The Perception of the Consumers on Luxurious Fashion Products - Coursework Example

RESEARCH METHODS Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 CHAPTER THREE 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3 3.1Chapter Introduction 3 3.2 Research Purpose 3 3.3 Research Approach 4 3.4 Research Strategy - Surveying 4 3.5 Time Horizons 5 3.6 Research Conduct 5 3.7 Data Handling 5 3.8 Data Quality 6 3.8.1 Reliability 6 3.8.2 Validity 7 3.9 Ethical Considerations 7 3.10 Chapter Summary 8 References 9 CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Chapter Introduction The chapter lays out the roadmap to be used in research. The section provides the process employed in carrying out the research by elaborating the design used and the details put into consideration to collect, analyse, and use the data (Malhotra et al., 2012; Saunders et al., 2009). In brief, the research methodology gives the required details of the design by specifying the what would be considered when undertaking the research. For instance, it provides the rationale used in sourcing the participants to act as the respondents and the assumption made by such approach (Hart, 2005). The process of selecting appropriate tool for data collection and the individuals employed in the study affects the finding and the interpretation of the results, therefore appropriate selection of the same is necessary for the validation of the study. The chapter provides the variables, how data collection was undertaken, instruments used in data collection, research procedure, how variables were measured, processing of the data, and how analysis and interpretation were made with the assumption considered. 3.2 Research Purpose The study aims to examine the perception and the attitude of the consumers on luxurious fashion products with the brand ‘made in China.’ Therefore, the study uses an explanatory form of research. Such type of study requires the development of objectives and using tools like questionnaire tools in undertaking the research. Consumers buying behaviours are influenced by many factors. Understanding of such factors may help policy makers identify measures of reaching out to the customers hence the need to use explanatory research. Some of the factors that define and affect the consumer purchasing behaviours are the attitude towards the luxurious fashion product. However, before studying the attitude toward the luxurious fashions, it is important to lay the ground for considering how attitude affects the consumer purchasing attributes. The third objective aims to narrow down to specific brand products by assessing how consumers perceive products made in China and whether the origin of the product plays a significant role when making the decision to make purchasing. Besides, how these consumers respond to perceived brand status and brand attitude will help in determining the willingness of the consumers to make a purchase. 3.3 Research Approach The approach describes the particular design used in undertaking the research. The study will use a deduction approach. The approach is preferred, and the most appropriate selection for this study because of the logistics required in undertaking the study (Creswell, 2009). It has the advantage of requiring minimum resources and shorter time, which is appropriate to obtain the data and observe (Hair et al., 2009). However, the study aims to use both the qualitative and quantitative means of research as the best alternative to capturing valuable information from the industry. Since the study does not assess the trends over time, it provides a picture of the entire attitude and perception of the consumers on the luxurious fashion products as well as the perceived brand ‘Made in China.” The two approaches complements each other by capturing properties that one method may fail to illustrate. 3.4 Research Strategy - Surveying The strategy of the study aims to using survey in the collection of data. The survey will use questionnaire as the tool for data collection. The questions will be grouped in categories to address all the objectives separately. The questions will be closed ended for easy administration. These will be coded with responses for the respondent to select. The survey is appropriate to obtaining data that is accurate and appropriate for the study. The strategy would involve studying the consumer attitude towards their purchasing behaviours, with specific interest in luxurious fashions of China decent and whether the consumers have a preference for the brand status. 3.5 Time Horizons The study will use a cross-sectional approach, which requires a shorter time to undertake the study. However, the researcher estimates that data collection will take approximately three months, analysis and organisation will take a month. The entire study should settle by the end of at most eight months if everything gets down well as planned. 3.6 Research Conduct Several fashion outlets in the selected cities will be used as piloting for the study. Piloting is important in identifying the credible respondents who will provide information about the study. Once the piloting is done, it will be possible to narrow down to specific fashion outlets that have a consumer mix. The fashion stores will be the source of getting the customers to take part in the study. The outlets with consumer details will be requested to refer and select a given number of the consumers to take part in the study. The researcher aims to get a minimum of 500 respondents from all the outlets. The respondents will be requested through mailing to acknowledge and accept the offer to taking part in the research. Respondents who accept the request will be sent the link to the structured online questionnaire and followed up to ensure they fill the questionnaire (Denscombe, 2007). 3.7 Data Handling The questionnaire will use a Likert scale to provide variables that respondents will choose. The scale will have five options that respondents will have to select one for every question. The range includes strongly agree to strongly disagree. The dependent variables (consumer attitude and purchasing behaviours) will be assessed against the independent variable (brand status and brand attitude). The data downloaded from the online questionnaire will be entered into the Microsoft Excel file. Data in the Excel file will be sorted, arranged and organised depending on the variables and checked for the missing information. The sorted data entered into the SPSS software and analysed for both the descriptive and the inferential statistics (Pallant, 2010; Field, 2009). The analysis will involve presenting differences in terms of the mean and the standard error of the mean. Besides, the study will use correlation coefficient (person coefficient) to assess the relationship between the consumer attitude and brand status and brand attitude (Made in China) for the luxurious fashion. The relationship will also be tested for significance at 95% confidence (p≤0.05). The secondary data, generated from the literature review and database search will be included in the study to leverage on the primary data. Graphs and tables will be appropriate for the representation of finding. 3.8 Data Quality The quality of data collected in for the research is pivotal in ensuring that the study uses required information to address the objectives it sets to undertake. The study will organise the questionnaire in three sections to ensure all the objectives are addressed adequately. 3.8.1 Reliability An excellent study must produce findings that if a similar study using the same objectives and the same methods will produce results similar to those provided by the earlier study. Reliability of a study examines the potential of repeating the same study and producing the same findings.The element of reliability is paramount to any credible scientific research (Robson, 2011; Chad, 1998). To capture reliability, the study will use piloting to ensure only the relevant respondents are included in the research. Besides, the study will frame questions in the questionnaire to gauge how well the participants can respond to similar concepts framed in a different approach. The measure of reliability will be based on the capacity of the participant to provide information without contradiction (Robson, 2011). The researcher will select reliable responses for inclusion into the research and discard other information. 3.8.2 Validity The validity of the research aims to ensure that the researcher undertakes the main items proposed for the study. Therefore, validity ensures that the selected test measurements are appropriate for measuring the objectives intended for the research. There are two items of validities that is internal and the external validity (Robson, 2011). The internal validity is appropriate when assessing the relationship between the theoretical framework and the empirical finding. Therefore, it ensures that the two matches. Contrary, the external validity is concerned with the measurement of coherency between the results of the study. The coherence is a measure of reliability aiming to guide generalisation of the research finding. The study will follow up on respondents and guide them in comprehending some of the concepts in the questionnaire to increase the validity of data collected. Any ambiguous results identified will be omitted from the study. 3.9 Ethical Considerations Ethical virtues are the important part of any scientific study. The study will be collecting data from the consumers. Treating the consumers’ information with utmost respect and never sharing such data with another party without their consent is an important consideration (Denscombe, 2007). The researcher will use a written request from the university faculty and forwarded to the respondent asking for their response to the questions related to the study. The respondents will be assured of the fact that such information will be used for the scientific process alone and will not be shared without their permission. 3.10 Chapter Summary The chapter provides a detailed design for the entire study. The study will use explanatory and survey approach that will involve the use of questionnaire in the collection of data. Coding of the questions will ensure quick response by the respondents. Besides, the Chapter provides the procedure, the instruments used in data collection and how to analyse and present the data. References Chad, P. (1998) Processes of a case study methodology for postgraduate research in marketing. European Journal of Marketing, 32(9/10), 785-802. Creswell, J. W. (2009) Research design : qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches (3rd ed.) London: SAGE. Denscombe, M. (2007) The Good Research Guide. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. Field, A. P. (2009) Discovering statistics using SPSS (3rd ed.) London: SAGE. Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J. & Anderson, R. E. (2009) Multivariate data analysis: A global perspective (7th ed.) Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Hart, C. (2005) Doing your masters dissertation : realizing your potential as a social scientist. London: Sage. Malhotra, N. K., Birks, D. F. & Wills, P. A. (2012) Marketing Research (4th ed.) London: Pearson. Pallant, J. (2010) SPSS survival manual : a step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS (4th ed.) Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill. Robson, C. (2011) Real world research : a resource for users of social research methods in applied settings (3rd ed.) Chichester: Wiley. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2009) Research methods for business students (5th ed.) Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Read More