Due to environmental concerns, an increasing number of Chinese consumers have begun to resist fast fashion, promoting cheap and lower quality materials with a short lifetime. A shift from a linear economic model to a circular fashion has become an urgent issue for the industry. To examine how brand stereotype affects consumers’ purchasing intention toward upcycled fabric clothing, this study adopted a grounded theory approach to develop the dimensions of brand stereotypes, including product, manufacturing process, service, and communication. Furthermore, a theoretical model was constructed incorporating brand stereotypes, brand green trust, fashion consciousness, and green consciousness. Results from structural equation model analysis indicated that (1) each dimension of brand stereotypes had a significantly positive impact on behavior intention, and especially product and service image have the most influence; (2) brand green trust mediated the relationship between brand stereotypes and buying intention, and (3) green consciousness positively moderated the relationship between brand stereotype and trust, whereas brand warmth in communication and trust was moderated negatively by fashion consciousness. The findings offer implications for the implementation of the green branding strategy, brand positioning, and cultivating consumers’ green awareness to improve market acceptance of upcycled fabric clothing.

The popularity of traditional culture and social change has led to cultural products moving from niche to popular categories in the Chinese tourism market. In this context, understanding the social factors becomes crucial. This study aims to explore the effects of fan groups and family cultural capital on perceived congruity and their subsequent impacts on the purchase intentions of cultural products. Using the grounded theory approach, this study developed the dimensions of fan group involvement, family cultural capital, and perceived congruity. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was adopted to test the research model. The results illustrated that most of relationships among group involvements/family cultural capital, perceived congruity, and purchase intention were significant. The influences of interactivity in fan groups and family capital materiality on perceived congruity were greater than those of the other antecedents. Fan groups and families did not follow the same path in influencing behavioral intentions. It was found that group belonging and family cultural activity did not directly affect the purchase intention. Meanwhile, group belonging and family cultural resonance's effects on perceived symbolic congruity were insignificant. Similarly, family cultural activity had no significant impact on perceived self-image congruity. The results of bootstrap revealed that the most mediating effects in the model were significant. This study provides new insights to construct an innovative framework. It has developed dimensions of traditional consumer socialization agents in the field of consumer behavior, typically applied as observable variables in education studies. The findings highlight the importance of several social and psychological factors to enhance tourists' purchase intentions for cultural products. The conclusions offer practical recommendations for brands that attempt to incorporate traditional elements into their products and marketing strategies.