Using AI social listening and consumer surveys, our new JRCS article explores how NFT fashion holds a distinct role and value from digital fashion

[Just Published] Digital Fashion vs. NFT Fashion: What’s the Difference and Why Does It Matter? 🔍 Insights from AI social listening and consumer surveys

In the Web 3.0 era, Digital Fashion (DF) and NFT Fashion (NF) are redefining the fashion landscape. While both are rooted in digital innovation, our research finds that consumers perceive and engage with them in distinctly different ways. To clarify these blurred boundaries, we conducted a comprehensive three-phase mixed-methods study:

🔹 Study 1 analyzed 124,615 DF-related and 52,751 NF-related tweets using AI-driven social listening and Latent Dirichlet Allocation analysis, revealing 6 key DF themes and 9 key NF themes.
🔹 These themes were interpreted through the lens of Means-End Chain Theory, forming the basis for two survey-based research models in Study 2 (DF) and Study 3 (NF).

Key Takeaways:

📌 Digital Fashion is seen as digital content—appreciated for its visual appeal, digital renderability, and customizability, driving engagement and purchase intent.
📌 NFT Fashion, on the other hand, is viewed as a digital asset—valued for its ownability, licensability, and collectability, sparking investment-driven engagement.
📌 Additionally, Table D (Web Appendix) delineates the essential terminology surrounding the production, distribution, and acquisition of NFTs, establishing a conceptual foundation for advancing future research in NFT fashion.

🧠 Curious to learn more? Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/g5tK8UfE

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104379

Huge thanks to the amazing team—Hyunhwan "Aiden" Lee, Magnum Lam, Eugene Cheng-Xi Aw, and Christina Wong—for their incredible contributions and collaboration throughout this project.

We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to Prof Catherine Prentice, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, and to our anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful, constructive, and encouraging feedback.

Every submission is a valuable learning opportunity, and we are truly thankful for their expert guidance, which greatly strengthened the clarity, rigor, and overall contribution of our study!