An Exploration into the factors Influencing Consumer Purchasing Decision - A case study of Thai Fashion - Thesis Proposal Example

Proposal (writing Methodology) and Editing Literature Review XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX An Exploration into the factors Influencing Consumer Purchasing Decision: A case study of Thai Fashion Literature Review Thai fashion brands and consumer behaviors. According to researchers, the South East Asia form a market region that branded that deal which luxury fashion cannot afford to overlook to other options other than the ones offered in Thailand (Schuttle&Ciarlante, 1998). Thailand being an integral part of the fashion market since its emergence in the 1980s. Thailand had seen a growth the upper class and the middle class, which was one of the contributing factors in the elevated rates of consumer consumption of luxury brands that were readily available in the Thailand market. The Thai government efforts of making Bangkok, the capital city, a regional hub for luxury goods shopping also contributed to the uptake of the fashion luxury brands (Schuttle&Ciarlante, 1998). The European market, which experienced slow growth over the recent past, led to the expansion of European market, which also led to the expansion of the European fashion brands in the Asia market, which included the Thailand market where these western luxury fashion brands were viewed as a symbol of elevated social status (O’Cass, 2002). . The Thailand people had a culture of showing preference for the finer stuff that had been in existence for some generations. The culture of showing preferences in luxury was not only a culture of the rich but also the middle class and the low class members of the society. The younger generation of the female population had grown to be fashion conscious as the influence of the media and commercialization took a toll on the fashion industry. Given that, Thailand fashions were selected and purchased on face value, many luxury fashion brands established a promotion method, which included hiring celebrities and other public figures to promote their brands. (Rocha & Hawkins, 2005). Factors influencing Consumer Purchasing Decision Identity Research has shown that the moods and emotions that were evoked by different fashion garments influenced the consumer purchasing decision either positively or negatively. Consumers chose brands based on reliance, personal style, brand image and celebrity influence (Bruce & Daily, 2006). They discovered that the notion of a consumer to acquire a modern look was based on emotions that drove the consumers to buy luxurious fashion brands. This kind of fashion relied on pleasure rather than ones needs and wants. Thai consumers have adopted the behavior of making purchases based on finding new stimuli, sensations and pleasure. These aspects are personal and very subjective tilting the purchase decision to be oriented to the particular individual (Balckwell&Talarzk, 1983). The consumer personality also had a major influence on the purchase decision. Ones personality factor in things like the individual’s self-esteem and body shape. An individual personality had great psychological influence on their need to express dominance, self-confidence, sociability, defensiveness. According to Wansik (2000), people tend to be more concerned in expressing their sociability when it comes to fashion and clothing. Hence, luxury fashion brands tend to extend the garments to include other social-acceptability clothing such as necklaces, shoes, handbags, earrings and hand ornaments. (Alvarez&casielles, 2005). They found that the media also played a major part since it was the main channel of transmission of celebrity ideals. The attractiveness of the celebrity lifestyles has a major influence on the buying behavior (Liao & Wang, 2009). Celebrities are the common day trendsetters as most consumers tried to imitate their fashion sense hence the media coverage of celebrities in award shows, red carpet events, and celebrity magazines or even through movies and music majorly influenced the purchasing decision of consumers. (Nia&Zaichokowsky, 2000). In Thai, brands had a strong influence on the consumers’ attraction to various clothing fashions and therefore, considered as an aspect that benefited the clothing products. When considering the same products but different brands, consumers gave a preference to brand names rather than the quality of the fashion clothing (Carpenter & Fairhust, 2005). Individual’s Lifestyle According to previous researchers, the purchase of any clothing item was dependent on each individual’s lifestyle as all clothing items were well suited for particular lifestyles. The choice of luxury brands, related to one’s occupation, status in society and other social roles. A woman who works in a particular organization as the finance manager will be compelled to live up to her social status (Tian et al, 2001). Her purchases will mainly consist of business suits to suit her type of job. At the same time, the woman may be a mother and hence be compelled to purchase informal clothing such as t-shirts to allow her to be flexible and carry out her roles in a better way. The clothing design was also an important factor when it comes to making the decision on what to buy (Corsteins&Lal, 2000). This was because the aesthetical appearance of a garment was a key factor depending on the social status. The issue of design was crucial as it had a bearing on the style, value and quality of the luxury fashion brands (Nueno&Quelch, 1998). The price like many of the many other items on sale had a big influence on the purchasing decision. In the Thai fashion industry price equilibrium had to be acceptable. However, consumers viewed lowly priced items as being of low quality or even out dated (Helman& De Chernatony, 1999). When a person was considering the purchase of a luxury item, they would not be willing to buy one that is outdated. The social status of an individual was an important factor when making the purchase as one would try to live within his or her means. In the Thai luxury fashion brands market there existed a big difference when it came to purchasing behavior of luxury fashion items and that of non-luxury fashion clothing items. Many factors had a bearing on the purchasing decisions of consumers. (Wong &Ahuvia, 1998) stated that the marketers of luxury brands should correctly identify these factors in order to ensure that they were successful in the Thai fashion industry. Physical Factors According to researchers, the recent fashion trends have seen body shape evolve to be one of the key factors that influence the purchase of any fashion product. According to Duff (2001), this involved the choice of garments that perfectly suits one’s body shape and at the same time was appropriate for their age and developmental stage. For this reason manufacturer had resulted in an extension of their clothing line to include sizes such as S (small), M (medium), L (large), XL (extra large), and XXL (extra-extra large) so that they could ensure their customers got the appropriate fit of the fashion clothing and that it was well balanced with their body features (Solomon et al, 1999). Customers also sought clothing products in which they would be comfortable with and that would meet their various needs. The aspect of usefulness of clothing item was also a factor that weighed on when the consumer was purchasing the product since they put into consideration whether the item would find a perfect combination with their already existing wardrobe and at the same time be a garment that they could be able to care for easily (Chadha& Husband, 2006). Another physical aspect that the consumers sought to fulfill was that of cultural suitability of the clothing garment. A culture which was a taught aspects of our thinking was and lone of the determinants of an individual’s needs and behaviors (Peter &Olsan, 2005). As children grew up they learnt the basic values of their society, the perceptions, basic needs and other behaviors in the family unit and institutions that they associated with. The values taught include definition of comfort, defining youthfulness and physical fitness, expression of freedom, efficiency, practicability, achievement and health concerns (Orsay, 2005). Culture had a big influence on the way the Thai dressed and made choices regarding their clothing purchase. The people made decisions on the dress based on the cultural events that existed in their society. The conceptual flow chart guide helps to illustrate the relationships between the factors affecting consumer decision and the impact of these factors on the fashion brands market. Whereby, the first stage shows the influence of identity, physical factors and individual’s lifestyle on the consumer behavior towards luxury fashion brands (Manuj & Mentzer, 2008, 219). This helps in understanding the wants and needs of the youth females in Thailand. The next stage illustrates the need of understanding the needs of your consumer so as succeed in market penetration and even for already established marketers to maintain their consumers. Consumers feel motivated to shop in malls or boutiques where the fashion brand marketers understand their taste. The conceptual framework guide INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Thailand is located in Southeast Asia and its capital city is Bangkok. It is characterized by high standards of living and high growth rate. Therefore, fashion brands are highly valued by its consumers (Chada&husband, 2006). Other countries with suitable markets include Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia among others Thailand is an integral part of the fashion brand market since its emergence as an integral market player in the 1980s. Since then Thailand’s government has greatly affected the fashion brand market positively due to its efforts in promoting Bangkok as a regional hub and shopping kingdom for luxury brands (shuttle&ciarlante, 1998). Consequently, this has led to the increase in the overall buying percentages by the consumers in luxury fashion brands. Bangkok has also become one of the most sought after cities by fashion brand companies to open stores. It has also given rise to lots of malls within the capital city. These include Grayson plaza, Erawan boutique mall, and Emporium mall just to mention a few, where not only the high-class people shop but also the middle class and low class people. Asian consumers have a very strong affiliation for good taste, which has passed from generation to generation, and due to this, there has been expansion of European fashion brands to Asian consumers. This is due to the Europe’s low economic growth hence lower living standards for its citizens. Fashion brand marketers hence opt for the Asian market. Therefore, Thailand has then become the main market for these brands (Martin & Hau, 2004, 391). Like most states like Italy, New York (U.S.A), Paris (France) that are well known due to their hype in fashion, consumers behavior in their taste and preferences are majorly and are continuously being affected by globalization and commercialization, Thailand is no exception. The youth especially associate celebrities with good taste in fashion and hence try to copy, their sense in fashion. The media has played a major role in this; hence most fashion brand companies have opted to using celebrities in advertising their brands through magazines, red carpet events and award ceremonies among others. Many Thai designers have become so successful and are now working abroad such as koi, suwannagate; thakoonpanichgul (was once Michelle Obama designer). Some of the well-known and famous Thai brands are Sretsis (expanding globally),Kloset,Naraya,Disaya,Jaspal,Greyhound,Asava,Milin,Senada,Tu’I,Issue,Kwankao,Victeerut,Button up. The successful stories and celebrities endorsement could be one of the factors why people buy local brands as people from all works of life from the high class to low class people in Thailand love to check and follow what the celebrities are wearing. Hence, many companies pay them to upload fashion stuffs in private instagrams to do marketing. Research Questions How do identity, physical factors and individual lifestyle affect the consumers purchasing decision? Which marketing strategies best suited their purchasing decisions? Research Aim. The overall aim of the study is to establish the factors that influence the consumers purchasing decision in fashion brands a case study of Thai fashion brands. This research might interest new and existing companies to catch up with trends of tastes and preferences, to develop and adjust marketing strategies from the findings to cope with Thai fashion market and maintaining consumer loyalty (George & Lisa, 2004, 400). It will help identify the reason for consumer behavior while undertaking a purchasing decision by using factors like identity, a person’s lifestyle and physical factors. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY TOPIC SELECTION WHY IS THE RESEARCH STILL VIABLE RESEARCH METHOD SELECTION LITERATURE REVIEW DATA COLLECTION METHOD ANALYZING THE DATA DRAWING CONCLUSIONS AND MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS The overall aim of this study is to establish those factors that mainly affect the consumers purchasing decision and establish a relationship between this factors and their effect on the fashion brand companies in mainly Thailand. First, I selected my topic of interest, which was highly motivated by my love for fashion, and then I intensively researched on it through various sources including fashion magazines, marketing books, newspapers and the like to provide a basis on which my research would be based on. Subsequently, I selected a quantitative method of research that I felt best suited my research in collecting the data. Next I collected data from the identified area of that my research was based on which required to be well planned in order to get the information I needed. Later, I analyzed the data collected and made conclusions and recommendations. Topic selection My interest in fashion was the driving force in the topic selection. In this era, everyone including the middle-aged citizens is obsessed with fashion and everyone strives to look good on daily basis. This inspires me to dig deep on what consumers’ value when shopping for garments from the various fashion brands (Berman & Putu, 2012, 843). Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia and has a thriving economy. Its citizens enjoy high standards of living and due to this, most luxury brands have established themselves in Thailand. The capital city Bangkok has grown to be more like a fashion paradise due to very many malls and fashion boutiques sprouting up as various fashion brands try to penetrate the Thai market. Flagship stores from fashion brand names like Prada, Channel, Gap and omega watches just to mention a few. For this reason, Thailand proves to be suitable and relevant for this research and subsequently it is not outdated. The youth in Thailand and especially the female species are best suited for this research since they swayed easily by trends and pay more attention on their appearances. The youth are also the top spenders in fashion items (Wagner & Bode, 2009, 138).. Data collection Survey This is a quantitative research method and a conventional way of gathering information from a large area of study using a structured questionnaire. I issued questionnaires to Female youths in Thailand to fill out. This I did through the internet and face-to-face. The questionnaire mainly targeted what influenced their shopping behavior. Sampling The sample frame of this study consisted Thailand female youths especially those suited in the capital city Bangkok. I opted for non-probabilistic sampling because it is an exploratory study. This method of sampling is subjective because each element in the population of study does not have equal chances of selection. There exists four main types of non-probability sampling design but in this case, my main interest was purposive and snow ball or mud ball methods unlike the journalistic and quota sampling (Adams, 2011, 473). This was because these two methods are ideal for researchers and most importantly in my case. Purposive is whereby the researcher has expert knowledge of the dynamics of their population and use this knowledge in determining who will be included in this sample. Snowball on the other hand, creates a pattern whereby one correspondent recommends another until the required sample size is achieved. However, this method maybe subjective because one participant may recommend another correspondent who she fills shares the same views. Using these two methods provided better results. Questionnaires The questionnaires had 40 questions divided into 8 sections. They mainly focused on factors like identity, physical factors, and a person’s lifestyle and aimed at measuring these factors. The questionnaires were closed ended to reduce on time consumption and had four rating scales. To measure the different factors from the various correspondents, I used the ordinal and nominal level scales of measurement in rating the four scales. The higher the ranking number the higher the attributes. I distributed 300 questionnaires to different learning institutions in Thailand and 15 to various business premises that were ran by female youths. I also posted some online Where I created a website and sent a link to students that they used to fill in the questionnaires. I also carried out face-to-face interviews with 50 correspondents based in Bangkok. In order to receive reliable and positive responses the research was as followed by ethical issues. I informed the correspondents about the objective of this research and how I would use the data, I got from them. Furthermore, I assured the participants of confidentiality. Out of the total 365 questionnaires only 325 were returned. Reference Alvarez, B &Casielles, R 2005, Consumer evaluations of sales promotion: The effect on brand choice,European Journal of Marketing, vol. 39, no. 1, p. 54-70. Retrieved from: http://leeds2.emeraldinsight.com/bibliographic_databases.htm?id=1460160&PHPSESSID=128jn367b7do2kbalvfc48rd61 Blackwell, R &Talarzyk, W 1983, Life-style retailing: competitive strategies for the 1980s. Journal of Retailing, vol. 59, no. 4, pp.7-27. Retrieved from: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1476940&show=html Bruce, M& Daly, L 2006, Buyer behavior for fast fashion,Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, vol. 10, no. 3, pp.329-344. 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