Brand personality and positioning effects on consumer behaviour

The purpose of the research study is to investigate the influence of fast fashion on consumer’s buyer behaviour and their decision making using a case study on Zara. The assessment of consumer buying behaviour will be investigated using variables like brand personality and brand positioning and consumer decision making processes. What is fast fashion, why fast fashion is so popular in present days. How the consumption of fast fashion affect consumer’s purchasing behaviour. The objective of the research is to enhance the consumer consumptions in fast fashion industry, in order to explore the consumer’s preferences and choices. Moreover, the research will also try to check the potential of the fast fashion industry to move into a new era. As well as through the consumer’s purchasing behaviour, how the fast fashion industry increases its market share and what are its competitive advantages.

1.2 Industry background

Zara is a subsidiary company which belongs to Inditex, Spain. It is an apparel brand also it is the exclusive brand of apparel retail chain of ZARA brand. Zara was established in 1975 in Spain, a part of Inditex Group, and it is a clothing company which ranked third in the world and the first in Spain. Currently it has 917 stores in 62 countries. Because of the excellent design by the brand designers with cheap prices, Zara is loved by the world of young teenagers. Zara can be said as an alternative in the fashion industry, because it general a concept of fast fashion among the designer clothes and the high street fashion. With the fast fashion apparel a mainstream format in the industry, the Zara brand is highly regarded. As the leading brand in the fast fashion industry, Zara has apparently become a model for a profitable brand. Zara brand is growing fast in the fashion industry, and it is one of 100 world most valuable brands in 2005.

Many young fashion people commonly used word to describe the image of Zara, namely: first-class image, second-rate products and third-rate prices. Their approach to fashion is simple: “creativity, quality design and rapid turnaround to adjust to changing market demands — has allowed us to expand internationally at a fast pace and has generated an excellent public response to our retailers’ collections” (Inditex, 2010).

1.3 Research layout

Chapter 1 gives aims and objectives of this research as well as background information on Zara which is to be used as a case study and the research layout.

Chapter 2 will concentrate on the literature review, which will mainly focus on the fast fashion and the consumer buyer behaviour. This chapter would give readers with general idea such as the theories, classification, models and trends etc in the relation to the consumer buyer behaviour in the fast fashion industry.

Chapter 3 will outline the research methodology, explaining the type of study done and the research approach and strategy taken.

Chapter 4 research findings will be discussed and analysed. . What impact will fast fashion brands like Zara will have on consumer buyer behavior will be used to imply the extent to which fast fashion can go.

Chapter 5 will draw conclusion and give some recommendations. Explain what has been achieved, discuss future options.. It will also discuss what direction the company can take.

2. Literature Review

2.1 The definition of Fast Fashion

Fast Fashion has been explored within the context of supply chain management (Ko and Kincade, 1997; Fiorito et al., 1995,1998; Sohal et al., 1998; Perry and Sohal, 2000; Guercini,2001; Azuma, 2002; Mattila et al., 2002; Birtwistle et al., 2003; Lee and Kincade, 2003). According to Barnes, L. and Lea-Greenwood, G. (2006, p259) fast fashion is a business strategy that is adopted by certain retailers such as Zara and Topshop, who aim to bring to the market the latest trends in fashion to meet a high consumer demand. Saren,M. (2006) points out that fast fashion is related to the time lag between the coming of a new fashion trend and the time it takes for companies to catch that trend and have those products in their stores ready for sale. A commitment to fast fashion puts a considerable amount of pressure on an organization. Given the rate at which fashion seems to change, it is necessary to carry out extensive and up to date market research to keep up with current trends within the fashion industry. Moreover, the idea of bringing these trendy outfits to retail stores quick enough to meet consumer demand and to be ahead of competition requires a prompt response. (Saren, M, 2006). Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2010) states fast fashion is the company can recognize and respond to fashion trends very quickly, create products that mirror the trends, and get those products onto shelves much faster and more frequently than the industry norm.

2.1.1 The characteristics of Fast Fashion

In recent years, the fast fashion has raced to become the new bright spot in the world’s clothing market. Fast fashion is a term used to describe clothing collections which are based on the most recent fashion trends presented at Fashion Week in both the spring and the autumn of every year (Muran, L, 2007). Barrie, L (2010) claims that within the retail sector, one of the most successful strategy has been that of fast fashion. He argues that one of the reasons for such a phenomenal rise in fast fashion is due to rapidly changing trends and the creation of products which mirror these trends at an affordable price.

The characteristics of fast fashion are ‘fast’ and ‘fashion’. By capturing and releasing the latest fashion products in a prompt and affordable manner and releasing new fashion design quickly, product updates quickly at a lower price to meet consumer’s demand for access to fashion. The growth in the fast fashion industry “seems to be phenomenal” (Arvind Singhal, 2010).

An efficient way to illustrate the characteristics of fast fashion is to compare it with traditional clothing brands. The product development of fast fashion to the market is very quick. As trends change rapidly, there is emphasis on quick delivery and a compromise on quality. The aim is not to create products that would last long, but rather something that is trendy and would last the fashion season. According to Fast Fashion (2007), there is now a culture of quick purchases and disposals. There is however some concern regarding the pace of fast fashion. Wilson, E and Barbaro, M (2006) believe that fast fashion might actually be moving too quickly for customers to keep up.

Robin Anson (2010) provides an interesting perspective by stating that fast fashion cannot happen without the presence of facilitators, and even though low prices attract customers, it requires cheaper production costs i.e. of labour and raw materials. Hines (2004, p 89-90) finds these rapid changes in trends encourage customers to visit the retail stores more often as they are likely to find new products. Moreover, with no replenishing of stock once it runs out, there is a certain competition between customers to buy the products of their choice sooner rather than later.

Fast fashion can also be treated as the inevitable backlash by consumers against the homogenization of the retail industry (Mya, F, 2006). Fast fashion, an evolving retail trend that has store chains filling their racks with new, gotta-have-it merchandise (Erin, W, 2004). The aim of fast fashion is specifically at a culture of rapid purchasing and disposal (Fast Fashion, 2007). Fast fashion may be moving too fast for customers to keep up (Wilson, E and Barbaro, M, 2006). As everything is getting faster, which including fashion, but Robin Anson (2010) argues that there are still few things that influence fast fashion, he says that “fast fashion can’t happen without facilitators, while low prices might encourage more purchases, to get low prices you need low labour costs, low raw material costs, and high productivity – but the quality must still be good.” According to Lovejoy, J (2007), the characteristics of fast fashion are: Primary emphasis is speed with fashion

and quality secondary; Full cycle from concept to store is streamlined; Quick daily, weekly decisions; Continuous flow of products; Consumer pull, quick replenishment and emphasis on reacting to consumer. Hines (2004, p 89-90) identified a number of characteristics of fast fashion, which are fast store throughput time which in term attracts increased footfall through more frequent store visits, replenishment lead times are not an issue because retail organisations operating in the fast fashion sector do not replenish but rather move on to something new- hence fast fashion is new fashion.

2.2 The roles of brand

According to Clifton and Simmons (2003, p6) the primary aim of a brand is to bring forward a clear image of what the organization is about and how it can provide a sustainable competitive advantage. Secondly, it is about the product range an organisation can offer, complimented by the service and corporate operations that support the process. A brand is a unique name in the minds of every customer (Mooij, 1998) that is characterised by a logo that differentiates the goods and services from their competitors. (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1998). A brand may contain: letteres, numbers, a symbol, a signiture, a shape, a slogan, a colour and a particular typeface (Clifton and Simmons, 2003). Feldwick (2002) argues that brands are more than just names or logos, they tend to be associated with certain people, with certain occasions or hold emotional values. According to Kapferer (1992) brands are part of a strategy aimed at differentiating supply. Companies have a set target group and seek to better cater the expectations of this specific customer group. This provides an ideal combination of attributes- both tangible and intangible, practical and symbolic, visible and invisible. Kapferer (1992) further states that the brands are an indication of why products exist, where they come from, and where they are going.

Cowley (1992) argues that most successful brands continuously improve or update their products to remain competitive or to meet new market demands. The evidence shows that beliefs about the brand can actually affect perceptions of the physical product characteristics. Cowley (1992) also states that clothes are one of the most striking and obvious signs of social class. It is a simple way to judge the conformity or non-conformity with a particular group, a phenomenon which is of course independent of brands. Chernatony and McDonald (1998) point out that the purpose of branding is to facilitate the organisation’s task of getting and maintaining a loyal customer base in a cost-effective manner to achieve the maximum possible return on investment. A good example based on research is that of Zara. Zara has established a strong and loyal customer base that would continue buying their products and also provide any support to maintain a long-term relationship. One can argue that Zara has managed a strong client base as its products are fashionable with reasonable prices. Brands can be characterised into four different levels: generic, expected, augmented and potential (Chernatony and McDonald, 1998).

Stobart (1994) propose there are three different importance levels of brands: firstly, they serve as a focus for consumer loyalties and therefore can be developed into assets which generate steady and reliable streams of cash flow. Secondly, the brand serves to capture the promotional investment put into it. Thirdly, brands can be of critical strategic importance to their owners. In general, brands enable manufactures to communicate directly with consumers regardless of the actions of the middleman. Tobart (1994) also finds that brands allow consumers to shop with confidence in increasingly competitive markets. The brand offers the consumer a guarantee of quality, value and product satisfaction. As long as the brand keeps its part of the bargain the consumer will continue to support it.

2.3 Brand Personality

Aaker (1996) defines brand personality as the set of human characteristics associated with a given brand; consumers usually interact with brands as if they were people, especially when the brands are attached to such meaningful products as clothes. In dealing with people, ‘personality’ is the various ways I which different individuals will be expected to behave give certain circumstances. (Feldwick, 2002). In general, if a brand does not have a humanity symbol and the meaning, then this brand will lose its personality. Brand personality is the brand of human performance and an important part of brand identity, it has a unique brand of personalised features and characteristics, and it can bring a powerful brand association and rich connotation of the brand. A brand personality is developed to enhance the appeal of a brand to consumers (Gelder, 2003). VanAuken (2002) proposes that each brand should choose a target group with certain personality traits based upon the brand’s aspirations and its customers’ current perceptions of the brand. The product-related characteristics are possibly primary drivers of a brand personality (Aaker, 1996), and the attributes of the product will always be influenced by the brand’s personality. The main reason for using brand personality, is that it can help people by increasing their understanding of people’s perceptions and attitudes to the brand, compared to differentiating brand identity, guiding the communication effort and creating brand equity (Aaker, 1996).

From a competitive market’s point of view, the reason why the fast fashion industry like Zara is preferred by the consumers is because of the operational model in accordance with the fast fashion brands that provides a rich, diverse product and improves the selection of the consumers in fashion. On the other hand, Zara is much cheaper compared with the slow fashion. Currently, the fundamental strategies to sell fast fashion are: more variety, small batch, networking and informatisation etc.

2.4 Brand positioning

Ries and Trout (1981) were the first to coin the term ‘positioning’. This had no relation with the products, services or organisations, but all related to the ability to command a position in consumers’ minds, distinct from the competition. Kapferer (1997) argues that positioning is a way of emphasizing the distinctive characteristics of the brand that makes it stand out from its competitors and is appealing to the public. Gelder (2003) defines brand positioning as a way to demonstrate a brand’s distinction and competitive advantage over competitors. Brand positioning is a rather functional affair, with an emphasis on product and service features, benefits, usage, value and ability to solve problems for consumers. Aaker (1996) defines a brand position as the part of the brand identity and value proposition that is to be actively communicated to the target audience to highlight an advantage over competing brands.

For a clothing brand like Zara, the brand positioning is very important. The positioning for Zara in the fashion industry is ‘affordable fast fashion’ and positioned to a universal consumer market. Zara has become a world-class brand, but the success of Zara does not rely on the named designers to create classical or popular, however, its due to a close relationship of Zara’s brand positioning to “fast fashion.” Through the rapid imitation strategy, emphasis on the fast design, fast production, and quick sale and with the fastest speed in response to the market demand, as the representative of fast fashion. Zara’s target audience is aged between 20-35 years, as these consumers are more sensitive to fashion, but do not have the ability to buy the designer brands. Therefore, in order to meet consumers’ demand for this customer base, thus, Zara creates a fast fashion model and it is a great success under current market trends.

2.5 Consumer Buyer behaviour

According to Mowen, J.C and Minor, M (1998), consumer behaviour is the study of buying units and exchange processes involved in acquiring, consuming, and disposing of goods, services, experiences and ideas. It is important for company to understand the consumers and their consumption, which assist consumer in their purchase decisions making. Peter, J.P., Olson, J.C. & Grunert, K.G (1999) defines consumer behaviour as “the dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, behaviour, and the environment by which human beings conduct the exchange aspects of their lives.” In other words, consumer behaviour includes consumers’ feeling, what they think and what they react for the product or service. Consumer behaviour is dynamic since market trends and consumers are changing and evolving over time (Peter, J.P., Olson, J.C. & Grunert, K.G 1999). Blackwell et al. (2006) defines consumer behaviour as activities people undertake while obtaining, consuming, and disposing of products and services. Consumer purchasing behaviour is aimed at meeting their personal or family life that occur in the decision-making process to buy goods. The consumer buying behaviour is complex, and its purchasing behaviour is generated by its internal and external factors that influence each other to promote interaction.

2.5.1 The Consumer Decision Process Model

According to Blackwell et al. (2006) the consumer decision process (CDP) model is a representation of a road map of consumers’ minds,, that marketers and managers can use as guide to product mix, communication, and sales strategies. This model defines seven steps that consumers follow while making their decision in order to satisfy their wants and needs. These steps include: need recognition, search for information, pre-purchase, purchase, consumption, post-consumption evaluation and divestment (Blackwell et al., 2006). The purpose of creating this model is to analyse how individuals sort through facts and influences to reach logical and consistent decisions (Blackwell et al., 2006).

Stage one is need recognition, when an individual senses a difference between what he perceives to be the ideal and the actual state of affairs (Blackwell et al., 2006). Most importantly, consumers must recognise that they have needs. It is the beginning of its decision-making process, and these needs could be functional and psychological. Since many factors can stimulate awareness of needs, companies, can through advertising, inspire consumers’ needs to new products, so they give up their old products or those that are no longer competitive in the market.

Stage two is search for information. As mentioned by Solomon et al., (2006), information search is the process of analysing and surveying the environment to gather appropriate data to make a reasonable decision. The information search may be internal and external. Internal research refers to the memory, whereas the external is the information which comes from the environmental influences and the individual differences. The environmental influences include: culture, social class, family or friends. Especially from friends and family, people will get the knowledge and information about certain product and a significant portion of consumers prefer to accept other people’s advice as their shopping guide.

Stage three is the pre-purchase evaluation of alternatives. In this stage, consumers are trying to find answers for their decision such as what my options are and what is the best for me. After collecting some information, consumers will evaluate variety products, and the composition of this will be based on rational and emotional components. Consumers often judge a brand by attributes such as quantity, size, quality and price. In the pre-purchase stage, consumers have to consider many factors. Therefore, if a firm can understand the important evaluation factors for consumers, through some promotion, such as lower the price or provide some special offers, then it is possible to obtain more consumers and to gain the competitive advantages.

Stage four is purchase. As Blackwell et al., (2006) state, there are two phases which are relevant to the consumer decision-making process. The first phase is consumers choose one retailer to another retailer, such as catalogue, internet and direct sales. The second phase is in-store choice, which is partially influenced by salespeople, product displays, electronic media and point-of-purchase (POP) advertising. Alternatively, after the consumer product evaluation, consumers will make the decision of which products to buy. However, this is often the attitude that will influence others and some unexpected factors. It may because of the consumer evaluation and the decision-making process that deferred or cancelled the purchase decision. At this point, the consumers purchase decision-making process will stop.

Stage five is consumption, stage six post-consumption evaluation and stage seven divestment. These are all the type of the post-purchase stage. After purchasing the product, the decision-making process has not terminated, because in the initial process of using the product, consumers will look back to see if there were any problems or dissatisfaction from the product. Blackwell et al., (2006) state that post-evaluation is a sense of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Satisfaction occurs when consumers’ expectations are in line with perceived performance. Dissatisfaction occurs when experiences and performance fall short of expectations. Divestment is about consumers’ disposal, recycling for the environmental concerns and firms remarketing.

3. Methodology

3.1 Research purpose and hypothesis

As mentioned in chapter 1 the introduction, the purpose of the research study is to investigate the influence of fast fashion on consumer’s buyer behaviour and their decision making on a case study of Zara, The assessment of consumer buying behaviour will be investigated using variables like brand personality and brand positioning and consumer decision making process.. What is fast fashion, why fast fashion is so popular in present days and how the consumption of fast fashion affects consumer’s buyer behaviour.

The objective of the research is to enhance the consumer consumptions in fast fashion industry, in order to explore the consumer’s preferences and choices

Moreover, the research will also try to check the potential of the fast fashion industry to move into a new era. As well as through the consumer’s purchasing behaviour, how the fast fashion industry increases its market share and what are its competitive advantages.

3.1.1 Exploratory study

The research is considered to be a type of exploratory study. Robson (2002) explained that an exploratory study is to find out ‘what is happening and to search for new insights and to ask questions to assess phenomena in a new light.’ Kinnrar (1996) has discussed that exploratory research is usually used to examine things and this type of research does not need a lot of time or cost to complete. This fits the identification and definition of the problem at hand. Exploratory research tends to determine the information which is not perfectly understood by researchers about a specific area. An exploratory framework is perfect for the researcher who does not have an understanding about the topic and/or theory. Also it is used when it is quite hard to identify the direction of the research in a specific area. The exploratory research is to understand the phenomenon or problem, be able to access to initial impressions and perceptions that to provide a basis for future in-depth research and direction. The basic purpose of exploratory research is to provide some information to help the researcher to know and understand the problems face by the researcher, also it is to define the nature of the problem and to create a better understanding of the environment for some small group of activities. At this stage, the needed information is often inaccurate, and the research process is very flexible and is not structured properly..

As for fast fashion, researchers believes it is a new area which has been growing significantly fast in recent years, and most people do not understand what exactly fast fashion is and its trends and characteristics. How Zara’s brand personality and brand positioning leads them to become a leader in fast fashion market, and how do these factors affect consumer buyer behaviour and their decision-making process when they are thinking about Zara.

3.2 Form of Research

3.2.1 Phenomenological approach

The phenomenology approach used is going to be interpretive As Blumberg, B et, al., 2008) identify the basic role of phenomenological approach is creating the community which has a known meaning by people and the research is determined by researchers’ interests. Bryman et al., (2007) discuss that phenomenology is between the researcher and the social world that share the vision in the social science, which is its main difference from other natural science. It is about how each person perceives the world around them. The aim of phenomenological approach is to gain understanding of human behaviour (Harvey et al., 2005). The original work of applying phenomenological ideas to social science was done by Alfred Schutz (1899-1959), he pointed out:

The world of nature as explored by the natural scientist does not ‘mean’ anything to molecules, atoms and electrons. But the observational field of the social scientist-social reality-has a specific meaning and relevance structure for the beings living, acting, and thinking within it. By a series of common-sense constructs they have pre-selected and pre-interpreted this world which they experience as the reality of their daily lives. It is these thought objectives of theirs which determine their behaviour by motivating it. The thought objects constructed by the social scientist, in order to grasp this social reality, have to be founded upon the thought objects constructed by the common sense thinking of men (and women), living their daily life within the social world. (Schutz 1962: 59)

3.2.2 Inductive Research

Saunders (2007) has discussed that in an inductive research data is collected to support a theory while in a deductive approach a theory is formalized from hypotheses and data. Inductive research approach is about building theory Saunders (2007). As Blumberg et al., (2008) state sometimes the inductive research does not have the same relationship between the reasons and conclusion. The research has been considered using inductive research because inductive approach is about the collection of the qualitative data. Inductive research refers to many individual cases which are obtained from a more general rule. In this approach data is collected, analysed and then concluded and applied generally. Inductive approach is from specific to general, the advantage is it embodies the fundamental aspects in many general phenomena, and it can represent many common aspects of phenomenon

3.3 Research Strategy

3.3.1 Grounded theory

Grounded theory is one of the important models in guiding researchers about how they can carry out their research. Grounded theory is a typical inductive approach which is used to explain the behaviour. It is considered to be a exploratory research and the theory is developed from data. Grounded theory specially emphasises using data to enhance the theory through in-depth analysis, in order to gradually form a theoretical framework. This can be a bottom up process. Grounded theory depends on information, and makes a close link to the case study. This is because based on the selection of case study, the selection and data collection will have a better follow-up analysis. Generally, grounded theory method of data collection and analysis occur together, that is, researcher should follow the process of being concluded as a guide and constantly review the abundance level of reserves data, continuously adjusting the direction of the ongoing supplementary information. Moreover, grounded theory method requires researcher to collect dataand analyse data, supply the information and adjust the specific direction or focus at the same time. This allows the researcher to define the field in a broad way, and its overall control and dynamic flexibility becomes particularly important.

3.3.2 Time Horizons

The research is considered to be a cross-sectional study, as this type of study is about a particular phenomenon at a particularly time and it is often been used with qualitative methods. As Malhotra (2009) states that cross sectional study is obtaining information at a certain point in time from any population. The advantages of cross-sectional……………………………..

3.4Methods of Research

3.4.1 Secondary data

The secondary research is considered to be used when the research project has been started. Hair, J et al., (2007) state “the data used for research that was not gathered directly and purposefully for the project under consideration are termed secondary data.” The secondary data could include both quantitative and qualitative data, it can also be used to serve descriptive and explanatory research aims. (Saunders M, et al., 2003). The secondary data is collected for a certain purpose to help the overall research that needs to be done. Collating a variety of readily available information is also known as the secondary data, such as reports, documents, databases, main journals, main authors and website. The three main types of secondary data are documentary data, survey-based data and the multiple source data which is based on the combination of documentary and survey-based data.

The purpose of the research is to find how fast fashion impact on consumers’ purchasing behaviour and their decision-making. Therefore theories regarding the background of the topic are needed in order to define what fast fashion is about, how fast fashion brands position themselves and the theory of consumer buyer behaviour as well as the model of decision-making process. The main textbook that the author of this paper will be using is “research methods for business students” by Saunders, M et al., (2007). The database for the fashion journals will be used to find some useful website and authors which related to this research. The reason why secondary data is used is because it is easier to get, cheap.. While secondary data cannot be expected to provide all the answers, but it still useful in many ways. Such as: it can help us to define the problems better and to find ways to deal with problems. As Malhotra (2009) have discussed the advantages of using the secondary data is to enhance our understanding with the vindicator in the different sources of media and advertising. However, the disadvantages of secondary data are the relevance and accuracy of information and it may not be enough to fulfil the researchers objective. And the nature of the method sometimes does not necessarily fit the current situation. Moreover, secondary data may lack accuracy and be out of date. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the secondary data before using it. As Malhotra (2009) state the disadvantages of secondary data is the value is limited in terms of its accuracy to the research in question.. ListenRead phonetically Dictionary

View detailed dictionary3.4.2 Primary data

The primary data from focus group was chosen for this research in order to find out the feelings and opinions (Collis, J et al., 2003) of a group people who are in the same situation or likes fast fashion brand such as Zara. The advantages of focus group are that it is face to face, the subject of the conversation can break the time limit, some new problems will been identified at the same time, particularly some controversial issues, the interviewer can take a flexible way to go into depth of the answers. When the interviewees are misunderstanding the que