Purchasing Behavior : Ethnocentric or Polycentric

The research paper aimed to ascertain the pattern of purchase intentions among Pakistani students towards foreign apparel brands. The selected variable affecting any consumer behavior perceived quality, status, emotional influence were judged through questionnaire and then the results were put through the regression analysis. Regression analysis revealed that Pakistan’s university student’s openness to normative influence had positive impact on brand consciousness. Brand consciousness had positive impact on perceived quality of international apparel brands & emotional value that these brands generate. Both perceived quality of international apparel brands and emotional value that they generate had significant impact on purchase intention. Introduction The retail market in developed countries of the world is at the mature stage (Berner et al., 2001). Intense competition & sluggish population growth is motivating leading apparel brands of the world to enter in new markets and attract new customers (Steen Kamp & Hofstede, 2002). The emergence of economies (china, India etc) with strong middle class is impelling these apparel firms’ to ensure their presence in such economies ((Dickson et al., 2004). Economic growth & emerging young customers who have brand & fashion awareness (Morton, 2002; Bryck, 2003) in Asian markets such as China, India, Japan & South Korea have attracted attention from multinational apparel firms. The consumers in these countries are witnessing many brands in their market. As a consequence they are more  Nasir Shaheen, M.Phil Research Scholar, Department of Management Sciences, Qurtuba University of Science & IT, D.I. Khan, Pakistan Purchasing Behavior: Ethnocentric or Polycentric Nasir Shaheen Journal of Managerial Sciences Volume II, Number 2 222 sensitive to brands as to what it offers, what it speaks to them and how it addresses their needs (Anholt, 2000). The consumer decision to buy a particular brand is effected by different factors. Aside from functional benefits, he/she may choose a particular brand to express his/her personality, social status, affiliation or to fulfill his/her desire for newness (Kim et al., 2008). Searching for information is a key stage of a consumer’s decision-making process that may include search for internal & external environment. Internal information will be gathered from past experience or prior exposure to advertisement. External information may be collected from sources such as reference groups (e.g. peers, family members) and/or marketplace (Blackwell et al., 2001). Both internal and external information will reduce perceived risk and thus search behavior (Moorthy et al, 1997). The assessment of an apparel item is an important step in the decision-making process. It includes aspects such as the judgment of quality of the item but may also include aesthetics (De Kleark & Lubebe, 2006). Understanding what consumers want and developing targeted strategies may be one of the biggest challenges for multinational apparel firms. Objective of the Study This paper aims to study factors affecting Pakistan’s university students’ purchase intention towards foreign apparel brands. Consumers’ brand perceptions may be driven by their unparalleled needs and brand knowledge derived from personal experience (Keller, 2001). Young customers have a desire to bolster their image and to look “cool”. The outcomes of this research will allow the foreign apparel firms to better Purchasing Behavior: Ethnocentric or Polycentric Nasir Shaheen Journal of Managerial Sciences Volume II, Number 2 223 understand Pakistan’s market and will help them to adopt effective strategies for Pakistan’s apparel market. Pakistan’s Consumer market Pakistan’s per capita income is 1000 $ annually and is the eighth most populous country in the world (Asian Development Bank, 2002). Its has highest per capita income in the whole south asian region ((Asian Development Bank, 2002). Pakistan has consumption-oriented society and people tend to spend more on rituals and social engagements (Burki & Muhammad, 2008). Thus it can be inferred that in order to show their status and style, Pakistani consumers spend considerable amount of money on their clothing. Thus it is a lucrative market for multinational apparel firms. Significance of the Study Pakistan is a developing country and is considered as one of emerging economies of the world after China, Russia & India. It bears all the Hallmarks of the consumers in developing countries. As more & more foreign apparel Retailers are coming to Pakistan, they are faced with tough competition from national and other foreign fashion brands. The findings of this paper will serve as a guide to such foreign apparel retailers who have limited knowledge of Pakistan’s apparel consumer. This will help them to formulate marketing strategies to gain from Pakistan’s apparel markets. This paper will also help National apparel producers to reflect on their marketing strategies and compete effectively in the cutthroat competition that exists in apparel industry. Purchasing Behavior: Ethnocentric or Polycentric Nasir Shaheen Journal of Managerial Sciences Volume II, Number 2 224 Literature Review & Hypothesis Development Purchase decisions are effected by the group influence when it comes to the selection of brands for identical products, group cohesiveness plays a decisive role in the selection of brand (Witt & Bruce, 1972). Along side group cohesiveness, the member’s information about the brand used by other group members also effect decision to quit the existing brand and purchase the brand used by other group members (Witt 1969). Thus greater the consumer’s orientation with the group members, greater will be its impact that he/she will show inclination towards a specific brand used by the group members (Moschis 1976). However the decisions of a group member regarding products that is low in visibility, perceived risk, complexity & high in testability is not effected by group influence (Ford and Ellis 1980). As Pakistan is a collectivist society (Burki & Muhammad, 2008) it can be easily inferred that the individual choices regarding brands are greatly affected by the group he is associated with. This has led us to our first hypothesis; H1: Normative influence has a positive impact on brand consciousness The American marketing association defines brand as “a name, term, design, symbol or any other characteristic that makes the selling of good or service different from the goods & services of other sellers”. When making purchases the consumer perceives brands as the sign of quality (Vranesevic & stancec 2003). Also price of the brand is considered as the indicator of its quality (Sjolander 1992). Earlier studies have proved the fact that brand name is closely linked with qualities followed by other factors such as price & retailer reputation (Agarwal & Teas, 2002). The perceived brand origin has significant impact on the brand image (Thakor & Lavack 2003). Some brands closely link Purchasing Behavior: Ethnocentric or Polycentric Nasir Shaheen Journal of Managerial Sciences Volume II, Number 2 225 themselves with their origin in order to enhance their image and to project themselves as symbol of quality (Thakor & Lavack 2003). Also the country of manufacture had no impact on product quality evaluations when country of corporate ownership was also present (Thakor & Lavack 2003). High professed quality is said to drive a consumer to choose one brand above rival brands (Yoo et al., 2000). The consumer’s perception of quality from brands directs us to reveal our following hypothesis; H2: Pakistani students who have higher level of brand consciousness will perceive a foreign apparel brand to have higher quality Perceived benefits are a combination of different product dimensions (tangible or intangible; extrinsic and intrinsic ;), available in relation to buy and use of the product (Snoj et al. 2004). Emotional value is the benefit which one gets by experiencing something new or different( Lee et al., 2006). The products & brands may provide other benefits such as fun & enjoyable experience that generate emotional values for the consumers (Holbrook, 1986). Consumer perceives foreign brands to be more superior in all aspects to the national brands (Iyer and Kalita, 1997; Kinra, 2006). This has enabled us to formulate our next hypothesis; H3: Pakistani students who have higher level of brand consciousness will perceive a foreign apparel brand to have higher emotional value The level of quality and emotional value are theoretically related (Babin et al., 1994). Some authors use perceived quality and perceived value interchangeably (Snoj et al. 2004). Thus perceived quality will also bring emotional value to consumers. This has led us to frame the next hypothesis: Purchasing Behavior: Ethnocentric or Polycentric Nasir Shaheen Journal of Managerial Sciences Volume II, Number 2 226 H4: Pakistan’s University students who perceive a foreign apparel brand to have higher quality also will perceive it to have higher emotional value. As discussed in the out set the consumer who perceives the product to be of higher quality will buy that product in assessment to a product of lower quality (Vranesevic & stancec 2003). The brands that are linked with the high quality will be purchased by the consumers (Snoj et all). The consumer’s implied perception of quality from the brand supersedes its price when he is making purchase decision (Dodds et al., 1991). This has led us to following Hypothesis; H5: Pakistan’s University students who perceive a foreign apparel brand to have higher quality will have a higher purchase intention toward the brand. Agarwal & Teas (2000) has quoted Szybillo and Jacoby (1974) that consumer is likely to give more importance to emotional value derived from a product than perceived quality of that product. Also, Dodds et al. (1991) are of the opinion that there is positive impact of e