This study examines consumer motivations that can explain attitudes toward purchasing fashion counterfeit goods and tests the underlying mechanism of intent to purchase fashion counterfeits based on the theory of planned behavior. A random sample of female college students (N = 336) participate in this study. Product appearance, past purchase behavior, value consciousness, and normative susceptibility are significant predictors of attitude toward buying fashion counterfeit goods. Attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control are significantly related to intent to purchase fashion counterfeit goods. This research extends the theory of planned behavior and tests two additional paths that significantly improve explanatory power of the theory and prediction of consumer intent to buy fashion counterfeit goods.

As the global environment becomes increasingly more turbulent and competitive, creativity becomes the focus when preparing current students and future citizens to deal with uncertainty and to adapt to continuous change both personally and professionally. The purpose of the study was to understand how student creative thinking could be increased in a university classroom. Creativity exercises that can be incorporated in various courses were developed. The exercises formed four learning modules: (a) what is creativity, (b) recognizing and identifying opportunities, (c) generating ideas, and (d) evaluating creative ideas. Four instructors administered the exercises in five courses. To evaluate effectiveness of the training, figural format of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) was used to assess student creative thinking before and after completion of the exercises. Creative thinking, which was operationalized as the composite Creativity Index measured by the TTCT, was significantly higher for the total group of participants after completion of the creativity exercises than before the training. Individual class analyses showed that students in four of the five participating classes had significantly higher creative thinking after completion of the exercises. The study demonstrates that by incorporating creativity exercises into existing courses, instructors can help students develop creative thinking —a critical aspect of one’s professional development.

Purpose: – The purpose of this study was to explore strategies used by successful female entrepreneurs to manage the challenges of running a small apparel business. Design/methodology/approach: – A qualitative research design was used. Primary and secondary data were collected on small business in three countries: Russia, South Africa and Thailand. In-depth interviews were conducted with a total of 11 female small apparel business owners. Businesses ranged from tailoring and custom clothing shops, to small-scale design and production, as well as small apparel retail stores. Findings: – Three emergent themes highlight the similarities and differences that surfaced across the participants’ narratives. Key issues within the thematic areas point to the need for these women to be creative in finding resources to start and grow their small apparel businesses, and to manage the competition that they face within this industry. Research limitations/implications: – It is difficult to generalize the findings of this study beyond the sample. Implications of the findings for understanding the needs of female apparel entrepreneurs and small business owners are considered. Originality/value: – Despite the significance of women to the apparel industry as well as small business ownership, thus far, the role of women as apparel entrepreneurs and small business owners has been under-examined in the literature. This study offers insight into what it is like for women seeking to succeed as apparel entrepreneurs and small business owners.