ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research

Vol.2 Issue 2, February 2012, ISSN 2249 8826 Online available at http://zenithresearch.org.in/

PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR IN INDIAN APPAREL MARKET: AN ANALYSIS

DR. P.VIKKRAMAN*; N.SUMATHI**
*Director & Research Advisor, School of Management Studies, Anna University of technology, Coimbatore - 47. **Ph.D Research Scholar & Assistant Professor, Adaikalamatha Institute of Management, Adaikalamatha College, Vallam, Thanjavur - 3.

ABSTRACT Indian apparel market in growing by 4.70 per cent whereas the value of goods and is growing by 13.60 per cent during 2006. The understanding of factors influencing to purchase the global and local brands among the Indian consumers help the new retailers at both domestic and foreign retailers who want to enter in the Indian market. Hence the present study focuses on the purchase behaviour in Indian Apparel market. A total of 500 post graduate students enrolled in M.S. University, M.K.University, Bharathiyar University, Bharathidashan University and University of Madras in Tamilnadu answered the self administrated questionnaire in a classroom setting in the year 2010. The present study conclude that the factors namely self concept, need for uniqueness directly influence clothing interest and indirectly influence the purchase intention in the case of global and local brands. Perceived Quality and emotional value are the other important predictors of the purchase intention. ______________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION Indian economy is one of the fastest growing in the globle with an annual study increase of GDP by 7.5 per cent (Prahalad, 2007). The Indian retail market is going through a revolution. Increasing urbanization, rapid development of shopping malls, emerging breed of brand conscious consumers and adoption of foreign culture in western countries are changing the face of the Indian retail industry. India has the highest density of retail out lets in the whole world with more than 15 million outlets. The Indian retail industry growth to be dominated by approximately 12 million mom and pop stores providing an employment of 21 million Indians (Rao, 2006). The volume of goods sold in Indian apparel market in growing by 4.70 per cent whereas the value of goods and is growing by 13.60 per cent during 2006 (Images, 2006). INDIAN CONSUMERS The Indian Consumers are subjected to a drastic changes in their spending habits. Recently, the consumers are giving more informance on lifes pleasures and education of their children. They are becoming more materialistic. The Indian Consumers need global, branded and local products (Khanna and Palepu, 2006). There is a growing domination of global brands, from

www.zenithresearch.org.in

ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research

Vol.2 Issue 2, February 2012, ISSN 2249 8826 Online available at http://zenithresearch.org.in/

foreign retailers and also local brands among the Indian retailers (Gopal and Srinivasan, 2006). The growth of information system has exposed Indian consumers to various global brands (Karilanz, 2007). The growth of youngsters in Indian population is visible. Around 30 million Indians have a disposable income of more than US $30,000. In total, six million population in India is considered to be as rich (Biswas, 2006). The growth of information Technology and IT enabled industries is driving new consumerism in India especially in Tier 1 cities. (The Economist, 2006). Along with significant increases in salaries, these changes have increased the consumer spending on apparel significantly. Apparel is now the second largest consumption category in malls (Apparel retail, 2006). About 20 percent of Indians preferred shopping for textile and apparel over food (RVG vision, 2006). In this juncture, the companies are in a position to understand the complexities of Indian consumers and customized their products to have the right mix to meet the requirements have been successful and extracted benefits from the growing Indian market. The understanding of factors influencing to purchase the global and local brands among the Indian consumers help the new retailers at both domestic and foreign retailers who want to enter in the Indian market. Hence the present focuses focuses on the purchase behaviour in Indian Apparel market. OBJECTIVE THE STUDY The objective of the study is to analyse the purchase behaviour among the Indian consumers regarding the global and local brand in apparel industry. CONCEPTUAL FRAME WORK OF THE STUDY In order to fulfill the objectives of this study, the present study include the concepts namely self concept, need for uniqueness, clothing interest, perceived quality, emotional value and purchase intention. 1. SELF CONCEPT It is an individuals perception about himself/herself. It is a fundamental determinant of all human behaviour (Malhotra, 1988). The persons self concept is reflected in his or her consumer behaviour (Lau and Phan, 2007). The products and/or brands that individuals purchase serve as symbols that generate desired responses from other individuals (Landon, 1974). Hence, the self concept can be reflected by their product and brand choice (Goldsmith et al., 1999). Due to adoption of western culture, Indian consumers seek to emulate western practices by purchasing foreign brands (Batra et al., 2000; Kinra, 2006). The self interest among the customers have been measured with the help of five variables namely satisfaction with life, Excellency, in life condition, satisfaction on own physical appearance, closeness of actual self and ideal self and pleased with themselves as an individual. 2. NEED FOR UNIQUENESS It implies that the notion about self is embedded in the concept of need for uniqueness (Fromkin, 1970). According to Tian et al., (2001), consumers express need for uniqueness by the possession and display of original, novel and unique consumer products for the purpose of developing and enhancing ones self concept. Fromkin (1970) states that the motivation behind need for uniqueness originates from an unsatisfactory evaluation of self. Clark and Goldsmith

www.zenithresearch.org.in

ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research

Vol.2 Issue 2, February 2012, ISSN 2249 8826 Online available at http://zenithresearch.org.in/

(2005) identified a negative relationship between self concept and need for uniqueness. The need for uniqueness among the consumers is measured with the help of five variables namely things that I buy shape more unusual personal images, I develop my personal uniqueness by buying special brands, I buy unusual brands to create a more distinctive personal image, I stop wearing fashions when they become popular with the general public and I avoid brands that are bought by the average consumer. 3. CLOTHING INTEREST Clothing interest is multi dimensional and consists of five components namely concept with physical appearance, experimentation with appearance, and heightened awareness of clothing, enhancement of personal security and enhancement of individuality by (Gurel and Gurel, 1979; Kaiser, 1998). The clothing interest among the consumers is measured with the help of the variables namely spending more on clothing, favourite activity is clothing, like the clothing than others and enhancement of appearance though clothing (Workman and Kidd, 2000; Solomon, 2003). 4. PERCEIVED QUALITY The consumers perception on a brand is based upon the quality (Doyle, 2001). Individuals interested in clothing tend to pay more attention to physical properties and features of the clothing that include quality of garment (Kaiser, 1998). The perceived quality has been associated with the brand name (Maxwell, 2001). Indian consumers perceived more quality on branded products (Maxwell, 2001). The perceived quality of approvals have been measured with the help of variables namely reliability, durability and high quality (Gabor and Granger, 1996; Sweeney and Soutar, 2001). 5. EMOTIONAL VALUE Emotional value is defined as the benefit derived from the feeling or affective states. As a product category that induces high involvement and interest due to its symbolic and hedonic nature, clothing tends to evoke emotion as consumers go through the stages of selection and use (Kim et al., 2002). The brand names generally have a higher symbolic and emotional measuring in India (Johansson, 1997). The emotional value of the product among the consumers have been measured with the help of variables namely be one that I enjoy: makes me feel good; gives me pleasure and makes me want to use it. 6. PURCHASE INTENTION Purchase intention is defined as the intention to purchase a particular brand because of its features, quality or emotional benefits (Mc Connell, 1968). The purchase intention have been measured by variables namely I intend to buy this brand frequently (Yoo et al., 2000) and I plan to buy this brand often (Yu and Dean, 2001). METHODS This study identified the factors influencing to purchase the global and local brand of apparel in India.

www.zenithresearch.org.in

ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research

Vol.2 Issue 2, February 2012, ISSN 2249 8826 Online available at http://zenithresearch.org.in/

BRAND SELECTION The brand Levis and Lees were selected as the US clothing brand for two important reasons since these are dominant, US brands available in India and also these are the matured brands. The local clothing brand was selected by asking consumers to think about the most popular casual local brand when answering the survey. MEASURES The scale items for self concept were adopted from Alfonoso et al., (1996); preed for Uniqueness from Tian et al., (2001); Clothing interest from Lumpkin (1985); Perceived quality from Dodd et al., (1991); and emotional value from Sweeney and Soutar (2001). The scale items for purchase intention were developed by Archana Kumar et al., (2009). SAMPLE A total of 500 post graduate students enrolled in M.S. University, M.K.University, Bharathiyar University, Bharathidashan University and University of Madras in Tamilnadu answered the self administrated questionnaire in a classroom setting in the year 2010. A total of 396 usable surveys were obtained. About 73 per cent of the sample was male. Ages ranged from 20 to 30 with the mean age of 22 years. The most frequently used retail format to purchase the casual clothing was departmental store followed by a exclusive show room. The average expenditure on clothing purchases per annum among them was reported to be Rs. 3949/-. ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS Structural Equation Modeling using AMOS 16.00 was used to test the (factors influencing purchase intention in apparel market) factor model proposed in Figure-1. Potentially high levels of random error in typical items and the many parameters that must be estimated. Self Employed Clothing Interest Perceived Quality Purchase Intention www.zenithresearch.org.in

Need for Uniqueness

Emotional Value

The confirmatory Factor analysis have been executed to test the validity of the instruments through content validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity and criterion related validity. Content validity refers to the degree which an instrument covers the meaning of

ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research

Vol.2 Issue 2, February 2012, ISSN 2249 8826 Online available at http://zenithresearch.org.in/

the concepts included in a particular research (Babbie, 1992). For this study, the content validity of the proposed instrument is adequate enough because the instrument has been carefully constructed, validated and refined by Archana Kumar et al., 2009., supported by an extensive literature review. CONVERGENT VALIDITY Convergent validity is a condition which concerns the degree to which a set of items is able to fully represent the dimension in question. Hair, et al., (2006) suggested using factor loadings, composite reliability and average variance extracted (AVE) to assess convergent validity. Table 1 presents the results. TABLE 1 CONVERGENT VALIDITY OF THE CONSTRUCTS Number of variables in 5 5 Cronbach alpha Convergent Validity Inductors Range of Standardized Factor loading 0.9144-0.7456 08.908-0.6564 Composite reliability 0.8336 0.7964 Average Variance extracted 0.7484 0.6994

Sl. Construct No.

1. 2.

Self Concept Need for Uniqueness Clothing Interest Perceived Quality Emotional Purchase Intention

0.8145 0.7969

3. 4. 5. 6.

3 3 4 2

0.8341 0.6762 0.8176 0.7339

0.9039-0.6872 0.8873-0.6144 0.9233-0.6465 0.8071-0.7049

0.8493 0.7236 0.8309 0.7606

0.7686 0.6542 0.7801 0.7345 www.zenithresearch.org.in

The standardized factor loading of the variables were above the minimum value of 0.60 as recommended by Bagozzi and Yi (1988). Composite reliability values deficit the degree to which construct indicators reflect the latent construct. All indicators were found to exceed the recommended value of 0.70 (Hair, et al., 2006). All the Cronbach Alpha of constructs except perceived quality were greater than its standard minimum of 0.7 (Nunnally, 1978). The Cronbach alpha of perceived quality is still considered to be satisfactory as it is over 0.60 (Malhotra, 1993). The AVE fell in the range of 0.6542 to 0.7801 which exceeded the general rule of thumbs of 0.50 (Hari et al., 2006) on the whole, convergent validity was established for the measurement model of this study.

ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research

Vol.2 Issue 2, February 2012, ISSN 2249 8826 Online available at http://zenithresearch.org.in/

DISCRIMINANT VALIDITY Discriminant validity compares the shared variance among indicators of a construct i.e. (AVE) with the variance shared between constructs (i.e. Correlation). The constructs are said to achieve criteria for discriminant validity when the square root of the AVE is greater than it correlation with other constructs (Forrnell and Larcher, 1981). Table-2 depicts the results. TABLE 2 DISCRIMINANT VALIDITY Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Square of Correlation Co-efficient Self Interest Need for Uniqueness Clothing Interest Perceived Quality Emotional Value Purchase Intention 1 .8651 0.5889 0.4891 0.2445 0.5011 0.3667 .8363 0.6562 0.3969 0.4588 0.3145 .8767 0.3996 0.5674 0.6562 .8088 0.1889 0.3646 .8832 0.5887 .8570 2 3 4 5 6

Note: Diagonals represent the square root of AVE while other entries represent the squared correlations. Looking from the columns and/or across the rows, the square root of AVE for each construct is greater than the correlations between constructs, hence fulfilling the necessary criteria to achieve discriminant validity. CRITERION RELATED VALIDITY Data related to five independent and are dependent variable (Purchase intention) have been used to assess the criterion-related validity. Criterion related validity concerns the extent to which the constructs measured are related to pre-specified criteria (Saraph, et al., 1989). The results are given in Table 3. www.zenithresearch.org.in

ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research

Vol.2 Issue 2, February 2012, ISSN 2249 8826 Online available at http://zenithresearch.org.in/

TABLE 3 CRITERION RELATED VALIDITY Correlation with Purchase Intention 0.6252 0.4568 0.4973 0.5889 0.3996

Sl.No.

Constructs

t Statistics

p Value

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Self interest Need for Uniqueness Clothing interest Perceived Quality Emotional Value

4.6586 3.0441 3.3996 4.1865 2.8667

0.0000 0.0433 0.0339 0.0142 0.0504

The Table 3 shows that the entire scale is highly correlated with the purchase intention since than respective correlation coefficients are significant at five prevent-Level. GOODNESS OF FIT The structural equation modeling (SEM) have been used to examine the path coefficient on various paths generated in the model. Initially, the goodness of fit of the generated model for global and local brand have been tested. The results are given Table 4. TABLE 4 FIT INDUCES FOR THE MEASUREMENT MODEL www.zenithresearch.org.in Actual Value For Global brand 0.0245 Local brand 0.0339

Sl. No.

Fit Induces

Recommended Value 0.05 (Gefen, 2000) 0.90 (Hoyle, 1995)

Significant of chi-square

Goodness of fit index (GFI)

0.9337

0.9147

ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research

Vol.2 Issue 2, February 2012, ISSN 2249 8826 Online available at http://zenithresearch.org.in/

Adjusted of fit index (AGFI) Normalised fit Index (NFI)

0.80 (Chau&Hu,2001) 0.90 (Hair et al.,1998) 0.90 (Bagozzi and Yi 1988) 0.90 (Bagozzi and Yi 1988) 0.10 (Mac Callum et al., 1996)

0.9018

0.8508

0.9445

0.9226

Tucker Lewis Index (TLI)

09337

0.9118

Comparative Fit Index (CFI)

0.9249

0.9098

Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA)

0.0566

0.0676

The above said fit indices for this studys models together satisfy the threshold values recommend by several scholars. Hence, the study concludes that all the five factors suited for measuring the purchase intention in apparel shares. STRUCTURAL MODELS AND PATH COEFFICIENTS The structural models were constructed to examine the hypothesized relationships among constructs for both global and local brand. The path coefficients and its significance have been presented in Table 5. TABLE 5 PATH CO-EFFICIENT Standardized Estimate Global brand Self concept Need for uniqueness Self concept Clothing interest Need for uniqueness Clothing interest 0.1014 0.1249* 0.6884* Local brand 0.1108 0.1204* 0.6943* www.zenithresearch.org.in Structural Paths

Hypothesis No.

H1 H2 H3

ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research

Vol.2 Issue 2, February 2012, ISSN 2249 8826 Online available at http://zenithresearch.org.in/

H4

Clothing interest Perceived Quality Clothing interest Emotional value Perceived quality Purchase intention Emotional value Purchase intention Clothing interest Purchase intention

0.3249*

0.0241

H5 H6

0.3104* -0.3296*

-0.0692 0.0083

H7

0.7033*

0.6227*

H8

0.3039*

0.1148*

* Significant at five per cent level. The inverse relationship between self concept and need for uniqueness is seen in the model but the path coefficients are not significant in the case of both global and local brands. Hence, H1 is not supported by the present study. The H2, H3, H4, H5, H6, H7 and H8 are supported by the present study since their respective path coefficients are significant at five per cent level in global brands only. It reveals that there is a positive relationship between the variables in the abovesaid paths except the perceived quality and purchase intention. For the Local brands, the significantly related paths are seen in H2, H3, H7 and H8. Hence, the H1, H4, H5 and H6 are rejected. The analysis reveals that in the local brand, the self concept significantly influence clothing interest and the need for uniqueness significantly influence the clothing interest. The emotional value and clothing interest significantly influence the purchase intention in the case of local brand. But in the case of Global brand, all constructs are influencing the subsequent constructs developed in path model except the self concept to need for uniqueness. DISCUSSION The present study reveals that Indian consumers emotional value and clothing interest are the significant positive antecedents of purchase intention towards global and local brands. The significant influence of self concept on need for uniqueness indicates that the Indian consumers with high self concept neither wish to be different from other nor wish to fit in with others. The significant impact of self concept and need for uniqueness indicates that Indian consumers may consider their self concept and need for unique to express their individuality. The significant impact of clothing interest on perceived quality and emotional value on global brands reveals that Indian consumers prefer global brand because of the status symbols and strong perception on foreign brands which is not seen in local brand. The gain of product quality and emotional value of foreign brands among the Indian consumers replicates the findings of previous studies (Shen, et al., 2002; Kinra, 2006). The significant negative impact of perceived quality on purchase intention on global brand indicates the patriotism among the Indian consumers, higher price of global brands, and

www.zenithresearch.org.in

ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research

Vol.2 Issue 2, February 2012, ISSN 2249 8826 Online available at http://zenithresearch.org.in/

availability of local brands at cheaper price. The significant positive impact of emotional value on the purchase intention of global brand reveals that Indian consumer perception in global brands is likely to enhance then purchase intention. The insignificant impact of perceived quality on purchase intention and significant impact of emotional value on purchase intention of local brands indicates that the Indian consumers are more emotional oriented rather than functional value for shopping. The significant positive impact of clothing interest on purchase intention of global and local brands reveals that the Indian consumers may buy global or local brands regardless of how they perceive the brand. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION The present study concludes that the factors namely self concept, need for uniqueness directly influence clothing interest and indirectly influence the purchase intention in the case of global and local brands. Clothing interest and emotional value are the other important predictors of the purchase intention. The study provides valuable implication for the existing Indian clothing retailers and global retailers. The global retailers are advised to focus on uniqueness and emotional aspects in order to make a great appeal on their product. The advertising campaigns could impact emotionally appealing messages stressing the uniqueness of wearing global brands. While projecting the products features they are advised to focus on improving the self concept of the consumers. Indian retailers are advised to go for aggressive strategies to improve the customers perception on local brands in terms of quality and emotional value like Be Indian; buy Indian, proud to be an Indian etc. The strategic alliances, licensing agreements or joint ventures are the important strategies to sell the local brand under global brand name with higher status and quality. REFERENCES 1. 2. Apparel Retail: Labeling the Indian Market (2006), available at: www.ibef.org. Archana Kumar, Yown Kyung Kim and Lou Pelton (2007),. Indian consumers purchase behaviour towards US versus local brands, International Journal of Retail and distribution Management, 37(6), pp.510-526. Babbie, E., (1992), The Practice of Social Research, Sixth Edition, Wordsworth, Belmont, California. Bagozzi, R.P., and Yi, Y., (1988), On the Evaluation of Structural Equation Models, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16(1), pp.74-94. Batra, R., Ramaswamy, V., Alden, D.C., Steenkamp, J.B.E. M and Ramachander, S., (2000), Affects of brand domestic and non domestic origin on consumer attitudes in developing countries, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 9(2), pp.83-85. Biswas, R., (2006), Indias changing consumer, Chain Store Age, 82(5), p.A2. Clark, R.A., and Goldsmith, R.E., (2005), Spreading their Sales, Business India Intelligence, 12(6), pp. 1-2. www.zenithresearch.org.in

3. 4. 5.

6. 7.

10

ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research

Vol.2 Issue 2, February 2012, ISSN 2249 8826 Online available at http://zenithresearch.org.in/

8.

Dodds, W.B., Kent, M.B., and Grewal, D., (1991), Effect of Price, Brand, and Share Information on Buyers Product Evaluation, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol.28, pp.307-319. Doyle, P., (2001), Shareholder Value Based Brand Strategies, Brand Management, 9(1), pp.20-30. Fromkin, H.L., (1970), Effects of experimentally aroused feelings of undistinctiveness upon valuation of scarce and novel experience, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16(2), pp.521-529. Gabor, A and Granger, C.W.J., (1966), Price As An Indicator of Quality: Report on An Enquiry, Economica, 33(129), pp.43-70. Goldsmith, R.E., M.A., and Beaudoin, P(1999), Fashion innovativeness and self concept: a replication, Journal of Product and Brand Management, 8(1), pp.7-18. Gopal, A and Srinivasan, R (2006), The Indian Consumer, Harvard Business Review, 84 (10), pp.22-23 Gurel, L.M., and Gurel, L., (1979), Clothing Interest: Conceptualization and Measurement, Home Economics Research Journal, 7(1), pp.274-282. Hair, J.M., Anderson, R.E., Tatham, R.L., Black, W.C., and Babin, B.J., (2006), Multivariate Data Analysis, Sixth Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, Copper Scordle Rver, NJ. Images year book on Fashion Business, Apparel, Retailing, and Garments (2006), available at: www.imagefashion.com/ year-book-III. html. Jaya Halepete and K.V.Sesadri Iyyer (2008), Multidimensional investigation of apparel retailing in India, International Level of Retail and Distribution Management, 36(9), pp.676-688 Johnson, J.K., (1997), Global Marketing, Foreign Entry, Local Marketing, and Global Management, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. Kaiser, S.B., (1998), Social Psychology of Clothing: Symbolic Appearances in Context, Fari Child Publications, New York, NY. Kavilanz, P.B., (2007), Be Indian; Buy American, http://francisque.boardinglobe.com/files/attn-106290-115.pdf available at:

9. 10.

11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

16. 17.

18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

Kim, H., Damhorst, M., and Lee, K., (2002), Apparel Involvement and Advertisement Process, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 6(3), pp.277-302. Kinra, N., (2006), The effect of country of origin on foreign brand names in the Indian Maket, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 24(1), pp.15-30.

11

www.zenithresearch.org.in

ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research

Vol.2 Issue 2, February 2012, ISSN 2249 8826 Online available at http://zenithresearch.org.in/

23. 24.

Landon, E.L., (1974), Self concept, Ideal Self Concept, and Consumer Purchase Intention, Journal of Consumer Research, 1(1), pp.44-51. Lau, K.C., and Phau, I., (2007), Extending Symbolic brands using their personality: examining antecedents and implications toward brand image fit and brand dilution, Psychology and Marketing, 24(5), pp.421-424. Lumpkin, J.R., (1985), Shopping Orientation Segmentation of the Elderly Consumer, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol.13, pp.271-289.

25.

12

www.zenithresearch.org.in