A study on Brand Preference & Acceptability of Branded Ready-made Formal Men’s wear

FINAL RESEARCH PROJECT ON “  A study on Brand Preference & Acceptability of Branded   Ready-made Formal Men’s wear ”

Submitted to  In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree Of   MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION  (2008-2010)

Supervised by:

Submitted by:

Prof.

DINESH KUMAR  MBA 4th Roll no. 520780810

ICAII  CHANDIGARH  (SIKKIM MANIPAL UNIVERSITY )

DECLARATION

 A study I, DINESH KUMAR here-by declare that the project report “  on Brand Preference & Acceptability of Branded Ready-made Formal Men’s wear ”  for the partial Fulfillment of the degree of  Business Administration from Sikkim Manipal University is an original work of mine and the data provided in the study is Authentic, to the best of my knowledge. This study has not been submitted to any other institution or University for award of any other degree.

DINESH KUMAR  Roll No. 520780810

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. DINESH KUMAR has done the Major 

 A study on Brand Preference & Acceptability Research Project “  of Branded Ready-made Formal Men’s wear  “under my supervision for the degree of Master of Business Administration. The work done by him is a sole effort and has not been submitted as or its part for any degree.

Prof. Department of Business Administration

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Ackn Acknow owle ledg dgme ment nt is no nott a mere mere form formal alit ity y or ritu ritual al bu butt a genu genuin inee opportunity to express the indebtness of all those without who’s active support and encouragement this project wouldn’t have possible.

I would like to express my humble thanks to Mr.

for 

his active support affectionate guidance and constant encouragement his expert guidance help me a lot to tackle with all the problems.

I offer my heartfelt appreciation to  Mr.

for their 

ever willing co-operation, moral support, rendering ungrudging assistance where ever need arose and best wish for successfully taking this study I wish them very best in their life. I am also thankful to my parents, friends and well wishers whose  blessing and love had made it possible for me to successfully complete the  project.

DINESH KUMAR 

CONTENTS •

Introduction

•

Review of literature

•

Objectives

•

Research methodology

•

Data collection& analysis

•

Limitations

•

Findings

•

Suggestions

•

conclusion

•

Bibliography

•

Questionnaire

Introduction

As expected that India is going to be one of the great giants in the world of business. With the help of the industries like IT, AUTOMOBLIES, BIO-TECH INDUSTRIES, STEEL INDUSTRIES, apart of all industries some of the industries like textile and garments are grow from bottom to sky which puts it hand in more than 30% exports of India and increases the GDP of the country.

The study was taken for the title “ A study on Brand Preference &   Acceptability of Branded Ready-made Formal Men’s wear”  it was

conducted to study about the preferences and the acceptability and their  influencing factors for their purchase.

In this study a survey method was adopted. Fieldwork was carried out to collect the necessary data. Questionnaires were used for collection of data. The information thus gathered constituted primary data and secondary data.

By doing this research we can know various major players in industry like Madhura Garments, Raymond’s India Ltd etc. knowing about their products and their brands.

The well known brands like in India are Koutons, John player, Addidas, Hues, Park Avenue, Indigo Nation, Wrangler, and Nike

Theoretical background  Brand is a source of relationships with customers, promises to costumers and customer loyalty. Great brands present emotional benefits and not just rational/functional. Branding is a process of creating an association

between

product/company

with

symbol/object/emotion a

goal

of

diving

perception loyalty

and

and

a

creating

differentiation. Branding is raising new questions for the brand mangers like what benefits and expectations customers look across a brand, how consistent in the brand image, etc.

Brand is a major issue in products strategy. On one hand developing a  branded product requires a great deal of long-term investment, especially for

advertising, promotion

and

packaging. Many brand-oriented

companies subcontract manufacturing to other companies. On other hand manufacturers eventually learn market power lies with building their own  brands.

What is brand?

Perhaps the most distinctive skill of professional marketers is their ability to create, maintain, protect, and enhance brands. Marketers say, “Branding is the art and cornerstone if marketing.” The American Marketing Association defines a brand as follows:

A Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of  them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of  sellers and the differentiate them from those of competitors.

In essence, a brand identifies the seller or marker. It can be name, trademark, logo, or other symbol. Under trademark law, the seller is granted exclusive rights to the use of the brand name in perpetuity. Brands differ from other assets such as patents and copyrights, which have expiration dates.

A brand is essentially a seller’s promise to deliver a specific set of  features, benefits, and services consistently to the buyers. The best brands convey a warranty of quality. But a brand is an even more complex symbol. It can convey up to six levels of meaning: 

 Attributes: a brand brings to mind certain attributes. Mercedes

suggest expensive, well-built, well-engineered, durable, high prestige automobiles 

 Benefits: attributes must be translated into functional and emotional

 benefits. The attribute “durable” could translate into the functional  benefit “I won’t have to buy another car for several years.” The attribute “expensive” translates into the emotional benefit “the car  makes me feel important and admired” 

Values: the brand also says something about the producer’s values.

Mercedes stand for high performance, safety, and prestige. 

Culture: the brand may represent a certain culture. The Mercedes

represents German culture: organized, efficient, high quality. 

 Personality: the brand can project a certain personality. Mercedes

may suggest a no-nonsense boss (person), a reigning lion (animal), or an austere palace (object) 

User : the brand suggests the kind if consumer who buys of users

the product. We would expect to see a 55-year-old top executive  behind the wheel of Mercedes, not a 20-year- old secretary.

If a company treats a brand only a name, it misses the point. The branding challenge is to develop a deep set of positive associations of the brand. Marketers must decide at which level(s) to anchor the brand’s identify. One mistake would be to promote only attributes. First, the buyer is not as interested in attributes as in benefits. Second, competitors can easily copy attributes. Third, the current attributes may become less desirable later.

Promoting the brand only on one benefit can also be risky. Suppose Mercedes touts its main benefit as “high performance”. Then several competitive brands emerge with high performance as compared to other    benefits. Mercedes needs the freedom to maneuver into a new benefit  positioning . Brand Equity:

Brands vary in the amount of power and value they have in the market  place. At one extreme are brands that are not known by most buyers. Then there are brands for which buyers have a fairly high degree of  brand  awareness. Beyond this are brands with a high degree of  brand  acceptability. Then there are brands that enjoy a high degree of brand

loyalty. Tony O’ Reilly, former CEO of H.J. Heinz, proposed this test of   brand loyalty: “My acid test…. Is whether a housewife, intending to buy Heinz tomato ketchup in a store, finding it to be out of stock, will walk  out o f the store to buy it elsewhere. Few customers are as brand-loyal as O’Reilly hopes Heinz’s customers will be. Aaker distinguished five levels of customer’s attitude toward his or her brand, from lowest to highest: 1. Customer will change brands, especially for price reasons. No

 brand loyalty.

2. Customer is satisfied. No reason to change the brand. 3. Customer is satisfied and would incur costs by changing brand 4. Customer is devoted to the brand

 Brand equity is highly related to how many Customers are in classes3, 4 or 5

Brand Strategy

Brand strategy involves drawing an action plan for creating, building and nurturing brands. Brand strategy includes decisions relating to line extension, brand extension, multi branding, developing new brands and  brand rationalization.

Product category Existing New

Brand name

Existing New

Line Brand extension extension Multi brands

New brands

 Brand Extension: Extending a brand to another product, either in the

same or a different product category. As the cost of establishing a new  brand is high, brand extension is a useful tool for the cost effective launch of a new product. Familiarity with an existing brand also helps both customers and marketers. Customers extend the qualities associated with the existing brand to the new brand. Market acceptance of the new  product becomes faster. Maggi has been extended from noodles to product lines in related categories like Maggi ketchup, Maggi soup, etc.

 Line Extension: Line extension is extending the existing brand names to

new forms, sizes and flavors of an existing product category. For  example, Colgate has extended its brand name in the toothpaste category from Colgate to Colgate gel, Colgate herbal, Colgate sensitive, Colgate cibaca top, Colgate calciguard and Colgate total.   Multi Brands: It involves introduction of additional brands in the same

  product category. For example, Hindustan Lever Limited uses multi   branding strategy to market its products. In shampoos, the products offered include Clinic Plus, Clinic All Clear, Lux, Ayush, and Sunsilk and so on.  New Brands: It involves creation of new brand names especially when

entering a new product category. For example, Coca Cola entered the mineral water bottle segment with a new band name Kinely and the coffee segment with Georgia.

BRAND AWARENESS

Whether it is a serial in a regional satellite channel or a One Day International cricket match, there is a non-stop stream of advertisements, which clutter the commercial break. Well-established brands attempt to sustain brand recall while new ones try appealing to prospective consumers to get into their `consideration’ set. There are ads for children, housewives and youth. With advertising expenditure in the order of Rs. 8000 Crores per annum in the recent times and the proliferation of brands across categories, there is a strong need to consider the effectiveness of  these advertisements. The idea is not to cease advertising but to consider  how considering decisions would have to be considered with non-

advertising alternatives. These non-advertising alternatives may also enable a brand to create and sustain consistent associations, which may be desirable in terms of long-term implications. A contemporary approach that creates a synergy between various aspects of a promotional mix (advertising included) provides a refreshing approach towards marketing communications. There may be several objectives of advertising and a  promotional mix could be used in an innovative manner to address each of  these objectives depending on the product category and target segment.

Creating brand awareness

When a new brand enters a category or creates a “new to the market” offering, it needs to create brand awareness. This would depend on whether the product is a consumable or a durable. The involvement level in a specific category also matters on how a brand would want to create awareness. Itch Guard, a new branded offering for minor skin  problems, used a simple humorous TV commercial to convey the concept. While the unit cost of the product may be low, the involvement level of  the consumer on the solution offered by the brand could be associated with high involvement. A brand in this situation is likely to also benefit from point of purchase material at pharmacy outlets, departmental stores and even kirana (grocery) type of shops. The “high-utility” solution has to  be conveyed to the target segment, which probably was using traditional substitutes. In this example, a typical brand personality need not be built at least before the benefit is sold to the consumer and hence all   promotional efforts should be directed at conveying the benefit and creating a brand association with the category itself (as it is a pioneering  brand in the category). This objective would be achieved by advertising, “reminder purchase” posters at the point of sale and perhaps conveying

the superiority of the offering through the route of doctors (though it is an OTC

offering).

Kissan Bistix in contrast is a unique offering, which is aimed at children who have to initially make a change in their habits regarding the consumption of this offering (should be eaten with a biscuit stick after it is dipped in chocolate/any other side dish flavour which is a part of the  package). Moreover the price of the offering is Rs. 5 and this would be associated with low involvement. Moreover, there is strong presence of  generic competition and children could buy a number of alternatives and some of them may have price points below the Rs. 5 level. Mass advertising perhaps could create trials but it may be difficult to sustain the   purchase only through advertising. Innovative contests built around  popular hobbies may enable the brand not only to create excitement but also sustain the interest over a longer period of time. This may create repurchase and probably a cross-section of the segment may make the consumption a part of their snacking habit. Acceptance of an offering like this requires a longer time interval and an innovative approach towards   promotion rather than typical sales promotion or mass advertising or  display at the counter of retail outlets. Besides, given the price point and the offering there is also a need to be selective in market coverage for the offering. Creating awareness in a durable category (even if the consumers are familiar with the category) requires a different approach. A strong “feature-back up” in the offering, leading to a possible word-of-mouth from users of the brand, will be effective after the initial advertising awareness created by the brand. LG, Samsung, Santro and Whirlpool are  brands that have been successful but less than a decade old in the Indian context. LG introduced several “new to market” features in its various  product categories; Samsung which created brand awareness through its

“World Series” ads, also introduced innovative features in its products and Santro’s success (in terms of its market share) can be attributed to product design, advertising and launching of variants after brand acceptance. New   brands depend on innovative features to create awareness and this happens both by advertising and positive word-of-mouth. Promotional aspects like an event involving the brand formulated to strengthen the word-of-mouth could add to the promotional effect. This approach could  be compared with the advertising blitzkreig of several new brands of cars. Skoda, almost an unknown name in India, has been able to meet with considerable success (in its niche) because of word-of-mouth for its Octavia model than through conventional advertising. The brand has also   been selective in its market launch and this adds to the “expectation excitement” for prospective consumers in other markets to enhance the impact of word-of-mouth. Brand Knowledge

Brand knowledge refers to brand awareness (whether and when consumers know the brand) and brand image (what associations consumers have with the brand). The different dimensions of brand knowledge can be classified in a pyramid (adapted from Keller 2001), in which each lower-level element provides the foundations of the higherlevel element. In other words, brand attachment stems from rational and emotional brand evaluations, which derive from functional and emotional   brand associations, which require brand awareness. Brand knowledge measures are sometimes called “customer mind-set” measures because they capture how the brand is perceived in the customer’s mind.

The Brand Knowledge Pyramid 

Brand awareness measures the accessibility of the brand in memory. Brand awareness can be measured through brand recall or brand recognition. Brand recall reflects the ability of consumers to retrieve the  brand from memory when given the product category, the needs fulfilled  by the category, or some other type of probe as a cue. Brand Recognition

Brand recognition reflects the ability of consumers to confirm prior  exposure to the brand (i.e., recognize that it is an “old” brand that they have seen before and not a “new” brand that they are seeing for the first time). In a recognition task, consumers see a stimulus (e.g., an ad for the  brand, a brand name) and must say whether they have seen it before (e.g., last night on television, in magazine X, etc.). It is important to make the task as realistic as possible by allowing only a short amount of time to answer the recognition question and by using realistic stimuli and context. If you want to use recognition as a measure of the performance of different marketing decisions (say, different logos or ads), you should expose one group to one version of the target stimulus and another group to the other version of the target stimulus. However, to make the task more realistic, both groups should

also be exposed to other stimuli (e.g., competitors' brands). In a second step, people see the “old” stimuli again, along with completely new ones, and are asked to decide if each stimulus is “old” or “new” (i.e., if they have seen them before or not). To correct for people’s tendency to guess (to say that they recognize when in fact they are uncertain), you can compute a recognition score called d   prime, as follows: d' = HR – FA, where HR is the hit rate (the percentage

of respondents who correctly recognize the target stimulus) and FA is the false alarm rate (the percentage of respondents who incorrectly “recognize” a “new” stimulus, i.e., a stimulus not shown before).

Brand Image

Brand image is defined as consumer perceptions of a brand and is measured as the brand associations held in consumers’ memory. To measure brand image, you can either use and adapt an existing list of   brand associations (e.g., Young & Rubicam’s Brand Asset Valuator ® or  Aaker’s brand personality list) or start from scratch by eliciting brand associations and then measuring the strength of these associations. The outcome of this exercise is usually a short list of the positive and negative associations consumers have with the brand, ranked by strength. For comparison purposes, it is useful to report the average strength of  each association with the brand and the strength of the association with competing brands, and to do this for each target segment (e.g., brand users and users of competing brands).

Objectives

 Primary: 

To know the brand awareness towards the branded ready made formal wear for men



To know the brand preferences towards the branded ready made formal wear for men



To study the influencing factors for the purchase of the banded garments

 Secondary 

To study the various manufacturers who manufacture branded men’s garments



To study the various retail brands in men’s garments



To study the overall industry of the branded garments

 Research methodology

Type of research:

Research design is the conceptual structure within which research is conducted. It constitutes the blue print for the collection, measurement, and analysis of data.

The type of research adopted for the project is  Descriptive Research. In this study a survey method was adopted. Fieldwork was carried out to collect the necessary data. Questionnaires were used for collection of data. The information thus gathered constituted primary data and secondary data. Sources of data  Primary data

Those are the data that are obtained by a study specially designed to fulfill the data needs of the problem. Interviewing the respondents at the malls with help of a structured questionnaire is followed to collect the primary data.  Secondary data:

Data, which are not originally collected but for this purpose, rather  obtained from published or unpublished sources, are known as secondary data. In this research secondary data was collected through sources like company research compiled in statistical statements, magazines, company printed internal records and  promotional materials, textbooks & Internet.  Sample selection:

In the study N on-probability random sampling  – Convenient Sampling Method used to collect the data, where the entire HAMIRPUR city  becomes the population.  Sample size:

Sample size is 100.  Research instrument 

The questionnaire was used which had various questions, apart questionnaire observation of the respondents is done.

INDUSTRY STUDY The Indian consumer is dressing up like never before. And helping him look good are the hugely successful small brands. Quick to adapt to current trends and the latest in fashion and completely in sync with customers' wants, these highly versatile brands have given a bold new shape to the ready-to-wear apparel industry The Indian apparel market has been growing at 4-5 per cent over the past few years in quantitative terms. Most of the growth has come from the  branded segment, which has been growing at 10-15% annually till 1998 and at a faster pace later on. Value growth has been even better. However, growth in the past year has been satisfactory considering the marked slowdown in demand in India and abroad accentuated by the unfortunate events of September 11, 2001 in the U.S. followed by the December 13 attack on the Indian Parliament and more recently the disturbances in Gujarat. All these have affected the general business sentiment across the country. The growth in the branded wear category can also be attributed to the fast  paced changes in the retail scenario. The evolution of retail channels in India is being driven by the evolving preferences of the consumer whose awareness level of fashion trends, disposable income and consumerism are all high. A significant positive shift is taking place in Indian consumer’s buying behaviour and expectations that no longer follow traditional retail practices. This can be attributed to the following factors:



Change in lifestyle



Entry of leading international brands



Greater awareness and exposure to international media



Foreign travel The Indian consumer to day wants different new merchandise at shorter  intervals complemented by a great shopping ambience, service with speed and above all convenience of shopping ambience, service with speed and above all convenience of shopping. Above all there is an increasing urge to create a positive image of oneself given the overall environment of    professionalism and competition. Serious marketers have identified this trait and worked to increase the variety and quality of products offered, along with meaningful lifestyle led advertising.   New retail formats that are more consumers’ friendly and offer a significantly enhanced ambience and overall shopping experience have also contributed greatly. Today the retail structure in India, as it moves from disparate and unorganized sectors to a more concentrated system, has many players getting inspired and drawn to the retails magnet. It has been estimated that India has approximately 30,000 readymade garment manufacturing units and around three million people are working in the industry. Today not only is the garment export business growing, enthusiasm in the minds of the foreign buyers is also at a high. Today many leading fashion labels are being associated with Indian products. India is increasingly being looked upon as a major supplier of high quality fashion apparels and Indian apparels have come to be appreciated in major  markets internationally. The credit for this goes to our exporter  community.

Consistent efforts towards extensive market coverage, improving technical capabilities and putting together an attractive and wide merchandise line have paid rich dividends. But till today, our clothing industry is dominated by sub-contractors and consists mainly of small units of 50 to 60 machines. India's supply base is medium quality, relatively high fashion, but small volume business.

SOME FACTS ABOUT READY-TO-WEAR INDUSTRY IN INDIA Market size is estimated has been projected at Rs 43,100 crore. The



share of apparel for men comprises 46 per cent that of women’s wear is  pegged at 37 per cent and that of kids wear is pegged at 17 per cent. Branded sector share is currently about 25% of market; expected to



 be about 45-50% share by 2010 Market is expected to grow at about 10-15%p.a. While branded



formal wear will grow at about 10-11%, Branded semi-formal/casual will grow at about 20-22%. DIVISION OF BRANDED GARMENTS INDUSTRY

MEN WOMEN KIDS

The above graph show’s the division of branded garments industry GROWTH DRIVERS 

Emergence of large scale organized retailing



Change in consumer aspirations / lifestyles



Launches in the Mid value / Economy Segments

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Rapid shift on going from tailor-made to ready-made garments in



shirts and trousers. 

Current readymade usage is 20% in shirts and less than 5% in trousers



Per capital clothing usage increasing in casual wear  Urban women's wear will shift to western style clothing over the



next 10-15 years. FUTURE PLANS OR THE READY MADE INDUSTRY

Capitalizing on current brand strengths through relevant expansion



of product portfolio 

Accelerating conversion from tailor made to ready to wear in trousers Proactively grow the business through initiatives serving one/more



of the following objectives





Accelerating conversion - at category level



Addressing relevant lifestyles / grooming aspirations Entering markets with high potential to generate "Critical Mass"

namely women's wear and active wear.

ARVIND MILLS

The Arvind Mills was set up with the pioneering effort of the Lalbhai   brothers in 1931. With the best of technology and business acumen, Arvind has become a true Indian multinational, having chosen to invest strategically, where demand has been high and quality required has been superlative. Today, The Arvind Mills Limited is the flagship company of  Rs.20 billion (US$ 500 million) Lalbahi Group. Arvind Mills has set the pace for changing global customer demands for  textiles and has focused its attention on select core products. Such a focus has enabled the company to play a dominant role in the global textile arena. With its presence across the textile value chain, the company endeavors to be a one-Stop shop for leading garment brands. Forevision and Technology has brought Arvind to be one of the top three  producers of Denim in the world, and on its way becoming the Global Textile Conglomerate. Arvind is already making its presence felt in Shirting’s, Knits and Khakhis fabrics apart from being all set to create ripples in the ready to wear Garments world over. About their brands

Arvind Brands, a group company, manages various brands owned  by Arvind. These include Flying Machine, Newport and Ruf & Tuf  in Jeans and Excalibur in Shirts. This company services entire Domestic market in India apart from exports in the neighboring countries. Apart from these owned brands, the company has licenses from reputed International brands like Arrow, Lee, Wrangler and Tommy Hilfiger for  the Indian market. The management out of their office at Bangalore, India manages the entire retailing (including manufacturing, branding, logistics, marketing and sales).

RAYMOND’S INDIA LTD

Incorporated in 1925, the Raymond Group is a Rs. 1400 crore plus conglomerate having businesses in Textiles, Readymade Garments, Engineering Files & Tools, Prophylactics and Toiletries. The group is the leader in textiles, apparel, & files & tools in India and enjoys a pronounced position in the international market. Raymond  believes in Excellence, Quality and Leadership.

THE GROUP OF THE COMPANIES UNDER RAYMOND’S Raymond Ltd.

Raymond Limited is India’s leading producer of worsted suiting fabric with a 60% market share. Raymond Apparel Ltd. has three highly regarded menswear brands in its

folio: Park Avenue, Parx & Manzoni. J.K. Ansell Ltd. is the manufacturer and marketer of KamaSutra brand of 

 premium condoms. J.K. Helene Curtis Ltd. is the marketers of the Park Avenue and

Premium brands of men’s toiletries. Color Plus Fashions Pvt. Ltd.

Established in 1994 Color Plus is one of the leading domestic brands for   premium casual wear in the country.

Their brands

Raymond

The largest and most respected textile brand in India for 'The Complete Man' addressing the innate need of men to look good and at the same time  possess strength of character.

Park Avenue

Formal readymade garments & accessories for men it has recently bagged the "Most Admired Brand" and "Most Admired Trouser Brand" awards. Parx

The semi formal and casual range of cottons, blends and denim wear  catering to the smart, fashionable and comfortable clothing segment. Manzoni

The luxury range of men’s shirts and ties acknowledged for its high quality and international styling. Be:

An exclusive prêt-a-porter line of ready-to-wear designer clothing for  women and men in western, ethnic and fusion styles. Premium

The range of cosmetics & toiletries including after shaves, shampoos, cologne, shaving cream, soaps, deodorants, room fresheners, etc.

 Data Analysis & Interpretation Age: < 20

40 > [ ]

[ ]

20 – 30

[ ]

30 – 40

[ ]

Respondent’s classification based on Age Table - 1

AGE < 20 20 - 30 30 - 40 40 >

No of  Respondents Percentage 10 10% 64 64% 18 18% 8 8%

Graph - 1 A G E

70 60

   R    D 50    E    N    B    O 40    M   P 30    U    S    N    E 20    R 10 0

A GEGRO UPS

Inferences: -

The majority of the respondents were in the age group of 20 – 30 .

Profession:-

A) Student [ ] class [ ]

B) Salaried [ ]

C) Professional [ ]

E) Others please specify___________ 

D) Business

Table - 2 Respondents Classified According To The Profession

No of  Percentage Respondents 26 26% 28 28% 40 40% 6 6%

Profession Student Salaried Professional Business class

Graph - 2 PROFESSION

student slararied professional business class

Inferences: - The respondents taken as sample are mostly the of the

 professional background some are from the salaried and students and very few from the business class

Monthly Family Income: -

< 10,000 [ ] 10,000 – 20,000 [ ]

20,000 –  30,000 [ ]

Above 30,000 [ ]

Table - 3

Respondents Classified According To The Income Monthly No of  Percentage income Respondents < 10,000 6 6% 10,000 - 20,000 48 48% 20,000 - 30,000 22 22% 30,000 > 24 24%

Graph - 3 MONTHLY INCOME

< 10,000 10,000 - 20,000 20,000 - 30,000 30,000 >

Inferences: - The respondents are mostly from the 10,000 – 20,000

income group. It comes 48% of the sample.

Educational qualification:-

Graduate [ ]

[ ]

post-graduate

[ ] M.Phil \ PhD \ Post Doctorate

Table - 4

Respondents classification according to their  qualification Educational No of  Percentage qualification Respondents Graduate 40 40% post - graduate 48 48% others 12 12%

Graph - 4 EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIO

graduate post - graduate others

Inferences: - Many respondents are post – graduates and next are

graduates and few are M.Phil \ PhD \ Post Doctorate. When it seen in  percentage it comes to 48%

Marital status:-

Married [ ]

un-married [ ]

Table - 5

Respondents Classified According To The Martial Status

Marital status Graph - 5

married

No of  Percentage Respondents 64% 64

un-married

36

36%

MARITAL STATUS

married un-married

Inferences: - 64% of the sample is married and 36% are un- married

1)

How often do you purchase your clothing ? => Once in 3 months

=> once in 6 months

=> Once in a year

=> occasionally

Table - 6

Frequency of purchase Frequency of  No of  Percentage purchase respondents Once in 3 38% months 38 Once in 6 22% months 22 Once in year 16 16% Occasionally 24 24%

Graph – 6 FREQUENCY OF PURC HASING

once in 3 months once in 6 months once in year  occassianlly

Inferences: - 38 respondents like to purchase “once in 3 months”, 24

respondents like to purchase “occasionally”, 22 respondents like to  purchase “once in 6 months” and 12 of them like to purchase “once in year” Comparison of age and frequency of purchase

Table -7

AGE 20 – 30 30 - 40

< 20 Once in 3 months Once in 6 months Once in year Occasionally

4

34

6

14 4 20

40 >

2 8 4

4

COMPRASION OF AGE & FRQUENC Graph - 7 PURCHASE 40

34

once in 3 month

30 20

20 10

once in 6 month

14 4

6

once in year 

8 4

2

4

4

occassianlly

0 < 20

20 - 30

30 - 40

40 >

Inferences: - the comparison between age & frequency of purchase of the

respondents get the result of 34 respondents between the age 20 – 30 like of purchase the branded clothing “once in 3 months” the same age group like to purchase occasionally 2) Please identify your level of preference towards branded ready made garments Very high

[ ]

High

[ ]

Moderate

[ ]

low

[ ]

very low

[ ]

Table - 8

Level of preference No Of  Level of preference Respondents Percentage Very high 16 16% High 14 14% Moderate 44 44% Low 16 16% Very low 10 10%

Graph - 8 LEVEL OF PREFERENC E

very high high modrate low very low

Inferences: - 44 of the respondents have the preference level of moderate

only 16 of them have given very high preference and it is same with low  preference people

3) Reasons for having very low preference towards branded formal wear  (You can choose more than one reason)

A) Perfect fit not available B) Priced high C) Quality not up to the mark  D) Lesser choice of the design & colour  E) Restricted availability when compared to cloth availability Table - 9 Reasons for having very low preference towards branded formal wear

Frequen Percenta cy ge 8 31% 26 100% 6 23%

Reason Perfect Fit Not Available Priced High Quality Not Up To The Mark Lesser Choice Of The Design & Colour Restricted Availability When Compared To Cloth Availability

12

46%

4

15%

  Note: 1.Some of the respondents have opted for more than one option 2. Sample size is 26 [who has low preference towards branded garments

Graph- 9 REASONS FOR HAVING THE LOW PREFE    S    T    N    E    D 30    N    O25    P    S 20    E    R 15    F    O10    E    G 5    A    T 0    N    E    C    R    E    P

26

8

12 6

4

perfect fit not p r ic e d h i g h q u a l it y n o t u plesser choice restricted avilable to the mark of the desigh avilability & colour  when compared to cloth availability VARIOUS RE ASO

Inferences: - most of the respondents had a problem that the branded

formal wears are priced high. And few felt that lesser choice of the design and colour, 4) Do you prefer branded formal men wear ?

Yes

[ ]

No

[ ]

Table - 10

- 10

Do you prefer branded formal wear  Do you prefer  branded formal No of  wear  respondents Do you prefer the branded garments yes 84 Graph No 16 16 yes no 84

Inferences: - with the above question we can say that majority of the

respondents prefer the branded garments (84 of them) and some do not  prefer the branded garments.

5) The brand’s that you are aware of. Table – 11

Various brands Louis Philippe Nike Addidas Peter England Excalibur Hues Indigo Nation Lewis Color Plus Wrangler Park  Avenue

Tick 

Brand Awareness Level Of  Respondents Various Brands No Of Respondents Louis Philippe 84 Nike 84 Addidas 84 Peter England 84 Excalibur 84 Hues 84 Indigo Nation 84 Lewis 84 ColorPlus 84 Graph –  Wrangler 84 11 Park Avenue 84

Brand Awareness Of The Respondents

Park Avenue

84 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 84

Addidas Indigo Nation Excalibur  Nike Wrangler  Graph - 11 0

20

40

60

80

NO OF RESPONDENTS

Inferences: - All the 84 respondents said that they were aware of all the

 brands that are given them as the option.

6) Who influences you in your buying decisions of branded formal men wear  a) Wife [ ] b) other family members [ ] c) Friends

[ ]

d) colleagues

[ ]

100

e) Others please specify__________

f) none

[ ]

Table - 12

Who Influences To Buy Branded Formal Men Wear

wife Other family members friends Colleagues None

10 18 22 13 9

Graph-12 22

25 18

20 15

13

10

9

10 5 0 wife

other  family members

friends

colleages

none

Inferences: - 22 of the respondents said that their friends influence them

in choosing the brand, and 18 of them said that their other family members and 13 of them said that their colleagues influence them.

Comparison of occupation with influencing factors Table – 13

Student Wife Other family members Friends Colleagues None

4 11

Business Salaried Professional class 4 3 3 7 5 13 1

8

5 4

2 2

Graph-13 c o m p r a i s o n o f i n f lu e n c i n g f a c t o r s w i t h o

15

13 11

    S    T    N    E    D    N    O    P     S    E    R    F    O    O    N

student

10 5

4

4

professional 5

5

business c lass

4

Graph - 13

3 3 2

0

salaried

8

7

wife

2

o t h e r f a m i ly

fr ie nd s

1

c o lle ag u es

n o ne

members

Influencing fact

Inferences: - comparison between the occupation & influencing factors

show that the salaried people get influenced with colleges and less with others, students get influenced, even some students get influenced with none of them.

7) Please identify the source(s) from which you normally collect\get the information regarding the branded men wear  T.V

[ ]

NEWS paper

Magazines

[ ]

Internet

Friends

[ ]

[ ] [ ]

Table - 14

No of  Respondents 8 13 28 3 32

Various Sources T.V Newspaper Magazines Internet Friends

Percentage 10% 16% 33% 3% 38%

 Note: 1.Some of the respondents have opted for more than one option 2. Sample size is 84 Graph - 14 Collection of Information Before Purchase Regarding The Branded men formal wear 

32

35 28

30

   d   n 25   o   p   s 20   e    R 15    f   o   o 10    N

13 8 3

5 0 T.V

newspaper

magazines

internet

friends

Various Sources

Inferences: - 32 respondents collect the information from their friends

who become the influencing factor for the purchase of the branded formal wear. Where as 28 of the respondents collect the information through magazines, which influence less, compared to friends

8) Rank the following factors which influence you to choose the

branded men wear (Rank them between 1 to 8) Table – 15 Particulars

Rank  

Price Quality Design Comfort level Fabric Range Brand Name Value for money

Ranking The Factors Which Influence The Most Particulars Rank   Frequency X Weight Price 342 Quality 314 Design 438 Comfort level 602 Fabric 334 Range 380 Brand Name 350 Value for money 264

Source: - primary data Graph – 15 WEIGHTED RESPONSE OF T HE INFLUENCE TO PURCHASE THE BRAND

   S    K    R    A    M    E    R    D    E    T    H    G    I    E    W

700 602 600 500 400

438 342

380 334

314

350 264

300 200 100

3

0 Pr ice

Qu alit y

De s ig n

C om f or t level

Fabric

Range

Brand Name

Value for  money

VARIOUS PARAMETERS

 NOTE : - The response of the respondent has been weighted for their 

ranks and the sum is calculated the weights being 1 rank – 8 points, 2 rank – 7 points and so on 8 th rank – 1 point

nd

Inferences: - as the above given not the weights given by the respondents

show that the respondents give more importance to the comfort level and some for the design and all other parameters get clashed with each other  when it comes to influencing the respondents for the purchasing the  branded men formal wear. 9) Are you aware of retailer brands (in-house) ready made formal shirts in India Yes

[ ]

No

[ ]

Table - 16 Awareness Of The Retail Brands Retailer No of  Percentage brands Respondents

Yes

64

64%

 No

20

20%

S

Graph - 16 AWEARNESS LEVEL OF THE RETAILER BRA NDS

20 yes no

64

Inferences: - 64 of the respondents said they know the few retail brand

and the most popular retail brands like “STOP, STORI, BARE, etc.” only 20 respondents said they do not have the awareness of the retailer brands.

10) Are you aware of the manufacturer of the brand’s that you prefer\buy Yes

[ ]

No

[ ]

Table - 17 Awareness Level of the Respondents towards Manufacturers of  the Branded Garments Manufact urer of the No of  brands Respondents

Yes

26

 No

58

.

Graph - 18

Awareness Of The Manufacture Of Their Brands

yes no

Inferences: - very few respondents where aware of the manufacturer 

of their branded formal readymade wear. The most popular  manufacturer mentioned by the respondents was “RAYMOND’S, MUAHARA GARMENTS”. And few got confused with shopper  stop as the manufacturer. Same with the case of the west side and lifestyle.  LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 



As the sample size is small compared to the total  population the outcome cannot be generalized.



The Qualitative responses are affected by the mental framework of the respondent at the time of the interview and hence only are approximate.



The study was done for a short period of time, which might not hold true over a long period of time.

Findings The age group 20 – 30 prefer for the branded ready-made garments. 

Professional are focused on the branded ready made

garments 

Respondents having income between 10,000 – 20,000 prefer   branded garments



Education is role, which helps to identity their preferring with the research we can tell that post-graduates prefer the branded garments.



With the help of the research we can see that more than 50% of the sample like to purchase the branded garments frequently i.e. within 6 months i.e. 38 respondents like to purchase once in 3 months. 22 respondents like purchase once in 6 months.



Comparing age group with frequency of purchase shows the result that the age group between 20 – 30 like to purchase more often (once in 3 months)



44 respondents have the moderate preference towards the  branded ready-made garments.



Only few respondents have the low preference towards  branded garments (10% of the sample)



Comparison of the monthly income and level of preference shows that, out of 44 respondents who choose moderate preference, 28 are of 10,000 – 20,000 income groups.



Reasons for having low preference shows that, 26 respondents said that they are highly priced, 2 said Lesser Choice Of The Design & Colours



The research showed 84 respondents like branded garments and other 16 were not interested about he branded garments



The awareness level of the various brands of branded formal men wear showed that all are aware of the brands mentioned



The most influencing factor to the respondents was their  friend i.e. 22 respondents said as friends, 18 respondents said that other family members influence them.



Between occupation of the respondents and the influencing factors shows that more students are influenced by their friends, whereas salaried by their colleagues



Before going for purchase most of respondents collect the information of the brand through friends and magazines.



Most of the respondents like to go to factory outlets and exclusive showrooms.



The factors influencing them to choose the brand was asked as the question most of them said the comforts level is more important than anything else.



64 respondents are awareness of retail brands the most favorite brands are (stori, stop, bare).



Only few i.e. 26 are aware of the manufacture of their brands. The most know manufacturer (Mudhra garments, Raymond’s India ltd.).

SUGGESTIONS 



With the help of the research we have seen that the age group of 20 – 30 are more preferred towards the branded garments so the companies should treat them as the major target customers for their  market



The companies should see that the awareness should be made why because only professional’s and salaried people are more aware of the branded garments



As majority of the respondents who prefer branded garments are in income group of 10, 000 – 20,000 the companies should concentrate the customer with lower and higher income also



Companies should give good offers and promotional activity and see that the people who are purchasing who are purchasing once in 6 months can start purchasing more frequently



Comparison with age and the frequency of purchase should that only age group 20 – 30 purchase once in 3 months the companies has an opportunity to increase their market share.



As lot of respondents says that the branded garments are highly priced and some feel that they are Lesser Choice of the Design & Colours. The companies can reduce the prices of the formal wear and see that there are more colours for choice and more design varieties



The companies must see that they give more and more information of their products to the customers.



As above said that the respondents are more preferred by the comfort level of the garments. The companies should see they concentrate on the comfort level more



As most of the respondents like to purchase the branded garments for the factory outlets and the exclusive showrooms the companies should see that they open more and more of factory outlets and exclusive showrooms in the major cities.



The retail manufacturers should see that the awareness level should increases towards the retail brands



The manufactures of the branded garments should see the awareness is bought to wards he manufacturer of the branded garments men formal wear 

Conclusion

The research above taken place studies the various aspects of the customers before they purchase and after the purchase, what makes them to purchase and who influences them to purchase the particular brand and what is the level awareness of they people towards the branded readymade garments and what are they various reasons that makes the people not to purchase the branded garments.

The findings and suggestions might help the branded garments companies. Which the companies can take over the problem of the people not purchasing the branded garments and study they influencing factors which influence the customer purchase the particular brand and know what the preferences of the customer and they can capitalize on them to increase the market share.

 Bibliography Most of the updated and competitive information were gathered by visiting the websites of the different airlines. The various sites are: www.arvindmills.com www.mudharagarments.com www.raymondsindia.com www.fashion2fabric.com www.image&fashion.com www.google.com www.myiris.com www.indiainfo.com

Questionnaire

Personal details:Name:Age: - < 20 > [ ]

[ ]

20 – 30

[ ]

30 – 40

[ ]

40

Profession:-

A) Student [ ] class [ ]

B) Salaried [ ]

C) Professional [ ]

D) Business

E) Others please specify___________  Monthly Family Income:< 10,000

[ ]

10,000 – 20,000 [ ]

20,000 – 30,000 [ ]

Above 30,000 [ ] Educational qualification:-

Graduate

[ ]

post-graduate

[ ]

M.Phil \ PhD \ Post Doctorate [ ] Marital status:-

Married [ ] un-married [ ] 1) How often do you purchase your clothing? => Once in 3 months

=> once in 6 months

=> Once in a year

=> occasionally

2) Please identify Your level of preference towards branded ready made garments Very high

[ ]

High

[ ]

Moderate

[ ]

low

[ ]

very low

[ ]

It the answer for the above question is low/very low, go to question No –  3 otherwise go to question No – 4 3)

Reasons for having low preference towards branded shirts (You can choose more than one reason) A) Perfect fit not available up to the mark 

B) Priced high

C) Quality not

D) Lesser choice of the design & colour  E) Restricted availability when compared to cloth availability

F) Other’s________________________________________________ 

4)

Do you prefer branded formal shirts Yes [ ] No

[ ]

If yes, answer is no, please end the questionnaire If no go to question No – 8 5)

will you prefer different brands when you are buying plain and checks/stripes shirts Yes

[ ]

No

[ ]

If yes plain – preferred brand(s) \Strips (or) checks – preferred brand(s) Preferred brand(s) addidas Van Heusen lewis Peter England Excalibur Koutons Indigo Nation Nike Wrangler Hues Park Avenue West side

6)

Plain

Strips\check   s

who influences you in your buying decisions of branded formal men wear  a) Wife [ ] b) other family members [ ] c) Friends

[ ]

d) colleagues

[ ]

e) Others please specify__________ Various brands Addidas Van Heusen lewis Peter England Excalibur Koutons Indigo Nation Nike Wrangler Hues Park Avenue West side

Tick  

f) none

7)

[ ]

The brand’s that you are aware of 

8)

9)

Please identify the source(s) from which you normally collect\get the information regarding the branded men wear  T.V

[ ]

NEWS paper

Magazines

[ ]

Internet

Friends

[ ]

[ ]

Nature of the out let that you prefer for purchasing the branded men wear  Exclusive showrooms

[ ]

Factory outlets

[ ]

Other Retail out lets 10)

[ ]

[ ]

Rank the following factors which influence you to choose the branded men wear  (Rank them between 1 to 8) Particulars Price Quality Design Comfort level Fabric Range Brand Name Value for money

Rank