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73Factors Influencing Purchase of Apparels from Organized Retail Outlets

Factors Influencing Purchase of Apparelsfrom Organized Retail Outlets

While the whole world is witnessing a paradigm shift from traditional forms of retailing

to a modern organized mall-driven sector, Indian retailing cannot float opposite in the

direction the global wind blows. In spite of late entry, it is forecasted that the country

will be the second largest market of the world shortly and shall lead the industry, the

way world does. Increase in the rate of literacy, growing number of working women,

highly disposable income, easy availability of credit at low interest rates and high rate

of media penetration along with the assurance of similar quality products with large

ambit of price differentiation, painted the country’s dynamic organized retail landscape.

Rising interest and growing expansion of organized retail market leading to success of a

business, depends solely on consumers’ urges that there is a need to study their buying behavior. But the existing literature briefs a little about the buying behavior functions

in the Indian retail market. The frequent change in lifestyles with changing fashion

preference of consumers is fed by the newer retail offerings coming from the organized

retailers where apparel gets utmost importance. Keeping these changing facets in view,

this study makes an attempt to identify the factors of the consumers’ buying behavior

that is influenced by retail apparel segment, and to assess the importance of each of

them to consumers in selecting apparel from organized retail outlets.

Introduction

Upsurging consumerism, changing lifestyle,increasing access to information and ever-improving technology, made the last decadeobserve an enormous development in the

retail sector around the globe. Annual sales,

averaged at $6.6 tn can easily remove any wrinkle the skepticism gives birth to. Thenumber of countries where retail hasemerged as one of the largest industries is

not trivial since the names include the US,the UK, Mexico, Poland and Asian

© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

About the Authors

* Reader, Department of Business Administration, Kalyani University, Kalyani 741235, Nadia,West Bengal, India. E-mail: [email protected]

** Senior Lecturer, Department of Commerce, Kalyani University, Kalyani 741235, Nadia,West Bengal, India. E-mail: [email protected]

Isita Lahiri* and Pradip Kumar Samanta**

economic titans like China, South Korea,

Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, and noneother than our very own India. Moreover,the economies of countries like Singapore,

Malaysia, Hong Kong and Sri Lankadepend heavily on retailing. Some bits of background information paint a promisingportrait giving retail a strong voice across

the globe. Retail in the US generating anaverage annual sales of more than $3 tn isconsidered to be the second largest industry ranked both in terms of number of

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The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. IX, Nos. 1 & 2, 201074

establishments and employees engaging17% of the total working in the organizedsector. The corresponding figure in Poland

is 15% and in China it is 12%. Thus, inconsonance with the rest of the worldIndia’s 8% sways the dream of spectaculargrowth prospects awaiting retail sector.

Assuaging doubts on the future India hasalso stepped in the organized retail marketrecently and attracted the whole world asthis market is considered to be the fifth

largest destination.

A restrictive environment and a mindset

favoring denial of over consumption havestunted the development of Indian retailindustry keeping it largely unorganized,

predominantly consisting of small,independent and owner-managed shops.

Nevertheless, retail trade is one of the largestcontributors to GDP, constituting 8%.

Indian retail market is estimated to grow from $300 bn in 2007 to $427 bn by 2010,and expected to reach $637 bn by 2015

(Memon, 2006). Organized retailing is also

showing signs of enormous growth as itsshare in total retailing reached 5.9% in

2007 from 3.2% in 2005 and is likely totouch 22% by 2010. While the retail

market in India, both organized andunorganized taken together, is likely togrow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate(CAGR) of 5.5% (at constant prices) to

reach at Rs. 2,40,000 cr by 2015,the growth rate for organized retail marketduring the same period is expectedto be much higher at a CAGR of 21.8%

(at constant prices) to touch

Rs. 2,46,000 cr. Thus, organized sectorgrowing at a blistering pace isovershadowing the unorganized sector and

alongside, Indian cities are witnessing aparadigm shift of retailing to the vibrant

organized sector. Clothing and fashionaccessories stand to be the largest category followed by food and grocery, footwear, and

consumer durables in organized retailingholding 38.1% market share presently, which is translated at Rs. 29,800 cr. Givingdue recognition to the recent economic

meltdown, the high rate of growth theeconomy achieved in the earlier years,changing lifestyle, increased rate of literacy,growing number of working women,

excessive urbanization, high rate of mediapenetration, growing young population,tendency to ‘spend now’ and favorabledemographic patterns act as the key in the

recent spurt of the organized retail sectorin India.

Organized retailing in the global frame is well promising eliciting an eager responsefrom shoppers. The US-based Wal-Mart is

considered to be the first largest retailer

having France-based Carrefour almost inthe same breath. Too many names like Daiciof Japan, Metroag of Germany are also

floating in organized retail stream to getthem befitting in the growing pace of

consumerism. The study relating to retailsales (Rusch, 2003) reveals 45% of the

products sold in Europe and 75% in USare fed by organized retail outlets. Butthere remains another edge leavingorganized retailing at an interesting

crossroad. While retail sales remain at thehighest peak in the history on one hand(Berman and Evans, 2002); the retailersface numerous challenges on the other.

Nevertheless, the shoppers have a choice

that they did not enjoy earlier due to strongdesire for stores’ private level brands.Indeed, it is in this very realm of

consumers’ emotional connection withapparel that a number of brands have

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dominated and won. In fact, two-third of the consumers surveyed admits they buy certain brands of clothing because these

reflect their personality and lifestyle. Thus,organized retailing, especially apparelsector, crossed the threshold of doubts toilluminate its existence globally.

While organized retailing is gaining pace

globally, India cannot remainnon-responsive to the beckoning of its peak touching success. This recognition withinthe reckoning of retailers, manufacturer

brand owners and consumers made private

level brands a reality. And there has beenno looking back pulling some Indianbusiness giants into the arena of organized

retailing. In apparel retailing Spencer’s topsin respect of its occupied space covering a

total area of 7,50,000 sq. ft. and so doesRaymond’s Park Avenue in respect of

number of outlets holding 326 points of sale. They are followed by Shoppers’ Stop,Pantaloon’s, Big Bazar and Westside.

Pyramid and Globus are also running very

close to chase them. Apart from apparel,organized retailing has also proved its

strong foundation in food and grocery (McDonald’s, In-N-Out, Nilgiris), health

and beauty care (VLCC), bookstores(Crossword), entertainment (PVR, INOX),greeting cards (Archies) and music CD’s(Planet M, Music World). All these enable

stores’ private brand harvesting the best inthis scenario.

Garnishing is taking place rapidly to refacethe shabby look of the retail stores by snazzy, slender outlook. The accessibility

of the customers has also been magnifiedby creating a customer-friendly ambiencein the stores. The assurances of similarquality with larger ambit of price

differentiation, more variety within the

product category have made retailshopping more delightful. As a result, retailbrands are outweighing the manufacturer-

owned brands by providing certainadvantages to the customers. A trustedretail name provides comfort of shoppingto the consumer. So, it cannot be denied

that the organized retail sector is going toplay a major role in shaping thecompetitive scenario of Indian consumergoods and service markets in near future.

As consumers play the pivotal role to bringthe success of any business, there is a needto study the consumers’ buying behaviorin organized retail market.

Objectives of the Study

Retailing has changed the fortune of severalcompanies across the world. In thisbooming retail market in India it becameinevitable for the companies to learn how to retain their market share as well as toenhance it. With the entry of biggerplayers, the retail market is getting moreand more organized and structured.Competition will soon be very intense.

Research reveals the cost of retainingcustomers is conservatively estimated to beone-fifth of the cost of acquiring new ones.Existing customers generate larger marginsand profits (per customer) than the new

ones (Smith and Taylor, 2005). In the

present scenario, the researchers want to

foray into organized retailing in the Indian

sector and to explore the different aspects

that have impact on consumers’ buying

behavior in the retail segment in India.

Retailing covers a very wide range of products and services; hence the researchers

have decided to focus only on the organized

apparel segment. It is also relevant to

mention here as the organized retail market

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is just growing in India, the researcher will

concentrate the whole analysis based onurban India. The agenda of the study is toknow the customer. In order to achieve thesaid objective, the researchers have to have

an understanding of the following:

• Apparel buying pattern of consumers inthe context of organized retail brands;

• Identification of the factors influencingconsumers’ buying behavior in retailapparel segment; and

• Assessment of importance of each of

them to the consumers for selection of organized retail brands.

Literature Review

We have come across the number of studies

done in international level on behavioral

aspect of consumers in the context of retailmarketing. The various factors influencingpeople’s shopping behavior have been

observed by Reichheld (1996), Verdisco(1999) and Erika (1999). As customers

expectation move continuously upward, itis imperative for the retailers to avoid the

complaints which invariably lead tocustomer dissatisfaction. Berry (1996),Brookman (1998) and Jackson (1999)

have identified situations which result

consumers’ dissatisfaction towards retail

brands. Some studies have also found

consumer loyalty as an important area.

Connors (1996) opined the retailers

delivering genuine benefits based on

intimate knowledge of their customers

could only reap the ultimate benefit i.e.,

greater customer loyalty. Johnson (1999)observed factors like rewards, value added

benefits and recognition build loyal

customers. Again, a number of brand choice

models has been developed taking into

consideration the influence of present

purchase behavior on future purchase

probabilities. Whether the consumer

behavior for retail brands will walk along

the same path mentioned by the earlier

researchers is yet to be explored.

Number of studies in the context of

retailing at national level is trivial.

Publications in national reports and

magazines mainly provide general

information about Indian retail markets

and the retail brands playing there. These

studies mainly focus on information

retailing to market share, rate of growth,

contributions as well as expectations fromthe retail brands of different product

categories operating in India. These

literatures did not hold any in depth study

on the patterns of consumer behavior in

retail garment market. Gupta (2004)

investigated the factors influencing the

choice of private label in departmental

stores of Hyderabad for two product

categories—processed food and toiletries.

A study conducted by Memon (2006)

wanted to trace the impact of private levelbrands on retailing dealing in garments.

This work considered only two retail brands

Westside and Pantaloons in Ahmedabad

city and accepted the hypothesis that

people are ready to switch over to other

brands if the same facilities are available.

Recently, Radha Krishna and Shylajan

(2007) proposed a conceptual model and

considered the influence of various

marketing and demographic factors on

consumers’ habitual buying behaviortowards branded articles. But identification

of factors, existence of which indulges

consumers to go for organized retail apparel

brands are still left unturned.

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Significance of the Study

Thus, consumers’ buying behavior hasdrawn a considerable attention of the

earlier researchers. Its impact on designingmarketing strategies also became the part

of a sizeable number of studies. But, while

reviewing the literature on buyer behavioras well as retail marketing, only microscopicnumber of studies has been found available

that analyzes how consumer behaviorfunctions in retail market. Everyday

countless new retail offerings appear beforethe customers making the yesterday’s one

obsolete. Frequent change in lifestyle alsodictates a continuous variability in the

fashion preference of consumers givingorganized retailers a wide scope of

opportunity to appear with newer fashionapparels. Study (Harvey, 2003) shows eventhe well-known brands lack enoughflexibility to tap the emerging fashion.

In most cases, organized retailers put theirefforts to attach several benefits to theirown brands apprehending those will helptap new trends. The present profit marginsof such retail brands are found to be

substantially high and in the long run theseprivate level brands are expected to enhancethe brand equity of the established retailers.Thus, retailers’ intention of bonding comesin the nascent stage with the well-heeledentry into the apparel retailing, presently the market of which is estimated at around$13 bn and accounting for nearly 20% of the country’s total export. The icing on thecake is the garment-manufacturing sector’sappearance as the most promising segmentin the textile chain after 2005 creating a

large demand for finished products.Considering the hefty and flamboyantgrowth of apparel segment at such rapidpace the proposed study is intended to keep

confined only to the organized apparel

retailing. Driven by the need, theresearchers felt necessary that the study seeks to identify and assess the importance

of the factors that shape the buyingbehavior in the Indian organized retailapparel segment.

Database and Methodology

The study is based mostly on restoring the

primary data collected through the

method of random sampling. The place of survey we have chosen is Kolkata coveringa time period of two months, July and

August 2008. Preparing a structured andnon-disguised type of questionnaire

(Appendix 1) we administered to 250people, out of whom 178 responded

properly. Before drawing the finalquestionnaire, a pilot survey for the same was made to understand legibility. Our

thrust was to determine the factors the

customers are influenced by when they purchase apparels from organized retailoutlet. We prepared a set of 19 statementsreflecting various attributes of the problem.The respondents are requested to rank the

statements on a 5-point Likert scale basis(5 = strongly agree, 3 = not known orneutral, 1 = strongly disagree). Factor Analysis (a data reduction technique) wasrestored for identifying the factors theapparel buyers are influenced by inorganized retail outlet. Assuming all thestatements have some degree of association with each other. We applied SPSS 12 toanalyze the data collected for the study.For getting the factors identified, weindulged the quest whether consumers rate

these factors in the same way at the time when they purchase apparel from organizedretail outlets. With a view to gauge theimportance, the consumers find in these

factors a paired comparison scale was

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constructed to circulate among 200respondents. A Thurstone scale wasconstructed on the basis of information

received in the process to get us enabledfor ordinal and interval ranking of thefactors.

Results and Interpretations

A Brief Description of theSample Profile

Out of 178 respondents living mostly inKolkata, 132 are female and the rest 46are male and 39% of them are financially

independent. Marital status of respondents

tells that 115 are single and 63 are married.Distribution of the sample taking age andacademic qualification as basis are given

in Exhibits 1 and 2 respectively. Around52% of respondents, detailed in Exhibit 3,depend solely on organized retail outletsfor purchasing all kinds of apparel.

Moreover, the sample says that more than

40% of the respondents visit organizedretail outlets at least once in a month and

this phenomenon is more prevalent for therespondent belonging to the age group18-23 years. We did not observe any

significant difference between male andfemale respondents in their buyingbehavior.

Factor Analysis to Determine theFactors Which Customers Keepin Mind While Purchasing

Apparels From Organized RetailOutlet

Trimming a large number of variables toreach at few factors to explain the originaldata more economically and efficiently

Factor Analysis, a widely used multivariatetechnique in marketing research, reducesdata complexity. We find that themarketing decision makers are wanderingto find what exactly makes a customer buy the product and try to figure out whatreally drives buyer behavior from the largenumber of possible purchasing criteria.Factor Analysis is an important tool forresolving this confusion and identifying

Exhibit 1: Age Distribution of Respondents

0

20

40

60

80

F r e q u e n c y

Age

< 18 Years 18-23 23-28 28-40 > 40 Years

4 77 49 36 12Frequency

77

49

36

124

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Table 1: KMO and Bartlett’s Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling 0.657

Adequacy

Bartlett’s Test of Approx. Chi-Square 1,718.610Sphericity df 171

Sig. 0

factors from an array of seemingly important variables.

Adequacy of the data is tested on the basisof results the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO)

measures of sampling adequacy and Bartlett’stest of sphericity (homogeneity of variance)provided. The KMO measure of sampling

adequacy is 0.657, which indicates the

Exhibit 3: Type of Apparel for Which the Retail Outlets are Chosen

All Types

Causal Only Formal

Party

Exhibit 2: Educational Qualification of the Respondents

98.56%

52.29%

15.8%

13.7%Secondary

Graduate

PG and Above

Higher

Secondary

52%

9%

7%7%

32%

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Figure 1: Scree Plot

0

1

2

3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10111213141516171819

E i g e n v a l u e

Component Number

Table 2: Communalities

Initial Extraction

Inexpensive 1.000 0.810

Money_Saving 1.000 0.822

Middleclass_Pref. 1.000 0.778

Many_Options 1.000 0.811

Size 1.000 0.814

All_Buyers 1.000 0.728

Latest_Design 1.000 0.853

Fashionable_Alternative 1.000 0.862

Outlet_Name 1.000 0.775

Trust 1.000 0.830

New 1.000 0.662

Uniform_Feeling 1.000 0.868

Stitching 1.000 0.813

Many_Coming 1.000 0.867

Advertisements 1.000 0.862

Family_Shopping 1.000 0.683

Convenient 1.000 0.873

Social_Recognition 1.000 0.710

Discount 1.000 0.825

Note: Extraction Method: PrincipalComponent Analysis.

present data suitable for factor analysis.

This is a goodness of fit coefficient whose value varies between 0 and 1 and we take

values over 0.5 to represent a good factor

analysis (i.e., data reduction is effective).

Similarly, Bartlett’s test of sphericity is

significant ( p < 0.001); that explains

existence of sufficient correlation between

the variables to proceed with the analysis

(Table 1). The Bartlett’s test statistic is

approximately distributed and it may

be accepted when it is significant at

p < 0.05.

All the extracted communalities are

acceptable and all variables are fit for the

factor solution as their extraction values

are large (Table 2).

The first seven components (factors) in the

initial solution have an Eigenvalues

over 1 and they account for about 80% of

the observed variation in the consumers’

behavior about purchase of apparel from

organized retail outlet in Kolkata(Table 3). According to Kaiser Criterion,

only the first seven factors should be used

because subsequent eigenvalues are less

than 1.

Variables

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Table 3: Total Variance Explained

Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings Squared Loadings

1. 3.270 17.212 17.212 3.270 17.212 17.212 3.032 15.959 15.959

2. 3.169 16.678 33.890 3.169 16.678 33.890 2.402 12.641 28.599

3. 2.412 12.695 46.585 2.412 12.695 46.585 2.349 12.363 40.962

4. 2.197 11.564 58.149 2.197 11.564 58.149 2.126 11.189 52.150

5. 1.617 8.513 66.662 1.617 8.513 66.662 1.856 9.769 61.919

6. 1.298 6.833 73.494 1.298 6.833 73.494 1.783 9.387 71.306

7. 1.281 6.744 80.239 1.281 6.744 80.239 1.697 8.933 80.239

8. 0.641 3.374 83.612 – – – – – –

9. 0.563 2.964 86.576 – – – – – – 10. 0.390 2.051 88.627 – – – – – –

11. 0.379 1.997 90.624 – – – – – –

12. 0.297 1.564 92.188 – – – – – –

13. 0.288 1.518 93.706 – – – – – –

14. 0.258 1.359 95.065 – – – – – –

15 0.232 1.221 96.286 – – – – – –

16 0.198 1.043 97.329 – – – – – –

17. 0.193 1.015 98.344 – – – – – –

18. 0.172 0.907 99.251 – – – – – –

19. 0.142 0.749 100.000 – – – – – –

Compo-nent Total % of

VarianceCumu-

lative %Total % of

VarianceCumu-

lative %Total % of

VarianceCumu-lative

%

Note: Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Cartell’s Scree test involves plotting eachof the eigenvalues of the factors andinspecting the plot to find a point at which

the shape of the curve changes directionand becomes horizontal. This testrecommends retaining all factors above theelbow or break in the plot as these factors

contribute the most to the explanation of

the variance in the data set (Figure 1).Factor loadings are used to measurecorrelation between variables and thefactors. A loading close to 1 indicates strong

correlation between a variable and the

factor, while a loading closer to zeroindicates weak correlation. Unrootedsolutions of factor loading are not suitable

for interpretation purpose since the variables generally tend to load on multiplefactors (Table 4).

The factors are rotated with the Varimax with Kaiser Normalization rotation

method (Table 5). We have used PrincipalComponent Analysis (PCA) method forfactor extraction taking those factors only whose values are greater than 0.5 for the

purpose of interpretation.

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Table 4: Component Matrix a

Component

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Inexpensive 0.488 –0.366 0.296 0.511 –0.152 –0.201 0.163

Money_Saving 0.459 –0.362 0.384 0.514 –0.073 –0.230 0.103

Middle Class_Pref. 0.376 –0.307 0.387 0.547 –0.193 –0.087 0.220

Many_Options 0.525 –0.341 0.278 –0.516 0.098 0.200 0.161

Size 0.533 –0.319 0.131 –0.516 0.163 0.282 0.196

All_Buyers 0.482 –0.284 0.301 –0.392 0.284 0.239 0.181

Latest_Design 0.522 –0.076 0.185 –0.333 –0.145 –0.273 –0.578

Fashionable_Alternative 0.535 –0.013 –0.020 –0.269 –0.112 –0.401 –0.573

Outlet_Name 0.367 0.128 –0.579 –0.170 –0.025 –0.419 0.290

Trust 0.420 0.108 –0.634 –0.089 0.074 –0.329 0.343

New 0.445 0.048 –0.644 –0.003 –0.098 0.046 0.185

Uniform_Feeling 0.485 0.020 –0.359 0.316 –0.389 0.474 –0.167

Stitching 0.409 –0.011 –0.422 0.252 –0.271 0.515 –0.255

Many_Coming 0.248 0.110 –0.227 0.414 0.739 0.030 –0.154

Advertisements 0.309 0.185 –0.054 0.349 0.744 0.047 –0.227

Family_Shopping 0.275 0.685 0.335 0.047 0.121 0.070 0.064

Convenient 0.246 0.849 0.202 –0.070 –0.177 0.011 0.115

Social_Recognition 0.231 0.771 0.220 0.043 –0.105 0.027 0.030

Discount 0.266 0.802 0.303 –0.034 –0.066 0.012 0.117

Note: Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysisa

7 components extracted.

Interpretation of Results

From Table 5 (Rotated Component matrix)

we find variables like family_shopping ,

convenient, social_recognition and discounthaveloading 0.795, 0.919, 0.833 and 0.907,respectively on Factor 1. This infers that

Factor 1 is a combination of these variables.This factor can be interpreted as ‘Appeal’effect that independently contributed 17% variations in consumers’ behavior about

purchase of apparel from organized retailoutlet in Kolkata. From Table 5, we find variables like inexpensive, money_saving and

middle class_pref. have high loading 0.886,

0.888 and 0.869, respectively indicating

Factor 2 as a combination of these

variables. This factor can be termed as

‘Price’, which contributed about 16%

variations independently. For Factor 3, it

is evident from Table 5 that

selection_options, size and all_buyers have

the highest loading 0.872, 0.886 and

0.837, respectively. This factor can be

termed as ‘Variety’, which plays an

important role because it contributes 13%

variations in consumers’ behavior inpurchase of apparel from organized retail

outlet in Kolkata city. From Table 5, we

find variables like outlet_name, trust and

new have high loading 0.870, 0.900 and

Variables

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Component

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Inexpensive –0.057 0.886 0.081 0.044 0.081 0.037 0.076 Money_Saving –0.048 0.888 0.081 –0.040 0.002 0.102 0.115

Middle Class_Pref. 0.012 0.869 0.057 –0.081 0.088 –0.022 –0.060

Many_Options –0.028 0.100 0.872 0.022 –0.006 –0.097 0.172

Size –0.055 0.012 0.886 0.108 0.076 –0.023 0.092

All_Buyers 0.005 0.108 0.837 –0.028 –0.049 0.099 0.060

Latest_Design 0.066 0.075 0.230 –0.029 0.053 –0.038 0.886

Fashionable_Alternative 0.046 0.045 0.088 0.170 0.060 0.041 0.903

Outlet_Name 0.040 –0.040 0.000 0.870 –0.012 –0.011 0.122

Trust 0.021 –0.012 0.044 0.900 0.059 0.111 0.024

New –0.016 –0.035 0.077 0.674 0.444 0.055 –0.012

Uniform_Feeling 0.066 0.161 –0.005 0.122 0.906 0.003 0.050Stitching –0.025 0.020 0.006 0.084 0.890 0.091 0.063

Many_Coming –0.003 0.049 –0.047 0.125 0.071 0.916 –0.047

Advertisements 0.130 0.056 0.032 0.007 0.034 0.915 0.051

Family_Shopping 0.795 0.025 0.064 –0.065 –0.035 0.201 0.003

Convenient 0.919 –0.083 –0.054 0.094 0.039 –0.084 0.040

Social_Recognition 0.833 –0.026 –0.095 0.010 0.061 0.026 0.051

Discount 0.907 –0.017 0.006 0.023 –0.027 0.010 0.029

Table 5: Rotated Component Matrix a

Note: Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis; Rotation Method: Varimax with KaiserNormalization.a Rotation converged in 6 iterations.

0.674, respectively; indicating Factor 4 is

a combination of these variables. Thisfactor can be termed as ‘Brand Name’,

which contributed about 12% variationsindependently. From the same Table wefind variables like uniform_feeling and

stitching have high loading 0.906 and

0.890, respectively that indicate Factor5 is a combination of these variables. Thisfactor can be termed as ‘Quality’, whichcontributed about 9% variations

independently.

From Table 5, we also find variableslike many_coming and advertisements have

high loading 0.916 and0.915, respectively; indicating Factor 6

as a combination of these variables.

This factor can be termed as

‘Referral Group’ that contributed about7% variations independently. Further from

this Table, we again find variables likelatest_design and fashionable_alternative

have high loading 0.886 and 0.903,respectively; which indicate Factor 7 is

a combination of these variables. Thisfactor can be termed as ‘Style’ andcontributed about 7% variationsindependently.

The Factor Analysis made so far using SPSS

12 helps extract seven factors, viz.,‘Appeal’, ‘Price’, ‘Variety’, ‘Brand Name’,‘Quality’, ‘Referral Group’, and ‘Style’from 19 variables and all these factors

contributed about 80% variations in

Variables

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consumer behavior in purchase of apparelfrom organized retail outlet in Kolkata.

Ranking of These Factors

Summarizing the paired comparison values

for 200 respondents, we have obtainedTable 6 where the factors mentioned incolumn are preferred to the factorsmentioned in row.

Applying the method of Thurstone scaling

Table 7 emerges.

Interpretation of Results

So, the rank of the factors according toimportance the consumers reckon can be

written in the descending order as: Style> Quality > Price > Variety > Appeal> Brand Name > Referral Group. It

implies that people go for retail apparel

brands mainly to keep themselvesfashionable with latest designs available.

They are more quality conscious and

comparatively less price sensitive.

Price Variety Style Brand Quality Referral AppealName Group

Price X –0.150 –0.250 0.130 –0.670 0.390 0.250

Variety 0.150 X 0 –0.520 0.320 –0.160 0.230

Style 0.250 0 X –0.090 0.130 –0.040 –0.930

Brand Name –0.130 0.520 0.090 X –0.190 –0.130 0.390

Quality 0.670 –0.320 –0.130 0.190 X –0.320 –0.250

Referral Group –0.390 0.160 1.040 0.130 0.320 X 0.130

Appeal –0.250 –0.230 0.930 –0.390 0.250 –0.130 X Total 0.300 –0.020 1.680 –0.550 0.160 –1.390 –0.180

Mean 0.043 –0.003 0.240 –0.079 0.230 –0.199 –0.026

Change of Origin 0.242 0.196 0.439 0.120 0.429 0 0.173

Preferred

Preferred to

Table 7 : Application of Thurstone Scaling Method

Price Variety Style Brand Quality Referral AppealName Group

Price X 88 80 110 50 130 120

Variety 112 X 100 60 125 87 118

Style 120 100 X 93 110 30 35

Brand Name 90 140 107 X 85 90 130

Quality 150 75 90 115 X 75 80

Referral Group 70 113 170 110 125 X 110

Appeal 80 82 165 70 120 90 X

Preferred

Preferred to

Table 6 : Ranking of the Factors

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Name of the outlet plays a lesserimportant role in shaping consumers’purchase decis ion. Rather distinctfeatures of organized retail outlets (i.e.,

Discount offers, Pick and Choice, Family shopping) are considered to be moreappealing. The result reveals, given theseseven factors, ‘Referral Group’ motivatesconsumers least.

ConclusionOrganized retailing all over the globe is atthe crossroads intending to create aconsumer-friendly environment. Theupsurge in the global organized retail

market has impelled Indian market to floatin the direction the global wind blows.Organized retailing in India has presently emerged as one of the most dynamic andfast paced industries where apparel takesthe hefty share. Considering the weightage

the apparel segment has in organized

retailing, the study concentrated only on

this sector. Managers stand abashed at the

buying behavior of consumers because theimpetus that attracts buyer remains

unknown to them. The result of the

present study will help managers

streamline their thoughts to the factors

affecting apparel–buying behavior of the

consumers before marketing their offerings

through organized retail outlets. As the

consumers do not rate these factors

equally, without leaping in the dark,

proper emphasis can be given to the

factors. The consumers’ buying behavioris mostly influenced, at times, by the

marketing communication strategies that

are developed so as to draw the attention

of the target group.JReferences

1. Berman B and Evans J (2002), Retail

Management: A Strategic Approach,

Pearson Education, Asia, Singapore.

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Future”, Marketing Management,

Spring, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 36-46.

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Equals Retention”, Discount Store,

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http://findarticles.com/p/articles/

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ai_53347519/

4. Connors M (1996), “Dear Preferred

Customer”, Dividends, pp. 13-14.

5. Erika R (1999), “Wanted: Profitable

Customers”, Sales and Marketing

Management, pp. 28-34, May.

6. Gupta A (2004), “Factors Affectingthe Trial of Private Labels inDepartmental Store: Evidence fromIndia”, The Icfai Journal of Brand

Management, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 6-21.

7. Harvey M (2003), Insights of the Fashion

Business, pp. 1-16 and 22-29, PrenticeHall.

8. Jackson D W (1999), “One MoreTime: How Do you Satisfy Customers”, Business Horizons,Vol. 42, pp. 71-76.

9. Johnson K (1999), “Making Loyalty Programs More Rewarding”, Direct

Marketing , pp. 24-26.

10. Memon S S(2006), “GarmentLifestyle Retailing Stores: Vis á VisImpact of Private Labels: A Paradigm

Shift”, The Icfai Journal of Marketing

Management, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 54-69.

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Appendix 1

Questionnaire

1. Name of the Organized Retail Outlet

2. Name of the Respondent

3. Sex: (i) Male (ii) Female

4. Age: (i) Less than 18 years (ii) 18-23 years (iii) 23-28 years (iv) 29-40 years(v) above 40 years

5. Marital Status: (i) Single (ii) Married

6. Educational Qualification: (i) Secondary (ii) Higher Secondary

(iii) Graduate (iv) Postgraduate and above7. Are you financially independent? (i) Yes (ii) No

8. Family income per month (Rs.): (i) Up to 8,000, (ii) 8,000 to 14,000

(iii) 14,000 to 22,000 (iv) Above 22,000

9. Residential Area: Village/Town/City/Metro

10. Do you buy Apparel from organized retail outlet regularly? (i) Yes (ii) No

(If no, we may stop here.)

11. Type of Apparel for which retail outlets are considered

(i) Casual (ii) Formal (iii) Party wear (iv) For all types12. How frequently do you visit the retail Apparel outlets?

(i) More than once in a week (ii) Once in a week (iii) Once in a fortnight

(iv) Once in a month (v) Only before occasions (vi) Very rarely (vii) 1st time

11. Radha Krishna G and Shylajan C S(2007), “Determinants of HabitualBuying Behavior: A Study on Branded Apparel”, The Icfai Journal of Marketing

Management, Vol. VI, No. 3, pp. 6-21.

12. Reichheld F F (1996), “Learning fromCustomer Defections”, Harvard

Business Review, Vol. 74, No. 2,p. 57.

13. Rusch R (2003), “Private Lebels:

Does Branding Matter?”, in Suresh

K (Ed.) , Retailing: Concepts and Cases,

The Icfai University Press,

Hyderabad.

14. Smith P R and Taylor J (2005), Marketing Communications: An

Integrated Approach, Kogan Page India,

London.

15. Verdisco R (1999), “Gender Specific

Shopping”, Chain Store Age, Vol. 75,

No. 2, p. 26.

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Appendix 1 (Cont.)

Questionnaire

13. Factors influencing purchase of Apparel from Organized Retail Outlet.This part of the questionnaire contains a number of statements. Please indicate

your preference according to the factors influencing purchase of Apparel fromorganized retail outlet by putting a mark against the statements that have optionsranging from a ‘Strongly Agree’ to a ‘Strongly Disagree’ type.

Reference # 03J-2010-02/05-05-01

1. Buying Apparel is not expensive here

2. I buy here because it saves money

3. These outlets are meant for middleclass people also

4. Selection becomes easy since toomany options are available

5. Size creates no bar in selection

6. It accommodates all class of buyers

7. Latest design is available

8. To keep oneself fashionable buying hereis the only alternative

9. Outlet’s name carries added weightage

10. One can blindly trust on a renowned

outlet’s offerings11. Their Apparel remains new for years

12. Wearing this apparel gives me samefeeling till its rejection

13. Stitching lasts for years

14. Too many are coming here so I came

15. I was attracted by the advertisements

16. Family shopping is possible under a roof

17. Convenient to buy as it offers pick and choice

18. Buying here increases social recognition

19. Various discount offers attract me

S.No.

Strongly Agree

Agree Not Known Disagree

Strongly Disagree

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