Simulating attachment to pure-play fashion retailers

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify how pure-play fashion retailers can simulate attachment to their web sites (through trust, loyalty and purchase intentions) by using different communication mediums (static image, moving image, and text/image combination) to overcome the intangible nature of the online sales environment. Design/methodology/approach: Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling using AMOS 16.0 are used to test 12 hypothesized relationships generated from the literature review. A sample of 688 female young fashion consumers from The University of Manchester participated in this study. Findings: There is a clear difference in the build up of attachment when a consumer shops for products communicated via a static or moving image. Static images have direct relationships with trust and purchase intention, whereas moving images are related to building loyalty. Analysis shows that product recommendations (using a combination of text and image) are found to be directly related to developing consumer trust and loyalty towards a pure-play fashion retailer. Research limitations/implications: Generalisation of results is limited due to the use of a student sample and the focus on the UK fashion industry. Further development of the constructs used in this study is needed to further test the conceptual model. Originality/value: The study is one of the first to empirically study pure-play fashion retailing, providing insightful and pragmatic advice by identifying which communication mediums foster trusting and loyal relationships with consumers. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.