Transcultural Fashion Capital and Identity Negotiation: A Configurational Analysis of Global-Local Dialectics in Vietnamese Higher Education Consumption Ecosystems

This research examines the complex interplay between international cultural influences and indigenous value systems in shaping fashion consumption practices among Vietnamese higher education students. Employing a sophisticated mixed-methods approach integrating Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), this study interrogates how transcultural fashion capital operates within the distinctive socio-cultural matrix of Vietnam's rapidly globalising educational landscape. The empirical investigation reveals multidimensional pathways through which global cultural flows interact with localised identity constructions, yielding heterogeneous configuration patterns of fashion consumption. The study identifies three distinct causal configurations leading to high fashion acculturation, with Western media exposure and cosmopolitan orientation emerging as necessary but insufficient conditions. Indigenous cultural resilience demonstrates significant moderating effects, functioning as both constraint and enabler within different configurational pathways. This research contributes substantially to the theoretical understanding of fashion consumption as a site of cultural negotiation and identity formation, extending existing conceptualisations through a non-Western epistemological lens. The findings offer practical implications for international fashion marketers, cultural policy architects, and educational administrators navigating the complex terrain of globalisation and cultural identity within emerging consumption ecosystems.