The Impact Of Brand Image On Consumer Purchasing In UK Clothing Industry – Research Study

Research Background

The brand image enables an organization to easily influence the consumer buying behaviour. In the business scenario, the brand image is the best way to enhance the growth of business in adequate time and cost. The brand image of the company is an important element for influencing the consumer buying behaviour towards their product and services and gains their competitive benefit. Moreover, the main purpose of this research is to address the impact of the brand image on the consumer purchasing in context of the UK clothing industry. In the current business scenario, the organization should determine both consumer buying behaviour and brand image for enhancing competitive benefits. The organization has also gained their understanding towards the marketing strategy to improve the brand image and influence a large number of consumers. The primary objective of brand image is to gain the awareness of product and services among consumers (Okonkwo, 2016). The image of the brand could direct impact on the consumer purchasing behaviour as it would directly influence the level of consumer satisfaction. An organization considers many factors to influence the consumer buying behaviour such as convenience, sales activities, product quality, and brand image. For cloth industry, it is imperative for the organization to make their unique brand image in the market place as it could be supportive to enhance the customer satisfaction level. In addition, it is also found that the brand image could direct impact on the level of consumer satisfaction as it could increase the sale of the product in the targeted time.

The main aim of current research is to examine effect of brand image on the consumer purchasing decision in UK cloth industry. The current research aim is accomplished by following objectives: 

• To identify the meaning and concept of brand image and consumer purchasing in context of UK clothing industry
• To address the impact of brand image on consumer purchasing in UK clothing industry
• To recommend the marketing strategies to improve the brand image and influence the consumer purchasing in UK clothing Industry

Research Question

• What is the meaning and concept of brand image and consumer purchasing in context of UK clothing industry?
• How brand image impact on consumer purchasing in UK clothing industry?
• What are the marketing strategies that will support to improve the brand image and influence the consumer purchasing in UK clothing Industry?

To identify the meaning and concept of brand image and consumer purchasing on UK clothing industry

According to Christopher (2016), the brand image is the opinion and perception of consumers towards the brand. It is determined as a bundle of associations within the customer’s mind. It shows the current position of product and service in the marketplace. It is also identified that the brand image can be set of belief of consumers in the context of the specific brand. The brand image can also be determined by the perception of the customer about the specific product and services. It is a way whereby particular brand is located in the marketplace.

Research Question

In oppose to this, Vigneron and Johnson (2017) examined that brand image shows the character of the company. It is developed by experience, perception, views, and understanding towards the product and services. It is also stated that the brand image shows the vision and mission of the organization as the company can easily lead to the consumer towards their product and service. Furthermore, it is also examined that the brand image considers certain factors like organization’s image and slogan, which supports to enhance the awareness of product and services in the marketplace. As a result, it will support to influence the consumer towards the brand and make a unique image in the market.      

In the view of Schor (2014) consumer behaviour consists of the way whereby individual consumers and groups that select the particular organization to buy product and services. It also shows the activities of customers in the market and the primary reasons for performing those acts. Organizations identify the factors that influence the consumers buying behaviour. An Organization should also determine actual need of consumer due to easily attracting them towards the specific products and services. It is examined that consumers are the asset for an organization hence organization focus on satisfying the needs of consumers. It is evaluated that behaviour of consumers is the actions of decision procedure of individual who buy product and services for own consumption.

In oppose to this, Christopher (2016) explained that brand image has a direct impact on the level of consumer satisfaction. An organization can consider different factors to influence the customers buying behaviours like sales activities, convenience, brand image, and quality of products. As a result, company can be capable to retain consumers by satisfying their needs. Furthermore, it is also examined that similarity between brand image and self-image of consumers will increase the customer satisfaction level and their preference for the specific brand. In support to this, Varley (2014) examined that the consumer loyalty can support to decline the switching cost as it could be imperative for enhancing the level of customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the consumer loyalty is defined as a repeated purchasing behaviour for any particular product and services. Consumer loyalty can positively impact on enhancing the sale of specified goods and services.

In the business, brand image is an important factor that drives consumer loyalty and develops a positive relation with them. 

To recommend the marketing strategy to improve the brand image and influence the consumer purchasing in UK clothing Industry

Literature Review

Raheem, Vishnu, and Ahmed (2014) argued that marketing strategies will be imperative to improve the brand image and influence consumer purchasing in UK clothing industry. It is also stated that an organization should identify their key audience to frequently enhance the sale of the firm. Moreover, the primary objective of define audience is to deliver their product and services of the company in adequate time. Company should practice marketing mix strategy to increase the awareness of brand as it would be influence the consumer purchasing decision. In addition, there are different key people such as partners, employees, industry analysts, and consumers that should be considered by the organization to enhance their brand image in the marketplace.  Consequently, It could be effective for easily influence the consumers buying behaviour.  

In support of this, Giovannini and Thomas (2015) explained that an organization should also identify the business goal for attracting a huge number of consumers in less time and cost. It will support to build a unique image in the marketplace in the adequate resources. It is explained that a company should need to make competitive pricing strategy because of defining the product and services and target audience for influencing consumers buying behaviour. An organization should also determine product quality and price of competitors for offering their product and services in the marketplace. It will also support the organization to make a unique image and gain the growth of the firm.

According to the Sasmita and Mohd Suki (2015) organization should also determine the brand persona by developing critical business goals and key audiences of the firm. An organization is needed to improve their awareness about factors that influence the buying behaviour of people. In addition, it is found that the brand persona should define the image of brand, hence organization consider it and influence the behaviour of consumers.

In the research study, research methodology will help the research scholar to discover the actual information towards the research topic. There are many techniques will be considered in the research methodology such as research design, research philosophy, sampling, data collection method, data analysis method, research limitation, and research ethics (Khan, Rahmani, Hoe, and Chen., 2014). As a result, the researcher will be capable to collect appropriate information in the context of specified issues. These methods are discussed as below:  

The research philosophy is the opinion or belief of the way wherein the information about phenomenon would be collected, examined, and practised. The main purpose of research philosophy is to transfer the information into meaningful or purposeful data. 

Proposed Methods of Research

Research philosophy will support researcher to get appropriate information in terms of the impact of the brand image on consumer buying in UK cloth industry. The research philosophy will consider two kinds of methods like interpretivism philosophy, positivism, and relativism philosophy. In this research study, the interpretivism philosophy will be practised by investigators to get the philosophies of research participants by considering the survey through questionnaire method. It will also help to get the valid outcome in terms of research problems. Moreover, interpretivism philosophy will be applied by the investigator because the research is subjective in nature. For this research study, positivism and relativism philosophy will not appropriate because there is no need to identify the causal relationship between variables (Jung Jung, Lee, Kim, and Yang, 2014).

Research approach will also help the researcher to gather the appropriate data in the context of the research issue. The research approach will involve different kinds of methods like inductive and deductive approach. The inductive approach supports to collect theoretical understanding in the context of the research issue (Blázquez, 2014).            

 Consequently, the researcher will be facilitated to solve the research issue at specified time and cost. It enabled the researcher to improve the research quality. In addition, this research is subjective in nature hence the inductive approach will be appropriate than the deductive approach. Besides this, the deductive approach will facilitate research scholar to develop the hypothesis and accept and reject them on behalf of collected data (Loureiro and de Araújo, 2014). Through inductive approach, the researcher will facilitate to get an appropriate conclusion about the impact of the brand image on the consumer buying on UK cloth industry. At the same time, it is also analysed that the inductive approach will enable the research scholar to attain aim and objectives of the research.

The research strategy supports the research scholar to meet the research aim and objectives. In the research study, the qualitative and quantitative research design is involved to attain the research aim and objectives effectively. In this research, an investigator will practice both data collection method like qualitative and quantitative research design. The mixed research designs help the research scholar to eliminate the disadvantages of both methods and get a reliable outcome. Moreover, the qualitative research strategy will assist researcher scholar to get non-numeric info in terms of the research matter (Kumar and Kim, 2014). Apart from this, quantitative research strategy will assist the research scholar to obtain the theoretical information regarding research issue.  

The data collection method supports to collect the information in terms of the research subject. The data collection method considers certain methods like primary and secondary data collection method. In this research study, a research scholar will practice mixed data collection method (Kapferer, 2017). The primary data collection method will aid the research scholar to collect fresh info towards the research problems. The primary data collection method considers many sources to collect adequate info such as observation, questionnaire, and interview. It will support the researcher with respect to get appropriate outcome in adequate resources. Besides this, the secondary data collection method permits research scholar to collect the conceptual data from the available info and attain the research aim and objectives. There are different kinds of sources that will be used by the research scholar such as Journal, online and offline sources, books, and company sites (Ngai, Tao, and Moon, 2015). 

The sampling method is imperative in the research study because it enables the research scholar to select the appropriate sample size and get a feasible result in less time and cost. In this, there are two kinds of methods that will be considered in research studies like probability sampling method and non-probability sampling method. For this dissertation, a research scholar will use the probability sampling method because of eliminating biases from the research study (Ström, Vendel, and Bredican, 2014). The probability sampling method will facilitate the research scholar to select research participants through random sampling method. Through this, a research participant will support to select the candidates to collect their opinion and views in terms of research issues. In this research, a research scholar will choose the 40 research participants from the different region of UK. It will assist the research scholar to get the valid outcome. For this dissertation, a research scholar will not use a non-probability sampling method to collect data in the context of research issue. The no-probability sampling method will allow the investigator to select research candidates on behalf of their age, knowledge, and experience. In this, the research candidates are enabled to get the opinion in terms of research matter (Mackey and Gass, 2015). 

The data analysis method supports to evaluate the collected information for obtaining the feasible outcome. A researcher will imply mixed data collection method like qualitative and quantitative data collection method. In this research, a researcher will also practice MS-Excel to get a valid result. In this, many methods will be considered like the chart, column, and bar diagram to analyse the gathered data in the context of the research issue. The research scholar also practised the SPSS method to evaluate gathered data (Flick, 2015).            

The research limitation will directly influence the upcoming result. Furthermore, a research scholar will include many elements like lack of resources, cost, and time. It is also analysed that these factors will directly influence the result. The lack of resources will make bounded the research scholar to attain research aim and objectives. It will negative impact on the quality of research. In addition, it is also found that the primary data collection method will be time-consuming that will influence the performance of research. For mitigating these kind of issues, research scholar will practise the e-mail. Through this, a research scholar will directly communicate with research participants and response on their query. As a result, research scholar will be capable to make a positive relationship with research participants and attain the research objective (Neuman and Robson, 2014).

In the research study, the ethics plays an imperative role for accomplishing the research objectives and aim in an appropriate manner. For this dissertation, a research scholar will practise the standard of research that will help the research scholar to enhance the research quality. An investigator will involve different elements like university instruction, proper referencing, and proper use of information. Hence, it will support research scholar to conduct the research in an ethical manner. Through the ethical norms, a research scholar will also make secure the private data of research participants for getting quality outcome (Panneerselvam, 2014).  

The above research plan demonstrated that the primary data collection method will take extra time than other research activities.

Conclusion 

From the above discussion, it can be summarized that the proper determination of research technique can aid investigator to determine the appropriate data in the context of the research issue. It can also be summarized that there are different kinds of methods like research approach, research philosophy, research methodology, and data collection method that will also help the investigator to discover actual info and obtain a feasible result. In last, it can also be examined that the lack of knowledge towards the ethical norms and research limitation will help the research scholar to get a favourable outcome in the specified time and cost.

References

Blázquez, M. (2014) ‘Fashion shopping in multichannel retail: The role of technology in enhancing the customer experience’, International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 18(4), pp. 97-116.

Christopher, M. (2016) Logistics and supply chain management. UK: Pearson.

Flick, U. (2015) Introducing research methodology: A beginner’s guide to doing a research project. USA: Sage.

Giovannini, S., Xu, Y., and Thomas, J. (2015) ‘Luxury fashion consumption and Generation Y consumers: Self, brand consciousness, and consumption motivations’, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 19(1), pp. 22-40.

Jung Jung, H., Lee, Y., Kim, H., and Yang, H. (2014) ‘Impacts of country images on luxury fashion brand: facilitating with the brand resonance model’, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 18(2), pp. 187-205.

Kapferer, J. N. (2017) Managing luxury brands. In Advances in Luxury Brand Management (pp. 235-249). USA: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Khan, N., Rahmani, S. H. R., Hoe, H. Y., and Chen, T. B. (2014) ‘Causal relationships among dimensions of consumer-based brand equity and purchase intention: Fashion industry’, International Journal of Business and Management, 10(1), P. 172.

Kumar, A., and Kim, Y. K. (2014) ‘The store-as-a-brand strategy: The effect of store environment on customer responses’, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(5), pp. 685-695.

Loureiro, S. M. C., and de Araújo, C. M. B. (2014) ‘Luxury values and experience as drivers for consumers to recommend and pay more’, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(3), pp. 394-400.

Mackey, A., and Gass, S. M. (2015) Second language research: Methodology and design. UK: Routledge.

Neuman, W. L., and Robson, K. (2014) Basics of social research. USA: Pearson Canada.

Ngai, E. W., Tao, S. S., and Moon, K. K. (2015) ‘Social media research: Theories, constructs, and conceptual frameworks’, International Journal of Information Management, 35(1), pp. 33-44.

Okonkwo, U. (2016) Luxury fashion branding: trends, tactics, techniques. USA: Springer.

Panneerselvam, R. (2014) Research methodology. USA: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.

Raheem, A. R., Vishnu, P., and Ahmed, A. M. (2014) ‘Impact of product packaging on consumer’s buying behaviour’, European Journal of Scientific Research, 122(2), pp. 125-134.

Sasmita, J., and Mohd Suki, N. (2015) ‘Young consumers’ insights on brand equity: Effects of brand association, brand loyalty, brand awareness, and brand image,’ International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 43(3), pp. 276-292.

Schor, J. B. (2014) Born to buy: the commercialized child and the new consumer cult. USA: Simon and Schuster.

Ström, R., Vendel, M., and Bredican, J. (2014) ‘Mobile marketing: A literature review on its value for consumers and retailers’, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(6), pp. 1001-1012.

Varley, R. (2014) Retail product management: buying and merchandising. UK: Routledge.

Vigneron, F., and Johnson, L. W. (2017) Measuring perceptions of brand luxury. In Advances in Luxury Brand Management (pp. 199-234). USA: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

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