Research Journal of Commerce & Behavioural Science - RJCBS

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Influence on Brand in Female Consumer behavior in Apparel Purchase in Lucknow Shalini Bariar Sr. Lecturer, Babu Banarsi Das University, Lucknow, UP Dr. Gaurav pande Associate Professor, Babu Banarsi Das University, Lucknow, UP Abstract In the Indian scenario, the branded female apparels are facing tough competition with in-house brands especially in the Indian casual wear. The female costumers prefer to purchase garments according to regional requirements and culture from the local outlets. The trend of national brands is growing importance due to the recent development in retail industry. It is very important for the marketers to understand the various factors influencing the apparel purchase to formulate appropriate marketing strategies to attract consumers towards branded apparels. The purpose of this research is to examine the female consumer behavior and to understand the influence branded apparels on consumer behavior in purchase of apparels. A survey was conducted from female consumers aged from 25-35, to obtain evidences. Approximately, 100 respondents were interviewed during the survey which results into indicating the Brand loyalty, Brand awareness, Brand Association, Quality Perceptions, and self-concepts were found to have positive impact on female consumers on purchase behavior in apparel. Key words: Brands, Apparels, Consumer Behavior, Female consumers, Influencing factors. INTRODUCTION The Apparel industry is one of the leading Industries in Indian economy and claims to be the biggest revenue earners in industrial sectors in India. In the recent years the Apparel industry especially in Female Garments section, is witnessing robust growth and grabbing attention of various marketers in India. Due to the introduction of in-house brands in apparel industry the national brands are facing tough challenge in maintaining leading position in the industry. The female apparel sector in India has been dominated by in-house clothing brands The total value for women’s branded apparel as compared to unbranded apparel for women accounts for one fourth of total apparel market. The changing economical condition, lifestyle and increase in working woman segment resulted in the growth in demand of branded apparel for females. Also, the rising trend of family shopping in malls has prompted apparel brands to get attracted towards branded apparels due to a wide range of products to customers. And now, brand expansion is the next step in the Indian branded apparel sector to cater to the varied tastes and preferences of the Indian customer. Considering the recent development in the retail trends and apparel sector, clothing sector firms are competing to increase their profit share in the market and among these firms; branded clothing has shifted the conventional clothing interest of people. Objective of the study During the recent years, India has witnessed increasing attention of females towards branded and unbranded fashionable apparels for casual as well as formal clothing, it has also grabbed attention of foreign brands and in-house branded apparels in the female segment. The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of brands in Lucknow and its impact on consumer purchasing behavior in apparels. Five dynamic factors of branded clothing adoption are defined and their relationship is explored with consumer behavior namely: Brand loyalty, Brand awareness, Brand Association, Quality Perceptions, and self-concepts. A survey of general female consumers is conducted in this study, with help of personal interview. Branding Brand is a new business warrior in times of tough competition as it etches consumer’s mind that signifies what they stand for and what can be expected from them. In the times on tough competition with various in house labels, the brands can create clutter through its brand image. The product can be copied but the brand can not be. In the increasingly complex world, a strong brand’s ability to simplify consumer’s decision making, reduce risk and sets expectations is invaluable. Brands can be symbolic devices allowing consumers to project their self-image. A brand can generate consumer interest, patronage, and loyalty. The retailers have come up with their respective brand in for of in-house brands to create its own brand image and establishing positioning. Creating strong brands that deliver a promise, maintains and enhances the strength of brands overtime is a management imperative. As we know that branded products have always attracted consumers attraction and marketers preference it has become utmost important for the marketers to understand the various factors www.theinternationaljournal.org > RJCBS: Volume: 01, Number: 08, June-2012 Page 42
influencing the purchase of branded products. Various research has been conducted in past regarding the importance of brand. Brands are increasingly viewed as offering a vital point of differentiation and a sustainable form of competitive advantage in the market place for firms (Beverland et.al., 2007; Low & Blois, 2002). Brand serves a pivotal role for distinguishing goods and services from those of the competitors (Aaker, 1991; Murphy, 1998). The emergence of brand equity underlies the importance of brand in marketing tactics and hence provides useful insights for managers and further research (Keller, 2003). Consumers like to buy and use brand-name products with a view to highlight their personality in different situational contexts (Aaker, 1999; Fennis and Pruyn,2006). A brand can be an everlasting and lucrative asset as long as it is maintained in a good manner that can continue satisfying consumers’ needs (Batchelor,1998; Murphy, 1998). Apparels As stated above apparel sector is witnessing robust growth in the retail sector, it has become a leading industry contributing to the growth of Indian economy. As India is one of the emerging markets , it has also attracted global attention in the various retail industries like food and grocery and apparels etc. As stated by Bearden and Etzel (as cited in Hogg et al., 1998), clothing is a kind of public necessity with weak reference group influence on the product category but strong reference group influence on the brand choice. Owing to the proliferation of brands in the clothing sector, consumers need to take serious consideration during the buying processes. As mentioned by Rayport and Jaworski (2003), the purchasing processes can be divided into three stages, namely pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase. Each stage is of equal importance that can alter the consumer buying decision. Once consumers make a purchasing decision, consumers may need to recognize their personal needs, read product information, decide which and where to buy, determine whether to buy again from the same retailer, choose the buying modes, show satisfaction to the services or product quality and finally be loyal to the brand. These highlight the complication of buying processes and the potential impact a brand could impose in between them. Several brands, under the influence of globalization and concerted efforts from media advertising, have become popular not only in their country of origin, but also in other markets with high potential. Having a strong and remarkable brand image could help establish an identity in marketplace (Aaker, 1996), widen the profit margins, encourage greater intermediary co-operation as well as increase the chance for further brand extension (Delgado-Ballester and Munuera- Aleman, 2005). In accordance with Delong et al. (2004), consumers appear to rely on the brand image as long as they have little knowledge about the brand. In this way, managing brand image is of utmost importance. In order to differentiate one brand from another, marketers would develop retail brands with unique image so as to continue to gain popularity and market share (Abend, 2000; Ailawadi, 2001; Corstjens and Lal, 2000). Consumer behavior Consumer behavior refers to the activities in which people acquire, consume and dispose products and services (Blackwell et al., 2001).Consumer behavior focuses on how individual consumers and families or households make decisions to spend their available resources in form of time money and effort on consumption related items. This includes what they buy, why they buy, when they buy, where they buy, how often they buy and use, how they evaluate it after purchasing, impact of such evaluations on future purchases and how they dispose it off. It is interesting to note that the importance of understanding consumer behavior was realized much before the establishment of marketing concepts. To identify consumer’s satisfied and unsatisfied needs it is important for companies to continuously monitor consumer buying behavior. Owing to the proliferation of brands in the recent decades, there is a growing number of researches conducted in the field of consumer buying behavior. Changing life styles, technological development in textiles and international trade have brought about changes in the clothing preferences of the present day consumers. Consumers with the same needs may want different clothes depending upon their cultural background, age, socio-economic status and personality (Sumathi, 2005) consumer tend to prefer clothes that are attractive, socially acceptable, economical and suits the climatic conditions and personality well. It is found that consumers’ emotions are one of the major determinants which affect their buying behaviour (Berry, 2000). According to a research conducted by Freeride Media LLC (1998) on shopping habits, nearly one-fourth of the respondents are likely to impulse-buy clothes and accessories. When deciding which products to purchase, consumers would have their preferences, which are developed in accordance with their perceptions towards the brand. Successful branding could make consumers aware of the presence of the brand and hence could increase the chance of buying the company’s products and services (Doyle, 1999). In India the purchasing pattern of consumers especially in case of woman apparels is highly influenced by the demographic, socio cultural, economical and household structure. Others influencers may be family, friends, reference groups, needs, emotions, personality and information processing etc. Research methodology According to the various researches conducted in past on apparel branding suggest that branded clothes are of high preference in consumers but in case of females in Lucknow branded apparels are not much popular especially in case of Indian wear. There are only limited branded apparel outlets in comparison to the retailer’s own labels. But still, female Branded apparels are gaining high acceptance since last decade, therefore it’s important for the marketers to study the influence of brands in apparel purchase. This study was conducted to analyze the various factors like Brand loyalty, Brand awareness, Brand Association, Quality Perceptions, www.theinternationaljournal.org > RJCBS: Volume: 01, Number: 08, June-2012 Page 43
Page 2 and 3: Table of Contents Articles INFRONIC
Page 4 and 5: Hyundai, Hero Honda, Pepsi, Ford, U
Page 6 and 7: priority to strategy for maintainin
Page 8 and 9: the Brundtland Report and was anoth
Page 10 and 11: know why it is important and educat
Page 12 and 13: TABLE - 2 ASSOCIATION OF THE LEVEL
Page 14 and 15: Freight Forwarders Hurdles In The O
Page 16 and 17: score of 13071 points. From the ana
Page 18 and 19: JOURNAL - RESEARCH PAPER REFERENCES
Page 20 and 21: The extent to which a farmer can un
Page 22 and 23: Results and discussion Table 1 show
Page 24 and 25: Financial inclusion for sustainable
Page 26 and 27: tech agriculture which is almost eq
Page 28: THE ROLE OF BANKS IN FINANCIAL INCL
Page 31 and 32: the job (Robins 2003, p.72). It is
Page 33 and 34: Research Methodology Questionnaire
Page 35 and 36: Lok, P., Crawford, J. (1999), "The
Page 37 and 38: Ethical issues in accessing people'
Page 39 and 40: complexity of the knowledge system.
Page 41 and 42: in public domain without any possib
Page 43: ‘Environmental Conservation: Ethi
Page 47 and 48: During purchase of apparel, female
Page 49 and 50: Test of Pricing Efficiency and Dist
Page 51 and 52: section gives the introduction of c
Page 53 and 54: efined soya, as shown in table 11.
Page 55 and 56: APPENDIX TABLE-1: ADF TEST OF PRICE

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