Innovations in Education and Teaching InternationalVol. 48, No. 2, May 2011, 171–181

ISSN 1470-3297 print/ISSN 1470-3300 online© 2011 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/14703297.2011.564012http://www.informaworld.com

Doing business with China: curriculum internationalisation through an infusion method

Byoungho Jina*, Jane Swinneyb, Huantian Caoc, Glenn Musked, Jinhee Name and Ji Hye Kangf

aDepartment of Consumer, Apparel and Retail Studies, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA; bDepartment of Design Housing and Merchandising, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA; cDepartment of Fashion and Apparel Studies, University of Delaware, Newark, USA; dDevelopment Specialist, North Dakota State University Extension Center for Community, Bismarck, USA; eDepartment of Family and Consumer Sciences, Ball State University, Muncie, USA; fDepartment of Clothing & Textiles, Yonsei University, Seoul, KoreaTaylor and FrancisRIIE_A_564012.sgm10.1080/14703297.2011.564012Innovations in Education and Teaching International1470-3297 (print)/1470-3300 (online)Article2011Taylor & Francis4820000002011JinByounghob_jin@uncg.edu

The US apparel and textiles industry operates within an interdependent globalsystem, necessitating workforces competent for day-to-day operations. The USworkforce lacks preparedness in working globally; this study tests an infusionmethod of curriculum internationalisation to enhance students’ globalunderstanding. Four cognitive and experiential instructional modules focused onChina were developed and infused into four existing courses at a US university.Pre- and post-test assessment of students’ understanding in each module revealedthat the number of correct answers was increased nearly fifteen percent acrossmodules after implementation. The developed modules and implementation wereassessed very favourably by the participants.

Keywords: global understanding; infusion method; China; curriculuminternationalisation; assessment

Introduction

Global competition necessitates having personnel knowledgeable in global marketsand competent for day-to-day operations. In the US apparel industry, 88% of apparelfor domestic consumption is produced overseas making it imperative for personnel tobe globally competent (Levaux, 2000). It is very common in the textile and apparelsector to design products in the United States, to source materials from multiple coun-tries, to manufacture product components in various countries, and to sell the finishedproduct in the global marketplace. This typical process requires thorough coordinationand integration at the global level. The apparel industry’s competitiveness in theglobal economy, therefore, is heavily contingent on personnel who are competent inglobal business and operations. Insufficient international competence has affectedfirms in several ways, including missed marketing/business opportunities (21%), abias toward the US point of view (15%), and a failure to anticipate the needs of inter-national customers (13%), etc. (Kedia & Daniel, 2003).

Ironically, despite increased international activities in the US apparel industry,international education in the apparel and textiles discipline has received scant

*Corresponding author. Email: b_jin@uncg.edu

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attention. Only two studies by Yu and Jin (2005) and LeHew and Meyer (2005)document the need for international education in the apparel industry. The needs forinternational education were voiced in business college disciplines as early as 1974and approaches to meeting these needs have been actively discussed, researched,and implemented in business colleges (i.e., Beaton, 2001). Curriculum international-isation has been required by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools ofBusiness (AACSB) to maintain American competitiveness. No similar approach hasbeen attempted in the apparel and textiles discipline.

This study reports results of an initial endeavor of curriculum internationalisationfocusing on China in the apparel and textiles discipline. This study utilises a country-specific approach because it is deemed to be more effective than a general internationaleducation approach. China is the world’s third largest country and home to one-fourthof the world’s population and has the fastest growing economy in the world, thus offer-ing enormous market opportunities for US apparel firms. With the growth of Chinaand its economy, preparing college students for business opportunities with China isimportant for the apparel and textiles discipline.

To enhance US college students’ global understanding, four educational modulesfocusing on China were developed and implemented into existing curriculum utilisingthe infusion method. While this study is focused on improving global understandingof US college students, the findings can be applied to college curriculum worldwide.

Literature review

The need for international education

While a body of literature emphasises the importance of international business educa-tion (i.e., Kedia & Daniel 2003), ample evidence suggests a lack of internationalpreparedness among US college graduates. ‘American students are often ill preparedfor the realities of the global economy and to take up global assignments. They arealmost exclusively monolingual, lack basic knowledge about other societies and arenaïve about the cultural complexities of global business’ (Cant, 2004, p. 178). Kwokand Arpan’s (1994) study pointed out that American education is behind in terms ofinternational programmes and specifically areas such as language requirements,exchange programmes, and internships for both students and faculty. This lack ofpreparedness is evident in the curriculum of clothing and textiles programmes. Ananalysis of the international component in the clothing curriculum through 62 cases ofuniversity web pages revealed that more than 50% of the studied US four-yearcolleges did not offer any international courses (Yu & Jin, 2005).

Approaches to international education

There are three non-mutually exclusive approaches used in international businesscurriculum. The first approach is an infusion of international topics into traditionalcourses, the second approach is offering specialised international business courses, andthe third approach is offering an international business degree or major (Cant, 2001).

Kedia and Cornwell (1994) suggested that different approaches for internationaleducation and internationalisation strategies should be taken based upon three institu-tional missions: global awareness, global understanding, and global competence. Theysuggested that integrating international topics within existing courses (i.e., infusion

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method) is suitable at the beginning level of global awareness in international education(Kedia & Cornwell, 1994). The infusion method for the global awareness level issupported in other studies (Tyagi, 2001; Yeoh, 2001).

Curriculum internationalisation through infusion method

The infusion approach involves the insertion of an international dimension into exist-ing courses (Tyagi, 2001). The infusion approach is the most cost and content resourceefficient method of internationalising the curriculum because it incorporates interna-tional components in existing courses. This approach is deemed more effective andsustainable because new faculty recruitment and creation of a new international courseare not required (Cant, 2004; Contractor, 1997; Manuel, Shooshtari, Fleming, & Wall-work, 2001). Most US four-year colleges teaching clothing and textiles have limitedresources and are in their initial stage of international awareness making the infusionmethod suitable for these programmes.

Second, along with cost-effectiveness, the infusion method is desirable in today’sglobal environment. As almost every domestic business entails international involve-ments, from sourcing parts or labour to selling finished products to overseas, distinc-tion between domestic trade and international business is increasingly blurred. Thus,infusing international contents into every functional area of teaching, such as market-ing, production, etc. reflects the reality more than providing a separate internationalbusiness course (Contractor, 1997).

A growing number of empirical studies found the infusion method is prevalent ininternational business education. Manuel et al. (2001) found that 67% of institutionsin their study included international components in their courses at the undergraduatelevel. Kwok, Arpan, and Folks (1994) found that 74% of business schools analysedused the infusion method at the bachelor’s and master’s level. Tyagi (2001) also foundthat infusion was the most common approach utilised by marketing departments.

Country-specific approach for instructional modules: why China?

The typical approach for international business education is to focus on the generalidea of doing business internationally without specific emphasis on product or region.This can lead students to become generalists with fragmented ideas, rather thanspecialists with a focused global perspective.

A survey by Kedia and Daniel (2003) of top managers clearly indicated the needsof international business education with a focus on Asia. Among Asian countries, Chinais the country most surveyed companies are doing business with (Yu & Jin, 2005) andChina is a significant producer and consumer in the world’s markets. The informationprovided below demonstrates the significance of China in the US clothing and textilesindustries as well as in the global economy. Thus, this study focuses on China.

Why China?

● Population: 1.31 billion (one-fourth of the world population, largest in the worldin 2006) (World Bank, 2006).

● GNP: World’s 4th biggest (World Bank, 2006).● Economic growth rate: Fastest in the world (10% in 2005) (World Bank, 2005).

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● Foreign investment: World’s 3rd largest (United Nations Conference on Tradeand Development, 2008).

● Trade with the US: The US is 3rd in imports into China and 1st in exports out ofChina. (United States Chamber of Commerce Statistics and Research Center,2005).

● Clothing production: China produces 50.5% of the world’s clothing (InternationalTrade Administration, Office of Textiles and Apparel, 2007).

Specific areas needed for module development

Before developing instructional modules, it is necessary to identify specific areas ofneeded knowledge. Yu and Jin (2005) identified needed areas of international educa-tion in the clothing and textiles industry through two needs assessment surveys. Theirfirst needs assessment conducted via a mail survey with 87 US apparel firms showeda strong need for university-level understanding of international markets, internationalproduct development, global supply chain management, international cultures, andglobal sourcing. Their second needs assessment survey found business respondentsindicating that college students need education in the areas of understanding cultural/business differences, followed by marketing/market environment and an understand-ing of the legal environment.

Webb, Mayer, Pioche, and Allen (1999) suggested curricular topics such as inter-national business communications, business practice differences (i.e., negotiationstrategies), cultural and ethical differences, management of diverse groups, foreigndistribution channels, etc. Recognition of cultural barriers was found to be the one ofthe general international skills needed by college graduates for global business(Smith, Bush, & Bush, 2002). Cultural issues were also identified as the most criticalissue facing the international human resource profession, outweighing traditionalhuman resource areas, such as recruitment, compensation and legal issues (Barclay,Wagner-Marsh, & Loewe, 2002).

Cant (2004) suggested five key global cultural competencies for successful globalmanagers: cultural self-awareness, cultural consciousness, ability to lead multiculturalteams, ability to negotiate across cultures and a global mindset. This suggests thatnegotiation issues are an important topic for international education. Other commonareas of needs are related to marketing and market development. In order to developa specific market, understanding the retailing and distribution system of the market issuggested to be essential (Webb et al., 1999).

Based on the above, this study developed four instructional modules focused onChina in the areas of: (1) cultural differences; (2) negotiation; (3) retailing and distri-bution system; and (4) market development. The following section presents how thosefour modules were developed and implemented into existing university level clothingand textiles courses.

Method

Development of instructional modules

The four educational modules developed were titled; ‘China Overview: Economyand Culture’; ‘Chinese Retailing & Distribution System’; ‘Negotiating with ChinesePartners’; and ‘Chinese Market Development’. Each module consisted of bothcognitive and experiential learning tools.

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The cognitive learning tools were developed in the form of PowerPoint lecturenotes. For this, the project team conducted an extensive literature review and one-on-one interviews with US businesses operating with China. The literature reviewencompassed academic and trade journal articles, US and China government agencieswebsites, and reports from major consulting companies, such as McKinsey Quarterly.The literature review was compiled by theme and subject matter content was incorpo-rated into each module.

The one-on-one interviews provided business perspectives for the modules andreal-world cross-cultural examples. A list of 25 businesses operating with China wasdeveloped by the office of the State Department of Commerce and State Chamber ofCommerce. Business owners were individually contacted and asked to participate inthe interview. Seven companies agreed to participate. Each interview took approxi-mately one and a half hours and was conducted at the business. Semi-structured ques-tions, such as cultural/business differences experienced, their successes andchallenges, any episode or suggestions that would help strengthen college students’understanding of China, were gathered. Each interview was tape-recorded with theinterviewee’s permission and transcribed for content analysis. Parts of the interviewsthat related to specific topics in the modules were carefully selected. For example, aninterviewee’s experiences with cultural and business differences were quoted inPowerPoint after the introduction of major cultural differences in the module.

The experiential learning tools came through the development of multimedia(video and photo) materials. For the development of the multimedia materials, theteam visited four major Chinese cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong)during summer 2005. The team created videos and photos that addressed three mainthemes: Chinese culture, economic development, and retail systems. To give evidenceof Chinese cultural differences, pictures of the Forbidden City, narrow Beijing streetscalled Hutong, and the typical Chinese lifestyle, including a street scene portraying thebicycle as a major transportation vehicle for most Chinese were gathered. China’seconomic development was featured through pictures and video clips of major shop-ping and commercial districts, newly developed housing complexes, etc. To depict theChinese retail system, scenes of different retail formats in each city, including depart-ment stores, hypermarkets, specialty stores, convenience stores, and traditional openair markets were taken.

Collected video clips were developed into two videos titled ‘China Overview’ and‘Chinese Retailing System’ and an edited photo CD. The China overview videocovers scenes of China’s culture and economic development. The retailing systemvideo portrays varied Chinese retailers including domestic and international depart-ment stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and open air markets. For the developmentof videos, recorded video clips were edited and captioned with the help of the campustechnical support center. Collected pictures were organised by theme (culture,economic development, and retail system) and then developed into individual photoCDs. Pictures relevant to each instructional module were again carefully screened andincorporated into PowerPoint lecture notes.

Infusion of the developed modules into existing courses

The four developed modules were infused into three undergraduate and one graduatecourse during fall 2006. The instructor of each course was asked to allocate threehours per module for module(s) to be infused into their courses. ‘China Overview:

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Economy & Culture’ was implemented into a freshman merchandising course. Thissame module and the module ‘Negotiating with Chinese Partners’ were infused intosenior level apparel in the global economy course. No student was exposed to thesame module twice. The ‘Chinese Retailing & Distribution System’ module wasimplemented into a graduate level international retailing class. The fourth module‘Chinese Market Development’ was used in a senior level entrepreneurship class.

Evaluation of the modules and students’ improvement in global understanding

To measure students’ improvement in global understanding, an evaluation was givenbefore (pre-evaluation) and after (post-evaluation) implementation. Each module hadfrom 15–40 yes or no questions specific to each module. During the pre-evaluation,demographic information on gender, year in school, and foreign travel experienceswas gathered. During the post-evaluation, students were additionally asked to evalu-ate each module on a 7 point Likert scale: easy to understand, useful information,well-organised (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree), and would recommend toother students (1=never recommend, 7=strongly recommend). In addition, threeopen-ended questions were asked about what aspects of the module the studentenjoyed, unnecessary aspects, and suggestions for revision of the module. Theresponses to the open-ended questions were content-analysed.

All modules were delivered by only one member of the research team to controlfor possible instructor effect. In each course, extra credit was given to students whoparticipated in the module learning experience.

Results

Demographic characteristics of respondents

Four data sets, one for each module, were analysed. Only matched pairs (a pre- andpost-evaluation set) were entered into data analysis. The number of respondents foreach module ranged from 60 to 125. The majority of respondents were female andapproximately 30% of respondents had not visited any foreign countries. Ninetypercent of students reporting foreign travel indicated that it was for a limitednumber of days. This indicates that respondents’ direct experiences with globalculture may have been limited.

Evaluation of students’ improvement in global understanding

Table 1 shows mean number of correct answers in each module before and after imple-mentation. A comparison of pre-evaluation and post-evaluation in terms of correctanswers indicated that correct answers were increased by nearly 15% across modules.Students’ knowledge of the module ‘Negotiating with Chinese Partners’ improved themost (15.86%), followed by ‘Chinese Market Development,’ (15.0%), ‘ChinaOverview: Economy & Culture,’ (14.67%) and ‘Chinese Retailing & DistributionSystem’ (13.62%).

Evaluation of quality of developed modules and implementation

To assess quality of the developed modules and implementation, respondents wereasked the degree to which each module was ‘easy to understand,’ contained ‘useful

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information,’ and was ‘well-organised,’ and would ‘recommend to other students inthe US’ on a seven-point Likert scale (Mean scores shown on Table 2). Overall eval-uations ranged from 5.95 to 6.49 indicating the developed modules were well receivedby students and course delivery was effective.

Cultural and business differences between US and China ranked as the mostenjoyed aspect in all four modules. Students enjoyed learning about China. Studentsexpressed ‘I liked learning all of the information about a country I know next to noth-ing about,’ ‘comparing China with the US instead of just learning facts,’ ‘learningabout the differences in the way people think between the U.S. and China,’ ‘I enjoyedthe comparison between American and Chinese negotiation styles,’ ‘the in-depthexplanation of why the Chinese do things that way and how it related back to theirculture,’ and ‘very interesting NEW information, truly educational!’ The next mostenjoyed aspect across modules was the instructor who delivered all four modules.Students said, ‘Instructor has a great presentation style and her personality shinedthrough her delivery.’

Students unanimously expressed that no content was unnecessary in any of the fourmodules. They added, ‘None were unnecessary. It was very interesting.’ ‘I didn’t thinkany of it was unnecessary.’ and ‘I thought it was all interesting I really liked the culture

Table 1. Comparison of pre- and post-evaluation of students’ understanding.

Pre-evaluation Post-evaluation

Modules

Mean correct answers/Total

questions

% of correct answers

Mean correct answers/Total

questions

% of correct answers

improvement percentage

China Overview: Economy & Culture

24.14/40 60.35 30.01/40 75.02 14.67%

Chinese Retailing & Distribution System

13.72/20 68.62 16.45/20 82.24 13.62%

Negotiating with Chinese Partners

14.23/20 71.14 17.4/20 87.00 15.86%

Chinese Market Development

9.55/15 63.67 11.65/15 77.67 15.00%

Table 2. Students’ evaluation for the developed modules.*

Easy to understand

Useful information

Well-organised

Recommendation to other students

in the US Mean

China Overview: Economy & Culture

6.04 6.19 6.40 6.10 6.18

Chinese Retailing & Distribution System

6.12 6.37 6.37 6.24 6.28

Negotiating with Chinese Partners

6.44 6.50 6.56 6.46 6.49

Chinese Market Development

5.80 5.93 6.18 5.90 5.95

* 1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree.

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section.’ The students, however, stated that the time for delivery of the informationwas too short.

Students’ suggestions for future revision include, ‘I think it is good as it is.’ ‘Ithought it was very interesting and very well put together.’ ‘I thought it was reallygood, I don’t think it really needs improvement.’ and ‘It was fabulous!’ Students indi-cated the need for more time, more pictures, and more interactions. Students pointedout there should be, ‘more time and less information per session.’ and ‘Have moregroup involvement, but it was very well-done.’ The above results clearly suggest thatthe quality of developed four modules and infusion into courses was high. Futureimprovements will address the time issue and more interactions among students andwith instructor, and more graphics.

Conclusions and implications

Summary of the findings

Today’s clothing and textile business is an interdependent global system. A singleproduct produced within one country is a rarity. Every step in the supply chain canhappen anywhere in the world. The global nature of the clothing and textile industryincreasingly requires a workforce competent for daily operation with global partnersin the global marketplace. The purpose of this study was to develop a means of curric-ulum internationalisation through an infusion method as an initial effort to improveclothing and textile students’ understanding of the global marketplace. This studyfocused on the Chinese market because of its significance in the world economy. Fourdeveloped instructional modules were infused into existing courses at the freshman,senior and graduate levels. Gains in student global understanding were evaluatedthrough pre- and post-evaluation assessments. The quality of developed modules, andimplementation were assessed with four Likert-scale items and three open-endedquestions.

Overall, the findings were positive. The number of correct answers increased bynearly fifteen percent after module infusion. The modules were evaluated on anaverage score of 6.0 on a 7-point scale across all four modules. All developed moduleswere reported highly recommendable to other students in the US The results of threeopen-ended questions were positive. The most enjoyed aspects across modules wereidentified as cultural and business practice differences and the instructor. The mostfrequent answer for unnecessary aspects and suggestions for future revisions across allmodules were ‘none,’ indicating that students felt the information in the modules wasall necessary and good. Other responses for suggestions for future revisions includemore time, more pictures and more interactions among students and with the instructor.

Limitations and future studies

This study does have some limitations. First, this study compares the number ofcorrect answers before and after implementation to measure the degree to whichstudents improved in understanding the delivered modules. There may be some inter-vening factors such as student academic capabilities (i.e., short term memory), theiropenness to other countries, motivated instructor, novelty effect (i.e., new ideas arefirst introduced), etc. This may moderate their learning efforts.

A further limitation is the one time implementation at a university. To verify theeffectiveness of the developed modules and implementation, additional use of the

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modules should be tried at different US universities and the results compared to thesefindings. Activities that enhance students’ global understanding and competencies,such as study abroad and overseas internship programmes, are recommended for firsthand experience with a culture.

Contributions to the field

Despite the above limitations, this initial attempt provides some insights to the field.First, this study utilises a systematic instructional module development that includesboth cognitive learning and experiential learning. Cognitive learning material contentwas the result of an in-depth literature review while the experiential learning was theresult of visual materials developed after one of the researcher’s visits to four Chinesecities. No such serious endeavours have been found that are directed to the develop-ment of course materials in the clothing and textiles discipline.

Second, this study pioneers curriculum internationalisation in the clothing andtextiles discipline using an infusion method. This approach is feasible and sustainablebecause it does not require additional efforts of course development. This studypresents a way to implement international components in existing courses. Theamount of time and investment for one faculty member to travel to the country andbring back materials is notable but is long lasting. The developed modules can beused in multiple courses and shared among universities. This method of infusion ofcurriculum internationalisation is a model which can be applied to other disciplines asthey seek to internationalise their curriculum.

The third value of this study is its focus on China as one of the world’s signifi-cant production and consumption countries, offering tremendous marketing oppor-tunities to US apparel companies. Despite this potential, marketing efforts of USapparel companies in the Chinese market have not been aggressive. US apparelcompanies represent only 6% of the imported apparel market in China, compared to46% for France and 38% for Italy (Zhang, Dickson, & Lennon, 2002). The country-specific approach this study employed might be effective in preparing collegestudents and would bring potentially more immediate benefits to the industry in theform of better educated graduates. It is believed that the work in this study canserve as an initial foundation for future international educational endeavours inglobal awareness, global understanding and global competence. Further, it is antici-pated that more active dialogues and idea exchanges will be spawned from thisstudy.

Implications and suggestions

There are implications and suggestions from this study. The most frequent suggestionfrom the participating students was more time, more pictures, and more interactions.Picture CDs have been developed. However, three hours was not enough to show thedeveloped picture CDs and to interact with students. This could be certainlyimproved in the next implementation by alloting more time for the infusion of eachmodule. Offering an independent study for students who desire to learn further maybe an alternative.

Another suggestion is related to the instructor training issue. All module presen-tations were done by one instructor. This was done to control instructor effect on theevaluation. Each module was infused into a particular course. Thus, it might be

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more beneficial for the course instructor to be trained in delivery of the modules forimplementation into their course in the future. This will require commitment fromthe instructors and active dialogues between module developers and instructors. Forthe next module development, therefore, it would be ideal for course instructor(s) tobe actively involved in the module development process.

Notes on contributorsByoungho Jin is a Putman and Hayes distinguished professor in the Department ofConsumer, Apparel and Retail Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.Her research interests include international retailing and global supply chain management inthe apparel and textiles industry. She has led two federally funded projects in the US focus-ing on China and India. She is actively involved in improving students’ understanding ofother cultures and business differences. Her research has been published in InternationalMarketing Review, the International Journal of Service Industry Management, the ServiceIndustries Journal, Advances in Consumer Research, Supply Chain Management: An Inter-national Journal, etc.

Jane Swinney is an associate professor in the Department of Design, Housing andMerchandising at Oklahoma State University. Her area of research interest is directed towardrural entrepreneurship as a means to address economic development of small, rural communi-ties. In addition to her research she serves as the merchandising program coordinator withresponsibilities in curriculum development. She has published her work in the Journal ofDevelopmental Entrepreneurship, the Journal of Small Business Management, the Qualita-tive Market Research Journal and other referred business journals.

Huantian Cao is an associate professor in the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies atUniversity of Delaware. His research interests include protective clothing, sustainable design,and textile science. He is actively involved in improving students’ learning of the impact ofproduct design on the environment and human health. His research has been published in theTextile Research Journal, Dyes and Pigments, Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, andthe Journal of ASTM International.

Glenn Muske currently serves as a rural and agribusiness enterprise development specialist atthe North Dakota State University Extension Center for Community. His mission is ‘thedevelopment of entrepreneurs and the communities where they live.’ His research interest isfocused on couples in business together, the interaction of the business and the communitysystems, and factors of success for small businesses. He has published in the Journal ofExtension, the Journal of Family and Economic Interests, the Family Business Review, andFinancial Counseling and Planning.

Jinhee Nam is an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences atBall State University. Her current research interest is apparel product development and relatedtopics focusing on interaction among human, apparel and textiles, and environment. She isactively involved in improving students’ experience through immersive learning. Her researchhas been published in the Journal of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management, theInternational Journal of Consumer Studies, The Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, theJournal of ASTM International, and other referred journals.

Ji Hye Kang is currently working as a post-doctoral researcher of Department of Clothing &Textiles at Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. She was awarded her doctoral degree at theDepartment of Design, Housing, and Merchandising, at Oklahoma State University, the topicof her thesis being Chinese consumer behaviour. Her research interests are internationalretailing and consumer behaviour in the global markets and her research has been published inthe Journal of the Textile Institute, Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, the InternationalJournal of Consumer Studies and other referred journals.

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