Marketing Research Analysis

The objective of this Marketing Research Assessment is to find a research problem of a company, review the industry reports to understand the social, economic & technological issues to design the research problem then make a survey related to the research questions which has to be qualitative & quantitative analysis. Here we focus on “Aus Apparel”, an Australian clothing brand, whose target customers are women who like stylish but simple and comfortable clothes. The company was consistently recognized as one of the best companies to work for and had impressive environmental sustainability and social responsibility record. However, a startling discovery had emerged. The median customer age was currently 59. And they have been stereotyped as a brand for older people. So now the company has to develop its brand strategies targeting the younger generation. So a research proposal has to be made for the potential customers in the competitive apparel market.

Qualitative Analysis

Research Problem

Aus Apparel is perceived as a brand for older people and hasn’t evolved their fashion concern for younger generations in design, style, and individualism (self-identity) while focusing on ageless clothing for multiple generations. So, to find out the solution to the problem and doing some extensive market research qualitative design is important. This design helps to find out the competitors and environment and the measures needed to get more customers.

Research Questions

1. To identify why Aus Apparel hasn’t come up with design and style for the younger generation.

2. To understand why they haven’t evolved their fashion concern to target the younger generation.

Research Methodology

For the research ‘non-probability sampling was used. Under non-probability, we have chosen Snowball sampling. Snowball sampling is usually considered an efficient sampling technique that permits the study of populations that are difficult to reach. It is also considered a valuable tool for studying sensitive or private concerns (Waters, 2013).

Research Technique

Face-to-face personal interviews were done for the research, as it is considered as the best form of data collection where the interviewee’s response has the high quality and getting both positive & negative views on the topic (Dialsingh, 2019).

Interview Result Analysis

When the interview was conducted the first thing that was found was if they have any issues with age-less clothing and was asked where they take fashion inspiration from and what attributes of a fashion brand attract them. When the respondents were asked about ageless clothing — we got responses that 5 out of 5 respondents were happy with ageless clothing offered by Aus Apparel and were open to the idea of large sizes from which we could derive that potential consumers have a positive attitude towards accepting ageless clothing, the consumer preferences dependent on independent variable knowledge and awareness. Another concern that was raised by the questions was preference on price, quality & brand image which makes quality and price proportional to consumer perception. Another question was focused on when they enter Aus Apparel being working women and university students as they mostly prefer activewear and formals as they have a great active social life and like to feel comfortable in what they are wearing which means consumer perception has a positive relation with consumer demands. 3 out of 5 respondents said that their spending is related to specific reasons and they spend around $100-$120 a month which makes them shop mostly from brands that have a positive image in the minds of the consumers. From this observation, it can be said price sensitivity and brand image have a positive relation with consumer perception while shopping. When asked about some advice for Aus Apparel to change their actions and focus more on the younger generation with their presence online- 60% of the respondents suggested that they should communicate more with their potential customers through posts, websites, podcasts, photos and create relevance with the target audience. Therefore, consumer perception and online presence have a positive relation to attract younger generations. Some of the interviewers also mentioned social responsibility towards clothing as they want sustainable products. This says about the positive relation about social responsibility. The whole idea of taking this survey was to understand consumer attitude, what people think about Aus Apparel, and the attributes which will help the brand to reposition itself.

Quantitative Analysis

Research Question

What will persuade these Australian young generations to choose comfortable as well as stylish clothes from Aus Apparel over any other store?

Research Objective

To measure consumer purchase perception towards garment designs and the personality of the brand. Variables are consumer perception, knowledge of new fashion, social responsibility, price sensitivity, perceived quality, online presence, self-image. These variables were derived from the answers we received after the qualitative research interview, which summarize the various answers obtained from the interview.

Sampling Frame

Gender: Female.

Target Population: Students and Working women.

Sample Frame: (18–25) female students, (26–40) working women.

Sampling Method: Non-Probability sampling

Sampling Units: Judgement sampling

Sample Size: 250

Interview Result Analysis

Price Sensitivity

Consumer perception changes with price. Price is a major factor for Gen-Y, as most of the generation cohort usually includes students and they are very fashion conscious. So by conducting the interview we have found that Gen Y gets attracted to those who have discounts. And some students & working men pay high for brand image.

Knowledge of new fashion

According to the interview, people are very much concerned about their self-image and have knowledge about so much fashion nowadays that brands who have a strong image love that brand. That’s why they are happy with the ageless clothing of Aus Apparel.

Social responsibility

From the interview, it is found that they will purchase clothes if they are environmentally friendly which can create a new attraction for Aus Apparel. Moreover, this leads to self-image because when people have a favorable opinion on a product it results in strong buying intention (Valaei, 2017).

Self-Image Congruence

The interview the answer shows the consumer’s shop which talks about their personality and wants to feel confident in it. So, it is said that consumers will buy products that correspond to their own (Toth, 2014).

Perceived quality

The quality of the product also depends on the discrepancy between the item of the company and the alternative product offered in the very same market (Agyekum, 2015). So, if the customers get what they want from Aus Apparel they will be satisfied with their clothes and quality.

Online Presence

Buying clothing online is especially popular due to its wide range, even when one Aussie woman in her 30s said that shipping costs were considered. No wonder Australia’s e-commerce market gathered AUD 21.3 billion in 2017 (Matsumoto, 2019). So, as most of the respondents are mostly into social media they buy clothes online or some of them gather information from different social media like Instagram, Facebook, etc.

Budget

In the 6-month project as there will be interviews done and surveys most of our budget will be gone to research assistants. The team has to hire three research assistants full-time and will be paid AUD 25 as per industry rate. Another expense which will be more is the personal interviews done for qualitative research. Each interview will cost around AUD 325 per person (Suttle, 2015) and will interview 25 respondents. Transcribe machine will cost around AUD 179 each and 2 is needed. After doing the qualitative research based on the hypothesis we need to form a quantitative questionnaire which will cost around AUD 4125. Online polls will cost around AUD 2500. Analyzing all this data will take around 1.5 months which will cost around AUD 4000 because it’s a lot of time and resources are needed to do it like the place to do the interviews. Stationeries will be needed which will cost around AUD 500. Lastly, there will be miscellaneous expenses which can be roughly AUD1500. So, we will need around AUD 1 million to conduct our whole marketing research.