Note from the publisher
Throughout 2003 the Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management (JFMM)will continue to deliver rigorous research papers and applied case study material that address major marketing and management issues facing the world's fashion manufacturing and retail sectors.
Two special issues are planned for the forthcoming volume, both addressing important developments in specific geographical regions. The first will be Guest Edited by Professor Ian Taplin of Wake Forest University in the USA. It will focus on the recent changes in the US and Mexican textile and apparel industry as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement maquiladora programmes. The issue will address such questions as:
What will be the impact on immigrant entrepreneurs and immigrant labour forces that provide the resources and labour and give the industry in this region its competitive cost edge?
What is being done to ensure that New York continues to be a centre for garment production, or that south-eastern states retain a textile industry?
Have new production systems enabled some US-based firms to retain a competitive advantage by staying close to the retail market and, if so, can such systems be adopted by the majority of firms?
Will the continued pattern of retailer concentration that has led to the increased power of buyers (particularly that of discount chains) put further pressure on US manufacturers, making it even more difficult for them to stay in business? How can they successfully respond to such pressures?
The second special issue will be edited by Richard M. Jones and will focus on the future role of China in the global apparel industry and market. There is little doubt that the role of China (including Hong Kong) in the global apparel industry will increase over time. China may also provide a huge market for consumer goods in the years to come. Most commentators recognise that operating in China provides a significant challenge to outsiders. The special issue will include research papers which explore any aspect of either the production of garments in China or the marketing of garments in China.
If you have a paper that you would like to be considered for publication in JFMM, then please contact Richard Jones at r.m.jones@mmu.ac.uk Richard will be pleased to hear from you if you have a research paper, a case study or a review article that you would like publishing.
As an author, you can be sure that your work will be widely disseminated due to the international exposure to leading industrial and academic institutions via the Emerald database. Also, your work will be further disseminated through the indexing and abstracting services covering, including "Clothing and Textile Arts Index" and "Geo Abstracts".
Electronic usage of JFMM has continued to increase throughout 2002. The latest available figures at the time of writing show that for the month of June alone, over 2,000 visits to the journal online were made, with users in the UK, Australia and Italy being the most active.
Most accessed articles to date
"Relation between branding and growth of the firm in new quick fashion formulas: analysis of an Italian case", by Simone Guercini, University of Florence, Italy.
"Effects of product image at three stages of the consumer decision process for apparel products: alternative evaluation, purchase and post-purchase",by H. Jessie Chen-Yu and Doris H. Kincade of Virginia Polytechnic, USA.
"Consumer perception of five UK fashion retailers", by Grete Birtwistle and Linda Shearer of the Glasgow Caledonian University, UK.
"Quality in international clothing supply chains: cost versus quality",by Andrew Popp of the Royal Holloway College, J.E. Ruckman and H. Rowe of Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
"Apparel shopping on the Internet", by J. Hye Park and Leslie Stoel of the Ohio State University, USA.
"Exploring differences between Internet apparel purchasers, browsers,and non-purchasers", by Mi Young Lee, University of Ulsan, South Korea, and Kim K.P. Johnson, University of Minnesota, St Paul, USA.
"Fashion buying criteria of X Generation consumers in Hong Kong", by Jovey Wai Kwan Leung and Gail Taylor, Hong Kong.
"A conceptual model of the fashion process – part 1: the fashion transformation process model", by A. Cholachatpinyo, I. Padgett and M.Crocker of Central St Martins College of Art and Design, London, UK, and B. Fletcher of Hertfordshire University, UK.
"Parade – exploiting the strengths of 'Made in Britain' supply chain", by R. McLaren of Parade, UK and D.J. Tyler and R.M. Jones of Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
"Casual wear product attributes: a Chinese consumers' perspective",by Zhiming Zhang, Yi Lu, Chen Gong and Haidong Wu of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
Do not forget to use your electronic entitlement as a subscriber to JFMM. Also, tell us about the articles you like, and the subjects you would be interested to see covered in the journal.
Contact Managing Editor, Sharon Parkinson at: sparkinson@emeraldinsight.com
