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ONLINE APPAREL BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF COLLEGE GIRLS

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JOURNAL OF EDUCATION: RABINDRABHARATI UNIVERSITY
ISSN : 0972-7175

ONLINE APPAREL BUYING BEHAVIOUR OF COLLEGE GIRLS

*Dr. S.Poongodi, *Assistant Professor, PG Department of Commerce-CA, Nallamuthu Gounder Mahalingam

College, Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India, poongodimuruganantham@gmail.com
**Dr. P.Jayanthi, **Assistant Professor, PG Department of Commerce-CA, Nallamuthu Gounder Mahalingam
College, Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India,jayanthi.saraswathy@gmail.com,

ABSTRACT
The research paper aims at exploring the online apparel buying behavior and variables influencing the online
apparel buying behavior of college girls. Data for the study have been collected through issuing well-structured
questionnaire to 118 college girls residing in Pollachi Taluk by adopting convenience sampling technique.
Simple Percentage, Weighted Average and Chi-Square test have been used to analyse the data. The study reveals
that price, color, style design and brand influence the purchase of online apparels. The study depicts that area
and marital status have significant association with level of opinion on online apparel shopping.
Keywords: Online shopping- Apparel – Attributes – College Girls – Buying behavior

INTRODUCTION
College girls prefer to wear clothes that are fashionable. It solely depends upon the choice and taste of the
person, that what kind of clothes they prefer to wear. Young girls prefer wearing slim fit and highly stylish
dresses that make them look stunning. As a young consumer group, college students are of significant
importance. College goers are mostly attracted by fashion brands. There are many attributes which influence the
buying behavior of college girls like price, quality, stores, malls, fit, look, style, income, brands etc. This
generation learns its fashion mantras by closely watching celebs, reading fashion blogs and surfing the Internet.
Poongodi and Gokula Priya (2017) depict that majority of College girls prefer latest trendy dress, medium
shade dress and private/store brand. Further, it is identified that family members and friends are the major
sources for seeking information while purchasing apparels. Moreover, the college girls agree that proximity of
area, quality, price and brand affects their purchasing decision.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Garima Tiwari (2015) in her study finds that maximum number of girls said quality and price is an important
factor that affects the purchase of kurties. Majority of the Jaipur girls prefer straight kurti style and Jaipuri
printed kurties to be fashion and trendy. Most of the girls prefer stand collar as their neckline and select kurties
for their comfort. Syed Tabrez Hassan et al., (2014) in their study reveals that people prefer brand clothes for
attractive look and to impress. Also it observes that people are influenced by fashion, family and friends as the
choice of brand. People are less loyal towards the branded cloths because of high price and wearing same type of
clothes makes people bored so they like to wear new and fashionable clothes.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

College students as a young consumer group have gained significant importance from marketers in recent years
because of their growing purchasing power. They have easy access to credit cards and income from part-time
jobs to spend. Students spend money on clothing and beauty products, and find these items to be important. With
the rapid development of network technology, the Internet has strongly impacted the worldwide marketing
environment. Online shopping holds a great potential for youth marketers. Jayanthi and Maruthu Pandian
Vol. : XXIII, No. :7(II), 2020-2021 208
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ISSN : 0972-7175

(2019) said that age, area of residence, marital status, occupation, total family members, monthly income, family
income and monthly savings of the family significantly influence the buying behavior of women on apparels. In
this background, it is imperative know the attributes and the variables that influence the online apparel buying
behavior of college girls.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The following are the main objectives of the study,
 To know the attributes influencing the purchase of online apparels.
 To identify the variables that influences the online apparel shopping.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The present study is based on primary data which is collected through issue of structured questionnaire to know
the online buying behavior of college girls on apparels in Pollachi Taluk. Data for the study have been collected
from 118 college girls by adopting Convenience sampling method. The questionnaire contains questions relating
to the Personal profile, Preference, Satisfaction and Problems relating to online apparel shopping of the college
girls. Simple Percentage, Weighted Average and Chi-Square test have been used to analyse the data.
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
The findings of the study are divided into four sections namely, socio-economic profile of the college girls, buying
behavior of college girls, type of apparel preferred, Satisfaction on online shopping, most preferred online shopping
sites and the variables associated with their level of opinion.
(i) Personal Profile of College Girls
The findings relating to socio-economic profile of college girls namely area, age, marital status,
educational qualification, type of family, earning members in the family, non-earning members in the family
and pocket money per month are disclosed below:
 There is no majority in area of residence.
 Majority of the college girls 75(63.5%) belong to the age group between 21 and 24 years.
 Majority of 85(72%) them are unmarried.
 Majority 77(65%) of them are post graduate.
 Majority of 61(52%) college girls belong to joint family.
 Most of the college girls, 100(85%) have one to three earning members in their family.
 Most 114(97%) of college girls have one to three non-earning members in their family.
 Majority of 60(51%) the college girls family monthly income is ranging between Rs.20,001 and Rs.
40,000.
 Majority of (85(72%) them get Rs. 100 to Rs. 300 as pocket money per month.
(ii) Buying Behavior of College Girls
Mode used to access online shopping, source of information, frequency of purchasing apparels, attributes influencing
purchase of apparels, time spent, money spent, mode of payment and feel on secure on online shopping are described
in the table given below.
Table-1: Buying Behavior of college Girls
Number of Respondents Percentage
Variables
(N=118) (%)
Mode of Online Shopping
PC 18 15

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JOURNAL OF EDUCATION: RABINDRABHARATI UNIVERSITY
ISSN : 0972-7175

Number of Respondents Percentage

Variables
(N=118) (%)
Mobile 74 63
Tab 22 19
Others 4 3
Sources of Information
Friends 57 49
Family Members 27 23
Advertisement 12 10
Promotional E-mails 11 9
Search engines 11 9
Frequency of Purchase
Monthly Once 45 38
Once in Two Months 40 35
Six Months Once 10 8
During offers/special occasions 17 14
Discounts 6 5
Attributes Influencing to Purchase Apparels
Design 15 13
Color 25 21
Price 51 43
Style 21 18
Brand 6 5
Time Spent
Up to 20 minutes 19 16
20 to 30 minutes 74 63
Above 30 minutes 25 21
Amount Spent
Below Rs.1000 29 25
Rs.1001-Rs.3000 31 26
Rs.3001-Rs.5000 43 36

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JOURNAL OF EDUCATION: RABINDRABHARATI UNIVERSITY
ISSN : 0972-7175

Number of Respondents Percentage

Variables
(N=118) (%)
Above Rs.5000 15 13
Mode of Payment
Debit Card 17 14
Credit Card 30 25
Cash on Delivery 55 47
Net Banking 8 7
Others 8 7
Security in Online Shopping
Yes 37 31
No 81 69
.
 Most of the College girls come to know about online apparel shopping through friends.
 Most of the college girls are purchasing apparels once in a month.
 Most of them are influenced by the price while purchasing apparels through online.
 Majority of them spends 20 to 30 minutes for purchasing apparels through online.
 Majority of the college girls are using mobiles to access online shopping
 Most of them spend Rs. 3001 to Rs. 5000 for purchasing apparels through online.
 Most of them prefer cash on delivery as mode of payment while purchasing apparels through online.
 Majority of the college girls feel unsecured while shopping through online

(iii) Apparels Preferred

The table below shows the classification of the respondents based on their preference for buying different
apparels through online.
Table-2: Apparels Preferred
Apparels Yes No Total
64 54 118
Saris
(54.2%) (45.8%) (100%)
70 48 118
Salwar
(59.3%) (40.7%) (100%)
64 54 118
Kurtis
(54.2%) (45.8%) (100%)
44 74 118
Leggings
(37.2%) (62.8%) (100%)
38 80 118
Jeans & Tops
(32.2%) (67.8%) (100%)
27 91 118
Designer wear
(22.8%) (77.2%) (100%)
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JOURNAL OF EDUCATION: RABINDRABHARATI UNIVERSITY
ISSN : 0972-7175

It is observed from the above table that among the various apparels considered; the college girls give
Salwar as the highest preferred apparel type followed by Saris, Kurtis, Leggings, Jeans & Tops and Designer
wear.

(iii) Level of Satisfaction on Online Shopping

The table below shows the level of satisfaction towards online apparel shopping.

Table3: Level of Satisfaction

Level of Satisfaction Respondents Percentage (%)

Highly satisfied 32 27

Satisfied 70 59

Dissatisfied 16 14

Total 118 100

Hence, it is said that the majority of the college girls are satisfied towards online apparel shopping.
(iv) Most Preferred Online Shopping Sites
It is observed from the analysis that among the various online shopping sites considered, the sample
respondents ranked Flipkart as the highest preferred online shopping site followed by Amazon, Jabong,
Shopclues, eBay and Snapdeal.

(v) Variables Associated with Level of Opinion

Chi-square test has been used to test the association between the selected variables and level of opinion
of online customers towards apparels. Level of significance chosen is five percent. The following hypothesis is
formulated and tested.
Ho: Socio-economic variables do not influence the level of opinion on online apparel shopping.
Table-4: Variables Associated with Level of Opinion
Variables d.f Calculated Table Value
χ2 Value 5% Level
Area 2 7.63 5.991
Age 4 9.46 9.487
Marital Status 2 10.60 5.991
Educational Qualification 2 2.10 5.991
Type of family 2 1.80 5.991
Family Income Per Month 6 9.40 12.591

From the above table, it is noted that among six variables selected for testing their association with
college girls level of opinion on online apparel shopping, two variables is found to be significant. Of them, area
and marital Status is found to be significant at five percent level.
(vi) Problems Faced by College Girls in Online Shopping

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 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION: RABINDRABHARATI UNIVERSITY
ISSN : 0972-7175

It is observed that among the various problems faced by the college girls considered, the respondents
give delay in delivery as mostly faced problem followed by cheap quality, damaged product, color variation and
non – delivery of products.

CONCLUSION
The youngsters give special consideration to the kind of clothing they wear. Clothing is of great
importance during young age and late adolescence, than any other period. Youngsters are the main buyers who
buy apparels through online. The study deals with online buying behavior of college girls towards apparels. The
study reveals that Salwar is highly preferred apparel in online shopping followed by saris, kurtis, Leggings,
Jeans & Tops and Designer wear. The study discloses that customers are satisfied with online apparel shopping.
Also, the present study depicts that area and marital status have significant association with level of opinion on
online apparel shopping. Based on the findings of the study the following suggestions are put forth Delivery
service should be improved mainly in rural areas, Delivery time cycle should be reduced, Improve the security
system for safe shopping, Free shipping to all purchase will increase the online shopping and Customer care
should be increased to retain the customers.

REFERENCES
1. Alan Hirst and Ogenyi Omar (2007), “Assessing Women’s Apparel Shopping Behavior on the Internet”,
Journal of Retail Marketing Management Research, 1(1), pp. 32-40.
2. Shanu Parashar (2015), “Comparative study on college boys and girls regarding online clothing buying”,
M.Sc. Thesis, 2015, Maharana pratap university of agriculture and technology college of home science,
Department of textile and apparel designing, pp.5-117.
3. Pawan Kumar and Kanchan (2017), “An Analytical Study of Consumer Buying Behavior Towards Fashion
Apparels in Ludhiana”, IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM) 19(12), pp. 14-24.
4. Garima Tiwari (2015), “A Study on Factors Influencing Buying Decision of College Going Girls towards
Kurti”, International Journal of Management & Business Studies (IJMBS) 5(3), pp.15-20.
5. Syed Tabrez Hassan et al., (2014), “A study of customer perception of youth towards branded fashion
apparels in Jalandhar city”, ELK Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Retail Management, 5(2), pp.1-10.
6. Namita Raj put et al., (2012), Dynamics of Female Buying Behaviour:”A Study of Branded Apparels in
India”, International Journal of Marketing Studies; 4(4), pp.121-129.
7. Poongodi and Gokula Priya (2017), “Apparel choice and buying behaviour of college girls”,
Intercontinental Journal of Marketing Research Review, 5(9), pp.8-14.
8. Jayanthi and Maruthu Pandian (2019) “Factors Influencing Buying Behavior of Women on Apparels”, Cikitusi
Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 6(3), pp.33-42.

Vol. : XXIII, No. :7(II), 2020-2021 213

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