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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body. Although shirt was an item of men's underwear until the twentieth century, today it is one of most popular form of man's garment. Shirts can be of different kinds like camp shirt, formal shirt, sports shirt etc. Shirts are almost ubiquitous with their uncountable variations. However, among the myriad kinds of shirts, consumers often stick to some definite ones. his study focuses on analysis of the factors that affect a consumer while making purchase decision of a shirt. he five factors we considered, here are! "uality, #rand $mage, %ashion, Availability and &rice of the shirt.

#oth primary and secondary data has been used. &rimary data were collected from the direct responses from the sample si'e of () comprised of person of different demographics. #ecause of the conclusive nature of the research, primarily we used quantitative questioning *on + scale likert scale, in the surveys. %or the secondary data, different established theories and articles was reviewed. An e-ploratory research with some respondents were also conducted to gain the practical insights of this research and to get the prime factors that affect consumers while purchasing a shirt. S&SS ./ was used for regression analysis and to measure the significance of independent variables on the dependent variable.

After doing the required statistical operations, we got the finding. $t was revealed that, only brand image and price of the shirt have significant effect on consumers decision making process. he other three variables! quality, fashion and availability are not significant and thus re0ected. So the result is, only brand image and price have a direct positive relationship with consumer decision making while purchasing a shirt.

INTRODUCTION Shirts are bought for everyday or occasional use for people anywhere in the world. $n our country, shirts are mainly used by men, not women. he issues regarding consumer preference in buying a shirt involves price of the product, quality of the shirt, brand image of the shirt, convenience of the store and fashion consciousness of the individual customer. 1ustomer behavior study is based on consumer buying behavior, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. 1onsumer behavior is influenced by! demographics, psychographics *lifestyle,, personality, motivation, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings.

1onsumer behavior concern with consumer need consumer actions in the direction of satisfying needs leads to his behavior of every individual depend on thinking. 1onsumer decision making is a process that intertwines various stimuli towards the purchase decision. 2arketers all over the world are trying to find out what factors are responsible for the final decision for an individual.

3e have come across several prior researches done in tshirt segment but hardly find anything regarding shirts. 3e think those researches will help us doing our 0ob. his study will find the significance of factors that affect consumers to purchase a shirt

%actors affecting consumer behavior 4ach of these factors is discussed in more detail in the following sections on buyer behavior.

1ultural factors! 1ultural factors have a significant impact on customer behavior. 1ulture is the most basic cause of a persons wants and behavior. 5rowing up, children learn basic values, perception and wants from the family and other important groups. 2arketers are always trying to spot 6cultural shifts7 which might point to new products that might be wanted by customers or to increased demand. %or e-ample, the cultural shift towards greater concern about health and fitness has created opportunities *and now industries, servicing customers who wish to buy! 8 9ow calorie foods 8 Health club memberships 8 4-ercise equipment 8 Activity or health:related holidays etc. Similarly the increased desire for 6leisure time7 has resulted in increased demand for convenience products and services such as microwave ovens, ready meals and direct marketing service busi: nesses such as telephone banking and insurance. 4ach culture contains 6sub:cultures7 ; groups of people with share values. Sub:cultures can include nationalities, religions, racial groups, or groups of people sharing the same geographical location. Sometimes a sub:culture will create a substantial and distinctive market segment of its own. %or e-ample, the 6youth culture7 or 6club culture7 has quite distinct values and buying characteristics from the much older 6gray generation7 Similarly, differences in social class can create customer groups. $n fact, the official si- social classes in the <= are widely used to profile and predict different customer behavior. $n the <=s socioeconomic classification scheme, social class is not 0ust determined by income. $t is measured as a combination of occupation, income, education, wealth and other variables

Reference groups
As a consumer, your decision to purchase and use certain products and services, is influenced not only by psychological factors, your personality and life: style, but also by the people around you with whom you interact and the various social groups to which you belong. he groups with whom you interact directly or indirectly influence your purchase decisions and thus their study is of great impor: tance to marketer to understand are! I) Primar an! secon!ar groups" a primary group is one with which an individual interacts on a regular basis and whose opinion is of importance to him, family, neighbors, close friends, col: leagues and co: workers are e-amples of primary groups. Secondary groups are those with which an individual interacts only occasionally and does not consider their opinion very impor: tant. II) #orma$ an! informa$ groups" >otary, lions, ?aycees are some of the well ; known social groups in our society. 9abor unions, social clubs and societies are other types of formal groups to which individuals may belong. A formal group has a highly defined structure, specific roles and authority positions and specific goals. $n contrast, an informal group is loosely defined and may have no specified roles and goals. 2eeting your neighbors over lunch once a month for friendly e-change of news is an instance of an informal group. III) Mem%ers&ip an! s m%o$ic groups" A membership group is one to which a person belongs or qualifies for membership. All workers in a factory qualify for membership to the labor union. A symbolic group is one which an individual aspires to belong to, but is not likely to be received as a member. A head clerk in an office may act as if he belongs to the top membership and symbolic groups influence consumer behaviors but membership groups have a more direct influence. &rimary, informal and small groups e-ert the ma-imum influence on consumers and are of great interest for marketers. Any of these groups can sever as a reference group for a consumer if it serves as a point of reference or comparison ion the formation of the values, attitudes and behavior. @ifferent kinds of groups, whether small or large, formal or reference group is a very wide one and includes both direct and indirect or group influences. $ndirect reference groups comprise those individuals or groups with whom an individual dews not have any direct face to face contact, such as film stars, A stars, sportsman, politicians. >eference groups are used in advertising to appeal to different market segments, group situation with which potential customers can identify are used to promote products and services. Hidden in this appeal is the subtle inducement to the customer to identify himself with the user the product in question. he three types of reference groups appeals most commonly used are! a, 1elebrities, b, 4-perts, and c, he Bcommon man 1elebrities are well known people *in their specific field of activity, who are admired and their fans aspire to emulate their behavior. %ilm stars and sports heroes are the most popular celebrities. Soft drink * hums up,, shaving cream *&almolive,, toilet soaps *9u-, , te-tiles * @inesh , 5raviera, are advertised using celebrities from the sports and film fields. 4-perts such as doctors, lawyer, accoun: tants and authors are used for establishing the benefits of the product. 1olgate and %orhans tooth: pastes are e-amples of products, which use the e-pert reference groups appeal for promotion. Another reference group appeal is that which uses the testimonials of a satisfied customer. $t demon: strates to the prospective customer that demonstrates 0ust like him uses and is

satisfied with the product.

@irect reference groups, which e-ert a significant influence on consumers, purchase decisions and behavior can be classified into si- categories. here are i, he family ii, %riendship groups, iii, %ormal social groups, iv, %ormal shopping groups, v, 1onsumer action groups, and vi, 3ork groups.
Family!

he family is the most important of all these groups and we shall discuss it in detail. he family, as a unit, is an important of all these groups and we shall discuss it in detail. he family, as $ unit, is an important consumer for many products which are purchased for consumption by all family members. $t is a source of ma0or influence on the individual members buying behavior. 3e can identify two families which shape an individuals consumption behavior .one is the family of orienta: tion that is the family in which you are born and consists of your parents, brothers and sisters. $t is from parents that we imbibe most of our values, attitudes, beliefs and purchase behavior patterns. 9ong after an individual has ceased to live with his parents, their influence of the sub ; conscious mind still continues to be great. $n our country, where children continue to live with parents even after attain adulthood, the latters influence is e-tremely important. he second type of family is the family of procreation consisting of the consumers spouse and children. 3ithin the family, different member play different roles. 2arketers are interested in finding out e-actly the role played by individual members so that they can appropriately design their promo: tion strategy to suit these differing roles. raditionally, it has been the wifes role to purchase food, clothing and other household sundries, while the husband played a dominant role in the purchased of automobiles and life insurance. #ut with the emergence of the working:women, these lines of tradi: tional role demarcation have been getting increasingly blurred. Husbands now have to shoulder a greater part of the household duties while women are asserting themselves in areas so far treated as the husbands domain. hus, the same decision, in different families may be made either by the husband or wife, or both may have an equal voice. 1hildren are also beginning to e-ert their influence on the familys purchase decisions. his is especially true in case of products such as television, stereo music systems, records, personal computers, etc. where the children are likely to have more updated information about various brands and product attributes.

Persona$ #ac'ors"
Age and Life cycle Stage:9ike the social class the human life cycle can have a significant

impact on consumer behaviour. he life cycle is an orderly series of stages in which consumer attitude and behavioural tendencies evolve and occur because of developing maturity, e-perience, income, and status. 2arketers often define their target market in terms of the consumers present lifecycle stage. he concept of lifecycle as applied to marketing will be discussed in more details.
Occupation And Income: oday people are very concerned about their image and the status

in the society which is a direct outcome of their material prosperity. he profession or

the occupation a person is in again has an impact on the products they consume. he status of a person is pro0ected through various symbols like the dress, accessories and possessions.
Life Style! Cur life styles are reflected in our personalities and self:concepts, same is the

case with any consumer. 3e need to know what a life:style is made of. $t is a persons mode of living as identified by his or her activities, interest and opinions. here is a method of measuring a consumers lifestyle. his method is called as the psychographics: which is the analysis technique used to mea: sure consumer lifestyles: peoples activities, interests and opinions. hen based upon the combina: tions of these dimensions, consumers are classified. <nlike personality typologies, which are difficult to describe measure lifestyle analysis has proven valuable in segmenting and targeting consumers according to their lifestyle classification. $ would like to cite one e-ample which $ have come across was the a company had organi'ed this study to identify the market segments of their place for the television sets.
Personality! personality is the sum total of an individuals enduring internal psychological

traits that make him or her unique. Self:confidence, dominance, autonomy, sociability, defensiveness, adaptability, and emotional stability are selected personality traits.
Motivation: 2otivation involves the positive or negative needs, goals, and desires that impel

a person to or away from certain actions. #y appealing to motives *reasons for behavior,, a marketer can generate motivation. 4conomic and emotional motives are possible. 4ach person has distinct motives for purchasesD these change by situation and over time.
Consumer nee!s an! mo'i(a'ions! 3e all have needs we consume different goods and

services with the e-pectation that they will help fulfill these needs. 3hen a need is sufficiently pressing, it directs the person to seek its satisfaction. $t is known as motive. all our needs can be classified into two categoriesEprimary and secondary. &rimary needs or motives are the physiological needs, which we are born with, such as the need for air, water, food, 1lothing, shelter and se-. he second: ary needs are our acquired needs, which we have developed in response to the individuals psycho: logical mike: up and his relationship with other members of the society. he secondary needs may include the need for power, prestige, esteem, affection, learning, status etc. clothing is a primary need for all of us. #ut the need for three piece tweed suit, or bananas brocade sari or silk kimonos are e-pressions of our acquired needs. he man wearing a three:piece tweed suit may be seeking to fulfill his status need or his ego need by impressing his friends and family. All human needs can be classified in to five hierarchical categories and his this hierarchy is univer: sally applicable the theory of hierarchy of needs can be ranked in order of importance from the low biological needs to the higher level psychological needs. 4ach leveled of need is fulfilled people keep moving on the ne-t higher level of need. $n figure below, the different levels of needs have been depicted as being watertight compartments, but in reality there is always overlap amongst the differ: ent levels of needs, since no need is ever totally satisfied. here is always scope for further fulfill: ment.

MAS)O*+S ,IERAC,Y O# NEEDS

,o- !oes '&e ,ierarc& *or./

8 8 8 8 8

A person starts at the bottom of the hierarchy *pyramid, and will initially seek to satisfy basic needs *e.g. food, shelter, Cnce these physiological needs have been satisfied, they are no longer a motivator. he indi: vidual moves up to the ne-t level Safety needs at work could include physical safety *e.g. protective clothing, as well as protection against unemployment, loss of income through sickness etc, Social needs recogni'e that most people want to belong to a group. hese would include the need for love and belonging *e.g. working with colleague who support you at work, teamwork, com: munication, 4steem needs are about being given recognition for a 0ob well done. hey reflect the fact that many people seek the esteem and respect of others. A promotion at work might achieve this Self:actuali'ation is about how people think about themselves : this is often measured by the

e-tent of success andFor challenge at work 2aslows model has great potential appeal in the business world. he message is clear : if manage: ment can find out which level each employee has reached, then they can decide on suitable rewards. 2aslows hierarchy of human needs helps us understand consumer motivations. $t is useful for the marketer who can identify what generic level need his product is capable of fulfilling and accordingly position his product and back it up with relevant marketing inputs. &roducts such as food and clothes are bought to fulfill physiological needs. $nsurance, burglar alarms, security services are purchased because the fulfill safety needsD most personal care products such as soap, toothpaste, shaving cream, perfume are bought primarily because they serve social needs. And lu-ury products such as 0eweler, e-pensive clothing, fancy house and cars are bought mainly to serve ego and self: actuali'ation needs. he same products can be sold to entirely distinct customers segments provided the marketer can correctly identify the need which the products is fulfilling. %or instance, a

bicycle serves a recreationalF leisure need while for a third segmentD it fulfils the need of a health aid. Still another customer segment buys a bicycle for converting into a rickshaw or bicycle cart for selling fruits, vegetables etc. a bicycle is also purchased for use in competitive sport.

STEPS IN CONSUMER DECISION MA0IN1 PROCESS


he final consumers decision process is the way in which people gather and assess information and make choices among alternative goods, services, organi'ations, people, places, and ideas. $t consists of the process itself and factors affecting the process. he decision process consists of si- basic stages *the ne-t si- sections,. %actors affecting the pro: cess are a consumers demographic, social, and psychological characteristics. Sometimes, all si- stages in the process are usedD other times, only a few steps are utili'ed .At any point in the process, it may be ended. S $2<9<S! A stimulus is a cue or drive meant to motivate a person to act. A stimulus can be any of the following! Social. 1ommercial. Goncommercia l. &hysical. A prospective consumer may be e-posed to any or all of these types of stimuli. $f a person is sufficiently stimulated, he or she will go on to the ne-t step in the decision process.
PROBLEM AWARENESS: @uring problem awareness, the consumer recogni'es that the

good, service, organi'ation, person, place, or idea may solve a problem of shortage or unfulfilled desire. 2any consumers are hesitant to react to unfulfilled desires because there are risks and the benefits may be hard to 0udge.
INFORMA ION SEAR!"! $nformation search involves listing alternatives that will solve the

problem at hand and a determination of the characteristics of each. Search can be internal andFor e-ternal .As risk increasesD the amount of information sought also increases. Cnce the information search is completed, it must be determined whether the shortage or unfulfilled desire can be satisfied by any alternative. he $nternet has become a ma0or source for consumer shopping information. Seven useful sources are provided.
E#AL$A ION OF AL ERNA I#ES: he alternatives are evaluated on the basis of the

consumers criteria and the relative importance of these criteria. hey are then ranked and a choice made.
PURC,ASE 2 he purchase act involves the e-change of money or a promise to pay for a

product, or support in return of ownership of a specific good, the performance of a specific service, and so on. &urchase decisions remaining at this stage center on he place of purchase. erms. Availability. $f the above elements are acceptable, a consumer will make a purchase.

POS %P$R!"ASE BE"A#IOR! %requently, the consumer engages in post:purchase

behavior. #uying one item may lead to the purchase of another. >e:evaluation of the purchase occurs when the consumer rates the alternative selected against performance standards. 1ognitive dissonance, doubt that a correct purchase decision has been made, can be reduced by follow:up calls, e-tended warranties, and post:purchase advertisements.

#ACTORS A##ECTIN1 T,E #INA) CONSUMER+S DECISION PROCESS


A. @emographic, social, and psychological factors affect consumer decision making. #. #y understanding how these factors affect decision making, a firm can fine:tune its strategies to cater to the target market.

TYPES O# DECISION PROCESSES


he decision process is used each time a good or service is bought, often subconsciously. here are three ways in which the decision process may be used.
E&tensive decision%ma'ing: Cccurs when a consumer makes full use of the process. $t is

used for e-pensive, comple- items with which the consumer has little or no e-perience. &erceived risk is high and time pressure is low.
Limited decision ma'ing! takes place when each step of the process is used, but the

consumer does not need to spend a great deal of time on any of them. he consumer has some e-perience. he thoroughness with which the process is used depends on the amount of e-perience, the importance of the purchase, and time pressure.
Ro(tine decision%ma'ing! involves habitual behavior and skips steps in the process.

>egularly pur: chased items are bought in this manner. $nformation search, evaluation, and post:purchase behavior are normally omitted. Several differences between consumers in industriali'ed nations and those in less: developed and developing ones are cited by the te-t.3ith low:involvement purchasing, the consumer minimi'es decision making for those goods and services perceived to be socially andFor psychologically unim: portant. #rand loyalty is the consistent repurchase of and preference toward a brand. $t enables a consumer to minimi'e risk, time, and thought.

MAR0ETIN1APP)ICATIONS O# T,E #INA) CONSUMER+S DECISION PROCESS


here have been many studies on the marketing implications of the final consumers decision pro: cess. .. 3hen acquiring information for a leisure trip, travelers consult friends and relatives, a travel agent, the $nternet, and travel maga'ines. H. Gearly a third of 1hinese consumers are 6enthusiastic shoppers,7 who en0oy shopping and like to price bargain. I. %or several reasons, 6substantial time often elapses between the time people recogni'e the need for a product and the time they actually purchase it.7

hese may be the reasons for this! hey dont think they have time to devote to the decision. hey may feel shopping is an unpleasant e-perience. hey may feel perceived risk. hey may need advice from others. hey may not know how to gather adequate information. hey may e-pect prices to fall.

hey may e-pect improved products to be introduced later. J. Satisfied consumers discuss their e-periences with far fewer people than dissatisfied ones. Some studies the ratio is I!...

)IMITATIONS O# T,E #INA) CONSUMER+S DECISION PROCESS


.. he hidden nature of many elements. H. he subconscious performance of the process. I. he impact of demographic, social, and psychological factors. J. @ifferences in decision making among consumers in different countries.

CUSTOMER 3UYIN1 PROCESS #OR NE* PRODUCTS


How do customers approach the process of buying a new productK How does this differ from the process for buying a product, which the customer has bought beforeK 3hat does a 6new product7 meanK A new product can be defined as! 6A good, service or idea that is 6perceived7 by some potential customers as new. $t may have been available for some time, but many potential customers have not yet adopted the product nor decided to become a regular user of the product7 >esearch suggests that customers go through five stages in the process of adopting a new product or service! these are summari'ed below! 45) A-areness : the customer becomes aware of the new product, but lacks information about it 46) In'eres' : the customer seeks information about the new product 47) E(a$ua'ion : the customer considers whether trying the new product makes sense 48) Tria$ : the customer tries the new product on a limited or small scale to assess the value of the product 49) A!op'ion : the customer decides to make full andFor regular use of the new product

Me'&o!o$og
he research is basically both e-ploratory and conclusive in nature. $n the first place, an interview with one of the top managers of #5 was held. Secondly, a set of questionnaire were prepared and distributed among the H> managers. #ased on the data given by them, analysis was done. %inally with the help of secondary data, the report is completed. &rimary data .. "uestionnaire Survey Secondary @ata .. &revious research of the same nature. ..J 9imitations of the Study ime constraints were one of the most important factors that imposed restrictions on conducting the study e-tensively. Scarcity of Secondary @ata Cur sample si'e was small 1ost constraints. 9ack of e-perience of the group members

%ashion is temporary and a new fashion starts with the refusal of what is old and , often, through the impatient adoption of what previously was taken as uglyD consequently, it subtly denies its statement that the last fashion is, in a certain way, a definite solution for the appearance problem. However, according to uncay anq Ctnes *H))L,, fashion is a harmonious whole more or less indissoluble. $t fits to social structure, accehltuating separation between classesD it conciliates the conflict between the individualising impulse of each one of us *need of affirmation as a person, and the socialising one *need of affirmation as a member of a group,D it e-presses ideas and feelings, since it is a language that is translated into artistic termsM . Got only are the aesthetical elements important to characteri'e fashion as it must be placed in the moment and time. %ashion reflects society and the time of living *9iu et a$., H))/,. Gowadays, the society where fashion system has been installed is driven by consumption, by the change and by the individuali'ing desire, in opposition to societies ruled by habits and tradition . According to #arnard *H))H,, garments claim a position including respectability and outrageousness *se-ual appeal,, economic and social value *stNOtus,, individualistic look, political symbol, religious rituais and pleasure. 3omen play a better role perceiving garments communicative language, also being more engaged in fashion giving importance to garments and fashion when defining their identity. %ashion marketing must answer to several questions, such as! .. what product lines must be created in the different seasonsK . which is the market segmentK

H how much product to be producedK I at what priceK J which needs and preferences of consumersK + which distribution channels must be used to sell the productK (.how to organi'e and control salesK $n other words, fashion marketing has the main ob0ective to act as a guide for the different processes of creation, production, distribution, communication, promotion, commerciali'ation, planning and control. However, since this sNctor is quite dynamic and differentiating, fashion marketing must adapt to each specific fashion market. %ashion marketing starts and ends at the consumer. hus, according to Arriaga *H))+,, the action must be focused on them, this is, it is necessary to identify the way how he dresses themselves, the product must be produced according to their needs and e-pectations, as well as produced in a short period of time, since the fashion cycle is becoming shorter and shorter. $n other words, companies must study! i,the consumer needsD ii, iii, the most adequate consumer segment and how approach itD the ideal positioning to reach this segmentD

$A, the design levei, colours, quality that the target segment requiresD I. the price to establishD J. the channel distribution demandsD +. the marketing strategies and policies that best suit the market segment his means, in order to a company to be able to give the best answer to the market it must have the best answers to this question '.

Consumer %u ing %e&a(iour


he purchase decision is also influenced by personal factors, namely age, consumer's life cycle stage, occupation, economical levei, way of life and personality. 1oncerning age and life cycle stage as a function of marital status, consumers have specific needs. %or e-ample, children, as they are in the process of growing up, they need garments suitable to their age and physical development *2cGeal and Peh, .//Q,. >especting young persons, usually follow their fashion mind leaders. $n respect to the third age, these are less demanding when choosing their clothes, more lasting, most of the times, although this tendency had changed in the last few years and, at the moment, they are being considered as a target market *1apon et a$., H)).,. Cccupation also influences garment purchasing decision, as an e-ecutive will choose buying more formal garments, while an unqualified worker will buy more practical ones. he financial capacity is evidently a factor that influences the purchasing process, as the higher it is, the higher the acquisition power and garment consumption. $n other words, demographic factors, age, monthly income, living place, marital status, professional situation all make an individual to choose certain brands or stores, instead of others *&aulins and 5eisteld, H))I,. he way of life is another factor that influences the consumer buying behaviour, as a given garment is intended to a given life style. 1onsumers frequently choose certain kinds of products, services and activities since these are associated to a certain life style. hus the fashion industry must pay more and more attention to life style tendencies. &ersonality is another personal factor that influences purchasing, since every consumer has a different personality. %actors such as self:confidence, domain of himself, good fellowship and autonomy, define the individual is personality and, consequently, different purchasing processes. 1oncerning psychological factors, these play a strong influence on consumers, as some of them choose a product simply by reliance, sympathy or even designer friendship. o these, motivations like personality attraction and interest of a consumer for a given fashion product can also be 0oined *2ittelstaedt, .//),. &sychological factors also influence the decision of buying products, despite its price. Cften, a high cost is a determine factor leading to acquisition of one product and not of a cheaper one, since this may be regarded as to increase self:confidence of whom is wearing it. Among several factors, the psychological ones are those that bear more attention to companies, although many of these do not have professionals capable to best understand them.

he rational factors are the most visible ones, they are based on the rational consumer's behaviour, his way of thinking and decision making, on a reasoning manner. here are several individual and collective factors that interfere on the purchasing decision, such as the brand of a given fashion product as many consumers make purchases by influence of a designer or company brand "uality is another factor to which consumers pay more attention *Acharya and 4lliot, H))ID Hanf and 3ersebe, .//J,. he design is an important motivation for purchasing and consumption of fashion, since, in a garment, consumers give more and more relevance to aesthetical appearance, like the line and look, among many others. he characteristics or attributes of fashion products also influence purchasing, since they interfere on the value, style and quality of product. *Hong et al.,H))HD 3ickliffe and &sysarchik, H)).,. &roduct comfort is a important attribute, as consumers wish comfortable products to satisfy certain specific needs. he usefulness is also a factor that consumers have in mind when buying garments, because, for e-ample, if they buy a garment that combines with those of their wardrobes, and they make their choices also considering aspects such as durability and easy care. he product novelty is a factor that fashion followers have into consideration, in each season they renew their wardrobes, and they look for innovation in their wearing way. &rice is a rational factor that influences a lot the purchase of a product since consumers consider a better product the one with better price *Hanf and 3ersebe, .//J,. he acceptance of a product is reached when there is equilibrium between value and price that the consumer is willing to pay for it. $n general , the consumer considers a low price product the one that is outdated or with low quality.

A''ri%u'es for garmen' e(a$ua'ion


1oncrete Attributes *product features, Abstract Attributes *attitude:based, $ntrinsic *hedonic, 4-trinsic Aesthetics &rice #rand %un Style 1olor

RE)ATIVE CONSTRUCTS O# T,E STUDY

he relative constructs of the study are! "uality, #rand $mage, %ashion, Availability and &rice. :ua$i'

&erceived product quality is perhaps one of the most important constructs in marketing. $n recent years, perceived quality has been the sub0ect of considerable interest by both practitioners and researchers, mainly in services marketing. 2oreover, the relationships between these constructs for goods rather than services have not been studied e-tensively in marketing.

&erceived quality has attracted the interest of practitioners and researchers because of a belief in its beneficial effects on marketing performance. $ndeed, the belief that high perceived quality leads to repeated purchases is the bedrock of any business. hus a better understanding of the relationship between perceived product quality and product involvement, consumer satisfaction and purchase intentions may help academics develop a model of consumer decision making for goods. $t may also provide practitioners with indications as to where best to devote marketing attention and scarce corporate resources. 3ran! Image

#rand is a name in every consumers mind and it is characteri'ed by a noticeable name or symbol which can differentiate the goods and services from the rivals. $n addition to a specific brand name, a brand is also composed of products, packaging, promotion, advertising, as well as its overall presentation .%rom the consumers perspective, brand is a guarantor of reliability and quality in consumer products *>oman et al., H))+,. Added to this, consumers would like to buy and use brandname products with a view to highlight their personality in different situational conte-ts.

Gowadays, consumers have a wide range of choice to choose from when they enter a shopping mall. $t is found that consumers emotions are one of the ma0or determinants which affect their buying behavior. According to some research on shopping habits, nearly onefourth of the respondents are likely to impulsebuy clothes and accessories.3hen deciding which products to purchase, consumers would have their preferences, which are developed in accordance with their perceptions towards the brand. Successful branding could make consumers aware of the presence of the brand and hence could increase the chance of buying the companys products and services.

#as&ion

%ashion system combines quick response production capabilities with enhanced product design capabilities to both design 6hot7 products that capture the latest consumer trends and e-ploit minimal production lead times to match supply with uncertain demand. he purchase intention for fashion and designer apparel is stimulated among consumers in the social conte-ts. he distinctiveness of fashion features *e.g., designer brand, celebrity endorsement, media reviews, that are consistently associated with emotional e-pressions plays the strongest role in the buying behavior among consumers. Some studies suggest that the perception of a person on his personality is a distinctive and salient trait that differentiates behavior. $ndividuals who have high social standing and are one of the principal drivers of consumer behavior towards fashion apparel is the dominance of social interactions. he involvement of consumers in fashion products depends not only on their own perceptions but also on peers response to their personality and change proneness . he relation between clothes and identity is perceived by the consumers from the perspective of their values generated in various social interactions. 1onsumers get involved in e-hibiting fashion and lifestyle as an aesthetic way of presenting their personality. Hence, clothing is often considered as an opportunity for communicating a new order of identity of a person.

A(ai$a%i$i'
Availability is becoming an increasingly important issue for consumers seeking out convenient product solutions, and some research claims store loyalty is fading as the customer Mpropensity for promiscuityM grows. he research found 5erman shoppers are the most likely to substitute stores if a product is outofstock, with over one in two claiming this is a response to availability issues. he ma0ority of shoppers across the 4< also admit to switching shop if they cannot find key products they need.

A large proportion of items the consumer believes to be Msold outM are actually instore but in a new location, while many missing products were never on the store inventory in the first place. 3hile it is important to go back to basics and ensure the retail team works to iron out these in store problems. Staff motivation, collaborative retail and supply partnerships, inventory accuracy, retailready packaging *>>&,, reducing product ranges and increasing the use of >%$@ *radio frequency identification, technology are all vital for perfecting the art of supply. >etail and shelf ready packaging has been one of the latest developments to assist the availability issue, speeding up the delivery of goods from factory to shelf.

Price &rice for a product or service has a very significant effect on how the consumer behaves. $f consumers believe that the charged price is lower than competitors it could cause a ma0or spike in sales. #ut if the price is significantly higher than e-pected, the response can be disappointing. $n either case a change in price could produce une-pected results when it comes to consumer buying behavior.

Cften price could affect consumer behavior. 9owering or initially setting a lower price than e-pected can have a different set of effects on a consumer. $n one case, a priceconscious

consumer is grateful for a price break and will possibly stock up on the item at the low price. $n other cases, the consumer could become suspicious of the low price and assume it means the product is of a lower quality.

@ue to the potentially une-pected effects of price on consumers, price often affects significantly on consumers decision making process. 2aking a change to the price of a product or service is very risky, so do so with caution and after much consideration. 1ustomers e-hibit a complekind of behavior with the effect of price. Setting high price sometimes signal good quality and lower price means low quality. However, consumers purchase ability increases as the price decreases.

O3;ECTIVES AND RESEARC, :UESTIONS his research gave the opportunity to dig into the specific issues that a consumer assesses while purchasing a shirt. his topic will provide the insight to learn the influences of behavioral variables of the consumers which in turn lead to the purchasing decision. &erspective like the effect of brand image, fashion and style will be brought into the topic. %inally, the findings of the result will be used to make theories and shared to the different retailers and wholesalers of shirts. he principle ob0ective of this report was to identify when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy a shirt. his study also dealt with the variables that affect the consumer purchasing decision. he weight and significance of the variables were measured as well. he broad research question is! 63hat are the factors that affect a consumer while purchasing a shirtK7 his broad question will be narrowed down into five specific questions. And they are!

.. @oes quality have an influence on consumer while purchasing a shirtK H. @oes brand image have an influence on consumer while purchasing a shirtK I. @oes fashion has an influence on consumer while purchasing a shirtK J. @oes availability have an influence on consumer while purchasing a shirtK +. @oes price have an influence on consumer while purchasing a shirtK

,YPOT,ESIS O# T,E STUDY he hypothesis used to test the positive or negative effect of the independent variables on consumers purchase decision is! $nfluence of "uality "uality is one of the prime factors that affect consumers in a purchase decision. 1onsumers today dont generally buy 0ust a brand or product rather, heFshe purchase all the benefit associated with it. And quality is the totality of the features that the product offers. $f the product is associated with highperceived quality, consumers trust a brand and the brands preference is also get augmented. 3e tried to measure whether quality of shirts are significant to the consumers or not. $n our study, our first hypothesis is about the influence of quality. And the hypothesis is! H.! "uality of the shirt has a direct positive influence on consumers purchase decision. $nfluence of #rand $mage Cften brand images reinforce the consumers to make a purchase decision. #rand value is one of the important factors in marketing today. op brand names have a dominating and significant influence in evaluating a brand. $n case of purchasing shirt, we tried to appraise the effect of brand image. $n our study, the second hypothesis is about the influence of brand image. And the hypothesis is! HH! $f consumers perception of brand image of the shirt is more favorable, their evaluation of a shirt is positive.

$nfluence of %ashion %ashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person. he pace of change accelerated considerably in the following century, and women and men's fashion, especially in the dressing and adorning of the hair, became equally comple- and changing. he current fashion, celebrity influences lure the consumers to purchase fashionable shirts. 3e tried to identify the relative importance of fashion for consumers in purchasing a shirt. So, the third hypothesis is about the influence of fashion. And the hypothesis is! HI! 1onsumers are influenced by current fashion while purchasing a shirt. $nfluence of Availability %or the products that are not that much significant and require less consumer involvement, consumers usually purchase those from the available sources. $nstead of going to a distant shop, they purchase from the nearest outlets. $n our study, we tried to measure whether consumers purchase shirts that are nearly available to them or not. So, the fourth hypothesis is about the influence of availability. And the hypothesis is! HJ! 1onsumers purchase a shirt that is widely and conveniently available to them. $nfluence of &rice A growing body of literature indicates that consumers do not always attend to, know, and remember actual prices of productsD instead, they encode prices in ways that are meaningful to them *e.g., cheap versus e-pensive,. herefore, perceived price is not equivalent to ob0ective price. However, we included price in our study to get insight about their impact on consumers decision making. So the last hypothesis is! H+! &rice *higher vs. lower, has a direct positive effect on consumers evaluation of a shirt.

@$S1<SS$CG Effec' of :ua$i' H. predicts that the quality of the shirt has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. he result shows, R value S .)+J, &S.QIH. his variable does not have significant influence on the consumers purchase decision. Sometimes, the definition of quality gets distorted and offset by some other e-traneous variables like, celebrity influence, words of mouth and price. he sample we chose didnt put much weight on quality as a determinant of purchase.

Effec' of 3ran! Image HH predicts that the brand image of the shirt has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. he result shows that brand image influences consumers to purchase shirts positively. And this is also significant. *Here, R value S .IQ), &S.))J,. oday marketer heavily depends on creating brand value. 1onsumers today often go after established brand images regardless of the quality and price. Cur sample voted brand image significantly. Effec' of #as&ion HI predicts that the current fashion has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. he result shows, R value S ...., &S..JH. his variable does not have significant influence on the consumers purchase decision. he result we got was negative. Since our sample was heterogeneous, respondents e-hibited a diversified view and opinion regarding fashion. Cur sample was reluctant to accept fashion as a prime factor. >ather they focused more on brand image and price of the shirt. Effec' of A(ai$a%i$i' HJ predicts that the availability of the shirt has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. he result shows, R value S ..Q(, &S..JH. he findings prove that, people today are reluctant to purchase shirts that are available to them. hey are willing to travel a long distance to purchase their desired shirt. hanks to the means of easy communication, today people are getting the chance to buy their shirts from distant places even from abroad. So, it clearly prove that, availability does not have an effect on consumers decision making process.

Effec' of Price H+ predicts that the price of the shirt has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. he result shows, R value S .H+/, &S.)H(. &rice has significant and positive relation with consumers decision making process. value. shirt. oday, in the H.st century, the definition of price became distorted. 5one are those days, when consumers bought the products having the least oday, as we got from our sample, they would to pay premium price for their desired

CONC)USION $n our study, consumer decision making process for purchasing a shirt was tested by using five independent variables. %ashion and &rice. he results of the study show that #rand $mage and &rice have a positive and significant influence on consumer decision making. &erhaps, consumers prefer a better branded shirt than a non branded shirt. hey dont mind paying more money for a shirt that has a good brand name. However, contradictory results occurred when we found out that %ashion has negative influence on purchase though it was not significant. he reason might be that most people are resistant for a change in their dress upD they want ma0ority of population to adopt the change before trying it on themselves. 2oreover, we found that "uality of a shirt has positive influence but it was insignificant. he reason might be that most of our respondents were students and they are happy as long as they have purchased a shirt that has a good brand name. hey dont mind the quality of the shirt as a good brand does not always mean e-cellent quality. $n addition, we found that availability has a negative influence on people but it is insignificant. he reason might be that, people go to their desired shop to purchase a shirt no matter how far it is as it has an effect on their life style. he research was done to identify which factors have significant influence on the matter. he five independent variables are #rand $mage, "uality, Availability,

)IMITATION AND #UTURE RESEARC, Although we have conducted our survey on people with various professions, it was heavily dominated by students. As a result we did not get a clear idea of the overall market. Had we not conducted most of our surveys on students, the results might have differed. he regression model showed a comparatively low which means effect of other variables *4-traneous Aariables, are important for the decision making process of consumers. So, we strongly suggest that future research should be done on more samples other than students. 3e have failed to include more independent variables such as lighting effects of the shop, 2usic playing on the background, Store si'e, 1rowd, #ehavior of sales personnel, Airal marketing, word of influence etc. 3e could not include these hypothesi'es because of lack of time and as this is our first research we thought it would be wise to stick with as less variables as possible. %uture research should include all the possible variables for a better answer to the phenomenon. Cur study proved that "uality, %ashion and Availability have less significant effect on consumer decision making while purchasing a shirt. %uture research should find appropriate reasons to back our findings. 3e think that it would be vital to the managers of the shops which sell shirts. Another vital limitation of this study is the overall reliability of the scales. Cur 1hronbach alpha ranges from .+ to .QHJ, which is not that much reliable. $t means that, either our questionnaire was not that much reliable or the respondents lacked consistency or adequate knowledge. 2oreover, scale no I *&I, of the variable price was taken directly in the regression model. So the result we got in this specific variable got distorted a bit.

SAMP)E :UESTIONNARE .. Have you ever bought a shirtK *$f your answer is 6no7, dont proceed, please return the questionnaire, a, Pes b, Go &lease answer the following questions by putting tick *, mark on your agreement level. Strongly Agree *+, H. 9ast time $ bought a shirt, $ only considered the "uality of the shirt I. 9ast time $ bought a shirt, $ only considered the #rand $mage of the shirt J. 9ast time $ bought a shirt, $ only considered the &rice of the shirt +. 9ast time $ bought a shirt, $ only considered the current %ashion Q. 9ast time $ bought a shirt, $ only considered the Availability of the shirt (. @urability of shirts are my primary concern L. $ love a shirt that is comfortable /. $ always prefer the best quality in material .). 2y social status is increased when $ wear branded shirts ... $ never purchase shirts from footpath .H. 3earing branded shirts make me unique in the crowd .I. $ prefer high priced shirts .J. $ always pay premium price if the quality is ensured .+. $ buy more shirts if there is discount .Q. $ am the first to try out the latest fashion .(. $ am influenced by the clothing of my favorite celebrity .L. $ look good wearing fashionable shirts ./. $ always go to the nearest shop to buy shirts H). $ prefer purchasing shirts, if there is wide variety in the stores H.. he bigger the store is the easier it is for me to purchase shirts I / J ) H .I HH HI .+ .) .. .Q H. HI + .I I HH H. ./ Agree *J, .H .+ L .J ) .. L H + .J + H / + ) H . ) I ) .I Q .H ) ) + ) + I Q / .) ) ) ./ + ) + J H Geutral *I, H . Q .+ H+ . ) ) H ) + H ) H Q Q ) I H / . I ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) J ) ) ) ) @isagree *H, ) ) Strongly @isagree *.,

hank you for your participation.

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