Ambivalent desires: dual moderators of cultural crisis and face consciousness in Chinese element fashion consumption

Purpose This study investigates the dual psychological pathways through which consumers’ perception of fashion products incorporating Chinese elements influences purchase intention. It examines the mediating roles of cultural identity and conspicuous consumption, while further testing how cultural crisis awareness and face consciousness moderate these relationships, offering a comprehensive framework to decode ambivalent consumer attitudes in culturally symbolic consumption. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a quantitative approach, a multi-dimensional survey instrument measuring six variables was developed. Data were collected from 319 participants via stratified random sampling, targeting demographics with high engagement in cultural consumption. Hypotheses were tested via AMOS and SPSS, ensuring robustness through bootstrapped validation. Findings Cultural identity and conspicuous consumption fully mediate the relationship between Chinese element perception and purchase intention, with no direct effect observed. As for the moderation effects, cultural crisis awareness weakens the positive impact of cultural identity on purchase intention, reflecting defensive responses to cultural commodification. What’s more, face consciousness amplifies the influence of conspicuous consumption, highlighting status-driven motivations in collectivist contexts. Originality/value It presents original contributions by introducing a dual psychological pathways model that integrates cultural identity, conspicuous consumption, face consciousness, and cultural crisis awareness in the context of Chinese-element fashion consumption. This framework also offers a fresh perspective on the psychological mechanisms behind ambivalent consumer behavior, particularly in East Asian cultural settings and addresses gaps in the existing literature by exploring both positive and negative cultural drivers.