APPROVED:
Tammy Kinley, Major Professor and Chair of
the Division of Merchandising
Christy Crutsinger, Committee Member
Bharath M. Josiam, Committee Member
Judith C. Forney, Dean, School of
Merchandising and Hospitality
Management
Michael Monticino, Dean of the Robert B.
Toulouse School of Graduate Studies
YOU ARE WHAT YOU WEAR: THE EXAMINATION OF FASHION LEADERSHIP
AND GENERAL LEADERSHIP AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN AND CAUCASIAN
AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS.
Davette Angelo, B. S.
Thesis Prepared for the Degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS
May 2010
Angelo, Davette. You are what you wear: The examination of fashion leadership
and general leadership among African American and Caucasian American college
students. Master of Science (Merchandising), May 2010, 88 pp., 11 tables, 4 figures,
references, 89 titles.
The purpose of this study was twofold. First, the study compared fashion
personality characteristics and shopping behaviors of African-American and Caucasian-
American college students. Secondly, this study examined characteristics of leadership
in general, and fashion leadership specifically, on fashion personality characteristics.
The fashion personality characteristics studied included fashion leadership, fashion
involvement, shopping enjoyment, and fashion consciousness.
The participants consisted of 268 African Americans and 239 Caucasian
Americans from two universities in the United States. Ethnicity was found to be an
influence on fashion personality characteristics and shopping behaviors in this study.
African Americans in the sample were found to have higher levels of fashion personality
characteristics and shopping behaviors than Caucasian Americans. Fashion leadership
was found to be positively related to general leadership, fashion involvement, shopping
enjoyment and fashion consciousness. General leadership was found to be positively
related to fashion involvement, shopping enjoyment, fashion consciousness, academic
classification level. However, there was no significant difference found between general
leadership and age.
ii
Copyright 2010
by
Davette Angelo
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
While completing my master’s degree and my thesis I have received continuous
support from many people. I would like to acknowledge Dr. Josiam for introducing this
topic in his research methods class and encouraging my efforts to expand it. In addition
I would like to thank my thesis advisor, Dr. Tammy Kinley, for helping me to define and
maintain my research agenda and writing. I would also like to thank Dr. Christy
Crutsinger not only for serving as one of my thesis committee members but also for
assisting me with other research efforts and celebrating all of my accomplishments at
the University of North Texas.
Special thanks are also due to the faculty at Texas Southern University for
supporting my research by opening up their classrooms to administer my
questionnaires. It is because of their participation that what began as an idea came to
fruition, and they provided continuous encouragement to me to complete this research
project.
Lastly, I would like to thank my family for their never-ending support throughout
all of my educational pursuits. To my late grandmother, Mable A. Benson, thank you for
beginning a legacy of education that I will continue and to my late grandfather, Earlee
Benson, thank you for beginning a legacy of Historically Black University graduates. To
my mother, who always listened to my triumphs and my trials and to my father, who
made me realize that life is a gift to be lived every day as though it were my last. To my
extended family, the University of North Texas Black Graduate Students Association,
you guys helped to complete my graduate school experience.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ viii
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1
Purpose ........................................................................................................................... 2
Rationale ..................................................................................................................... 2
Research Models ......................................................................................................... 4
Hypotheses .................................................................................................................. 6
Definition of Terms ....................................................................................................... 8
Assumptions ................................................................................................................ 9
Limitations ................................................................................................................. 10
II. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................. 11
Ethnicity ..................................................................................................................... 11
Additional Variables Contributing to Consumer Behavior .......................................... 15
Fashion Leadership ................................................................................................... 16
Fashion Involvement .................................................................................................. 21
Shopping Enjoyment .................................................................................................. 25
Fashion Consciousness ............................................................................................. 28
General Leadership ................................................................................................... 30
Shopping Behavior .................................................................................................... 34