Consuming digital fashion in online communities

Abstract

Contemporary fashion consumption is deeply intertwined with digital tools, spanning from pre-purchase browsing to post-purchase sharing on social media. This paper delves into the expanding realm of digital fashion, particularly focusing on the consumption motivations behind digital fashion end products. Despite their contrast with tangible clothing, digital fashion end products have garnered significant interest, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, consumer adoption of digital fashion remains underexplored.   This study focuses on the consumption of digital fashion end products, such as NFT fashion, videogame skins, AR filters, and more, among its consumers and, through a mixed-methods approach including digital ethnography, an online survey, and qualitative interviews, it investigates the profile of the community and culture surrounding digital fashion consumption. The research findings indicate that digital fashion serves as a powerful medium for identity formation and self-expression, echoing the dynamics observed in material fashion but amplified in virtual environments. The avatar or virtual body becomes a sociocultural entity, offering consumers a perceived freedom of expression unconstrained by physical limitations. Furthermore, this study uncovers a hybrid phygital identity, where physical and digital identities co-construct each other, influencing consumption practices and brand affiliations across interconnected digital and phygital universes.