited section is extensive and the chapter’s findings seem well researched and cited in the text. The authors all have bios at the end also, indicating their experience and expertise in the topic.
This chapter will help my paper because it explores both the sustainable value chain in luxury fashion and management techniques for luxury businesses using a case study of Gucci. I will be able to bring in their basic definitions of luxury products and sustainability for my introduction, as well. Gucci is a case study I am now going to consider adding to my list of sustainably friendly luxury brands; seeing as how they were able to implement a sustainability campaign without hurting the company.
Cho, Siwon, and Jane E. Workman. 2015. “College Students’ Frequency of Use of Information Sources by Fashion Leadership and Style of Information Processing.” Fashion and Textiles; Heidelberg 2 (1): 1–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40691-015-0049-2.
This study measures how susceptible college students are to fashion leadership and style of information processing when apparel shopping. The study speaks to “influencer” style marketing which has grown massively since the study was published. They found that fashion leaders tended to be more like fashion visualizers, needing to see the apparel before they purchase it. The same group was more likely to pull on self-knowledge and self-experiences to purchase clothing.
This is a peer reviewed study with extensive amounts of research done. The study is limited in its results because it only looked at apparel shopping and it did not take into account social media advertising or social media brand marketing. Today lots of fashion influence comes from social media and celebrities, so not taking into account that influence skews the results. Yet, it still has information worth including in my paper.
This study helps me because it has great background on how young adult consumers (Generation Y and X) fit into the Consumer Decision Process Model. It also gives definitions of fashion leadership and Style of information processing as it relates to apparel and how to market products to target audiences. How these generations get some of their information about fashion will be useful for understanding how a sustainable fashion company should market themselves to the growing young adult population.
Giovannini, Sarah, Yingjiao Xu, and Jane Thomas. 2015. “Luxury Fashion Consumption and Generation Y Consumers.” Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management; Bradford 19 (1): 22–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-08-2013-0096.
This study focuses on the luxury spending habits of Generation Y, also known as millennials. The study brings in issues like self-esteem and self-consciousness, things frequently associated with adolescent growth and young adults, into the conversation about brand consciousness and brand loyalty. The findings of the study agree with the hypothesizes, that Generation Y is more brand conscious, brand loyal, and willing to splurge because of social reasons. The study concludes by giving luxury brands advice to move with the trends set by Generation Y consumers and update the way they market and build brand exclusivity to increase profits.
This is a peer reviewed source with extensive research. The study was conducted using SurveyMonkey in October of 2011. Now, I acknowledge that much has changed since 2011, but the study was future oriented and their hypothesizes about millennials and luxury spending habits has been proven somewhat true. The study only included around 300 participants, which cannot represent the entire Generation Y in all of the United States.
This study provides a unique perspective on how Generation Y and Generation X are creating a new luxury market than previous generations. While it does not mention sustainability, it does give insight into how the luxury market is changing, which sustainable fashion brands are having to work with. I think the findings of this study will enhance my argument about luxury fashion leadership versus mass fashion leadership because the style of consumer is different.
Henninger, Claudia E., Panayiota J. Alevizou, and Caroline J. Oates. 2016. “What Is Sustainable Fashion?” Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management; Bradford 20 (4): 400–416. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-07-2015-0052.
This paper seeks to define the term “sustainable fashion.” Using the social constructionist theory, Henninger looks at both the historical and the modern uses for the word “sustainable fashion.” He gives an explanation of the different types of definitions. He concludes that “sustainable fashion” is a subjective term, and that people have different definitions for the meaning of sustainable fashion and what it means to be sustainable.
This is a scholarly source from the United Kingdom. It is peer reviewed and has a long works cited page for references. The article also acknowledged its limitations of small sample size and narrow focus on the slow-fashion market, but the information provided is still useful for my paper.
The checklist used to gage a sustainable fashion company will be useful to use in my paper; as will the broad definitions of “sustainable fashion.” The article also offers unique insight into how a business is deemed “sustainable” in relation to employees and production, which is different from many articles that only speak to the consumer side of sustainable fashion. Overall its acknowledgement of the subjective nature of sustainable fashion will be helpful for my paper. It will show that my research is also limited to a definition of sustainable fashion and that there will be other interpretations that are equally as correct, or more correct.
Jensen, Karina R. 2017. “Global Organizational Leadership for Luxury Companies.” In New Luxury Management: Creating and Managing Sustainable Value Across the Organization, edited by Emmanuelle Rigaud-Lacresse and Fabrizio Maria Pini, 33–45. Palgrave Advances in Luxury. Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41727-1_3.
This chapter of the book, from New Luxury Management: Creating and Managing Sustainable Value Across the Organization, speaks to how leaders should organize luxury companies to manage luxury brands for international markets. This chapter addresses the problems global luxury brands face when expanding, while also giving solutions to how a company can overcome these challenges. Jensen finds that effective global organizational leadership brings together Leadership that facilitates cross-cultural change, Team collaboration that focuses on knowledge sharing, and an Innovative Culture within the structure of the company.
While the book this chapter comes from is not peer reviewed, it’s still a very useful scholarly source for my paper. Jensen used extensive sources that come from places like the Harvard Business Journal and management journals. The article gives great advice to luxury leaders that will be helpful in my paper.
This chapter will help my paper because of its in-depth study in global leadership. The chapter gives an international perspective to how one can effectively run a luxury business. I will be able to use what I learned about leadership in this chapter and apply it to case studies or other readings. It will help inform both my general research question, and also be useful to compare to my case studies.
Niinimäki, Kirsi. 2015. “Ethical Foundations in Sustainable Fashion.” Textiles and Clothing Sustainability 1 (1): 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40689-015-0002-1.
This article tries to discuss the inconsistencies between the definitions and ethical implications of sustainable fashion. The author gives the common ethical dilemmas in the fashion industry, from animal rights to greenwashing and everything in between. The article brings summarizes all the issues into three main categories in sustainable fashion: the planet, the people, and the profit. Being sustainable in all three sectors is difficult, so it gives a figure of sustainability based on which sectors a company focuses on.
While this is not a peer reviewed source, it is still an academic source. This article raises interesting questions that bring moral implications into a somewhat materialistic and shallow field. The article also brings its own qualifications for sustainable fashion, although they are not necessarily adopted by scholars, there is still merit to the figure the author presents.
This article enhances the argument of my paper because it gives another set of qualifications for a sustainable fashion brand. The article also gives great basic explanations of the major ethical dilemmas in the fashion industry, that will be helpful to consider while writing about my case studies. I will use this article to compare companies and their strategies towards sustainability.
Park, Hyejune, and Youn-kyung Kim. 2016. “An Empirical Test of the Triple Bottom Line of Customer-Centric Sustainability: The Case of Fast Fashion.” Fashion and Textiles; Heidelberg 3 (1): 1–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40691-016-0077-6.
This study asked if the triple bottom line of sustainability can help define what sustainable fashion means to consumers, and if fast fashion can even be considered sustainable. They used a survey to determine that the triple bottom line is in fact an effective tool for consumers to evaluate the sustainability of a brand. The study also had interesting findings about the sustainability knowledge of consumers. Care for economic and social sustainability were predicting factors in brand trust and brand loyalty, but environmental sustainability was not as high.
While the study is not peer reviewed, it is still a scholarly source. The study had almost 800 participants from online surveys across the United States. While almost 70% of respondents were women, there is still merit to their findings. The literature review was extensively researched as well.
This study will help my paper because of the results of study and the background information provided in the study. The triple bottom line (environmental, social, and economic sustainability) theory will be incredibly useful to mention in my paper. It was the first article I read to mention fast fashion with sustainability, which is the center of my research question. It also gives management advice for both fast fashion and sustainable fashion brands, which I can use to compare with my case studies.
Salem, Suha Fouad and Kamelia Chaichi. 2018. “Investigating Causes and Consequences of Purchase Intention of Luxury Fashion.” Management Science Letters 8 (12): 1259–1272. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2018.10.001.
This study focuses on self-identity as the reasoning behind purchase intension of luxury goods. The study found that while self-identity does motivate consumers to spend more money on a luxury good, it does not influence the intension to buy the product. Therefore, they found that even with an increase in price overtime, brand loyalty keeps luxury consumers purchasing from the same companies.
This is a peer reviewed study that offers an international perspective on the intensions of luxury fashion consumers. The study was conducted in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Maylasia, where luxury brands are well known and sought after. Yet the survey was conducted in one place, therefore the data is skewed to only represent one community. There was an incredibly extensive list of sources included at the end of the study as well.
This article will be useful for my paper because it gives an international perspective to my paper. The article also speaks to how a luxury company should respond to the research by suggesting marketing techniques and branding. The article has an interesting business perspective that will bring information to my understanding of how fashion brands work to market to consumers.
Shen, Bin. 2014. “Sustainable Fashion Supply Chain: Lessons from H&M.” Sustainability 6 (9): 6236–6249. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6096236.
This article gives a description of the structure of the sustainable fashion supply chain and how it relates to the fast fashion company H&M. “Green retailing” is broken down into four parts and emphasized by Shen as a great marketing strategy that encourages brand loyalty. The study speaks to how H&M has been able to effectively implement sustainability into every aspect of their sustainable line, from the products used, production methods, and distribution.
This is a peer reviewed scholarly source. While it is the oldest of my sources, it is a strong case study about H&M, one of the first fast fashion companies to attempt to have a sustainable line. The sustainable fashion supply chain is only broken down into four sections, but the details of the method is still very useful for understanding how an existing company brings in sustainability.
This study helps my research question because H&M is one of the best success stories of fast fashion integrating sustainability effectively. The study also outlines the basic four steps for bringing sustainability into any company. I plan to use the sustainable fashion supply chain in my paper and analysis. H&M is a great case study to mention to back up my research question about sustainability helping a company’s profits and image.
Shilpa, V., and C. Madhavaiah. 2017. “Luxury Fashion Goods and Sustainable Consumption Behaviour.” Journal of Marketing Vistas; Hyderabad 7 (2): 60–66.
This article describes a study done on why people choose to purchase luxury items, and if sustainability is a factor in the purchase. The study tried to understand the sustainable consumer behavior and which social, environmental, and economic factors influence their decision making. Shipla found that sustainable fashion is about values, and those who value style most, are least sustainable in their purchases.
While this article is not peer reviewed, I will say it is an academic study that has merit in its conclusion. Now, there is the sample size taken was small, and therefore cannot be applied on a mass scale. The study does have an extensive list of cited sources for its short length.
This study will be useful for my paper because of its research on the consumer. This study speaks to four different types of consumers and how their actions differ from one another. While this study had a small sample size and therefore should not be applied to all consumers, it does give different reasonings behind the motivations of a luxury good consumer that will be helpful to consider in my paper.
