Final

Executive summary

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, ITES, 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, Raymond’s India Ltd etc. knowing about their products and their brands. The well known brands like in India are Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Arrow, Allen Solly, Park Avenue, black berry, and Color Plus

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 symbol/object/emotion perception and a product/company with a goal of diving loyalty and 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

Line extension

Brand extension

New

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-ofmouth.

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 higher-level 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 mindset” 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). The following questions could be asked: • Here is a list of brand (ads, logos). Do you remember having seen this brand (ad, logo) before (yesterday/last month)? 3 • Complete the following words: NI_E;

L_R_L_;

B_A_A

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).

Design of study Statement of problem  A study on Brand Preference and Acceptability of Branded Readymade Formal Men’s wear.

Objective: 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

Scope of the study This study is mainly aimed at identifying the various brands in men’s garments and its awareness and acceptance level which in turn can help this industry to design suitable marketing strategies.

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 Non-probability random sampling – Convenient Sampling Method used to collect the data, where the entire Bangalore 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. 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.

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 behavior 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 subcontractors 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%.

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 1015 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 oneStop 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. KamaSutra The premium condom brand with the unique 'for the pleasure of making love' positioning in textured & flavored variants. Premium The range of cosmetics & toiletries including after shaves, shampoos, cologne, shaving cream, soaps, deodorants, room fresheners, etc. Color Plus Premium casual wear brand in high quality natural fabrics like cotton and linen, in superior mixed and performance oriented weaves.

Data Analysis & Interpretation Age: < 20

[ ]

20 – 30

[ ]

30 – 40

[ ]

40 >

[ ] Respondent’s classification based on Age Table - 1 AGE < 20 20 - 30 30 - 40 40 >

No of Respondents 10 64 18 8

Percentage 10% 64% 18% 8%

Source: - Primary Data Graph - 1 RESPONDENTS

NUMBER OF

AGE 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 < 20

20 - 30

30 - 40

40 >

AGE GROUPS

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

Profession:A) Student [ ]

B) Salaried [ ]

C) Professional [ ]

E) Others please specify___________

D) Business class [ ]

Table - 2 Respondents Classified According To The Profession Profession Student Salaried Professional Business class

No of Respondents 26 24 21 39

Percentage 26% 24% 21% 39%

Source: Primary Data

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 [ ] 30,000 [ ]

Above 30,000 [ ] Table - 3

10,000 – 20,000 [ ] 20,000 –

Respondents Classified According To The Income No of Percentage Monthly income Respondents 16% < 10,000 16 43% 10,000 - 20,000 43 22% 20,000 - 30,000 22 19% 30,000 > 19

Source: - Primary Data

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 34% Graduate 34 Respondents Classified According To The28% post - graduate 28 Martial Status38 38% others Marital status No of Percentage Respondents 58% married 58 42% un-married 42

Source: Primary Data

Graph - 4

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION

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%

Martial status:-

Married [ ]

un-married [ ]

Table - 5

Source: - Primary Data

Graph - 5

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 purchase

No of respondents

Percentage

Once in 3 months

38

38%

Once in 6 months

22

22%

Once in year

16

16%

Occasionally

24

24%

Source: - Primary Data

Graph – 6

FREQUENCY OF PURCHASING

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”

Table -7

Comparison of age and frequency of purchase AGE < 20 Once in 3 months Once in 6 months Once in year Occasionally

20 – 30 4 6

30 - 40 34 14 4 20

40 > 2 8 4

4

Source: - primary data Graph - 7

COMPRASION OF AGE & FRQUENCY OF PURCHASE 40

34

once in 3 months

30 20

20 10

once in 6 months once in year occassianlly

14 4 6

8

4

4

4

30 - 40

40 >

2

0 < 20

20 - 30

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[ ] Moderate

High [ ]

[ ] low

[ ]

very low

Table - 8

Level of preference Level of preference Very high High Moderate Low Very low

No Of Respondents 16 14 44 16 10

Percentage 16% 14% 44% 16% 10%

[ ]

Source: - primary data Graph - 8

LEVEL OF PREFERENCE

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 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

Frequency 8 26 6 12 4

Percentage 31% 100% 23% 46% 15%

Availability

Source: - primary data 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

Do you prefer branded formal wear Do you prefer branded formal wear

No of respondents

yes

84

No

16

PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS

Graph - 9 REASONS FOR HAVING THE LOW PREFERNCE 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

26 12

8

6

perfect fit not avilable

priced high

4

quality not up lesser choice to the mark of the desigh & colour

restricted avilability when compared to cloth availability

VARIOUS REASONS

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

[ ]

Source: - primary data

Graph - 10

Do you prefer the branded garments 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 Van Heusen Allen Solly Peter England Excalibur Arrow Indigo Nation Scullers Color Plus Parx Park Avenue

Tick

Brand Awareness Level Of Respondents Various Brands Louis Philippe Van Heusen Allen Solly Peter England Excalibur Arrow Indigo Nation Scullers ColorPlus Parx Park Avenue

No Of Respondents 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 84

Source: - primary data Graph - 11 Brand Awareness Of The Respondents

various brands

Park Avenue

84 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 84

ColorPlus Indigo Nation Graph - 11

Excalibur Allen Solly Louis Philippe 0

20

40

60

80

100

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

e) Others please specify__________

[ ] f) none

Table - 12

[ ]

Source: - primary data Graph - 12

22

25 18

20

13 10 Who Influences To Buy Branded Formal Men Wear

15 10

9

wife

10

5 family members Other

18

friends 0

22

Colleagues None

wife

other family members

friends

colleages

none

13 9

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.

Table – 13

Comparison of occupation with influencing factors Wife Other family members Friends Colleagues

Student

Salaried 4

Professional 3

Business class 3

4 11

7 5 13

5 4

2 2

None

8

1

Source: - primary data

Graph - 13 compraison of influencing factors with occupation

15

13

NO OF RESPONDENTS

11

student

10 5

4

0

3 3

w ife

4

salaried

8

7

professional 5

5

business class

4

2

other family members

2

friends

1

colleagues

none

Influencing factors

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

Various Sources T.V Newspaper Magazines Internet Friends

8 13 28 3 32

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

No of Respondents

35 28

30 25 20 13

15 10

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

[ ]

Factory outlets

[ ]

Other Retail out lets

[ ] Table –15

Source: - primary data Nature of the out let purchasing

Graph - 15

Exclusive showroom

Nature Of the 30outlet For The Purchase

Factory retail outlets

39

Other retail outlet

15

Exclusive showroom Factory Retail Outlets Other Retail Outlet

Inferences: - 39 of the respondents like to purchase for the factory retail outlet. Where 30 of them like to purchase the branded to purchase from the Exclusive Showroom. And very few that is 15 of them like to purchase from other retail outlet

9) Rank the following factors which influence you to choose the branded men wear (Rank them between 1 to 8) Table – 16 Particulars Price Quality Design Comfort level Fabric Range Brand Name Value for money

Rank

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 – 16 WEIGHTED RESPONSE OF THE INFLUENCE TO PURCHASE THE BRAND

WEIGHTED REMARKS

700

602

600 500 400

438 342

380

334

314

350 264

300 200

3

100 0 Price

Quality

Design

Com fort level

Fabric

Range

Brand Nam e

Value for m oney

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 nd rank – 7 points and so on 8th rank – 1 point 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. 10) Are you aware of retailer brands (in-house) ready made formal shirts in India Yes

[ ]

No

[ ]

Table - 17

Awareness Of The Retail Brands Retailer brands

No of Respondents

Percentage

Yes

64

64%

No

20

20%

Source: - primary data

Graph - 17 AWEARNESS LEVEL OF THE RETAILER BRANDS

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

[ ]

No

[ ]

Table - 18 Awareness Level of the Respondents towards Manufacturers of the Branded Garments Manufacture No of r of the brands Respondents

.

Yes

26

No

58

Source: - primary data

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. Calculation of CHI-Square Test:10,000 – 20,000

< 10,000 Very High High Moderate Low Very low

20,000 30,000

30,000 >

Total

0 0 4 2 0

0 0 28 12 8

12 4 4 0 2

4 10 8 2 0

16 14 44 16 10

6

48

22

24

100

Source: - primary data

Ho =There is no relation between the income level of the individual and their Preferences level towards the branded garments H1 = There is relation between the income level of the individual and their Preferences level towards the branded garments

O 0 0 12 4 0 0 4 10 4 28 4 8 2 12 0 2 0 8 2 0

E 0.96 7.68 3.52 3.84 0.84 6.72 3.08 3.36 2.64 21.12 9.68 10.56 0.96 7.68 3.52 3.84 0.6 4.8 2.2 2.4

O-E -0.96 -7.68 8.48 0.16 -0.84 -6.72 0.92 6.64 1.36 6.88 -5.68 -2.56 1.04 4.32 -3.52 -1.84 -0.6 3.2 -0.2 -2.4 X

2

=

(O - E)2 0.9216 58.9824 71.9104 0.0256 0.7056 45.1584 0.8464 44.0896 1.8496 47.3344 32.2624 6.5536 1.0816 18.6624 12.3904 3.3856 0.36 10.24 0.04 5.76

(O - E)2 / E 0.96 7.68 20.429091 0.0066667 0.84 6.72 0.2748052 13.121905 0.7006061 2.2412121 3.3328926 0.6206061 1.1266667 2.43 3.52 0.8816667 0.6 2.1333333 0.0181818 2.4

70.037633

Degrees of freedom = (Rows -1) X (columns - 1) = (4 – 1) X (5 – 1) = 3 X 4 = 12 Level of significance = 0.05

Table value = 21.03 Test Results = Reject Null Hypothesis Conclusion: - There is significant relationship between the income level and Branded Garments

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 ready-made 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