College students’ attitudes toward shopping online for apparel products Exploring a rural versus urban campus Yingjiao Xu and V. Ann Paulins School of Human and Consumer Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA Abstract Purpose – To study college students’ attitudes toward and behavioral intention of shopping online for apparel products by using the theory of reasoned action. Design/methodology/approach – Focus group interviews and a literature review identified specific items of interest related to the desirability of shopping online for apparel products. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to two groups of respondents: college students who lived in rural and urban areas. Findings – The students, in general, had positive attitudes toward shopping online for apparel products. ANOVA results showed that the students who intended to shop online for apparel products had more positive attitudes than those who did not have the intention. The GLM results showed that internet usage, employment status, and car access had significant influence on students’ attitudes toward online shopping for apparel products. Research limitations/implications – The samples for this study were randomly chosen from two universities in the United States. This limited sampling frame may affect the generalization of findings. Practical implications – Both local retailers in rural college towns and online retailers can benefit from the findings of this study. Originality/value – This research contributes to the literature by studying college students attitudes toward online shopping for apparel products. Keywords Shopping, Students, Online operations, Clothing Paper type Research paper The internet is one of several non-store formats frequently used by today’s consumers for shopping. By the end of 2003, figures for online commerce were estimated at around 4.5 per cent of total retail sales, with the internet the fastest growing shopping channel (Lorek, 2003; Maloy, 2003). Online retailing was expected to reach sales of nearly $100 billion by the end of 2003, an increase of 26 percent over 2002 (Mullin, 2003). Growth in the number of internet shoppers, the number of women using the internet to shop, and the percent of internet sales dedicated to apparel products are trends that are expected to continue (Maloy, 2003; Siddiqui et al., 2003). College students bring $200 billion a year in buying power to the US market, with the average college student’s available discretionary spending totaling $287 each month (Gardyn, 2002). Because of their power in the marketplace, it is important for retailers and consumer behavior educators to better understand this population’s attitudes toward shopping through traditional formats, such as local stores, and new, The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister www.emeraldinsight.com/1361-2026.htm JFMM 9,4 420 Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management Vol. 9 No. 4, 2005 pp. 420-433 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1361-2026 DOI 10.1108/13612020510620795