Understanding fashion communication between Korean middle-aged mothers and daughters

Abstract

Daughters can be considered important social role models for middle-aged mothers in fashion communication such as the clothing purchase or conformity. This study explores antecedents (trust in daughters as fashion informants and internalized social pressure for appearance management) and outcomes (solidarity between mother and daughter, psychological well-being of mother) of fashion communication (mother–daughter shopping, clothing conformity) between middle-aged mothers and daughters. The data were collected using a self-administered online survey of 307 middle-aged Korean women between ages of 45 and 65. The result shows that mothers’ trust in daughters as fashion informants and internalized social pressure for appearance positively influence mother–daughter shopping and mothers’ clothing conformity to daughters. Next, mother–daughter shopping and mothers’ clothing conformity have a positive influence on the solidarity of mothers and daughters. When solidarity becomes stronger, the degree of the mothers’ psychological well-being increases.