United States of America Research Journal (USARJ)

Vol. 2, No. 4, 2014, ISSN 2332-2160

Copyright USARJ Publishing, Kansas, USA
www.usarj.org

An Empirical Analysis of the Factors Affecting Customer

Buying Behaviour relating to Readymade Garments in India:
A Field Survey Based Study
Sarbapriya Ray
Assistant Professor, Shyampur Siddheswari Mahavidyalaya, University of Calcutta, India
Email: sarbapriyaray@yahoo.com

Abstract:

Consumers buying behaviour is the study of individuals and the processes they use to select, secure, use,
and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes
have on the consumer and society. Purchasing of consumable goods which mainly depends on style, choice
and fashion of the modern civilization like ready-made garments is based on consumers psychology
whether to make demand or not; it is undeniably becoming a part of consumer behaviour analysis.
Therefore, it has become very crucial that manufacturers of readymade garments should be acquainted with
the perceptions and attitudes of the respective consumer. The purpose of this study is to explore the factors
which influence readymade garment buying behaviour of Indian customers. The study is mainly confined
to a regional study taking a few selected readymade garment shops at Shyampur-Bagnan area of Uluberia
subdivision of Howrah District, West Bengal, India. In exploring consumers buying behavior relating to
ready made garment industry in Indian perspective , it has been observed that there are several factors
which affect the consumer buying behavior towards readymade garments like, price, comfort, quality,
availability,style,durability etc. Out of these variables, durability, availability and price, comfort and style
respectively carry the highest factors loading. It means these five factors are most important while
purchasing the readymade garments. Quality is with the lowest factor loading, which means while
purchasing the readymade garments, it is less important in rural areas likes our sample region. The study
will enable us to understand the buying behavior of customers of readymade garments, especially in rural
areas of West Bengal, India.
Keywords: Consumer, Buying Behavior, Factors, readymade garments, India.
behaviour is the study of human or consumer
responses to products, services, and the
marketing of products and services.
Indian textiles industry plays a noteworthy role
in the economic growth of India. The Indian
textile and apparel industry is the largest foreign
exchange earner for the country. It is also the
second largest employment provider after
agriculture and plays a key role in the
development of the economy (Shetty, 2001;
Rajput et al, 2012).In apparel industry,
readymade garments occupy a distinctive
position in the Indian economy as well as
Bengali culture. The leading existence of
readymade garment business in the Indian
economy is evident in terms of its noteworthy
contribution to the industrial production,
employment generation and foreign exchange
earnings. Clothes are regarded as an archetype of

1. Introduction:
Consumers buying behaviour is the study of
individuals and the processes they use to select,
secure, use, and dispose of products, services,
experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the
impacts that these processes have on the
consumer and society. Consumer behaviour
which was formerly phrased as overt behaviour
is an uninterrupted consumption process related
to prepurchase, purchase and post purchase
issues. This refers to the physical action of
consumers that can be straightforwardly
observed and measured by others. According to
Michael R.Solomon, & Nancy J.Rabolt (2004),
consumer behaviour is the study of the processes
involved when individuals or groups, select,
purchase, use or dispose of products, services,
ideas or experiences to satisfy needs and desires.
According to Frank R.Kardes (2002), consumer

Sarbapriya Ray, USARJ, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp 1-14, 2014

a culture because of the reason that diverse

consumers all over the world with their
peculiarity in taste and habits and own styles of
their dressing symbolize their culture and status.
The diversity of preference, taste of different
people regarding buying of readymade garments
makes the issue of analyzing consumer buying
behavior a tricky task. Readymade garments
were among Indias leading export sectors
during the financial year (2011-2012), according
to figures released by the Ministry of Commerce.
Shipments of readymade garments, yarns and
fabrics rose by 18 per cent to Rs. 71,692 crores.
Indias rank in world trade is seventh in textile
and sixth in clothing. Readymade garment is a
part of the textile industry and it accounts for
about half of Indias textile exports. In India`s
total textile export, share of readymade garments
is approximately 45%. In the world`s export of
readymade garments; in last two decades India`s
has moved to 10th position. Observers expect
overall textile and apparel exports for the year,
2011-2012, to be around Rs. 1,56,990 crores, up
from Rs. 1,41,291 crores, a year ago.
The next generation customers (between ages
1835) as a market segment are of enormous
importance in India in terms of both magnitude
and spending capacity. The census figure for
2001 shows that 54% of the population i.e. 540
million is below the age of 25 and 45% below
the 19 years. The median age of an average
Indian is about 25 years i.e. 100 million and will
have about 325 million people in the 2535 age
group by 2020 ( Sinha, 2004). The size of the
population is a crucial determinant of demand for
many products and services. Out of the total
population of 1027 million, about 742 million
live in rural areas and 285 million in urban areas
(Census 2001). On an average, 60% population
of India is between age group 15-59. Middle
income group is found to be growing in India
and consumption pattern and buying behavior
are also changing owing to changing income
levels. The demand for stylish accessories and
other luxurious products in India is increasing
day by day. There is cultural shift in India
moving towards western culture because of
present day media popularity and entry of
multinational companies. The consumers while
making buying decisions regarding readymade
apparel are influenced by many factors, viz.,
price, discounts, comfort, durability, brand name,
availability, sales promotional schemes, etc.
Moreover, Indian consumer is found to have
some transformation in its demographics with an
outsized working population being under the age

group of 24-35. There has been an escalating

number of nuclear families, boost in number of
working women and emerging opportunities in
the service sector during the past several years
which has been the key growth driver of the
organized retail sector in India. The appearance
of a larger middle and upper middle classes and
sizeable increase in their disposable income has
changed the nature of shopping in India from
need-based to lifestyle-oriented.
Consumer buying behavior is somewhat an
innovative field of study which started its
evolution after World War II. Gradual
disappearance of sellers market as a result of
subsequent dominance buyers market led to
paradigm shift of the manufacturers attention
from product to consumer and specially focused
on the consumer buying behavior. Selling
concept has been replaced by marketing concept
which further was proxied by consumer oriented
marketing. This dimension change in the focal
point from production oriented selling concept to
consumer oriented marketing has assumed
buyers behavior as an important independent
discipline.
In the midst of throat cut marketing
competition, every producer as well as marketer
attempts to obtain a potential market share by
making consumers assure that they have the
answer to all their personal needs and desires.
Purchasing of consumable goods which mainly
depends on style, choice and fashion of the
modern civilization like ready-made garments is
based on consumers psychology whether to
make demand or not; it is undeniably becoming a
part of consumer behaviour analysis. Therefore,
it has become very crucial that manufacturers of
readymade garments should be familiar with the
perceptions and attitudes of the respective
consumer.
In view of the above, the purpose of this study
is to explore the factors which influence
readymade garment buying behaviour of Indian
customers. The study is mainly confined to a
regional study taking a few selected readymade
garment shops at Shyampur-Bagnan area of
Uluberia subdivision of Howrah District, West
Bengal, India. The study will enable us to
understand the buying behavior of customers of
readymade garments, especially in rural areas of
West Bengal, India.
2. Literature Review:
Consumer behaviour refers to the psychological
and emotional process and the observable
behaviour of consumers during searching,

Sarbapriya Ray, USARJ, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp 1-14, 2014

purchasing and post consumption of a product or

service. Consumer behaviour involves study of
how people buy, what they buy, when they buy
and why they buy. It blends the elements from
Psychology,
Sociology,
Socio-psychology,
Anthropology and Economics (Bhattacharya,
C.B. & Sen, S., 2003).A clear understanding of
preferences of consumers will help the marketer
to attract and maintain their target consumer
group in better way. An endeavor has been made
to portray the review of various studies carried
out in relation to buying behavior of customers.
Sproles and Kendall (1986) established a
model to conceptualize consumers decision
making behaviour with eight consumer mental
orientation
variables
viz.,
perfectionism
consciousness, brand consciousness, novelty and
fashion consciousness, impulsive and careless
consumer, confused by over choice consumer,
habitual and brand loyal consumer, recreational
and hedonic shopping consciousness, and price
and value consciousness.
Kim et al (2003) examined the behavioural
intentions model of online shopping for clothing
and the study results supported Fishbeins
behavioural intentions model in predicting
behavioural intention to shop for clothing online
and the result of positive relationship between
attitude and subjective norms implies that
behavioural intention is not a functions of
independent set of set of attitudinal and
normative variables but of a set of
interdependence between these variables. The
results of this study suggests that although the
power of attitude and subjective norms are not
equivalent in their effects on behavioural
intentions both are important predictors of
consumers shopping behaviour in the specific
context of online shopping for clothing.
Park, J.H and Lennon, S.J (2004) in their
study on television apparel shopping and impulse
buying found that there is a positive relationship
between impulse buying and television
programme exposure.
Isabel & Graeme (2005) examined the
communication factors which affects the buying
behavior of 12-13 years old girls while
purchasing fashion clothes. Brand name and its
associations are found to be highly important
while purchasing fashion clothes.
Fatima & Ejaz (2005) observed that, in
Pakistan, quality is important factors for the
success of readymade garment industry. It is
most important factors while purchasing
garments.

Barletta's (2006) found that women prefer

benefits whereas men prefer features. The study
found that men can get caught up in a gadget's
bells and whistles, but women analyze features
more deeply while purchasing car and other
appliances.
Kaushik & Taneja (2007) observed and
analyzed the factors that affect the readymade
garments purchasing in multi-brand retail outlet
and found that promotional offers, physical
evidence, responsiveness of the store people,
tangibile cues and services are the important
factors. In addition, the study shows that family
income and preference for retail format are
significantly related.
Lawrence, Teich,& Sylvia (2009) observed
that in present era, consumers prefer
customization. The researcher analyzed the this
trend with respect to young women`s intention to
prefer in-store customization of off-the shelf
fashion products. The study suggested that create
your own things market can be extended to
clothes especially hand-bags.
Catherine & Etienne (2009) explored the
association between age & other key variables i.e
price, durability, suitability affecting the buying
behavior of clothes. Young participants prefer
low price while older prefer suitability and
durability as crucial while purchasing clothes.
Lahiri & Kumar (2010) argued that customers
visit apparel retailer to get latest fashionable
designs. Quality plays more important role while
purchasing apparel than price. Features like sales
promotion offers, convenience, store for family
purchasing are more important compared to
brand name of the outlet. Also it is found that
reference group does not affect much.
Saravanan (2010) concluded that education
plays an important part in buying decision
making process. Majority of the respondents said
that women play a major role in family buying
decision making process.
Jin and Kang (2010) in their study of purchase
intention toward foreign brand jeans using four
antecedents viz. face saving, attitude, perceived
behaviour control, and subjective norms found
that face saving, attitude, perceived behaviour
control have significant influence of purchase
intention where as subjective norms has not
significant influence toward purchase intention.
Syuhaily & Fah (2011) analyzed the effect of
sales promotion schemes on purchase among
students. This study found that gender does not
affect the purchase decision making process; but
monthly income affect the purchase behavior of
students belonging to different income groups.

Sarbapriya Ray, USARJ, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp 1-14, 2014

There is a positive relationship between intention

to purchase and availability of sales promotion
offers.
Irani (2011) conducted a study of clothing in
Iran and found that variety is a key influencing
factor while purchasing fashion clothes. The
study also found that price sensitivity is not
positively related to hedonic pleasure.
Maria, Anne & Pia (2011) explored and
analysed mature women`s buying behavior of
clothes. The result suggests that for mature
women, fashion, brand, retailer, price & style are
significant factors while purchasing clothes.
Kervenoael, De et all (2011) observed that the
decisions for buying apparel are affected by
functional values (i.e cost, quality, guarantee &
warranty etc) as well as fashion (style, image).
Phoebe (2011) concluded that women prefer
the clothes that make them look thinner. Also
men said they prefer clothes that make them look
physically fit.
Mandhachitara, & Piamphongsan (2011)
studied the impact of individual`s motivation for
comparing with other people of their own social
settings on professional women`s buying
behavior while choosing fashion clothes.
Minghuang et all (2011) observed that desire is
one of the major motives in consuming luxurious
products including boutique apparel. The study
suggests that utilitarian attitude and positive
anticipated emotions have positive influence to
desire; however, hedonistic attitude and
subjective norms do not have significant impact
on desire. Moreover, desire separately has
mediating effect on the relationship between
utilitarian attitude and purchasing intention; and
between the anticipated emotion and purchasing
intention.
Krishna (2011) recognized the factors that
affect the consumer decision making process
while purchasing private label garments.
Consumers are affected by both internal and
external factors; internal factors can be
demographical, lifestyle orientation etc and
external factors can be brand, cost, style of
clothes, quality etc.
Helen & Charlotte (2012) analyzed the effect
of online available information and pattern of
only product inspections on consumers'
behaviour and decision-making process. Product
inspection helps the buyer to customize
stimulating more utilitarian effects, whilst online
availability of fashion information is driven
retailers readiness to help and guide the
consumer stimulating hedonic effects.

Krishnakumar&Gurunathan (2012) observed

that consumer behaviour changes in apparel
buying are attributed to their want of more
choice, value, service, experience and
convenience. The study shows that the
preference of custom made tailoring by next
generation consumers is diminishing.
In India, there are also some studies that
highlight that there exist several factors which
are responsible for different buying behaviour of
the customers in the context of readymade
garments in India.
Price, fitting, income level of consumers are
important factors and some factors which are
found to be insignificant are status, durability,
and celebrity endorsement, can be ignored by the
apparel retailers in their efforts to tap and capture
the market (Rajput et al, 2012). The customers
purchase readymade garments mostly during
discount period. Price, Quality and design are the
essential factors considered by them while
shopping (Mittal & Aggarwal, 2012; Pandian et
al, 2012; Kanthi & Kumar, 2013). The factors
namely self concept, need for uniqueness also
influence clothing interest and indirectly
influence the purchase intention in the case of
global and local brands (Vikkraman & Sumathi,
2012). The readymade garments are becoming
popular with youth. Better fitting garments,
awareness of brand coupled with availability of
leading names, latest designs and varieties were
found to be primarily responsible for youth
opting for readymade garments. Provocation by
advertising was the foremost factor for buying
garments (Sawant, 2012). The mood and clothes
are interlinked which affects the clothing
behavior and overall personality of a person. The
brand name and colour of cloth mostly affects
the customers while purchasing (Sharma &
Pathan, 2011; Subhani et al, 2011; Zeb et al,
2011). The family structure is also the most
influencing factor for buying behavior while the
advertisement was rated at the lowest (Ali et al,
2010).
The above literature review suggests that
there exist no such studies in India which entail
that there have been ample factors that initiates
us to conclude that customers buying behaviour
is greatly affected by several factors present in
the traditional studies prevailed abroad and also
in India. The above pertinent research gap
encourages me to conduct the study on this
emergent issues.
3. Objectives of the present study:
1) To study the socio-economic demography of
the potential buyers of Readymade garments in

Sarbapriya Ray, USARJ, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp 1-14, 2014

Shyampur-Bagnan area of Howrah district, West

Bengal, India.
2) To find out the factors affecting customers
buying intention towards Readymade garments.
4. Methodology:
The study has been conducted by survey method
by taking primary or raw data collected from
field survey. For the purpose of the study, we
have surveyed 15 readymade garment shops at
Shyampur-Belpukur-Bagnan
area
under
Shyampur and Bagnan P.S and in each shop,
during peak hour of business (especially during
Durga Puja, greatest Bengali religious festival
during which most people wear new apparel), we
have interviewed 10 customers (a combination of
male and female customers) each regarding their
buying behavior based on different parameters.
At last, Likert 5 points rating scale has been used
to process the basic data and formed an opinion
regarding the buying behaviour of ready made
garments customers.
4.1. Sampling Plan:
We collect data from the following locations
near Shyampur-Belpukur-Bagnan area, the core
area of Shyampur-Bagnan P.S of Howrah
district, West Bengal state, India. The data has
been collected through questionnaire. Data was
collected from 150 respondents. After designing
the questionnaire, a pilot testing was conducted
on a sample size of 150 respondents selecting the
respondents from each of the three areas of study
involved in the research.
4.2. Sampling Method :
The study was conducted in ShyampurBelpukur-Bagnan area, which is exclusively the
rural area in the state of West Bengal, India. The
respondents were the customers of different
apparel stores and the respondents were selected
on the basis of non-random sampling and
convenience sampling which means that the
customers who were willing to respond to the
questionnaire were selected. The sample size
selected was 150.
4.3. Sources of Data:
The study is mainly dependent on primary data
collected through a series of questionnaire
thrown upon the customers coming to the
garment shops of that particular locality. All
these questions were measured with a 5 point
Likert Scale that ranged from strongly agree to
strongly disagree. But we have to also rely on
secondary database for review of literature,
technique used to compute results etc .Therefore,
the study is involved in collection of data both
from the primary and secondary sources.

Different types of data and their sources are

discussed under the following heads:
(a)Primary Data: Primary data were collected
by the researcher through his reliable
representatives through personal interview with a
structured questionnaire.
(b) Secondary Data: The secondary sources
include different web sites, books, journals,
annual report and unpublished research works.
After the data collection, all the questionnaires
were scrutinized to ensure, accuracy and
completeness and 900 filled in questionnaires
were finalized and were put for analysis. The
data was entered in SPSS software package and
analyzed on various demographic parameters;
viz; Age, Gender, Qualification, family Income
and Area of residence through a method of cross
tabulation.
4.4.Research hypotheses:
To achieve the objectives of the study, the
following hypotheses are formulated:
H1: Price will have a significant impact on
customer buying behavior .
H2: Comfort will have a significant impact on
buying behavior.
H3: Quality will have a significant impact on
customer buying behavior.
H4: Availability will have a significant impact
on customer buying behavior.
H5: Style will have a significant impact on
customer buying behavior.
H6: Durability will have a significant impact on
customer buying behavior .
5. Analysis of the result:
5.1. Demographic analysis of the respondents:
For analysis of result as well as to arrive at a
conclusion, we have undertaken 15 readymade
garment shops at Shyampur-Bagnan area which
are named below:
Table:1: Details of Shops and customers
surveyed
SL. Name of Shops Gender
category
of
No.
customers surveyed
Male
Female Total
1.
Ma
Sitala 3
7
10
Bastralaya
2.
Sree
Krishna 2
8
10
Bastralaya
3.
Ujjal Stores
6
4
10
4.
5.
6.

Giri Bastralaya
Fancy
Collection
Tapati
Bastralaya

4
7

6
3

10
10

10

Sarbapriya Ray, USARJ, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp 1-14, 2014

7.
8.
9.
10
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Rupanjali
Stores
Rikta
Bastralaya
Ma Annapurna
Bastralaya
Baba
Tarakeswar
Bastralaya
Siddheswari
Bastralaya
Kanan
Posakalaya
Joy
Guru
Bastralaya
Annapurna
Bastralaya
Dress Circle

10

10

10

10

Occupation

Number

Percentage
(%)

Student

30

20%

10

Employee

49

32.67%

10

Businessmen

20

13.33%

10

Others

51

34%

10

Total

150

100%

6
58
Source: Collected from
September-February,2013-14.
Gender

ready made garments (having been occupied

24% in total respondents).
Table 4: Occupation of the respondents

4
92
Field

Source: Primary Data from Field Survey

(compiled).
Table shows that others (34 %) are the largest
buyers of RMG along with Employee (33 %),
Businessmen (13 %) and students (20 %).
Table 5: Marital status
Marital status
Number
Percentage (%)

10
150
survey,

Table 2: Gender of the Respondents

Number
Percentage
(%)

Male
58
38.67%
Female
92
61.33%
Total
150
Source: Primary Data from Field Survey, 201314.
In our study, most of our respondents are female
as displayed in Table 2. Female respondents
were more interested about readymade garments
than male respondents.
Table 3: Age of the Respondents
Age
Number
Percentage
(%)
15-25 years

39

26%

26-35 years

43

28.67%

36-50 years

32

21.33%

Above 50years

36

24%

Total

150

100%

Married

102

68%

Unmarried
Total

48

32%

150
100%
Source: Primary Data from Field Survey.
From the above table it would be said that
married respondents (68%) buy more
Readymade Garments than unmarried.
Table 6: Location of the respondents
Location status
Number Percentage
(%)
Rural&Local

120

80%

Rural& Outsiders

30

20%

Total
150
100%
Source: Primary Data from Field Survey.
According to the Table-6, most of the
respondents are from rural and local areas who
buy readymade garments from local shop than
local and outsiders.

Source: Primary Data from Field Survey

(compiled), 2013-14.
From the above table, it can be inferred that
young aged people (15-25 years) and (26-35
years) like readymade garments most. On the
other hand, older groups also showed interest in

Table 7: Family income of the respondents

Sarbapriya Ray, USARJ, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp 1-14, 2014

Family Income

Number

Table 8 shows that mean value of the Perception

statements in the Comfort Dimension is 3.16 on
a 5 point Likert scale. This means that
consumers buying behavior is moderately
affected by Comfort. So, hypothesis 2 is
accepted.
Table 10: Quality
Quality
Number of Mean SD
dimension led the
perception
respondent
statement

Percentage
(%)

Upto Rs 3000
29
19.33%
3000-5000
42
28%
5000-10000
48
32%
Above 10000
31
20.67%
Total
150
100%
Source: Primary Data from Field Survey.
In Table 4, respondents were classified into four
categories on the basis of their family monthly
income. Respondents having family monthly
income (5000-10000 Rs) are most interested
group of readymade garments.
5.2. Perception Statements Analysis of the
Respondents:
Table 8: Price
Price dimension Number of Mean
led Perception the
statement
respondent
RMG
is
moderately low
price

150

Valid Number
of
the
respondent

150

2.86

RMG
is
comfortable & easy
wear

150

Valid Number of
the respondent

150

3.16

1.25

150

RMG is
available

Table 7 shows that mean value of the Perception

statements in the Price Dimension is 2.86 on a 5
point Likert-scale. This means that consumers
buying behavior is moderately affected by Price.
So, hypothesis 1 is accepted.
SD

Valid Number of
the respondent(
list wise )

3.14

1.22

Table 9 shows that mean value of the Perception

statements in the Quality Dimension is 3.14 on a
5 point Likert scale. This means that consumers
buying behavior is moderately affected by
Quality. So, hypothesis 3 is accepted.
Table11: Availability
Availability
Number of Mean SD
dimension
led the
perception
respondent
statement

1.19

Mean

150

Source: Calculated From Primary Data

*RMG( Readymade Garments)

SD

Source: Calculated From Primary Data

*RMG( Readymade Garments)

Table :9: Comfort

Comfort dimension Number of
led
perception the
statement
respondent

RMG quality is
proficient

easily

150

Valid Number of
the respondent

150

3.16

1.30

Source: Calculated From Primary Data

*RMG( Readymade Garments)
Table 10 shows that mean value of the
Perception statements in the Availability
Dimension is 3.16 on a 5 point Likert scale. This
means that consumers buying behavior is
moderately affected by Availability. So,
hypothesis 4 is accepted.
Style
dimension led
perception
statement

Source: Calculated From Primary Data

*RMG( Readymade Garments)

Table 12: Style

Number of Mean
the
respondent

SD

Sarbapriya Ray, USARJ, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp 1-14, 2014

3.2
3.1
3
2.9
2.8
2.7

O
ve
ra
ll

S
ty
le
D
ur
ab
ilt
y

ity

va
ila
bi
A

lit
y

Series1

Q
ua
l

150

Customers' Buying Behaviour: ShyampurBelpukur-Bagnan Area

1.24

ric
e

Valid
Number
of
the
respondent

3.12

C
om
fo
rt

150

Perception Level

RMG is more
exclusive
style

Perception Indicators

Sources: Calculated from primary survey data

Source: Calculated From Primary Data
*RMG ( Readymade Garments)
Table 11 shows that mean value of the
Perception statements in the Style Dimension is
3.12 on a 5 point Likertscale. This means that
consumer buying behavior is moderately affected
by style .So, hypothesis 5 is accepted.
Table 13: Durability
Durability
Number of Mean SD
dimension
the
led
respondent
perception
statement
RMG
is
moderately
low price

150

Valid
Number of
the
respondent

150

3.02

5.3.Reliability statistics:
An examination had been made from the
reliability of the data to check whether random
Error is causing inconsistency and in turn lower
reliability is at a manageable level or not, by
running reliability test.
Table 14: Case Processing Summary
N
%
Cases
Valid
15
100.0
Excludeda
0
.0
Total
15
100.0
a. Listwise deletion based on all variables in the
procedure.
Sources: Calculated from primary survey data

1.09

From table 15 it is clear that the values of

coefficient Alpha (Cronbachs Alpha) have been
obtained, the minimum value of coefficient
Alpha obtained was .878. This shows that data
has satisfactory internal consistency reliability.

Source: Calculated From Primary Data

*RMG( Readymade Garments)
Table 12 shows that mean value of the
Perception statements in the Style Dimension is
3.01 on a 5 point Likertscale. This means that
consumer buying behavior is significantly and
prominently affected by durability of the product
.So, hypothesis 6 is accepted.

Table 15: Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's
Alpha
N of Items
.878
6
Sources: Calculated from primary survey data
5.4.Model Validity of Apparel Buying Behavior
with Factor Analysis:
Measures of sample adequacy such as Bartletts
test and KMO value showed that data was fit for
factor analysis. KMO measure of sampling
adequacy is an index to examine the
appropriateness of factor analysis. High values
between 0.5 and 1.0 indicate factor analysis is
appropriate. Values below 0.5 imply that factor
analysis may not be appropriate.

Figure 1 shows that mean value of the Perception

statements in the overall customer buying
behavior Dimension is 3.088 on a 5 point Likert
scale. This means that consumers buying
behavior is moderately affected.
Figure: 1: Customers Buying Behaviour

Table 16: KMO and Bartlett's Test

KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of
Sampling Adequacy.

.674

Sarbapriya Ray, USARJ, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp 1-14, 2014

some sort of error. Barletts test of puerility

indicates that potency of relationship among
variables is strong. It designates good idea to
develop factor analysis for the data.
Bartletts test of Sphericity is based on chisquare transformation of the determinant of
correlation matrix. In turn, this would indicate
that factor analysis is appropriate. Bartletts test
of sphericity showed statistically significant
numbers of correlations among the variables
(Approx. chi-square =59.009, degree of
freedom= 15, significance=.000). Bartletts test
of Sphericity Chi-square statistics being 59.009
shows that the 6 statements are correlated and
hence as inferred in KMO, factor analysis is
appropriate for the given data set.

Bartlett's Test of
Sphericity

Approx. Chi59.009
Square
df
15
Sig.
.000
Sources: Calculated from primary survey data

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of Sampling

Adequacy (MSA) for individual variables was
found to be sufficiently high for all variables.
From the above table-16, it is seen that KaiserMeyer -Olkin measure of sampling adequacy
index is 0.674 and hence the factor analysis is
appropriate for the given data set. From the
Table 16, it is observed that KMO being 0.674
indicates that there is no error in 67.4% of the
sample and in the residual 32.6%, there may be

Table 17: Correlation Matrix

Price
Comfort
Price
1.000
.703
Comfort
.703
1.000
quality
.369
.453
availability
.761
.516
Style
.491
.307
Durability
.842
.698
Sig. (1-tailed) Price
.002
Comfort
.002
quality
.088
.045
availability
.000
.024
Style
.031
.133
Durability
.000
.002
a. Determinant = .005
Sources: Calculated from primary survey data
Correlation

The table 17 shows the correlation between the

dimensions of apparel buying behaviour. There
is positive significant correlation between price
and comfort (.703) and price
and
availability(0.761), price and durability(0.842),
comfort and availability(0.516),comfort and
durability(0.698),quality
and
availability(0.539),availability and style(0.777),
availability and durability(0.778), style and
durability(0.750) .

Component
1
2
dimension
3
4

Total
3.998
.794
.721
.282

quality
availability
.369
.761
.453
.516
1.000
.539
.539
1.000
.405
.777
.426
.778
.088
.000
.045
.024
.019
.019
.067
.000
.057
.000

Style
Durability
.491
.842
.307
.698
.405
.426
.777
.778
1.000
.750
.750
1.000
.031
.000
.133
.002
.067
.057
.000
.000
.001
.001

Table 18: Communalities

Initial
Extraction
Price
1.000
.759
Comfort
1.000
.564
quality
1.000
.385
availability
1.000
.818
Style
1.000
.596
Durability
1.000
.876
Extraction Method: Principal
Component Analysis.
Sources: Calculated from primary survey data

Table 19: Total Variance Explained

Initial Eigenvalues
Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings
% of Variance
Cumulative %
Total
% of Variance
Cumulative %
66.633
66.633
3.998
66.633
66.633
13.230
79.864
12.024
91.887
4.701
96.589

Sarbapriya Ray, USARJ, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp 1-14, 2014

5
.154
2.559
6
.051
.852
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Sources: Calculated from primary survey data

99.148
100.000

Eigen value represents the total variance

explained by each factor, percentage of the total
variance attributed to each factor. One of the
popular methods used is exploratory factor
analysis in principle component analysis, where
the total variance in the data is considered to
determine the minimum number of factors that
will account for maximum variance of data
depicted.
For extracting factors, Principal Component
Analysis was used (table 19). Latent Root
Criterion (factors with eigen value greater than
1) was used for finalizing the number of factors. .
This reveals that from the 6 apparel buying
behaviour items included in factor analysis, only
1 dimension were extracted ; therefore, one
factor has been taken depending on Eigen values
and variance explained by each factor emerged
with a cumulative variance of 67 percent. This
indicated that 1 dimension explained 67 percent
variance of the apparel buying behaviour.
Therefore, from table 19, it is clear that Eigen
values of a single factor are more than 1. It is
clear from table 19 that approximate 67% of
variance has been explained by one factor.
The 6 variables are now condensed to 1
Component or Factor donating 66.63% of the
Total Variance, which defines that factor 1 is
much closed to the required level of 67%
cumulative variance. Researcher can just
visualize Factor 1 which is condensed with
Eigen value greater than 1.000 according to the
Scree Plot. Table 20 specifies the factors
loadings for each variable on the unrotated
components
or
factors.
Each
number
communicates to the correlation between the
item and the unrotated factor. This correlation
facilitates to prepare and interpretation of the
factors or components. Widespread thread
among the variables that have hefty loadings for
a meticulous factor or components is made to get
termination.

Sources: Calculated from primary survey data

Table 20: Component Matrixa
Component
1
Price
.871
Comfort
.751
quality
.620
availability
.905
Style
.772
Durability
.936
Extraction Method: Principal Component
Analysis.
a. 1 components extracted.
Sources: Calculated from primary survey
data.
It is observed that several items with large
loading on the unrotated factors make difficult
interpretation. The correlation value of each
variable for factor 1 is higher according to Table
20, which is difficult to draw the conclusion on
variables.
Table 21: Rotated Component
Matrixa
a. Only one component was
extracted. The solution cannot be
rotated.
Sources: Calculated from primary survey
data.
Rotated solution can be helpful to resolve the
problem aroused. The Table21 which is rotated
factor matrix makes it simple for captivating
decision. But, only one component was
extracted. The solution cannot be rotated.
Simply ,it has been found that Factor 1 has
profound relationship with variable 1(Price),
2(Comfort),
3(quality)
and
4(
availability);5(Style),6(Durability).Therefore, it

Fig:2: Scree Plot

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Sarbapriya Ray, USARJ, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp 1-14, 2014

can be inferred that it is noticed that customers

are more influenced respectively by Price,
Comfort, quality and availability;Style,Durablity.

it also a means to beauty , happy and relaxed

emotional experience at the same time, therefore
the design of franchised stores would be a key
aspect to attract customers eyes. Best sellers
should give extra attention to all the visual image
of the store through space, color, material, etc. to
convey to consumers the brands unique
personality and design concepts, also to bring a
strong sensory and emotional experience.

6. Conclusions:
In exploring consumers buying behavior
relating to ready made garment industry in
Indian perspective , it has been observed that
there are several factors which affect the
consumer buying behavior towards readymade
garments like, price, comfort, quality,
availability,style,durability etc.
Out of these variables, durability, availability
and price, comfort and style respectively carry
the highest factors loading. It means these five
factors are most important while purchasing the
readymade garments. Quality is with the lowest
factor loading, which means while purchasing
the readymade garments, it is less important in
rural areas like our sample region.
Recognizing the perception of the consumers
behavior in relation to buying readymade
garments is the indispensable basis for
formulation of marketing strategy. Customers
response to this strategy determines the
organizational success or failure. While ranking
is made on the basis of factors affecting
customers buying behaviour, the durability factor
occupies the first position, and then availability,
price, comfort and style are securing successive
ranks respectively. Policy reforms introduced by
the government of India generated a more
amiable environment for the growth of the
readymade garment business. With the present
study, an endeavor has been undertaken to depict
the existing situation regarding Indian
customers buying behavior about readymade
garments.
Durability, availability and price are the most
significant factors which influence the customers
regarding
readymade
apparel
purchase.
Generally, the acceptance and rejection decision
of purchase depends upon the durability,
availability and price of the product.
Consequently, companies should concentrate
more on the durability, availability of the
product. There is also a section of Indian society
whose income is low but there is willingness on
the part of the intending consumers to wear the
branded clothes. Therefore, the companies
should plan for new strategies to increase their
sales by introducing low range of clothes
especially for this segment of society.

Limitations and future research direction of the

Study:
The present study has a number of limitations
that should be acknowledged. The study is
largely confined to a particular region of Howrah
district, India, taking a few readymade garment
shops of Shyampur-Bagnan area of Howrah
district, a purely rural hinterland based area, for a
shorter period of time. The data collection was
based on the opinion of the respondents and
opinion of a human being may change from time
to time. The data collection are primary in
nature, therefore it suffers from the limitations of
primary data. Some customers were reluctant in
answering the questions. The sample size is very
limited due to time constraint. Therefore, sample
size may not be precisely practicable for the
large population of the country. On the flip side,
the outcome of analogous study may provide
oxymoros results in metro cities of India because
metro cities may probably possess certain
demographic peculiarities. To test the proposed
apparel buying behaviour model, this study used
a convenience sample of customers who were
enthusiastic to respond ;consequently, on the
basis of the result analyzed, generalized
inference cannot be drawn which may depict that
the result is applicable for customers buying
behaviour of all readymade garments shops of
India.
The finding of this study designates that the
projected model worked fit for the apparel
buying behaviour. The proposed model can be
used for analyzing customers buying behaviour
of other human necessities which may increase
the robustness of the model explaining consumer
behaviour in various purchasing or selling
environments .This study contributes and will
provide meaningful insights to academia by
providing a theoretical framework to understand
wearing apparel buying behaviour of Indian
consumers.
In conclusion, it highly recommended that
further comparative study on branded and nonbranded apparel may be attempted selecting

Nowadays customer shopping is not just a

functionality behavior to meet the basic demand,

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Sarbapriya Ray, USARJ, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp 1-14, 2014

respondents from rural, urban as well as semi

urban research areas of India on the basis of
stratified random sampling.
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The views, findings, interpretations, and

conclusions in this paper are those of the author
and should not be attributed to the academic
institution where the author serves. The author
entirely depended on data collected by one of his
beloved students, Prasenjit Ray. The author is
solely grateful to Prasenjit Ray for getting
earnest cooperation from him in collecting
primary data from field survey.

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Vitae:

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Sarbapriya Ray, USARJ, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp 1-14, 2014

Dr. Sarbapriya Ray is an Assistant Professor in Commerce at

Shyampur Siddheswari Mahavidyalaya (College), University
of Calcutta, West Bengal, India. He is also serving as guest
professor in the Dept. of commerce, University of Calcutta.
He received his undergraduate and Master degree from
Calcutta University and stood third in the first class in
M.Com (Taxation and Finance). After he received his M.Phil
from University of Calcutta and PhD from Vidyasagar
University, MBA (Finance) from Sikkim Manipal University,
India, he is now further doing his research job in the field of
corporate finance, strategic management, industrial
productivity and capacity utilization. He has been teaching
economics, financial management, accounting, strategic
management, Operation Research etc., since 2001 in the
institutions where he serves. He has published several articles
in reputed national as well as international journals and
presented papers in national and international conferences.
He is the editor/editorial board members of 29 foreign
journals and reviewed several articles of international repute.

14