Contribution of vanity to consumer apparel advertising perception

Purpose – A recent marketing trend is sending short message service (SMS) apparel advertisements to capture young adult consumers’ attention. These targeted consumers are reluctant to view SMS advertisements due to perceived irrelevant advertising content. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between consumer vanity trait and perceived SMS apparel advertising values for 291 college-aged Generation Y consumers (aged between 18 and 24) from the USA. Design/methodology/approach – The study opted for a quantitative, correlational design to investigate the relationships among vanity traits and perceived SMS apparel advertising values. An internet-based survey collected vanity trait attributes, perceived SMS apparel advertising values, and demographics from the participant. Correlation and multiple regression analyses tested the degree of association and measured the strength of predictive relationships among the said variables. Findings – Empirical findings of this study reveal a positive, predictive relationship between vanity traits and perceived SMS apparel advertising values. Symbols of success is the most dominant vanity trait for males and ethnic minorities. Research limitations/implications – Excluded from the present study was investigating the relationship between personality and consumer vanity trait. Personality evolves with the individual’s worldview and lived experience. It would be interesting to explore achievement-vanity through the consumers’ life story. Practical implications – Consumer adoption and abandonment of the latest fashion trends can occur quickly. The timing of an SMS apparel advertising campaign and advertising content relevancy are critical to initiate the targeted consumers’ interest. Originality/value – This paper sheds some lights on the contribution of psychological predispositions to apparel consumption-related situations for consumers.