Gossip, Self-Monitoring, and Fashion Consumer Groups

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine tendency to gossip and self-monitoring among fashion consumer groups. Word-of-mouth is acknowledged as a powerful force in transmission of fashion product information. Because gossip reflects and communicates norms, gossip may be a way of conveying information about fashion. The questionnaire included items measuring demographics and scales measuring tendency to gossip, self-monitoring, and fashion innovativeness and opinion leadership. Participants (n = 400; 280 females; 120 males) were undergraduates from a large university in Korea. Fashion change agents (compared with fashion followers) scored higher on tendency to gossip, self-monitoring, and on sensitivity to the expressive behavior of others (subscale of self-monitoring). Tendency to gossip and self-monitoring were positively correlated.