An empirical investigation of fashion consciousness of young fashion consumers in Sri Lanka

Purpose - This study seeks to examine the fashion consciousness of young consumers in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka, and to explain the impact of gender and education on fashion consciousness of young fashion consumers. Design/methodology/approach - A survey design was used to collect the data and 215 youngsters below 25 years of age were selected for the study. A structured questionnaire was used to examine the fashion consciousness of respondents. Three factors of fashion consciousness were suggested by exploratory factor analysis procedure, and they were established for further analysis based on the results of confirmatory factor analysis. The study tested three hypotheses to examine the degree of fashion consciousness and the impact of gender and education on fashion consciousness. Findings - The survey results showed that respondents have a fair level of fashion consciousness and their fashion consciousness was affected by the gender and education. It was highlighted that the fashion consciousness is context-dependent and the fashion consciousness of young consumers in Sri Lanka is mainly related to their consciousness about Western fashions. Originality/value - The study stresses the inseparability of fashion consumers' mental status and his/her socioeconomic and cultural surrounding, especially in the post-colonial context.