Pta

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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

In Kuching, there are many sportswear brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma,
Yonex and so on are popular among sportswear customers. Sportswear has become a
common and popular category among young people as it identifies them with a more
relaxed lifestyle, greater versatility and comfort. In kuching, Sportswear can shop at
almost all places. For instance, Boulevard Shopping Complex, Kenyalang Park
Commercial Centre, Tun Jugah Shopping Mall, Riverside Kuching, Wisma Saberkas,
Hock Lee Centre, The Spring, and etc.

Brand loyalty is a part of reason influencing consumer purchasing decision
making. As mentioned by Giddens (2010) brand loyalty is a consumer likes to buy a
particular brand in a product category. Consumer perceives that particular brand
provide the right features, images or level of quality at the right price (Giddens, 2010)
which indirectly consumer purchasing decision making. This perception becomes the
foundation for a new buying habit. Fundamentally, consumers tend to repurchase
that particular product if he or she satisfied with that product during the trial
purchase. He or she will continue to purchase the same product because the product
is safe and familiar. Meanwhile, loyalty among consumer will appeal indirectly.

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Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001) mentioned that the behavior of consumer to
make repeating purchase is like depending on trust and quality performance of
product or service. Marketer do not want repeat-purchase customer to break their
buying habits. Because habitual consumers are susceptible to competitors deals,
marketer needs to offer comparable deals to builds resistance to switching (Wayne D.
Hoyer, 2009).

In marketing, brand loyalty consists of a consumers commitment towards that
particular brand through repeated purchase habit of a product or a service or other
positive behaviors such as word of mouth. Moreover, Wayne (2009) mentioned that
without a strong preference, consumers are likely to break the habit and buy another
brand if their usual brand is out of stock rather than to go to another store to find the
brand they loyal to. In a study, 63 percent of consumer said they willing to buy
another brands of groceries and canned foods if their preferred brands not available
or offered.

In the first place, creating brand loyalist is less costly than converting new
customers by Reichheld (1996), Rosenberg and Czepiel (1983). Additionally, Aaker
(1991) mentioned that brand loyalty provides firms with tremendous competitive
weapons as brand loyal consumers are fewer prices sensitive. To a large extent, the
success of most businesses depends on their ability to create and maintain customer
loyalty.

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Therefore, this research seeks to figure out the factor influencing brand loyalty.
This study will investigate what are the factors that influence brand loyalties among
consumers towards sportswear in Kuching. Furthermore, this research attempts to
understand the correlation between factors and brand loyalty.

1.2 Problem Statement

Consumers sportswears in Kuching often buy their sportswear at several of
places or shopping malls such as Boulevard, The Spring, The Parkson, Wisma
Seberkas, Hills, Tun Jugah, Sarawak Plaza, Hock Lee Centre and etc. These places
have a lot of sportswear brands such as Adidas, Nike, Power, Puma, Yonex and so
on. Thus, consumers have a lot of option and choices. Also, this will lead a complex
decision making for consumers.

Kuching consumers sportswears often shifts or change their sportswear when
they wanted to purchase a new sportswear. At the same time, consumer probably
will shift to others brand product when there is a new brand product introduced to
the market. Some customers wanted to shift to another brands because they
perceived new product (competitors brand) have a better quality and had make
improvement. Thus, these consumers did not making any repeating purchases. This
has shown low brands loyalties among consumers sportswear in Kuching.

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Certainly, each sportswear brand has their own strength or competitive
advantages in order to attract the customers. Some of the brand not doing well in
order to attract customers could be cause by several factors such as image of the
company, quality of the product, lack of confidence by customers towards the
product and so on.

Brand loyalty has a well-known financial payoff. Loyal consumers only
repurchase the same brand over time even there is an alternative brand in the market,
and eventually loyalty can be measured by the commitment to repurchase in terms of
products and services (Ryan, 1999).

The purpose of this research is to study and understanding the factors that
influence consumers reaction of brand loyalty towards the sportswear in Kuching.
Hence, what are the factors influencing the brand loyalty among consumers and what
are correlations between factor and brand loyalty. This study also, investigates the
correlation between brands loyalty influencing the consumers purchasing decision.

1.3 Objectives

This study is to investigate the factors that will affect the consumers
sportswear at Kuching. It is important to review issues on brand loyalty on consumer
sportswear in the sportswear market for those companies who want to enter the
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sportswear market. The objectives of this study are divided into two parts which is
general objective and specific objective which will be conducted.

1.3.1 General Objective

The general objective of this research is to study the influences of brand
loyalty on consumer sportswear in Kuching.

1.3.2 Specific Objective

There are three specific objective of this research are:
Study the factor that influences of brand loyalty on consumer sportswear.
Understanding the correlation between factors and brand loyalty.
Provide a better or improve the performance of the product.

1.4 This study aims to provide answers to the questions stated below:

a) What are the factors influencing brand loyalty among consumer sportswear?
b) How the factors can influences brand loyalty among consumer sportswear?
c) What factors influence most towards brand loyalty among consumer
sportswear in Kuching?
d) How to improve consumers brand loyalty in sportswear?

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1.5 Significant of the Study

The significant of this study is to identify the factors of brand loyalty which
will influence the level of brand loyalty among consumers sportswear in Kuching.
Besides that, it also enables to analyze other factors such as factors on demographic
of Kuching people.

Many companies in the sportswear industry will try to enhance brand loyalty
among customers. Besides that, the manufacturers also are prompted to start
expanding their business as it has the potential to give them higher volume of sales
for their products. So, from this study as well, aggressive marketing programs are
encouraged to develop to increase customer satisfaction and drive them to be loyalist.
Thus, it is important to identify the factors of brand loyalty on consumers
sportswear.

When customers have a high relative attitude toward the brand exhibited
through repurchase behavior. This type of loyalty can be a great asset to the firm:
customers are willing to pay higher prices, may cost less to serve and can bring in
new customers to the firm mentioned by Reichheld and Sasser (1990).

Also, Brand loyalists are willing to search for their favorite brand and are less
sensitive to competitive promotions. The result is lower costs for advertising,
marketing and distribution. Giddens (2010) mentioned that it would costs four to six
times as much to attract a new customer as it does to retain an old one.
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Lastly, this study is to identified correlation factors and brand loyalty that
could be clearly identified and then enables Sportswear Company used the factor that
most attractive to attract consumers to shop the company products. Understanding
factors that influences consumers purchasing decision would help the company to
increase customer satisfaction as well customers well repeating purchase.

1.6 Scope and Location of Study

This study is segmented to the consumers within Kuching areas who had been
used sportswear and brand loyalist.

Kuching in Malay word means cat. It is fondly known as the Cat City.
Kuching city exudes a colonial charm and yet at the same time, it is one of the most
vibrant cities in the region. Kuching city is one of the most sought after destinations
in Malaysia, with several museums attractions, parks, cultural events and colorful
festivals (Sandy, 2009).

Kuching is the capital of Sarawak and situated at the banks of Sarawak River
in Borneo Island. The population is made up of Dayaks, Malays, Chinese, Indians
and other ethnic groups. Sarawak has a population of 2.07 millions (Sarawak
Government Official Portal, n.d.). Kuching is around half a million making it the
highest populated city in Sarawak and the 7
th
highest populated in Malaysia.
Kuching is one of the cleanest cities in the world and has received several awards
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like Healthy Cities Award in 2002, Good Practice of Healthy Cities and Alliance for
Healthy City in 2006, ASEAN Environmentally Sustainable Cities and Award and
National Sustainable City Award in June 2008. Kuching is managed by North City
Council and South City Council (Sandy, 2009).

The largest populated administrative district in Sarawak is the States capital,
Kuching, with a total estimated population of 509,374 people in 2006. Samarahan is
the second most populated district followed by Sri Aman, Betong, Sarikei, Sibu,
Kapit, Mukah, Bintulu and Miri, while Limbang is the least populated district with
an estimated 45,500 people in 2006 (State Planning Unit, 2009).

Consumers who have purchased use sportswear before are essential to provide
useful guidance to complete this study as they are more positively correlated with
using branded product (sportswear) to complete certain tasks such as brand loyalty in
this case. Kuching as the capital city of Sarawak is chose as targeted areas since it is
the most populated city in Sarawak and this ease researcher to get appropriate
respondents within the areas. There are number of targeted respondents will be
chosen randomly in Kuching areas in order to evaluate factors that influence
customers decision making in choosing the types of brand name of sportswear they
would buy.

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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

Nowadays, sportswear becomes a common and popular category as its gives
young people a more relaxed lifestyle and greater versatility and comfort. Consumers
wear athletic apparel not only in sports activities, but also at home, in school, at work,
or at leisure time. Moreover, there is a high-flying trend in the sportswear industry,
for which the sporty design and the athletic design is covering. Sports lovers
combine their sports activities with leisurewear in order to look smart and
fashionable when they do exercise as according to Textile and Apparel, Technology
and Management (TATM) (2006).

This chapter discussed about the factors that influence brand loyalty in
sportswear at Kuching. Besides that, this study will also analyze the correlation
between factors and brand loyalty. At the end of this study, the result will show
what the factors that influence brands loyalty among consumers.

2.2 Overview of Sportswear

Clothes are designed for comfort and casual wear for everyone. Clothes those
are casually styled but acceptable for many business or social occasions. Nowadays,
Sportswear is also often worn as casual fashion clothing. Typical sport-specific
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garments include shorts, tracksuits, T-shirts, polo shirts and trainers. Specialized
garments include wet suits and silhouette. It also includes some underwear, such as
the jockstrap.

2.3 Overview of Brand Loyalty

Lau et al. (2006), in their study of the Brand Loyalty of Sportswear in Hong
Kong revealed that promotion is the most efficient strategy in attracting brand
switchers. In the sportswear market, promotion tends to reinforce brands switchers to
develop more solid brand loyalty towards sportswear.

Jacoby and Kyner (1973) first defined brand loyalty as having six necessary
conditions. These condition are the biased (i.e. nonrandom); behavioral response (i.e.
purchase); expressed over time; by some decision-making unit; with respect to one
or more alternative brands out of a set of such brands; and is a function of
psychological processes.

Brand loyalty is a consumers preference to buy a particular brand in a product
category. It occurs because consumers perceive that the brand offers the right
product features, images, or level of quality at the right price. This perception
becomes the foundation for a new buying habit. Basically, consumers initially will
make a trial purchase of the brand and, after satisfaction, tend to form habits and
continue purchasing the same brand because the product is safe and familiar
(Decision, 2002).
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According to Bloemer and Kasper, brand loyalty implies that consumers bind
themselves to products or services as a result of a deep-seated commitment. To
exemplify this point, they rendered a distinction between repeat purchases and actual
brand loyalty. In their published research, they assert that a repeat purchase behavior
"is the actual re-buying of a brand whereas loyalty includes "antecedents or a
reason/fact occurring before the behavior (Nissim, n.d).

However, Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001) focus on two central aspects of
brands as determinants of brand loyalty: Brand trust and brand affect. In the branding
literature the concept of brand trust is based on the idea of a brand consumer
relationship, which is seen as a substitute for human contact between the company
and its customers (Sheth and Parvatiyar, 1995). Chaudhuri and Holbrook (2001)
define brand trust as the willingness of the average consumer to rely on the ability
of the brand to perform its stated function. Across disciplines there is also
agreement that trust only exists in an uncertain and risky environment: The need for
trust only arises in a risky situation (Mayer et al., 1995). In other words, trust is
only relevant in situations of uncertainty (Moorman et al., 1992). Having only
limited cognitive resources available, consumers seek to reduce the uncertainty and
complexity of buying processes by applying mental shortcuts. One efficient mental
shortcut is trust, which can serve as a method to reduce the complexity of human
conduct in situations where people have to cope with uncertainty (Luhmann, 1989).
Thus, in such situations trust reduces uncertainty (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001)
and consumers are more motivated to look for a trustworthy brand in order to avoid
the risk inherent to buying a product. In this point of view risk reduction can be seen
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as a basic function of a brand in the buying decision process and brand trust as one
of its most important sub-functions (Fischer et al., 2004). Chaudhuri and Holbrook
(2001, p. 82) define brand affect as a brands potential to elicit a positive emotional
response from the average consumer as a result of its use.

Brand loyalty is an important concept in understanding consumer behavior
(Day, 1969; Huang and Yu, 1999, Lee et al., 2001; Wood, 2004; Yim & Kannan,
1999). It is a deeply held commitment to re-buy or re-patronized a preferred
product/service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brands or
same brand-set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts
having the potential to cause switching behavior (Oliver, 1999, p.34).

Brand loyalty has played a central role both in brand literature and customer
loyalty literature (Jacoby and Chestnut, 1978). Aaker (1991, p. 39) defines loyalty as
the attachment that a customer has to a brand, and consider it to be a primary
dimension of the brand equity (Anselmsson, Johansson &Persson, n.d, p.403).

The concept of brand loyalty has been extensively discussed in traditional
marketing literature with the main emphasis on two different dimensions of the
concept: behavioral and attitudinal loyalty (Gommans, Krishnan &Scheffold, 2001, p.
44).

Brand loyalty refers not only to ones tendency to repurchase the same brand
time after time, but also to have a psychological commitment or attitudinal bias
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toward the brand. Thus, the brand loyal customer not only buys the brand, but
refuses to switch even when a better offer comes along. Building brand loyalty has
taken numerous forms over time. Initially, mass awareness advertising campaigns
were used almost exclusively to build a brands image, with hopes that a strong
brand image would be enough to establish brand loyal customers (Wells et al., 2003).
More recently, firms have used promotional tools such as coupons, rebates, discounts,
bonus packs and gift premiums in an effort to build loyalty.

In highly competitive markets with increasing unpredictability and decreasing
product differentiation, brand loyalty is a central element of marketing strategies and
tactics (Fournier and Yao, 1997). Brand loyalty generates benefits like substantial
entry barriers to competitors, better ability to respond to competitive threats, greater
sales and revenues and the customers lower sensitivity to marketing efforts of
competitors (Delgado-Ballester and Munuera-Aleman, 1999).

Customers can be distinguished according to brand loyalties which are hard-
core loyal customers, brand switchers, new users and non-users (Evans et al., 1996).
Hard-core loyal consumers are consumers repeatedly purchase a particular brand
regardless the premium price of that brand has charged (Evans et al., 1996). Brand
switchers refer to consumers who use two or more brands when a single brand does
not satisfy all their needs (Evans et al., 1996). Non-users tend not to be loyal to any
brand and as for new users; they are not so familiar with any brand at all. Marketer
often pay attention to identified the characteristic of brand-loyal consumers and the
degree of brand loyalty of consumers so that they can directly and effectively focus
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their marketing and promotional strategies on these consumers who share similar
characteristic among the large population (TATM, 2006).

2.4 Overview of Factors of Brands Loyalty

Lau et al. (2006) in their article mentioned that there were seven factors that
influenced consumers brand loyalty towards certain sportswear brands. The factors
were: brand name, product quality, price, style, store environment, promotion and
service quality.

2.4.1 Brand Name

Keller (2003) mentioned that famous brand names can publicize product
benefits and lead to higher evoke of advertised benefits than non-famous brand
names. Consumers are likely preferred to trust major famous brand names. As a
result, these prestigious brand names and their images attract consumers to purchase
the brand and bring about repeat purchasing behavior and reduce price related
switching behaviors (Cadogan and Foster, 2000). Furthermore, brand personality
provides links to the brands emotional and self-expressive benefits for
differentiation. This is important for brands which have only minor physical
differences and are consumed in a social setting where the brand can create a visible
image about the consumer itself.

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On other hand, fashion magazines and fashion press elaborate on the designers
collections to the full extent and thus reinforce better images to facilitate consumer
recognition (Colborne, 1996). Consumers are usually able to evaluate each of the
products and brand name attributes (Keller, 2003). It is noteworthy that this
information is essential for marketing managers to make informed decisions
concerning product positioning, repositioning and differential advantages.

According to Kohli and Thakor (1997), brand name is the creation of an image
or the development of a brand identity and is an expensive and time consuming
process. The development of a brand name is an essential part of the process since
the name is the basis of a brands image. Brand name is important for the firm to
attract customers to purchase the product and influence repeat purchasing behavior.
Consumers tend to perceive the products from an overall perspective, associating
with the brand name all the attributes and satisfaction experienced by the purchase
and use of the product.

2.4.2 Product Quality

Product Quality encompasses the features and characteristics of a product or
service that bears on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. In other words,
product quality is defined as fitness for use or conformance to requirement
(Russell and Taylor, 2006).

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Consumers may repeat the purchase of single brands or switch around several
brands due to the tangible quality of the product sold. According to Frings (2005),
the components of product quality of fashion merchandise include size measurement,
cutting or fitting, material, color, function and the performance of the merchandise.
Fitting is a crucial aspect in garment selection because some fitted garments such as
swimsuits and aerobic wear can ideally enhance the consumers general appearance.

Material is important in product quality because it affects the hand feel, texture
and other performance aspects of the product. Further, consumers relate personally
to color, and could select or reject a fashion because of color. If the color does not
appeal to them or flatter their own color, they will reject the fashion (Frings, 2005).

Functional attributes in sportswear include quick-dry, breathable, waterproof,
odour-resistant, lightweight, and antimicrobial and finally, durability which is the
use life of garments. For instance, some consumers wear their sportswear for heavy
work and some for leisure and sports, as they need a lot of movement, while
durability is an important consideration in purchasing sportswear (Garvin, 1988).

Perfectionist or quality consciousness is defined as an awareness of and desire
for high quality products, and the need to make the best or perfect choice versus
buying the first product or brand available (Sproles and Kendall, 1986). This
indicates that quality characteristics are also related to performance.

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2.4.3 Price

According to Cadogan and Foster (2000), price is probably the most important
consideration for the average consumer. Consumers with high brand loyalty are
willing to pay a premium price for their favored brand, so, their purchase intention is
not easily affected by price.

In addition, customers have a strong belief in the price and value of their
favorite brands so much so that they would compare and evaluate prices with
alternative brands (Evans et al., 1996; Keller, 2003). Consumers satisfaction can
also be built by comparing price with perceived costs and values. If the perceived
values of the product are greater than cost, it is observed that consumers will
purchase that product.

Loyal customers are willing to pay a premium even if the price has increased
because the perceived risk is very high and they prefer to pay a higher price to avoid
the risk of any change (Yoon and Kim, 2000). Basically, long-term relationships of
service loyalty make loyal customers more price tolerant, since loyalty discourages
customers from making price comparison with other products by shopping around.
Price has increasingly become a focal point in consumers judgments of offer value
as well as their overall assessment of the retailer (De Ruyter et al., 1999).

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2.4.4 Style

According to Bucklin et al. (1998), price significantly influences consumer
choice and incidence of purchase. He emphasized that discount pricing makes
households switch brands and buy products earlier than needed. Price is described as
the quantity of payment or compensation for something. It indicates price as an
exchange ratio between goods that pay for each other. Price also communicates to
the market the companys intended value positioning of its product or brand. Price
consciousness is defined as finding the best value, buying at sale prices or the lowest
price choice (Sproles and Kendall, 1986). Additionally, consumers generally
evaluated market price against an internal reference price, before they decide on the
attractiveness of the retail price.

Style is visual appearance, which includes line, silhouette and details affecting
consumer perception towards a brand (Frings, 2005). According to Abraham and
Littrell (1995), a composite list of apparel attributes has been generated and one of
the conceptual categories is style.

Consumers judgment depends on the consumers level of fashion
consciousness, so judgment will be conditioned by their opinion of what is currently
fashionable. Brands that supply stylish sportswear attract loyal consumers who are
fashion conscious. Fashion leaders or followers usually purchase or continue to
repeatedly purchase their fashion garments in stores that are highly fashionable.
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They gain satisfaction from wearing the latest fashion and style which also satisfies
their ego.

A research conducted by Duff (1999) investigated the niche market in
womens sportswear, and the results showed that sportswear shoppers were
becoming more fashion conscious and were demanding products with more style;
furthermore, consumers have a tendency to wear different attires for different
occasions.

2.4.5 Store Environment

According to Sproles and Kendall (1986), fashion consciousness is generally
defined as an awareness of new styles, changing fashions, and attractive styling, as
well as the desire to buy something exciting and trendy.

Omar (1999) has emphasized that the store environment was the single most
important factor in retail marketing success and store longevity. Positive attributes of
the store, which include store location, store layout, and in-store stimuli, affect brand
loyalty to some extent. Store location and number of outlets are crucial in altering
consumer shopping and purchasing patterns. If consumers find the store to be highly
accessible during their shopping trip and are satisfied with the store assortment and
services, these consumers may become loyal afterwards (Evans et al., 1996). Thus, a
stores atmosphere is one of the factors that could influence consumers decision
making.
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The stimuli in the store, such as the characteristic of other shoppers and, shelf
space, salespeople, store layout, noises, smells, temperature and displays, sign, colors,
and merchandise, affect consumers and serve as elements of apparel attributes
(Abraham and Littrell, 1995), which may in turn, affect consumer decision making
and satisfaction with the brand (Evans et al., 1996). On the other hand, background
music played in the stores affects attitudes and behavior (Milliman, 1982). The slow-
beat musical selection leads to higher sales volume as consumers spend more time
and money in a conducive environment.

There are many advantages to retailers having loyal customers. As stated by
Huddleston et al. (2004), customer loyalty could yield a favorable operating cost
advantage for retailers. Furthermore, they stressed that obtaining new customers cost
five to six times as much as retaining current customers. Loyal customers can
increase their purchase spending, they are low cost for retailers as compared to
obtaining new customers; they accept price premiums and they have customer
longevity. Research conducted by Lin and Chang (2003) showed that the channel
convenience of the brands had significant influence on buying behavior. This means
that the accessibility to this product/brand in the store is important when purchasing
low involvement products. Consumers will not go to another store just to find the
brand. Instead, they will stay put and choose another brand.

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2.4.6 Promotion

Promotion is a marketing mix component which is a kind of communication
with consumers. Promotion includes the use of advertising, sales promotions,
personal selling and publicity. Advertising is a non-personal presentation of
information in mass media about a product, brand, company or store. It greatly
affects consumers images, beliefs and attitudes towards products and brands, and in
turn, influences their purchase behaviors (Evans et al., 1996). This shows that
promotion, especially through advertising, can help establish ideas or perceptions in
the consumers minds as well as help differentiate products against other brands.

According to Rowley (1998), promotion is an important element of a firms
marketing strategy. Promotion is used to communicate with customers with respect
to product offerings, and it is also a way to encourage purchase or sales of a product
or service. Sales promotion tools are used by most organizations in support of
advertising and public relations activities, and they are targeted toward consumers as
final users. She also states that promotion has a key role in determining profitability
and market success and is one of the key elements of the marketing mix which
includes advertising; direct marketing; sales promotion; public relations and
publicity; personal selling and sponsorship.

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2.4.7 Service Quality

A common definition of service quality is that the service should correspond to
the customers expectations and satisfy their needs and requirements (Gronroos,
1990). Service quality is a kind of personal selling, and involves direct interactions
between salespeople and potential buyers. Consumers like to shop at specific stores
because they like the services provided and are assured of certain service privileges.

The impact of salespeople-consumer relationships will generally result in long
term orientation of consumers towards the store or brand. Trust in salespeople
appears to relate to overall perceptions of the stores service quality, and results in
the consumer being totally satisfied with the stores in the end. Additionally,
personalization (i.e. reliability, responsiveness, personalization and tangibles)
significantly influence consumers experience and evaluation of service, and in turn,
affects the brand loyalty of consumers (To and Leung, 2001).

Gronroos (1990) noted that the quality of a service as perceived by customers
had three dimensions: functional (or process) dimension, technical (or outcome)
dimension, and image. Furthermore, Richard and Allaway (1993) argued that
utilizing only functional quality attributes to explain and/or predict consumers
behavior might be a misspecification of service quality and had low predictive
validity.

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CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This part is discusses the method employed in the study. The scopes of the
discussion include conceptual framework, research design, research methods,
research sample, and data collection method, instrument development, managing the
fieldwork, data management, and hypotheses of study.

3.2 Conceptual Framework

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of Brand loyalty
Adapted From Lau et al. (2006)
Style
Brand Name
Promotion
Price
Store Environment
Service Quality
Product Quality
Brand
Loyalty
Consumer
Purchasing
Decision
Making
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Based on the Figure 1, generally consumers brand loyalty towards certain
sportswear brand might influenced by several factors of brand loyalty. Lau et al.
(2006) in their article mentioned that there were seven factors that influenced
consumers brand loyalty towards certain sportswear brands. The factors were: brand
name, product quality, price, style, store environment, promotion and service quality.
These seven brands factor directly influence the degree of brand loyalty among
consumer and also indirectly inflict the purchasing decision making among brand
loyalist in sportswear.

3.3 Research Design

Research design is a process of designing a research study which involves
many interrelated decisions. The most significant decisions are the choice of research
approach because it determines how the information will be obtained.

This study conducts a descriptive research to examine the factors that
influences brand loyalty on consumers sportswear. In this study, the independent
variables are brand name, product quality, price, style, promotion, and service
quality and store environment. The dependent variable is brand loyalty.

In this study, a survey is conduct to gather primary data. A survey is a research
technique in which information is gathered from a sample of people by use of a
questionnaire (William G.Z., 2000). Paper questionnaires survey was a versatile
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method because it is compatible to all respondents. Besides, the face-to-face
technique is conducted when distributing questionnaires because it is easy for the
researcher to explain the purpose of the questionnaire to respondents can completed
on the spot.

3.4 Research sample

The sample for this research would be include respondents of multiple
ethnicities, namely, Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban and other races in Kuching.

The targeted respondents for this study are focused on consumers who have
been wearing Sportswear. They will be a good representation in this study since they
are more positively correlated in using Sportswear to complete certain tasks. Thus,
the respondents are selective.

Alreck and Settle (1985), report that for populations of 10,000 and more, most
researchers would probably consider a sample size between 200 and 1,000
respondents. Therefore, in terms of time and cost considerations, a convenience
sample of 350 individual consumers who had been using Sportswear before are
approached to collect data. The reason of choosing consumers who had been using
Sportswear before is because they are more positively correlated in the study to
accomplish certain tasks.

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3.5 Data collection method

To conduct the study, primary data and secondary data are used to analyze
consumers brand loyalty on sportswear. Primary data was collected by using self-
administered questionnaires which were distributed to respondents who were briefed
on the purpose of the study. The questionnaires are consisting of open-ended
questions and closed-ended questions. However, the closed-ended questionnaires
choose in this study because open-ended questions were more difficult to code and
analyze. The structure of the questionnaire is clear, easy to understand, and
straightforward to ensure that the respondents could understand and answer the
questions easily.

A total 350 sets of questionnaires were distributed to friends who are working
in different organizations, friends who studying in different colleges and also
distributed personally to respondents manually by own. All questionnaires were
distributed within the Kuching areas such as The Spring, Boulevard, Sarawak Plaza
and Tun Jugah Mall are been chosen. Researcher delivered all self-administered
questionnaire to respondents by hand and will be collected immediately.

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3.5.1 Primary Data

The primary data are collected from the respondents involved in the answering
the questionnaire that was distributed to them. In the research, the data would be
analyzed by descriptive statistic for quantitative data such as the demographic part.

Besides, this research would explore the factors that influence brand loyalty on
consumers sportswear. These factors constitute brand name, product quality, price,
style, promotion, service quality and store environment. Furthermore, to achieve the
objective of the research, the researcher would try to identify the main factor by
using the mean of each factor. The data would be analyzed thoroughly to make sure
it can achieve the objective of the research. The sample of the questionnaire is
showed in the Appendix 1, 2 and 3.

3.5.2 Secondary Data

The secondary data were collected from printed sources or other forms of
publication. For this research, the secondary data used was desk-bound. All the
secondary data were gathered from journals in Internet and website and other
hardcopy sources like references book, magazines, newspaper, articles, journals and
etc.

28

3.6 Instrument Development

This section discussed the questionnaire and pilot test which has been done for
instrument development of the research.

3.6.1 Questionnaires

In this research, survey is the most used of obtaining primary data. It is the
most used because it is versatile method of obtaining information on the action and
attitudes of people.

In this study, the type of survey method to be use is questionnaire. The
advantage of using questionnaire method for this survey is where interviewer can
explain the study by getting the answer of the questions accurately from the
respondents. The questionnaires will gather data used in evaluating the factors that
influences brand loyalty on consumers sportswear.

The questionnaire was adapted and modified from Foong Yee, W., and Sidek,
Y. The Influence of Brand Loyalty on Consumer Sportswears Questionnaire.
International Journal of Economics Management 2 (2): 221-236 (2008).

A self-administered questionnaire in English, Malay and Mandarin (Chinese)
was developed and divided into three sections: Demographic (Section A), Screening
Question (Section B) and factors which influence brand loyalty (Section C).

29

Section A will gather the information regarding respondents demographic.
Section B is a screening part; respondent that is not brand loyalist will be excluding
from this study. Apparently, out of 350 set of questionnaire, there are 22 respondents
are not loyal to any brand. Therefore, only 328 respondents are included in the study.
In Section C, respondent were asked to evaluate the importance of the factors of
brand loyalty towards their favorites brands. The statements of the seven factors
were adapted from previous research: brand name, product quality, price, style, store
environment, promotion, and service quality.

The Likert Scale is used in the survey questionnaire to measure the attitude
designed which allow respondents to indicate how strongly they agree or disagree
with carefully constructed statements that range from very negative to very positive
toward an attitudinal object (Zikmund, 2003). Each element will be tested on 5 point
scales in which 1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree.

3.6.2 Pilot Test

It is important to make sure that the questionnaire is pilot-tested though all the
stages of its development. Pilot test was carried out before distribute the actual
questionnaire to the target respondents in order to make sure the questionnaire can be
understood easily. The pilot test was conducted by distributing the questionnaires to
ten randomly chosen respondents. The researcher determines which questions do the
respondents feel difficult to answer and confusing. Then, the questions will be
corrected and modified to make respondents answer the questionnaire correctly.
30

3.7 Managing the Fieldwork

Several shopping malls in Kuching are selected to distribute questionnaires
such as The Spring, Boulevard, Sarawak Plaza and Tun Jugah Mall. These shopping
malls are selected because these shopping malls always crowded with many people.
Thus, these areas are targeted in order to get respondents for the study.

3.8 Data Management

There is various methods use to analysis the data been collect. This is to
getting a feel for the data, testing the goodness of data and testing the hypotheses
developed for the research. The result of this study will be analyzed by using
computer software, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS Version 17).
The data collected will be entered into SPSS Data Editor and every variable is
named, and the coded values are labeled.

Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 17.0
were the usage of this program to simplify the computation of data analysis in the
form of statistic and quantitative.

Frequencies procedure provides statistic and graphical displays that are useful
for describing type of variables. The frequencies report can be suppressed when a
31

variable has distinct values. Therefore the results can be display in the form of
percentages.

3.9 Hypotheses of the study

Through the questionnaires, the following hypotheses were tested:
H1: There is a significant and positive relationship between style and brand
loyalty on consumer sportswear.
H2: There is a significant and positive relationship between brand name and
brand loyalty on consumer sportswear.
H3: There is a significant and positive relationship between store environment
and brand loyalty on consumer sportswear.
H4: There is a significant and positive relationship between service quality and
H5: There is a significant and positive relationship between promotion and
H6: There is a significant and positive relationship between service price and
H7: There is a significant and positive relationship between product quality
and brand loyalty on consumer sportswear.
32

CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS

4.1 Introduction

In this chapter, the data and the results obtained from the survey will be
interpreted by using SPSS version 17.0. A total number of 328 respondents were
participated in this questionnaire survey. Descriptive analysis is used to analyze the
background as well as the respondents profiles pertaining to their evaluation of
brand loyalty. The common measures such as the total, mean, variance, frequency
and percentage are used to analyze the data gathered through the questionnaires.
Frequencies such as mean and percentage analysis were used to obtain the factors
that influenced respondents brand loyalty.

Pearson Correlation was seen as appropriate to analyze the relationship
between the two variables which were interval-scaled and ratio-scaled. Furthermore,
correlation coefficients reveal magnitude and direction of relationships which are
suitable for hypothesis testing (Malhotra, 2007). The researcher used Pearson
correlation to test seven independent variables (brand name, product quality, price,
style, promotion, service quality and store environment) that influenced consumer
brand loyalty and to test if a relationship existed between the independent and
dependent variables.

33

4.2 Frequency Distribution of Questionnaire
Table 4.1: Response Rate
Amount Percentage (%)
Total questionnaires collected/ completed 328 94
Total incomplete questionnaires/ missing 22 6
Total questionnaires distributed 350 100

A total of 350 sets questionnaires were distributed to consumers choose
randomly in the shopping malls. However, only 328 sets of questionnaires were used
while 22 sets exclude in the study as the respondent were not loyalist to any brand.
The response rate for collected questionnaires was 94% and it met the typical level
of response rate 80% suggested by Malhotra (2004).

4.3 Results

This section analyzes the frequency data provided in Part A of the
questionnaires which are gender, age, ethnic, education, marital status, occupation
and income.

34

Table 4.2 Frequency of Demographic

Demographic Frequency Percent (%)
Gender Male 224 68.3
Female 104 31.7
Age 20 or below 79 24.1
21-30 142 43.3
31-40 101 30.8
41-50 3 0.9
51 and above 3 0.9
Marital Status Single 209 63.7
Married 119 36.3
Ethnic Malay 111 33.8
Chinese 100 30.5
Iban 86 26.3
India 6 1.8
Others 25 7.6
Income Level Below RM 1000 138 42.1
RM 1000-RM 1499 33 10.1
RM 1500-RM 1999 42 12.8
RM 2000-RM 2499 77 23.5
RM 2500-RM 2999 17 5.2
RM 3000-RM 3499 7 2.1
RM 3500-RM 3999 2 0.6
RM 4000 and above 12 3.7
Education Secondary School 232 70.7
Matriculation 1 0.3
STPM 35 10.7
Diploma 17 5.2
First Degree 36 11.0
Master Degree 1 0.3
PhD 6 1.8
Occupation Self employment/Businessman 6 1.8
Private sector employee 103 31.4
Government servant 78 23.8
Student 124 37.8
others 17 5.2
35

4.3.1 Respondents Profile Analysis

Respondents profile was discussed in this section. There are 328 respondents
in this study. The respondents backgrounds were provided in term of their gender,
age, ethnic, education, marital status, occupation, monthly income. All the result was
show in Table 4.2.

Based on Table 4.2, there are 224 male respondents that comprised 68.3% and
104 female respondents comprised 31.7%. Results from the questionnaire shows that
respondents aged 20 and below comprised 24.1% followed by the respondents
between 21 years and 29 years comprised 43.3%, 30 years to 39 years comprised
30.8%, 40 years to 49 years and the aged above 50 only comprised 0.9% each.

Results from the questionnaire shows that the most of the respondents were
Malays (33.8%) followed by Chinese (30.5%), Iban (26.3%), Others (7.6%) and
Indian (1.8). Others is referring to the other races besides than Chinese, Malay,
Iban and Indian such as, Melanau, Bidayuh, Kelabit, Kayan, Kenyah and so on.

From the respondents profile, many of them were single (63.7%) and married
only comprised 36.3%. In term of occupation, most of the respondents were student
that comprised 37.8% of the total which is the highest percentages among all the
occupation while the lowest is the self employment/businessman which consists of
1.8%. The Second highest occupation is the Private sector employee (31.4%), where
else, government servants only hold about 23.8%.
36

There were various categories of salary range to determine the respondents
monthly income. Table 4.2 shows the income obtained by the respondents monthly.
Among all ranges of monthly income, those respondents with monthly income
RM1,000 and below (42.1%) became the largest group, followed by respondents
with monthly income between RM 2,000-RM 2,499 (23.5%). The lowest percentage
of monthly income was at RM 3,500-RM 3,900 (0.6%). Monthly income at the RM
4,000 and above is 3.7%.

Based on the result of survey, Secondary School became the majority of the
respondents for the education level category with 70.7%. First Degree (11.0%) as the
second highest education category for the respondents, followed by STPM (10.7%),
Diploma (5.2%), PhD (5.2%), Master Degree and Matriculation (0.3%) participated
in this research.

37

4.3.2 Screening Question Analysis
Table 4.3 Screening Question Analysis
Question Frequency Percent (%)
Purchased
Sportswear
Past year
Yes 328 93.7
No 22 6.3
Non-Brand
Loyalist
Brands Name Frequency Percent (%)
-
22 6.3
Brand Loyalist Brands Name Frequency Percent (%) Cumulative
Frequency
Nike 112 32.0 112
Reebok 45 12.9 157
Fila 31 8.8 188
Adidas 89 25.4 277
Power 29 8.3 306
Others 22 6.3 328
Total (Non + Brand Loyalist) 350 100

Table 4.3; show the result from section B of questionnaire. Result shows that,
out of 350 respondents, there are only 328 respondents are brand loyalist to a
particular. Therefore, 6.3% of the respondents are non-brand loyalist. 22 respondents
has exclude from the study. From the table also shows that 93.7% of the respondent
has purchased sportswear last year.

Most of the brand loyalist loyal to Nike brand (32%), followed by Adidas
(25%), and Reebok ranked third places. Fila and Power holds 8.8% and 8.3% each.
Others categories of brand name is the lowest percentile.

38

4.3.3 Frequency of Factors of Brand Loyalty

Table 4.4 Style
Style Evaluation Frequency Percent (%)
The brand has provides
variety choices of styles.
Strongly Disagree 0 0
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 33 10.1
Agree 229 69.8
Strongly agree 66 20.1
Styles of the brand are
suitable for me.
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 49 14.9
Agree 197 60.1
Styles of the brand have
distinctive features.
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 146 44.5
Agree 117 35.7
Styles of the brand are
fashionable and updated.
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 97 29.6
Agree 166 50.6
Styles of the brand have
different color.
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 64 19.5
Agree 165 50.3

Table 4.4 shows that, most of the respondent are agree that the brand that they
loyal to has provides variety style (69.8%). However, respondents less likely to
respond that the brand style have distinctive feature (35.7%). 60.1% of the
respondent agrees that the styles of the brand name are suitable from them. From the
table also shows that 50.6% of the respondent perceived the brand that they loyal to
are fashionable and updated. Also, 165 respondents believes that the brand have
different colors.
39

Table 4.5 Brand Name
Brand Name Evaluation Frequency Percent (%)
The brand has good reputation
and well-known brand.
Strongly disagree 0 0
Disagree 21 6.4
Neutral 65 19.8
Agree 197 60.1
Brand Name and good image
attract my intention to
purchase.
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 88 26.8
Agree 219 66.8
I choose the Brand Name
without considering the price.
Disagree 22 6.7
Neutral 89 27.1
Agree 153 46.6
Brand reflects my own
personality.
Disagree 22 6.7
Neutral 43 13.1
Agree 155 47.3
Brand name indicates a high
quality product.
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 65 19.8
Agree 133 40.5

According to Table 4.5, it shows that, respondents that agree the brand name
and good image attract my intention to purchase (66.8%) with the highest percentile
compare to evaluation on brand name indicates a high quality product (40.5%). 60.1%
of the respondent believes that the brand has good reputation and well-known brand.
However, respondents that choose the brand name without considering the price are
much lower which 46.6% is. In contrast, brand reflects my own personality is
slightly higher which 47.3% is.

40

Table 4.6 Store Environment
Store Environment Evaluation Frequency Percent (%)
The store location of
brand is strategic.
Disagree 143 43.6
Neutral 29 8.8
Agree 154 47.0
Strongly agree 2 .6
The brand has many
outlets.
Strongly disagree 50 15.2
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 182 55.5
Agree 47 14.3
The interior display is
attractive.
Disagree 53 16.2
Neutral 153 46.6
Agree 122 37.2
Strongly agree 0 0
The environment in store
is a good place for me to
shopping.
Disagree 112 34.1
Neutral 120 36.6
Agree 96 29.3
Strongly agree 0 0
The environment in store
is comfortable.
Disagree 153 46.6
Neutral 47 14.3
Agree 79 24.1

For store environment, the result from table 4.6 indicates that respondents have
low agreement towards store environment evaluation. A percentage 46.6% of the
respondents disagree that the environment in store is comfortable and slightly lower
for the store location of brand is strategic (43.6%). Most of the respondents respond
in neutral.

41

Table 4.7 Service Quality
Service Quality Evaluation Frequency Percent (%)
Salespersons of the store are
well-trained and well-behaved.

Disagree 112 34.1
Neutral 65 19.8
Agree 151 46.0
Strongly agree 0 0
Salespersons of the stores are
willing to serve for customers.
strongly disagree 1 .3
Disagree 90 27.4
Neutral 86 26.2
Agree 151 46.0
Strongly agree 0 0
Salespersons of the store are
friendly and kindly.
Disagree 44 13.4
Neutral 133 40.5
Agree 151 46.0
Strongly agree 0 0
Salespersons of the stores have
good appearance and polite.

Disagree 44 13.4
Neutral 133 40.5
Agree 151 46.0
Strongly agree 0 0
Salespersons of the stores are
good information provider.
Disagree 22 6.7
Neutral 155 47.3
Agree 151 46.0
Strongly agree 0 0

Table 4.7, it shows that 46.0% of the all respondents agree with the five service
quality. However, there are percentile of disagreement in sales persons of the store
are well-trained and well behaved. Most of the respondents respond in neutral.

42

Table 4.8 Promotion
Promotion Evaluation Frequency Percent
Advertisements of the brand are
attractive.
Disagree 23 7.0
Neutral 88 26.8
Agree 196 59.8
Advertisements of the brand attract
me to purchase.
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 90 27.4
Agree 196 59.8
The displays in store are attractive. Strongly disagree 0 0
Disagree 23 7.0
Neutral 67 20.4
Agree 215 65.5
The promotion of brand always been
noticed.
Disagree 23 7.0
Neutral 90 27.4
Agree 194 59.1
The information of the advertisement
is clear.
Disagree 23 7.0
Neutral 111 33.8
Agree 152 46.3

Table 4.8 shows that there are high agreements in advertisements of the brand
are attractive and attract me to purchase which compromise of 59.8% each. However,
there are still disagreement in store are attractive, advertisement are attractive,
promotion of brand always been noticed and information of advertisement is clear
with 7.0% of percentile for each.

43

Table 4.9 Price
Price Evaluation Frequency Percent
I will keep purchasing although the
price is increase.
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 163 49.7
Agree 124 37.8
The brand provides goods value for
money.
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 78 23.8
Agree 200 61.0
The price of brand is affordable. Strongly disagree 0 0
Disagree 50 15.2
Neutral 126 38.4
Agree 152 46.3
Strongly agree 0 0
The price is match with the brands
quality.
Disagree 50 15.2
Neutral 126 38.4
Agree 102 31.1
The price difference of the brand
will represent the social class.
Disagree 79 24.1
Neutral 91 27.7
Agree 158 48.2
Strongly agree 0 0

As debriefed in table 4.9, price most of the respondent believes that the brand
provides good value for money (61.0%), followed by the price difference of the
brand will represent the social class (48.2%). The price is match with the brands
quality has the lowest agreement (31.1 %.).

44

Table 4.10 Product Quality
Product Quality Evaluation Frequency Percent
The size of sportswear fits me
very much.

Disagree 0 0
Neutral 18 5.5
Agree 237 72.3
The materials used by the brand
are comfortable.
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 18 5.5
Agree 202 61.6
The brand has various colors. Strongly disagree 0 0
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 0 0
Agree 220 67.1
The brand has provided good
function and feature.
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 36 11.0
Agree 182 55.5
The product of the brand is
durable product.
Disagree 0 0
Neutral 0 0
Agree 164 50.0

Table 4.10, it shows that the size of sportswear fits me every much has the
highest percentile which is 5.2% more than the brand has various colors (67.1%).
The product of the brand is durable has strongly agreement among respondent which
compromise of 50%, followed by the brand has provided good function and feature.

45

4.3.4 Reliability of the survey instrument

The instrument of data collection was also subjected to reliability analysis. In
this research, the internal consistency method was adopted for estimating reliabilities.
It has advantage of being a single test administration. Cronbachs alpha was used to
assess internal consistency.

Table 4.11 Reliability Statistics result for the 35 statements

Cronbachs Alpha N of Items
0.756 35

Table 4.11 shows the Cronbachs alpha value for the 35 statements used to
measure the brand loyalty towards seven variables which are style, brand name, store
environment, sevice quality, promotion, price and product quality. The result shows
that the value of Cronbachs alpha is 0.756. The value 0.756 is substantially higher
than 0.6 which shows that data has satisfactory internal consistency reliability. It
means that the items are reliable in measuring the corresponding concepts.

46

Table 4.12 Reliability Analysis of Factor of Brand Loyalty
Variables Cronbachs Alpha
Style 0.921
Brand Name 0.903
Store Environment 0.879
Service Quality 0.967
Promotion 0.908
Price 0.757
Product Quality 0.805

Table 4.12 shows the Cronbachs alpha value for the 7 variables which are
style, brand name, store environment, sevice quality, promotion, price and product
quality used to measures brand loyalty. The result shows that value of Cronbachs
alpha of each of the variable are significant as shows at the table 4.12. The value of
style (0.921), brand name (0.903), store environment (0.879), service quality (0.967),
promotion (0.908), price (0.757) and product quality (0.805) are substantially higher
than 0.6 which shows that data has satisfactory internal consistency reliability. It
means that the items are reliable in measuring the corresponding concepts.

47

4.3.5 Mean and Standard Deviation
This section, it analyzes the data provided in Part C of the questionnaires
which are style, brand name, store environment, service quality, promotion, price
and product quality using mean and standard deviation.

Table 4.13 Style
Style Mean Std. Deviation
The brand has provides variety choices of styles. 4.10 0.54
Styles of the brand are suitable for me. 4.10 0.62
Styles of the brand have distinctive features. 3.75 0.76
Styles of the brand are fashionable and updated. 3.90 0.69
Styles of the brand have different color. 4.10 0.69
Total 3.90 0.69

Table 4.13 shows the mean and standard deviation of styles of each statement.
The overall mean is 3.90 and standard deviation is 0.69. The brand has provides
variety choices of styles (4.10) share the same mean with others two variables, brand
are suitable for me and have different colors. A fashionable and updated variable has
lower mean which is 3.90, however 0.15 higher than distinctive features variable.
Styles of the brand have distinctive features has highest standard deviation, followed
by brand are fashionable and updated (0.69), brand have different colors (0.69),
brand are suitable for me (0.62) and brand has provide variety choices of styles
(0.54).

48

Table 4.14 Brand Name
Brand Name Mean Std. Deviation
The brand has good reputation and well-
known brand.
3.81 0.74
Brand Name and good image attract my
intention to purchase.
3.79 0.53
I choose the Brand Name without considering
the price.
3.78 0.83
Brand reflects my own personality. 4.06 0.85
Brand name indicates a high quality product. 4.19 0.74
Total 4.00 0.63

Table 4.14 shows the mean and standard deviation of brand name of each
statement. The overall mean is 4.00 and standard deviation is 0.63. The highest mean
among the statement is brand name indicates a high quality product (4.19). The
lowest mean 3.81 is the brand has good reputation and well-known brand. Second
higher are brand reflect my own personality (4.06), followed by brand name and
good image attract my intention to purchase (3.79) and I choose the brand name
without considering the price (3.78). Brand reflects my own personality has the
highest standard deviation which is 0.85, followed by I choose the brand name
without considering the price (0.83). Brand name indicates a high quality product
and the brand has good reputation and well known brand is 0.74 each. Statement of
brand name and good image attract my intention to purchase has the lowest standard
deviation which is 0.53.

49

Table 4.15 Store Environment
Store Environment Mean Std. Deviation
The store location of brand is strategic. 3.04 0.96
The brand has many outlets. 3.13 1.15
The interior display is attractive. 3.21 0.70
The environment in store is a good place for
me to shopping.
2.95 0.79
The environment in store is comfortable. 3.07 1.14
Total 3.13 0.64

Table 4.15 shows the mean and standard deviation of store environment of
each statement. The overall of mean is 3.13 and standard deviation is 0.64. The
statement that have highest mean is the interior display is attractive, followed by the
brand has many outlet (3.13), the environment in store is comfortable (3.07), the
store location of brand is strategic (3.04) and the lowest mean would be the
environment in store is a good place for me to shopping (2.95). The highest standard
deviation is statement on the brand has many outlets (1.15), followed by the
environment in store is comfortable (1.14), the store location of brand is strategic
(0.96) and the environment in store is a good place for me to shop (0.79). The
statement of the interior display is attractive has the lowest deviation which is 0.70.

50

Table 4.16 Service Quality
Service Quality Mean Std. Deviation
Salespersons of the store are well-trained
and well-behaved.
3.11 0.88
Salespersons of the stores are willing to
serve for customers.
3.17 0.84
Salespersons of the store are friendly and
kindly.
3.32 0.69
Salespersons of the stores have good
appearance and polite.
3.32 0.69
Salespersons of the stores are good
information provider.
3.39 0.61
Total 3.38 0.62

Table 4.16 shows mean and standard deviation of service quality of each
statement. The overall mean is 3.38 and standard deviation is 0.62. The statement
that has highest mean is salespersons of the store are good information provider. The
two statements on salesperson of the store are friendly and kindly also have good
appearance and polite share the same mean (3.32), followed by willing to serve
customers (3.17) and well trained and well behaved (3.11). The statement that has
highest standard deviation is salespersons of the store are well trained and well
behaved (0.88), followed by willing to serve customers (0.84). The lowest standard
deviation is the stores are good information provider (0.61).

51

Table 4.17 Promotion
Promotion Mean Std. Deviation
Advertisements of the brand are attractive. 3.65 0.70
Advertisements of the brand attract me to purchase. 3.85 0.61
The displays in store are attractive. 3.72 0.69
The promotion of brand always been noticed. 3.85 0.62
The information of the advertisement is clear. 3.85 0.72
Total 3.85 0.62

Table 1.17 shows the mean and standard deviation of promotion of each
statement. The overall mean is 3.85 and standard deviation is 0.62. The statement
that has highest mean 3.85 which share by 3 statements of promotion, advertisement
of the brand attract me to purchase, brand always been noticed and the advertisement
is clear. The mean of display in store are attractive is 0.07 higher than advertisement
of the brand are attractive which is 3.72. The highest standard deviation is the
information of the advertisement is clear (0.72), followed by advertisement of the
brand are attractive (0.70), the display in store are attractive (0.69), the promotion of
brand always been noticed and advertisement of the brand attract me to purchase
(0.61).

52

Table 4.18 Price
Price Mean Std. Deviation
I will keep purchasing although the price
is increase.
3.62 0.69
The brand provides goods value for
money.
3.91 0.61
The price of brand is affordable. 3.31 0.72
The price is match with the brands
quality.
3.46 0.92
The price difference of the brand will
represent the social class.
3.24 0.81
Total 3.59 0.49

Table 2.18 shows the mean and standard deviation of price of each statement.
The overall mean is 3.59 and standard deviation is 0.49. The brand provides good
value for money has highest mean 3.91and the difference of the brand will represent
the social class has the lowest mean 3.24. The highest standard deviation is the
statement of the price is match with the brands equity. The lowest standard
deviation is the statement of the brand provides good value for money.

53

Table 4.19 Product Quality
Product Quality
Mean Std. Deviation
The size of sportswear fits me very much.
4.16 0.50
The materials used by the brand are comfortable.
4.27 0.55
The brand has various colors.
4.32 0.47
The brand has provided good function and feature.
4.22 0.62
The product of the brand is durable product.
4.50 0.50
Total
4.38 0.48

Table 4.19 shows mean and standard deviation of product quality of each
statement. The overall mean is 4.38 and standard deviation is 0.48. The highest mean
is the statement of the product of the brand is durable. However, compare to the
lowest mean it has difference of 0.34, the size of sportswear fit me very much (4.16).
The brand has provide good function and feature has the highest of standard
deviation which is 0.62 and the lowest is 0.47 by the brand has various colors.

54

Table 4.20 Mean and Standard Deviation Variables of Brand Loyalty
Variable Mean Std. Deviation
Style 3.90 0.69
Brand Name 4.00 0.63
Store Environment 3.13 0.64
Service Quality 3.38 0.62
Promotion 3.85 0.62
Price 3.59 0.49
Product Quality 4.38 0.48

Table 4.20 shows mean and standard deviation of variable of brand loyalty.
The highest mean among the variables is the product quality and the highest standard
deviation is style 0.69. The lowest mean is store environment (3.13) and standard
deviation is service quality (0.62) and promotion (0.62).

4.3.6 Pearson Correlation Analysis

Pearson correlation analysis had been conducted aims to reveal factors level
that influence brand loyalty among consumers. Table 4.21 shows that the correlation
coefficient, significance and number of cases (N). The number of correlation
coefficient is shown between +1 and -1. The strength of the correlation can be
determined by the number nearer to either +1 or -1.

55

Table 4.21: Pearson Correlation Analysis

Variables Style Brand Store Service Promotion Price Product Brand
Name Environment Quality Quality Loyalty
Style Pearson Correlation 1
Sig. (2-tailed)
Brand Pearson Correlation 0.091 1
Name Sig. (2-tailed) 0.101
Store Pearson Correlation 0.015 0.014 1
Environment Sig. (2-tailed) 0.789 0.802
Service Pearson Correlation -0.004 0.168
**
-0.035 1
Quality Sig. (2-tailed) 0.938 0.002 0.523
Promotion Pearson Correlation -0.046 0.001 0.015 0.314
**
1
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.411 0.984 0.782 0
Price Pearson Correlation 0.037 -0.026 0.647
**
-0.009 -0.045 1
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.506 0.645 0 0.872 0.417
Product Pearson Correlation -0.086 -0.034 0.003 -0.062 0.028 -0.101 1
Quality Sig. (2-tailed) 0.118 0.545 0.951 0.26 0.611 0.069
Brand Pearson Correlation 0.263
**
0.282
**
0.433
**
0.308
**
0.333
**
0.349
**
0.107 1
Loyalty Sig. (2-tailed) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.053
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

56

Table 4.21 shows the result of correlation between brand loyalty with the seven
variables which are style, brand name, store environment, service quality, promotion,
and price and product quality. There had positive significant relationships between
all the seven variables and brand loyalty.

The Pearson Correlation Coefficient between brand loyalty and store
environment is the highest among the all the other with 0.433 at p<0.10. The second
highest is the correlation between brand loyalty and price with 0.349 at p<0.10
followed by promotion (0.333 at p<0.10), service quality (0.308 at p<0.10), brand
name (0.282 at p<0.10), style (0.263 at p<0.10), and product quality (0.107 at
p<0.10).

As the summary of Table 4.21 show in Table 4.22 below

Table 4.21 Significance of brand loyalty factors with brand loyalty

Variables Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed)
a
Style 0.263 0.000
Promotion 0.333 0.000
Price 0.349 0.000

57

4.3.7 Regression

Standard regression was conducted to examine the impact of style, brand name,
store environment, service quality, promotion, price and product quality on the brand
loyalty.
Table 4.23 Regression
Variable Significant
Style 0.147 0.000
Promotion 0.177 0.000
Price 0.137 0.001
(Constant) -0.140 0.594
F Value 46.170 0.000
a

R 0.709
a

a. Predictors: (Constant), Product Quality, Store Environment, Promotion,
Brand Name, Style, Service Quality, Price.
b. Dependent Variable: Brand Loyalty.

In the Table 4.23, overall the variables had significant positive impact on
consumer motivation. There was a significant positive relationship between brand
loyalty and style (=0.147, p<0.01), brand name (=0.144, p<0.01), store
environment (=0.195, p<0.01), service quality (=0.131, p<0.01), promotion
(=0.177, p<0.01), price (=0.137, p<0.01), and product quality (=0.129, p<0.01).
In term of R Square, it used to measures the percentage of explanatory power of the
independents used. Thus, the predictor variables which are style, brand name, store
environment, service quality, promotion, price and product quality explain 71% of
58

the variance in brand loyalty. The model is significant (p<0.01) with F value equal to
46.170.

4.4 Conclusion

As a conclusion, this chapter discusses the result of analysis based on the
questionnaire. It consists of frequency of respondents profile, screening question,
data reliability, mean and standard deviation, correlation and regression. The result
will be forwarded to the next chapter to discuss the hypotheses and conclusion of this
research.
Table 4.24 Hypotheses Result
No. Hypotheses Description Sig. p Result
H
1
There is a significant and positive relationship between
style and brand loyalty on consumer sportswear.
0.000 Accept
H
2
brand name and brand loyalty on consumer sportswear.
0.000 Accept
H
3
store environment and brand loyalty on consumer
sportswear.
0.000 Accept
H
4
service quality and brand loyalty on consumer
sportswear.
0.000 Accept
H
5
promotion and brand loyalty on consumer sportswear.
0.000 Accept
H
6
price and brand loyalty on consumer sportswear.
0.001 Accept
H
7
product quality and brand loyalty on consumer
sportswear.
0.000 Accept

59

CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

5.1 Introduction

This chapter discusses the results obtained in Chapter 4. This study was
divided into three parts. First part was focus on analyze the demographic
characteristics of respondents. For the second part, the discussion of the screening
parts will be explained. Lastly is the discussion of the hypotheses.

5.2 Consumers Demographic Analysis

Based on the result on Chapter 4, most of the respondents are involved male
which are 224 compare to female which compromise of 31.7%. This result shows
that, male have are likely to purchase sportswear compared to female.

Based on ages, the range from 21-30 years old has the holds the highest
percentile purchasing power which is 43.3%. The lowest would be 41 years old and
above. This shows that young ages people are the potential buyer of sportswear and
they often visit sportswear shop to look on the sportswear that they loyal to. It is
aware that, young ages people are likely to active in sports and try to express
themselves individuality and beauty on clothing.

60

5.3 Screening Analysis

A total 350 sets of questionnaire were distributed. However, some
questionnaire were eliminate due to incompleteness and not brand loyalist.
According to Table 4.3 in chapter 4, it shows that 328 respondents are loyal to a
particular brand, and has purchased sportswear past year. Unfortunately, 6.3% of the
respondents are not loyal to particular brand and some did not fill the questionnaire
completely. Therefore, that questionnaire has been excluded from the study. The top
three brands of sportswear that respondents preferred are Nike (32.0%), Adidas
(25.4%) and Reebok (12.9). According to Just-style, three global sportswear brands,
Nike, Adidas, and Reebok, had 33 percent of the global active sportswear and
athletic footwear market in 2007 (Newbery, 2008).

61

5.4 Brand Loyalty Conceptual Framework

Figure 2: Hypotheses Result

Hypotheses
H1: There is a significant and positive relationship between style and brand loyalty
on consumer sportswear.
H2: There is a significant and positive relationship between brand name and brand
H3: There is a significant and positive relationship between store environment and
H4: There is a significant and positive relationship between service quality and
H1: Style
H2: Brand Name
H5: Promotion
H6: Price
H3: Store Environment
H4: Service Quality
H7: Product Quality
Brand
Loyalty
Consumer
Purchasing
Decision
Making
p =0.01
p =0.00
p =0.00
p =0.00
p =0.00
p =0.00
p =0.00
62

H5: There is a significant and positive relationship between promotion and brand
H6: There is a significant and positive relationship between service price and brand
H7: There is a significant and positive relationship between product quality and

The result of the hypothesis of H1 was supported. Based on the result, it shows
significant and positive relationship between style and brand loyalty (=0.147,
p<0.05). Respondent has agreed that style has become one part of the factor that
would influence the loyalty to a particular brand. Supported by JTATM (2006)
mentioned that style has more influence on the brand loyalty, especially hard-core
loyal consumers. Moreover, consumers tend to be more loyal to the brand that
provides variety choices of styles which compromise of 89.9% of agreements among
respondents. This way, consumer can varies and wider choices.

Hypothesis of H2 was also supported. Based on the result, it shows significant
and positive relationship between brand name and brand loyalty (=0.144, p<0.05).
74.7% of the respondent has agreed that brand name indeed play important role in
contributing to brand loyalty. 73.2% of the respondent believes that brand name and
good image attract their intention to purchase.

Store environment was positively related to brand loyalty (=0.195, p<0.05).
The Store environment is considered one of the factors that can influence consumer
63

brand loyalty. From this study, it is observed that consumers paid much attention to
store attributes such as merchandise display, variety of selection, parking space,
easily accessible by car and the reputation of the store in purchasing products.

The finding also show that service quality and brand loyalty had a positive
relationship (=0.131, p<0.05). Service quality was an important factor in
influencing and encouraging consumers to patronize a store. The results indicated
that the salesperson-consumer relationship will generally result in long-term
orientation of consumers toward a store. At the same time, trust in the salesperson
appeared to relate to the overall perception of the stores service quality which
resulted in the consumers total satisfaction with the store.

The results show that promotion and brand loyalty were positively related
(=0.177, p<0.05). Promotion was considered as one of the most important factors in
determining a consumers brand loyalty. It includes the use of advertising, sales
promotion, personal selling and publicity. From the study conducted, it was seen that
female respondents actually spent more time reading product labels before buying
products.

The research findings show that price and brand loyalty had a positive
relationship (=0.137, p<0.05). Price was an important consideration for the average
consumer. However, consumers with high brand loyalty were less-price sensitive.
The result suggested that as long as the respondents were satisfied with a particular
64

brand, they would repurchase the product with the same brand name even if it was
highly priced.

Product quality was shown to have positive relationship with brand loyalty
(=0.129, p<0.05). A major of 95.6% of the respondents agreed that the product
quality is the most important factor in brand loyalty. Functional attributes in
sportswear indeed need to be emphasizes on.

65

CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSION, LIMITATION AND FUTURE RESEARCH

6.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the conclusion of the findings. Apart from that,
managerial implication, limitations and recommendations for future research will
also be illustrated in this chapter.

6.2 Conclusion

Nowadays, brands are becoming more substitutable, as product quality
increases and brands become more consistent. Therefore, loyalty is the key success
factor of any company or business. Today most of the customers have included
several brands in their preferred set. Hence, there must be a successful brand strategy
to gain loyalty among the consumer. In other to achieve this goal, loyaltys
relationship between brand loyalty and factors of brand loyalty must be clearly set
out.

66

6.3 Policy Implication
6.3.1 Managerial Aspect

The purpose of this research is to investigate how the respondents are
influenced by factors of brand loyalty towards sportswear brands. The previous
analysis and discussion showed that style, brand name, store environment, service
quality, promotion, price and product quality were the seven factors that influence
brand loyalty among sportswear consumer. The study shows that consumers react
partially different for every each of the factors and the most influences factor that
impact on brand loyalty among sportswear is price. Nevertheless, the others factor
has the important role in building the brand loyalty among sportswear consumer.

Brand loyalty is important for an organization or business to ensure that its
product is kept in the minds of consumers and prevent them from shifting to another
brand. The research showed that it was not easy to obtain and maintain consumer
loyalty for a companys product because there were many forces drawing consumers
away. From the analysis of this study, it was shown that there are seven factors of
brand loyalty that were appropriate in the Kuching environment which are, the style,
brand name, store environment, service quality , promotion, price, and product
quality.

Undeniably, the sportswear industry is one area which offers vast potential in
the consumer market where there is increase in sporting activities. More reliable and
67

positive findings on this topic would impact on consumers, marketers and policy
makers.

Consumers from late teen (21-30) have the highest interest in the sportswear
as compared to the others. There are also the big spenders in the sporting good
market. At this age, they are trying to express individuality and beauty and wear up-
to-date and trendy apparel. Moreover, there are also most active in sport at that rage
of age. Therefore, the late teen is the one of the most potential consumer that
marketer should be taken note and create brand loyal among them.

However, creating brand loyal among consumer is not easy. Marketers have to
continually improve the marketing programs to attract and retain consumers. It is
important that a sportswear company promises to consistently deliver specific sets of
features, benefits and services to its consumers (Kotler, 1994). Furthermore,
marketer have to launch consumer retention program because the cost of consumer
retention is five time less expensive than the cost of recruiting a new customer
(Gould, 1995; Reichheld & Sasser, 1990).

6.3.2 Research Aspect

This is an exploratory study of brand loyalty in Kuching, Malaysia
Sportswear, an area which could possibly potentially contribute to marketing theory.
Some suggestions are made for future research.

68

6.4 Limitation of the Study

As with any research model, the model of this study also has its limitations. In
this study, the subjects were limited to the seven factors (styles, brand name, store
environment, service quality, promotion, price and product quality) only. There are
various types of factors that may affect brand loyalty among sportswear. Therefore,
it does not take into consideration of others factors that will influence sportswear
brand loyalty.

Another limitation would be the sample size for this study. The sample size in
this study is relatively small and continues to the area around the Kuching. Therefore,
350 sets of questionnaire were distributed, however only 328 respondents were
qualify to involve in the study. A total percentile of 6% of the respondents was
excluded as they were not loyal to any brand. Due to sample size, a small sample
size has a greater probability that the observation just happened to be particularly
good or particularly bad. Therefore it is harder to find significant relationships from
the data, as statistical tests normally require a larger sample size to justify that the
effect did not just happened by chance alone.

Besides that, limitations of the study in gender can also influence ones result.
Male and female perceive different attitude of brand loyaltys factors. Most of the
respondents for this study were male. Therefore, large portion of male respondents
will make the results more suitable for increasing male consumers.

69

Moreover, the monthly income of the respondent also is a limitation of the
study. Most of the respondents of this study earn below RM 1000 per month.
However, it does not mean others respondents who earn above RM 1000 per month
have a similar reaction as those earn below RM 1000 per month. Thus, this leads to
the results are more effective in attracting consumers those earning below RM 1000
per month to go to buy sportswear.

Besides, the process of collecting data is not very smooth because a lot of
people refused to fill in the questionnaires. So to have a good sample would have
been indeed a costly and time-consuming activity.

Moreover, it would be difficult to get the questionnaire all back as some of the
respondent do not realize the important of the research and did not want to fill in the
questionnaire as respondent though that it is wasting their time.

In addition, it is difficult to identify which is the right respondent who
conscious towards the brand name of sportswear. This is because not all of
customers are emphasize on the brand name of the sportswear when they purchase
the sportswear and they simply buy it without any complex decision making.

Finally, cost and time became a heavily limitation to complete this study.
Taking a good respondents sample would have been indeed a costly and time-
consuming activity. The distribution of questionnaires was in major areas in
Kuching. If cost and time were allowed to be increase and longer, greater volume of
70

respondents participate in this study and thus the validity of the result would also
increase.

6.5 Recommendations for Future Research

For future research, it is advisable to investigate the other factors such as
publicity, advertisement and etc. Besides, more thorough literature review is needed
on the topic so that research can be conducted to address the gap identified in the
literature.

More, future research can be administered on how each brand loyalty factors
influence a consumers loyalty towards other product categories, such as coffee, soap,
toothpaste, and detergents (Ehrenberg & Goodhardt, 1970; wood, 2001).

Furthermore, the researchers should use factor analyses as analysis method
which would able to identify the most variable factor above from all factors which
has discussed.

71

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