A Comparative Study of Consumers’ Attitude and Behaviour towards Online Fashion Shopping ...

8/3/2019 A Comparative Study of Consumers Attitude and Behaviour towards Online Fashion Shopping Cross-Cultural Study

1/43

Chapter 1 Introduction to the Study

Project Background

In order to understand consumer behaviour, it is a precursor to

understand the consumer expectations, consumer requirements and

purchasing trend as well as what encompasses such trend. Considerably, the

consumer buying process is multifaceted because of the fact that there are

several internal and external factors impacting the consumer buyer decision.

Such elements that influence a consumers purchasing decision manifest

themselves in the stages of consumer purchase decision-making, and also the

type of buying behaviour such consumer possess. Since the consumer

evaluates a product or a service, the necessity to recognize their motivations

influencing customers is apparent. Either intrinsic or extrinsic, motivations to

purchase fashion garments and accessories via virtual retailing stores.

Because it is a highly individualized undertaking, the interest of the academia

as well as the retailers is increasing, emphasizing the importance to explain

and/or find the existing reality behind online fashion retailing and the drivers of

such a process.


2/43

Online fashion shopping is now a living phenomenon, being the focus of

academic researches. This study will look at the differences between Malaysia

and United Kingdom with respect to the consumers attitude and behaviour

towards online fashion shopping. In this proposal, how culture makes

differences on the behaviour and attitude of a customer given the same

channel which is the internet will be examined. Moreover, how the online

buyers attitude and behaviour are influencing the e-retailing industries in both

selected countries will be investigated. The impact of studying the consumer

attitudes and behaviours of two diverse states might to online retailing industry

or how online fashion retailing could lead to new schools of thought about

fashion e-tailing.

Review of PastResearch Works and Identification of Gaps

There are studies which focus on fashion innovativeness, understanding

online buying tendencies of the people, psychological and behavioural drivers

of online clothing purchasing and why consumers hesitate to shop online.

However, there are limited studies on the interplay of culture with fashion

innovativeness, online buying tendencies, behavioural drivers and consumer


3/43

stigmatism on online fashion retailing. Previous studies show that the

purchasing behaviour has direct effect to consumer decision-making and that

consumer are always particular with price, confidence in brand name and

company reputation with advertising as the most influential factor in

consumerism. The gap in research, on the other hand, lies in the application in

the fashion retailing industry. Culture, beliefs and traditions could affect the

consumerism have also been the center of studies. Specifically, there are

conducted studies focusing on Korea, Japan and UK. Even so, comparative

studies are limited particularly on Asian countries which are receptive on online

retailing and UK which is known on its high streets and as pioneer in online

fashion shopping. As such, the adaption of these issues in the case of Malaysia

and UK consumerism in online fashion shopping remains unexplored. Fashion

online shopping was perceived to be the most acceptable ground to explore the

benefits of technology to global retailing industry.

Research problems and questions


4/43

The key problem that the research will address is the fundamental

differences of consumer attitudes and behaviours of the people on online

fashion shopping. The questions that will be addressed are:

1) What are the prevailing consumer attitudes and behaviours do a

consumer possess? What are their needs and motivations?

2) In lieu with the differences in culture, what are the distinct cultural

behaviours possess as manifested in online fashion purchasing?

3) What are the cultural and social attributes we can get in a Malaysian or

English attitude and behaviour during their access to online fashion

shopping?

Aims and Objectives

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the consumers

cross-cultural attitude and behaviour towards online fashion shopping in two

selected countries, Malaysia and United Kingdom. In lieu with this, the study

will address the following specific objectives:


5/43

To evaluate how the online fashion shoppers in Malaysia and United

Kingdom differ in internet fashion and sites choices

To investigate the perceptions of consumers in buying the online apparels

in Malaysia and United Kingdom

To identify the consumers motivational factors and concern factors towards

online fashion shopping in Malaysia and United Kingdom

To differentiate the behavioural outcomes of online fashion buyers in

Malaysia and United Kingdom

Justification for the Research

The study will be a significant endeavour in gaining in-depth

understanding of the behaviour and attitude of consumers as embedded in

cultural differences. This study will be helpful to online fashion retailers as new

recommendation of strategies could emerge from this research. This research

will be also significant to the field of international and domestic and online


6/43

retailing research as it may unravel useful strategies for companies that belong

in the online retailing and fashion industries. Moreover, this study will be an

important contribution to a body of research online fashion shopping and

fashion e-tailing. The study is also significant to MBA students as it may serve

as useful reference for future researchers and those who will seek information

about consumer attitudes and behaviour and online fashion shopping. Overall,

it may help boosts the growth of online consumerism research.

Methodology

After gathering empirical data, thematic content analysis of the literature

will be adopted. Thematic content analysis refers to the method of comparative

research whereby contextual analysis of similarities and differences is possible.

Further, the researcher will integrate concepts of specific theories and models.

Examples of these are model of buying behaviour, consumer environmental

analysis, model of cultures influence on behaviour, relationship model between

culture and subculture, structural model of attitudes, motivation links needs and

objectives, Maslows hierarchy of needs, behavioural learning theories and

consumer decision process model.


7/43

Conclusion

The requisites in understanding consumer behaviour are expectations,

requirements and purchasing trend. Entailing consumer buying process,

several factors affecting consumer decision-making must be consider. There

are also intrinsic and extrinsic motivations in purchase decisions of these

consumers. Given that consumers are affected by particular factors, it would be

necessary to look at what drives and motivates consumer to purchase online.

Chapter 2 Literature Review

Introduction

Perceived as the reflection of changes in a given society, fashion

relates how such social structures conform to changes. Either as a medium of

art or craftsmanship, the decline in the global fashion sales in the past few

years requires that the industry should resort into new possibilities to satisfy the

ever-changing of the customers. Online fashion shopping was seen to be the

most plausible avenue to leverage profitability while also optimizing the


8/43

dynamics of responding to customer requirements. However, online fashion

shopping embraces new facets of customer behaviour, attitudes, motivations

and learning. This paper discusses in detail the literatures relating to the

subject of consumerism specifically the types of consumer behaviour, the

factors affecting such and the consumer buying process. The role of intrinsic

and extrinsic motivations and needs are also discussed. Consumer learning

and measures of consumer learning as well as the theories that govern the

process are also conferred about.

Global retail industry

Moodys report (2006) defines retailers as the companies whose

foremost business is to act as the final sales point to end-consumers for

wholesalers and manufacturers of both food and non-food products. Such a

definition provides that a retail company must be a purchaser of the retailers

goods as a private individual or small trader; that the goods being purchased

are mainly physical goods, and possibly with retail services which serves as

secondary component of their offer; and that purchasing frequency of goods

can vary significantly. The key characteristics of the global retail industry


9/43

include significant diversity in business risk; tight logistics and high standards of

execution; capital-intensive; growth strategy and relevant markets that could be

local or regional in nature.

As Moody argued, business risk is ultimately a function of a segment in

which the retailer operates within a competitive environment, affecting the

retailers positioning within the given segment. There are specialty retailers that

are more exposed to cyclical and seasonal volatility including product

obsolescence and fashion risk, and as exacerbated by the regulatory

environment. Nonetheless, business risks are diminished through appropriate

positioning and securing a niche within a given segment. The right product at

the right time at the right place concept is also inherent to the global retailers as

a source to combat fierce competition. Value propositions of the products and

services are also a priority. Capital intensiveness manifest itself in investing in

fixed assets such as retail outlets, warehouses and distribution networks, which

must be rigorously managed for optimal returns. Organic growth and global

expansions model are inexistence in the global retailer industry, putting

pressures on sustainability despite organizational changes. Although there are

retailers who chose to concentrate on geographical diversification, there are


10/43

who stick to local or regional operations as a precursor to eventual global

integration (pp. 3-4).

Retail industry in Malaysia

In 2007, the Malaysian retailing industry posited a significant growth, as

Euromonitor Internationals (2008) report disclosed. The growth in the said

industry is boosted by the higher private demand, pay hike for civil servants

resulting to higher percentage of income to be disposed, successful marketing

campaign and strong expansion of new retail outlets. The strengthened local

retailing industry is also because of the development of new shopping malls

and the extension of shopping centers which entails the housing of more

number of retail outlets. The Visit Malaysia Campaign 2007 was perceived to

be the leader in putting value growth to the industry. Launched by the

Malaysian government, the campaign targeted 20 million tourists into Malaysia,

contributing to a more alive retailing environment.

Although the Malaysian retailing industry conforms to a fragmented

setting with more entrants crowding environment, a more competitive retailing

industry that is because of increasing number of local and international retailers.


11/43

Store-based retailing is still in dominance since the concept of non-store

retailing is less established. However, non-store retailing has witnessed a

faster value growth in 2007 via direct selling which has an easier acceptance of

the concept to all Malaysian income groups. Moreover, the continued growth of

the retailing industry is being supported by the government by means of

attracting more players who are willing to invest in new outlets, larger selling

space and allocating greater budgets to marketing activities because of the

rising consumer confidence (Euromonitor International 2008).

Retail industry in United Kingdom

Contrary to that of Malaysians retailing industry outcomes, the UK

retailing industry has experienced a slow down in 2007. The Euromonitor report

states that the downsurge is because of the fear of a slowing housing market

industry as coupled with the rising utility bills, interest rates and mortgage

payments in the UK, all of which imposed a direct hit on the disposable income

of consumers. Supermarkets are dominant in the retailing scene especially the

non-food and other specialized retailers. In addition, the Big Four reaches a

new record of market share although it faced a close scrutiny while


12/43

independent retailers closed down on the high streets. As for the discounters,

the expansion of outlets and moving offer to upmarket were perceived to

strengthen market presence.

Such discounter movement in the UK was supported by the

schizophrenic shopping behaviour wherein consumers mixed bargains with

purchases of indulgent products or luxuries, underempowering the traditional

shopping structure. Aside, ethical or environmental shopping is even more

reflected in consumer behaviour, to which the retailers responded with equal

gusto. This endeavour made possible the emergence of whole new dimension

to which retailers could define themselves. Internet retailing, further, insofar,

has been the most dynamic where UK consumers increasingly becoming more

comfortable with online shopping. This was fuelled by the increased household

access to broadband services and improved web designing efforts.

Global fashion industry

Azuma and Fernie (2003) claim that fashion is perceived to be one of the

most essential parts of civilization as it reflects the great culture of the past.

Likewise, fashion exemplifies the changes within a given society over time. The


13/43

authors also maintained that the materialization of global fashion transformed

the way fashion was perceived in the modern world, changing the focus on

standardization and low-cost advantage. Through fashion globalization also,

the migration of fashion production offshore as well as the resultant

dependence on non-traditional ethos of fashion designing imposed threat to

domestic small fashion players. While also, the condition impedes them from

creating intrinsic fashion on a small but sustainable scale. As said by Yarwood

(1992), fashion is a more accurate barometer because of its inherent

universality attribute whereby fashion affects everyone. Fashion too

characterizes the personal expressionism of life at a given time and place.

For the purpose of satisfying the ever-changing demands of the

consumer, the global fashion industry must find resources and avenues to

continuously do such. Fiore, Lee and Kunz (2004) affirm that a new industry

must emerge, one which basically draws from the opportunities technologies

could provide. Online fashion retailing, as Tseng and Piller (2003) figured,

possesses special requirements compared to that of other online retailing

sectors. Fashion visualization necessitates the existence of virtual catwalk,

user interface and client/server architecture (p. 482). In order to respond to the

dilemmas on online fashion retailing such as the lack of customer consulting


14/43

and the accuracy of high three-dimensional display quality, online retailing for

fashion products need to realized at a high level so as to achieve broad

customer acceptance (p. 477).

Consumer behaviour

Consumer behaviour refers to the decision processes and acts involved

in purchasing using a product. In order that firms could understand the

consumer behaviour, there is the requirement to create the marketing mix

which will give optimum utility to customers, therefore analyzing the what,

where, when and how consumers buy (Haugtvedt, Machleit and Yalch 2005;

Parcon 2007, pp. 89-90). The types of consumer behaviour are determined by

level of involvement in purchase decision and buyers level of involvement

based on motivation. The first determinant focuses on the importance and

intensity of interest in a product on a given situation while the second

determinant deals with the information about a certain product and brand.

There are personal, social and economic risks and that the higher the risks, the

higher the involvement for a consumer.

Types of consumer behaviour


15/43

Even so, consumer behaviour could be categorized as routine

response or programmed behaviour, limited decision-making, extensive

decision-making and impulse buying. Programmed behaviours are inclined for

low involvement frequently to purchase low cost items. These automatic

consumptions need no researching and rigorous decision-making. The second

behaviour is the occasional purchasing of product which requires information

about unfamiliar brand hence a significant amount of time in gathering

information. In the third behaviour, high degree of economic, performance and

psychological risks assessments is considered while for the last behaviour, it

necessitates no conscious planning at all.

Factors that affect consumer behaviour

While at it, it would be plausible to take note of the factors that affect the

consumer buying process: personal, psychological and social. Personal are

unique to an individual consumer including the demographic factors like gender,

race and age. Personal factors greatly affect the decision-making especially

because risks and utility are also very individualistic (Parcon 2007, pp. 91-93).

Consequently, the psychological factors include motives, perception,

ability and knowledge, attitudes, personality and lifestyles. Motives are the


16/43

energizing force onward satisfying a goal or a need. Perception refers to the

process of selecting, organizing and interpreting information inputs in order to

produce meaning. Changes in consumer attitude are based on information and

experience and the capacity to learn these, same with attitude which are also

learn from interaction with other people. Knowledge, on the other hand, is the

familiarity with the product and expertise. Internal traits and behaviours;

consistency with self-concept affects consumerism as well as the consistent

patterns of living of our lifestyles (pp. 93-94).

Consumer attitudes impact consumer behaviour more compared to

other factors. Our attitude represents our likes and dislikes, thus preferences

and decisions. As a lasting general evaluation of a thing, attitudes could serve a

multiple purpose such as utilitarian, value-expression, ego-expression and

knowledge. The variety of consumer attitudes suggest that there is a very

different set of attitude concerning a product, the brand name and association,

the retailer, the company and the channels of distribution as well as the means

of communication. There are three elements which govern consumer attitude

as: belief the psychological association based on knowledge between the

product and an attribute of such product; affect as influenced by affective

response or emotive association in products; and intention the behaviour


17/43

component of consumer attitude based on the motives of the person (Baker

2002, p. 123).

Social factors, finally, affect the consumer cognition via opinion leaders,

roles and family influences, reference groups, social class and culture and

sub-culture. Opinion leaders serve as the spokespeople wherein consumers

draw from their familiarity with the person himself/herself. The roles of the

people consider the expectations of you from your position within a given group.

Family, where majority of behaviours are patterned, has its own life cycle which

characterizes unique consumer demands. As such, consumer behaviour

begins inside the family with a mixture of family and individual consumer

decision-making. As an individual identifies with a group, s/he acquires many of

the values, attitudes and behaviours of the group members. Social class, which

also operates in a larger cultural schema, distinguishes the preferences as well

as the buying capacity of the people, affecting their decision-making and actual

purchasing. Finally, culture or the set of values, ideas and attitudes dictates the

level of conformity among its members. Given the fact that these are

transmitted to posterity and other culture as well through acculturation, there is

the emergence of changing trends and patterns of behaviour regarding

consumption and consumer behaviour (Parcon 2007, pp. 94).


18/43

Consumer buying process

The consumer buying process is set in six stages: problem recognition,

information search, alternatives evaluation, purchase decision, purchase and

post-purchase evaluation. The first stage points to determining the difference

between desired state and actual condition. Product information could

stimulate this stage onward to gathering information. Searching happens

internally and externally, the first through memory and the second through

marketer dominated sources or comparison shopping aside from word of

mouth. The success in this stage could lead to having an evoked set of

alternatives whereby the consumer establishes criteria prior to weighing them.

After the choice has been made, actual purchasing based on product

availability will be considered. Whether the consumer makes the right decision

or not in purchasing will be contemplated on the last stage (pp. 95-96). This last

stage is best explained by the cognitive dissonance theory.

Cognitive dissonance theory

Proposed by Leon Festinger in 1957, the theory of cognitive

dissonance refers to the motivational state, impelling individuals to attempt to


19/43

reduce and eliminate it. Festinger (1962) hypothesized that the existence of

dissonance motivates the person to try to reduce the dissonance and achieve

consonance and that when dissonance is present the tendency for the person

is to dynamically avoid situations and information that would likely increase the

dissonance. Festinger preferred to use the term dissonance because it has a

less logical connotation than inconsistency. As argued, dissonance could mean

the existence of nonfitting relations among cognitions which makes it a

motivating factor in its own right. He continued that cognitive dissonance could

be perceived as the precursor condition which leads to any activity purporting

the reduction of dissonance (pp. 2-3).

Notably, any knowledge that a person possess about himself or the

environment is a cognition or cognitive element. As Wicklund and Brehm (1976)

put it, cognitions could be specific or general and firm or vague or the

combination of these elements. The correlation between cognitive elements is

known as consonance, and such elements have psychological implications

which could be based on cultural mores, demands of logicality, behavioural

commitment and past experience among others. After which, cognitive conflict

or cognitive imbalance could arise when two cognitions have dissonant

relationship. Dissonant relations of cognitions are dependent on the degree of


20/43

importance we give to such cognitions, making possible the irrelevance of such

cognitions. In sum, cognitive dissonance refers to our motivational state

produced when an individual has cognitive elements which imply the opposite

of one another. Such a state, unless cognitive work lessens the relative

importance of relevant cognitions in lieu with the elements that are resistant to

changes, cognitive dissonance will persist (pp. 2-10).

Aronson (1969), and as reiterated by Lord (1992), cognitive dissonance

is flawed especially when taken from the perspective of self-concept. Aronson

believed that the cognitive dissonance happens when an individual see his

actions that conflicts with his self-concept, as opposed to what Festinger

advocated that people experience dissonance because of conflicting cognitions.

Lord states that Aronsons arguments are central on attitude polarization

effects. Both authors consider that the theory could best explain the biased

evolutions, but balance and consistency theories do not bring about aversive

arousal (p. 340).

Consumer motivation


21/43

Mowen and Minor (1997) state that motivation commenced with a

presence of a stimulus, spurring the recognition of a need. Eventually, need

recognition occurs when a perceived discrepancy exists between the actual

and desired states of being. Needs could be innate or learned and are never

fully satisfied. Expressive needs and utilitarian needs are the two basic

consumer needs where the former involve desires by consumers to fulfil social

or aesthetic requirements and the latter involve desires by consumers to solve

basic problems. Further, feeling and emotions often accompany the needs,

comprising of the fundamental emotions people experience like interest, joy,

disgust, guilt, contempt, etc.

According to Assael (1987), motives or consumer motivations act a

central role in consumer behavioural processes. Defined as the enduring

propositions which direct behaviour towards the attainment of specific goals

and objectives, motives are both arouse behaviour and a director to certain

ends. Abraham Maslow presented the best known classification of motives

from physiological to self-actualization needs. The hierarchy suggests that

consumers will satisfy the basic motivational level first prior to satisfying higher

levels of motives. Important to note are motive is caused by a deficit or a dearth

and differs from each other in type and amount; however, motives are based on


22/43

needs and propel people to perceive, think and act in ways to satisfy a need.

Implicit motivation refers to peoples unconscious desires, aspirations and

needs while the explicit motives better predict responses to immediate, specific

situations and to choice behaviours and attitudes (Larsen and Buss 2005).

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations

Suki, Ramayah and Suki (2008) contend that there is a significant

correlation among cognitive absorption, perceived access, perceived

usefulness and fashion involvement. They have studied that intrinsic and

extrinsic motivations influences acceptance of Internet shopping. Such an act

to given an individual the incentive to do something, motivation is the biological,

emotional, cognitive or social forces which activate and direct behaviour.

Intrinsic motivations are internal, focusing on specific activities that will give

them pleasure whereas extrinsic behaviours are the factors external to the

individual which are unrelated to the specific activities that an individual

engages into. Weiner (1980) stresses that the combination of behaviour and

reward increases the likelihood that such behaviour will be subsequently

repeated. The interplay between these two motivations determines the total

amount of motivation to undertake an activity. In considering the determinants


23/43

of actions, the influences of fundamental motivations with extrinsic rewards and

vice versa must be taken into contemplation (pp. 257 and 260).

Holbrook (1999) observes that intrinsic and extrinsic values are basic to

consumer value, by which instrumental or terminal values are at the center. The

author argued that the major characteristic between intrinsic and extrinsic value

involves the differences between a means to an end and an end in itself. As

such, objects with extrinsic value met with instrumental needs as these are

used for practical purposes to increase convenience, improve quality and

cultivate status. Terminal needs, on the other hand, are met by intrinsic value,

which are consumed only for the gratification derived from having fun, feeling

virtuous or rejoicing (p. 135). Nonetheless, consumer value could be

intrinsically or extrinsically motivated through satisfying first more basic human

needs. Such needs will be the foundation of the extent of motivation and the

willingness to partake in an activity.

Maslows hierarchy of needs

Maslows work is central to the development of hierarchy of needs

through which he believed that human beings aspire to become self-actualizing.

Its core thesis is that human needs are organized in a hierarchy, with survival


24/43

needs at its base. The needs for security and social interaction are at a

progressively higher level in the hierarchy, with the need to learn, grow and

reach ones potential as the highest level. Maslow and Stephens (2000) see it

as as lower level needs are satisfied, successively higher needs become more

influential in motivating human behaviour. As such, when the needs in the

lowest level of the hierarchy remain unsatisfied, other needs such as learning,

creativity, innovation or self-esteem will remain stagnant as it will never arise in

the surface (p. 2).

The psychology of consumer behaviour is best explained by this

hierarchy of needs. Mullen and Johnson (1990) aver that many commercial

advertisements can be considered in terms of attempts to appeal to one or

more of these needs, especially on the lower level needs (p. 96). The actual

purchasing of a product is usually intended to fill some sort of need or desire.

However, there is some discrepancy between the consumers actual state and

their desired state. So, in responding to a need, consumers are motivated to

make purchases. In the case of shopping, the consumer is motivated to satisfy

the want or need. Understanding these motives are then critical in creating

effective marketing programs. Marketers believe that it is an imperative to


25/43

understand where in the hierarchy the consumer is before designing the

marketing program (Hutchison, Macy and Allen 2005, p. 32).

Consumer learning

Consumer learning refers to the process by which an individual acquire

the purchase and consumption knowledge and experience they apply to future

related behaviour. Learning could be intentional or incidental, but could be

made more understandable through motives, cues, response and

reinforcement. Mullen and Johnson (1990) recommend that there are at least

two ways that a consumer takes learning into account. First is through a type of

vicarious instrumental conditioning and second, through some variants of

classical conditioning which involves vicarious learning. Examples of these are

vicarious classical conditioning of emotional responses and classical

conditioning of vicarious emotional responses.

The individual indirectly acquires an association by observing a model

who is directly acquiring the association. Deliberate educational efforts also

affect the consumer learning. For instance, an individual engages in informative

family discussion of television commercials or home economics class


26/43

discussion of good buying practices. Nonetheless, such individuals could also

engage in purposive and systematic training of consumer knowledge and skills

(p. 126).There are two major schools of thought which explains how individuals

learn: behavioural theories which view learning as an observable response to

stimuli and cognitive theories the believes learning is a functional or mental

processing.

Behavioural theories

Behavioural theories underpin marketing applications such as

repetition, stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination. Classical

conditioning and operant conditioning are two of the basic consumer

motivations. Classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus, is combined with a

stimulus which elicits a response. For effective conditioning to take place, the

neutral stimulus like the brand name should precede in time the appearance of

the unconditioned stimulus, making the pairing highly salient to the consumer.

This conditioning applies in advertising and direct selling which identifies

powerful positive stimulus and associate brand with it.

Operant conditioning is the process of modifying the consequences of

the behaviour based on the frequency of the behaviour occurrence. As such, of


27/43

positively reinforced, the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated is

increased and decreases when the behaviour is punished. Reinforcer refers to

anything that occurs after a behaviour and changes the likelihood that an action

will be emitted again whereby the punisher is the stimulus that has the opposite

effect of the reinforcer. Discriminative stimuli occurs in the presence of the

reinforcer and do not occur in its absence.

The third behavioural theory is vicarious learning. Vicarious learning is

the phenomenon wherein people observe actions of others to develop patterns

of behaviour (Mowen and Minor 1997). The authors also noted that there are

three important ideas when it comes to consumer learning. The first is that

people are viewed as symbolic beings hence they anticipate the probable

consequences of their behaviour. Second, people learn by watching the actions

of others as well as the consequences of these actions. Third is central on the

idea that people have the ability to regulate their own behaviour.

Attribution theory

People also strive to being learned because of the perceived risks in

consumerism. These risks are the perceptions of the consumers regarding the


28/43

overall negativity of a course of action. The basis is the evaluation of the

possible negative outcomes and the likelihood of the occurrence of these

outcomes. The seven types of consumer risks according to Mowen and Minor

(1997) are: financial, performance, physical, psychological, social, time and

opportunity loss. Characteristics of the individual, nature of the task,

characteristics of the product and salience of negative outcomes are the factors

that influence risk perception. The causality leading to perceptions of risks is

elucidated by the attribution theory.

Attribution theory was developed by Fritz Heider, Harold Kelley,

Edward Jones and Lee Ross. Such theory suggests that there are several ways

that an individual explain his or her behaviour as well as of others. Attribution

could be situational or dispositional wherein the former are the causality to

outside factors while the latter are causality to factors inherent to the individual.

According to Duval, Mayer and Duval (1983), our consciousness prefers

simplicity and this condition is a clear implication that consciousness is a

dynamic process, moving to maximize simplicity within its boundaries. The

authors referred to simplicity as the inverse function of separate and

unconnected elements in consciousness. Causal attribution then is the


29/43

manifestation of such movement which maximizes simplicity within

consciousness (p. 1).

Simply the perceived causes of outcomes, Alexander and Winne (2006)

assert that attribution theory explains how people perceive the causes of their

and others actions. That people are motivated to seek information to form

attributions is the assumption behind the theory, stressing that attributions

possess motivational consequences. Essentially, the process of assigning

attributions is governed by principles such as locus of control and analysis of

action. Other proponents proposed that people attribute based on effective

personal force and effective environmental force. Power and abilities make up

the personal force, and how these two elements combined with the elements of

environmental force influences outcomes (pp. 354-355).

Cognitive theories

Cognitive learning theories, nevertheless, embrace the ideology that

the kind of learning most characteristic of human is problem solving. Theorists

concern how information is being processed by the human mind and how is it

stored, retained and retrieved. Memory is one among the examples of how our


30/43

mind processes and stores information on the sensory store, short-term store

and long-term store. Rehearsal, encoding, storage and retrieval are the

processes of memory.

The involvement of the individual, as well, determines the degree to

which the information will be processed. Basically, because there are specific

situations that an individual give low importance to or relevance while extensive

information processing in specific situations of high relevance will have the

greater impact. Apart from the involvement theory, the hemispheral

lateralization theory proposes that low-involvement medium could result in

passive learning whereas interactive medium encourage cognitive information

processing more.

Measures of consumer learning

The measure of consumer learning are recall and recognition tests,

cognitive responses to advertising and attitudinal and behavioural measures of

brand loyalty especially in terms of consumers behaviour or attitude toward the

brand. Mowen and Minor (1997) highlight that understanding how consumers

learn are central in teaching them their brand is the best and to develop brand


31/43

loyalty. Brand loyalty is defined as the consumers consistent preference for

and purchase for a specific brand. Reducing risks, facilitating selection and

saving time and effort are the main reasons behind brand loyalty, with respect

to levels of consumer involvement. Hallberg (1995) maintain that customer

involvement is the key to greater loyalty as it produces measurably higher

levels of brand equity and profitable volume for the brand (p. 8).

The development of consumer brand loyalty in online stores is rather

difficult compared to traditional stores. Yun and Good (2007) conducted a study

that purports on investigating electronic store e-store attributes which

develop the customers positive perceptions on the image of e-stores,

acknowledging the importance of developing the sense of loyalty and customer

retention. They have discovered that for online stores to hone brand loyalty the

e-store image must be embedded on effective e-merchandising, e-servicing

and e-shopping atmosphere attribute, leading to e-patronage intentions

thereby e-loyalty.

Conclusion


32/43

The global retail industry connects the point of origin and the point of

distribution. There are risks along the process, and these business and

economic risks must be combated upon in order that the contemporary retailers

continuously survive, exist and function in a competitive environment. The

global fashion industry entails that the shift towards online retailing is the most

conceivable venue. Nonetheless, there are countries that do not find online

retailing as acceptable while also there are countries which embrace online

retailing but are now experiencing meltdown. Malaysia and UK are two among

the examples of these countries, respectively. To effectively conduct the study,

this literature review was conducted.

In sum, the key points are as follows. There are two determinants of

consumer behaviour: importance and intensity of interest and information. The

types of consumer behaviour are: routine response or programmed behaviour,

limited decision-making, extensive decision-making and impulse buying. While

the factors that affect this behaviour are personal, psychological and social.

Towards actual purchasing, the consumer ponders on the problem, information,

alternatives and decision-making. Evaluation comes after. Intrinsic and

extrinsic motivations guide consumers as well as their perceived instrumental

and terminal needs in making a purchase. Motives and needs are innate to


33/43

human thereby the necessity to satisfy these are imperative. Nonetheless,

survival needs must be satisfy first prior to satisfying higher level needs.

Consumer learning, moreover, happens through conditioning and

observation which happens inside and outside the house of an individual,

taking the whole social context. There are specific ways to measure consumer

learning such as recall and recognition tests, cognitive responses to advertising

and attitudinal and behavioural measures. Brand loyalty is the most

fundamental measure of the effectiveness of consumer learning.

Chapter 3 Research Methodology

Introduction

Inevitable for every researcher to think of the research undertaking by

considering the most appropriate research approaches. In order to come up in

the central issue of the research and answer the research questions and

objectives, pertinent data must be accomplished. In this chapter, necessary

research methodologies will be discussed. Primary research strategies and

ethical considerations applied are also discussed.


34/43

Research Approach

Interpretivism is the research philosophy that the researcher will going

to use. Such philosophy, according to Remenyi, Williams and Swartz (1998),

will allow the search of the details of the situation to understand the reality or

perhaps a reality working behind them. In lieu, induction research will be

applied where the research will build theories based on the responses and

findings. The inductive approach could emphasize the understanding of the

meanings that human attach to events. In this study, we are considering how

consumers in Malaysia and the UK give meanings to their attitude and

behaviour when it comes to virtual fashion retailing. Moreover, through the

inductive approach, a more flexible structure to facilitate changes in the

research could be achieved as the research progresses. In the later part of the

research, comparative design will be utilized.

PrimaryResearch

The research will particularly focus on selected consumers in Malaysia

and UK As they will be the respondents of the research, necessary is to access

dominant online fashion shopping websites. The selected customers must be

from UK and/or Malaysia and must be a permanent subscriber for at least one


35/43

year. The primary research will be conducted using semi-structured

questionnaires which will be sent via email. From the accessed list of

consumers the researcher will choose the 3rd listed name with the hope to

survey 50 Malaysian and 50 UK consumers. Since the primary aim of using

questionnaire is to identify the demography of the consumers and distinguish

among them the apparent customer attitudes and behaviour, the research will

use a combination of closed and more open comment questionnaires. From

this set, every 4th consumer will be contacted for telephone interview. The

semi-structured interview will be conducted to fill the gap in the existing

knowledge and investigate relationships of the variables under researched

(Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 2003).

Ethical Considerations

Access to commercial information as well as access to target

respondents would be a challenge. For online fashion websites to entrust me

with their documents and to allow me to conduct survey and interview to their

customers, I will ensure them that information will be subjected to high

commercial confidentiality. Likewise, negotiating skills will be thoroughly

applied. Written consent that outlines the obligations and liabilities of the


36/43

researcher will be secured. For the respondents, participation consent forms

and interview consent forms will be accomplished first. They will have the

autonomy to choose whether to identify them or stay anonymous. Because

personal information will be obtained, Data Protection Act will be employed.

When publishing, I will their permission first both the target respondents and

website owners/managers.

Conclusion

Interpretivism philosophy, inductive approach and comparative design

are the three primary research methodologies to be used in order to dig deeper

to the phenomenon of online fashion retailing and the customer attitudes and

behaviours. Primary data will come from online fashion websites and will

access from them lists of Malaysian and UK consumers. Survey method and

interview will be conducted. Nonetheless, the informations to be collected will

be subjected to high ethical processes.


37/43

Reference

Alexander, P A and Winne, P H 2006, Handbook ofEducational Psychology,

Routledge, London.

Aronson, E 1969, The theory of cognitive dissonance: A current perspective, in

L Berkowitz (ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 4,

pp. 1-34, Academic Press, New York.

Assael, H 1987, Consumer behaviour and marketing action, Kent Publishing

Company, Boston.

Azuma, N and Fernie, J 2003, Fashion in globalized world and the role of virtual

networks in intrinsic fashion design, Journal ofFashion Marketing and

Management, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 413-427.


38/43

Baker, M J 2002, The MarketingHandbook, Butterworth-Heinemann.

Duval, V H, Mayer, S F and Duval, S 1983, Consistency and Cognition: A

Theory of CausalAttribution, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale,

NJ.

Festinger, L 1962, A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, Stanford University

Press.

Global Retain Industry A report by Moody 2006, retrieved on 27 October 2008,

from http://www.moodys.com.br/brasil/pdf/Global_Retail_Industry.pdf.


39/43

Hallberg, G 1995, All Consumers are Not Created Equal: The Differential

Marketing Strategy for Brand Loyaltyand Profits, John Wiley and Sons,

New York.

Haugtvedt, C P, Machleit, K A and Yalch, R 2005, Online Consumer

Psychology: Understanding and Influencing Consumer in the Virtual

World, Routledge, London.

Holbrook, M B 1999, Consumer Value: A Framework for Analysis and

Research, Routledge, London.

Hutchison, T W, Macy, A and Allen P 2005, Marketing, Focal Press.

Larsen, R J and Buss, D M 2005, Motives and Personality, in Personality

Psychology: Domains of knowledge about human nature, McGraw Hill,

Boston.


40/43


41/43

Remenyi, D, Williams, B, and Swartz, E 1998, Doing Research in

Business Management: An Introduction to Process andMethod, Sage,

London.

Retailing in Malaysia 2008, Euromonitor International, retrieved on 27 October

2008, from http://www.euromonitor.com/Retailing_in_Malaysia.

Retailing in the United Kingdom 2008, Euromonitor International, retrieved on

27 October 2008, from

http://www.euromonitor.com/Retailing_in_the_United_Kingdom.

Saunders, M, Lewis, P and Thornhill, A 2003, Research Methods for Business

Students,3rd edn., Prentice Hall.


42/43

Suki, N M, Ramayah, T and Suki, N M 2008, Internet shopping acceptance:

Examining the influence of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivations, Direct

Marketing: An InternationalJournal, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 97-110.

Tseng, M M and Piller, F M 2003, The Customer CentricEnterprise: Advances

in Mass Customization and Personalization, Springer.

Wicklund, R A and Brehm, J W 1976, Perspectives on Cognitive Dissonance,

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ.

Wiener, B 1980, Human Motivation, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale,

NJ.

Yun, Z S and Good, L K 2007, Developing customer loyalty from e-tail store

image attributes, Managing Service Quality, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 4-22.


43/43

Read more:

http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2010/09/a-comparative-study-of-cons

umers-attitude-and-behaviour-towards-online-fashion-shopping-cross-cultural-study-o

f-malaysia.html#ixzz1aO0dCzwI

A Comparative Study of Consumers’ Attitude and Behaviour towards Online Fashion Shopping ...

Documents

Transcript of A Comparative Study of Consumers’ Attitude and Behaviour towards Online Fashion Shopping ...