Objective: As a novel social phenomenon, cyberspace has significantly influenced various aspects of individuals' lives, particularly in the domain of fashion and clothing within families, leading to substantial transformations in social patterns. Fashion, as a construct fundamentally dependent on socialization processes and media representation, constitutes a significant mode of communication that shapes women's consumer behavior. Given the prevailing fashion and clothing patterns in Iran—largely shaped by the proliferation of the Internet and social media—the detrimental influence of Western advertising models disseminated through these platforms is increasingly evident. In order to contribute to the development of a localized framework, the present study aims to investigate the determinants of fashion and clothing in Iran through a meta-analytic synthesis of existing research.
Method: This study employed a quantitative meta-analytic design to synthesize the findings of prior empirical research. A total of 151 articles were initially identified, drawn from Persian-language scientific journals published between 2013 and 2023 (1392–1402 in the Iranian calendar) and from international journals published between 2015 and 2023. Following the application of predefined methodological inclusion criteria, 41 articles were selected for the meta-analysis. These studies were analyzed using the comparative (correlation) method implemented in the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA2) software.
Results: Based on the effect sizes estimated under the random-effects model, the largest summary effect sizes were observed for media exposure (0.56) and fashion orientation (0.50). These were followed by conspicuous consumption (0.47), type of clothing/veiling (0.47), and social networks (0.43). To assess the statistical significance of the correlation coefficients, a two-tailed significance test was conducted. The results indicated that, after excluding outlier studies and calculating an overall effect size of 0.05, the included studies demonstrated a low correlation coefficient (−1 < R < +1) that was not statistically significant at the two-tailed level. This finding suggests the presence of publication bias, as the overall effect size fell substantially below the average range.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that, contrary to emphasizing the type of cyberspace usage as a determinant of values and clothing practices in academic studies, variables such as media consumption, national branding, and conspicuous consumption exert a moderate influence on shaping clothing patterns in Iran. These results underscore the importance of considering sociocultural and media-related factors in the development of localized fashion and clothing frameworks.