PROJECT ON CUSTOMER PREFERENCE TOWARDS BRANDED T-SHIRTS AT COIMBATORE

Submitted by S.M.NATHEEM (09TM10)

CHAPTER
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES

TOPIC

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Objectives of the study 1.2 Need for the study 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 A study of the impact of self-image congruence on brand preference and satisfaction. 2.2 The Evolution of Brand Preferences and Choice Behaviors of Consumers New to a Market. 2.3Customer Poaching and Brand Switching 2.4 Cool, casual and comfortable 2.5 Using Social Media to listen to Consumers 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research methodology 3.2 Research design 3.3 Target population 3.4 Marketing scale 3.5 Sampling design 3.6 Size of the sample 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 3 3 3 4 4 5 1 2 2

3.9 Limitation of the study 3.10 Construction of Questionnaire 4 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 4.1Frequency analysis 5 FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 Findings 5.2 suggestions 5.3 Conclusion 5.4 Bibliography ANNEXURE

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Everyone believes that what you dress or wear says a lot about your personality. It displays your character and behavior. Sometimes T-shirts gives a perfect attitude of a person when displaying some slogans or logos and it also displays the community or religion you belong to or association / group associated with it, hence it leads to intelligent conversation or displays what you want to speak about. This study aims at determining the brand preference of COIMBATORE based customers with respect to T-shirts. This gives a clear knowledge of the best selling brands, helps in sales forecasting and gives an overall picture of the brand awareness of T-shirts among the people. The project deals with the brand preference towards the branded t-shirt. It includes factors related to as The Data has been collected from the 400 people in the geographical area of COIMBATORE. A standardized questionnaire consisting of the brand preference towards the branded t-shirt is used as the survey tool for the purpose of data collection. The analysis was done using SPSS17.0 soft ware. In conclusion, brand awareness of the COIMBATORE based customers is well and good. There is significant association between the brand awareness, source of awareness, see/ hear advertisements, type of fabric, purchasing occasions, influence the purchase decision and the gender, age, income, marital status of the respondents.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
Everyone believes that what you dress or wear says a lot about your personality. It displays your character and behavior. Sometimes T-shirts gives a perfect attitude of a person when displaying some slogans or logos and it also displays the community or religion you belong to or association / group associated with it, hence it leads to intelligent conversation or displays what you want to speak about. That means it convey your messages in the form of slogan or logo and ultimately your attitude. In India T-shirts industries have raised by 27 percent followed by blouses/shirts and trousers. Recent market report survey says this segment of clothing in India accounts for 4.22 per cent of the Indian apparel market with sales of Rs. 2,419 corers, this includes T-shirts for women and have become trendy. To satisfy the increased demand and seize market opportunities, many manufacturers and traders are adding new production lines .Even building new factories. Many companies are improving their technology too. Main production centers of T-shirts in India are Tiruppur, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Ludhiana.T-shirts are most preferred and acceptable in Indian market. Like wise this project deals about the Study on customer preference towards the Branded T-Shirt. Many of the manufacturers are producing different styles of t- shirts in market with some local names. In that, this project deals with the customer preference towards the branded t-shirt in COIMBATORE.

1.1 Objectives of the study 1. To study the customer preference of branded t-shirts among COIMBATORE customers.
2. To analyze customer expectation in the branded t-shirts. 3. To forecast the sales of the branded t shirts. 4. To study the influence of promotional activities on sales of t-shirts.

5. To study the distribution channel used in sales of t- shirts 1.2 Need for the study
This study aims at determining the brand preference of COIMBATORE based customers with respect to T-shirts. This gives a clear knowledge of the best selling brands, helps in sales forecasting and gives an overall picture of the brand awareness of T-shirts among the people.

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Consumers and brands: a study of the impact of self-image congruence on brand preference and satisfaction:
This study was done by Ahmad Jamal, Mark M.H. Goode and published in the Journal of Marketing Intelligence & Planning in the year 2001, Volume 19, Issue 7. Previous research indicates that the self-image product image congruity (commonly known as self-image congruence) can affect consumers product preferences and their purchase intentions. Self-image congruence can also facilitate positive behaviour and attitudes toward products. This paper reports findings from a research study which was conducted to determine the effect of self-image congruity on brand preference and satisfaction in the precious jewellery market in the UK. A questionnaire was sent to 500 consumers of precious jewellery in five major cities of the UK. Results indicate that self-image congruity was a very strong predictor of consumers brand preferences and a good predictor of consumer satisfaction. Respondents with higher levels of self-image congruity were more likely to prefer the brand and enjoy higher levels of satisfaction with the brand as compared to those with lower levels of self-

image congruity. The paper discusses the implications for brand managers so that they can position their brands in an effective way.

2.2 The Evolution of Brand Preferences and Choice Behaviors of Consumers New to a Market:
This study was done by Carrie M. Heilman, Douglas Bowman and Gordon P. Wright and published in the Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 37, No. 2 (May, 2000),

The authors examine how brand preferences and response to marketing activity evolve for consumers new to a market. They develop a theoretical framework that begins with a consumer's first-ever purchase in a product category and describes subsequent purchases as components of sequential purchasing stages. The theory is based on the notion that choices made by consumers new to a market are driven by two competing forces: consumers' desire to collect information about alternatives and their aversion to trying risky ones. These forces give rise to three stages of purchasing: an information collection stage that focuses initially on low-risk, big brand names; a stage in which information collection continues but is extended to lesser-known brands; and a stage of information consolidation leading to preference for the brands that provide the greatest utility. The authors use a logit-mixture model with time-varying parameters to capture the choice dynamics of different consumer segments. The results show the importance of accounting for product experience and learning when studying the dynamic choice processes of consumers new to a market. Insights from this study can help marketers tailor their marketing activities as consumers gain purchasing experience.

2.3 Customer Poaching and Brand Switching:

This study was done by Drew Fudenberg and Jean Tirole and published in The RAND Journal of Economics, Vol. 31, No. 4 (winter, 2000).

Firms sometimes try to "poach" the customers of their competitors by offering them inducements to switch. We analyze duopoly poaching under both short-term and long-term contracts assuming either that each consumer's brand preferences are fixed over time or those preferences are independent over time. With fixed preferences, short-term contracts lead to poaching and socially inefficient switching. The equilibrium with long-term contracts has less switching than when only short-term contracts are feasible,

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and it involves the sale of both short-term and long-term contracts. With independent preferences, shortterm contracts are efficient, but long-term contracts lead to inefficiently little switching. 2.4 Cool, casual and comfortable This study was done by Kumar, Vinod and published in business line Journal. Chennai: Aug 21, 2004 At Automated Workflow, business casuals would mean button down short-sleeved shirts. "Some of us even wear drawstring pants with leather slides," says [Vinod Kumar]. But the company has reined in this casual trend, lest it gets too informal, by declaring Thursdays as formal-wear days. Kumar jokes that this is because "we cannot afford to forget what it's like to be formal." He agrees that dressing does impact work output a lot. Talking of his preferences, he says, "For formal occasions, I like to wear Van Heusen and Arrow brands. My casuals I get from Adidas, Nike and Golf stores." At vMoksha, Fridays are the days for smart casuals. But employees are barred from wearing round necks, jeans, sweaters and large prints on shirts or T-shirts, he says. Most IT companies these days have customized T-shirts with the company logo imprinted on them. Srinath Gopalakrishna, Head of Marketing, Net Kraft Pvt Ltd, says, "Absolute formal dressing is out and we follow the 'smart casual style.'" But, "this does not mean we turn up in shorts or chappals," he adds quickly. Some companies allow funky and whacky clothes on any day of the week, but most BPOs insist on sobriety on weekdays and indulgence on weekends. "There's no difference between a college campus and our office on Fridays," says Chethan Prakash, Customer Care Representative, Accenture. Mondays through Thursdays are formal days at this Bangalore-based BPO, but Fridays are the days to dress down.

2.5 Using Social Media To Listen To Consumers:

This study was done by Abbey Klaassen. and published in Advertising Age. (Midwest region edition). Chicago: Mar 30, 2009. Vol. 80, Iss. 11 Last fall, Johnson & Johnson's Motrin broke creative of a mom complaining that wearing your baby "in fashion," via a sling, can cause back and neck pain. It offended some in the social-media sphere, and an army of Twittering moms got the brand to yank the ad and issue a mea culpa on its site. But, according to a Lightspeed Research survey, almost 90% of women had never seen the ad. Ed Keller, CEO of Keller Pay Group, said his research suggests as much as half of online word-of-mouth impressions are generated by teenagers; that means an online uproar might mean more for Facebook than it does for Motrin.

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CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is the systematic way to solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In which we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying the research problem along with the logic behind it.

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN:

Descriptive research is used to identify the preference of consumer. Nature of the study is descriptive type which involves the use of scientific methods and procedures to collect raw data and create data structure that describes the existing characteristics of a defined target population. Thereby it provides originality to the study.

3.3 TARGET POPULATION:

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Target population for drawing the samples for this research would be mainly who are all located in COIMBATORE

3.4 MARKETING SCALE:

The following tools are used for the purpose of the study Demographic Variables: The demographic variables like gender, age, monthly income, marital status, and occupation are collected as a part of the study.

3.5 SAMPLING DESIGN:

Sample design is a definite plan determined before any data are actually collected for obtaining a sample from a given population. Area sampling is when the total geographical area of interest happens to considered. Here we no need a list of the population concerned. It is mainly carried out based on the location namely branded t - shirts. The area is identified as COIMBATORE.

3.6 SIZE OF THE SAMPLE:

Sample size is 400, in which its going to be collected only in COIMBATORE city.

3.7 DATA COLLECTION:

The researcher has personally administered the data collection during the month of October to November 2010. The questionnaire is explained to the people. The duration for filling the questionnaire is spread cross 5 minutes per respondent.

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3.8 STATISTICAL TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR ANALYSIS:

The following are the tools and techniques have been used for the purpose of analyzing the study. 1. Percentage analysis

3.9 LIMITATIONS:

The findings are based on information collect only from the COIMBATORE. The income levels revealed by many consumers may not be accurate as they approximated. The study is not through one but based only on the information collected from the people.

Consumers not only differ from one another but they have varying feeling about on some objects or phenomena from time to time.

3.10 Construction of Questionnaire:

The questionnaire was constructed to elicit the brand awareness of branded T-shirts. It consists of two parts with the first part being Awareness Section which deals with questions on parameters like most recently purchased branded T-shirt, determinants, number of branded shirts, source of awareness about branded shirts, source of referral, type of fabric and the timing of purchase of branded T-shirts. The second part consists of Personal profile data which includes the personal details like name, age gender, marital status and average family income.

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CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 4.1Frequency Analysis: Frequency Analysis for gender:

Gender Cumulative Frequency Valid Male Female Total 280 120 400 Percent 70.0 30.0 100.0 Valid Percent 70.0 30.0 100.0 Percent 70.0 100.0

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Frequency Analysis for martial:

Marital Cumulative Frequency Valid Single Married Total 224 176 400 Percent 56.0 44.0 100.0 Valid Percent 56.0 44.0 100.0 Percent 56.0 100.0

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Frequency Analysis for Income:

Income Cumulative Frequency Valid upto Rs 10000 10001-20000 20001-30000 Above Rs 30000 Total 104 168 80 48 400 Percent 26.0 42.0 20.0 12.0 100.0 Valid Percent 26.0 42.0 20.0 12.0 100.0 Percent 26.0 68.0 88.0 100.0

Frequency Analysis for occupation: 18

Occupation Cumulative Frequency Valid student In Dependent(not working) Self employed(business) Total 136 176 88 400 Percent 34.0 44.0 22.0 100.0 Valid Percent 34.0 44.0 22.0 100.0 Percent 34.0 78.0 100.0

Awareness of branded shirts

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BRAND Classic Polo Reebok Nike Crocodile Centwin Solo Otto Primark Primex

NO OF RESPONDENTS 82 56 66 43 24 28 29 22 50

classic polo reebok nike crocodile centwin solo otto primark primex

The above pie chart shows that the most of the customers are aware of classic polo t shirts. Followed by Reebok, Nike, Primex, Crocodile, Otto, Solo, Centwin&Primark.

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IMPORTANCE WHILE SELECTING BRANDED T - SHIRTS.

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 availability convenience 8 finish salesman 9 brand design 4 offers material price 5

The above pie chart shows that while selecting branded t- shirts the respondents give importance to offers. Followed by Brand, Material, Design, Price, Finish, Availability, Convenience & Salesman.

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CHAPTER 5

FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS & CONCLUSIONS

FINDINGS:
1. The fig1 pie chart shows that the most of the customers are aware of classic polo t shirts. Followed by Reebok, Nike, Primex, Crocodile, Otto, Solo, Centwin & Primark. 2. The fig 2 pie chart shows that while selecting branded t- shirts the respondents give importance to offers. Followed by Brand, Material, Design, Price, Finish, Availability, Convenience & Salesman. 3. There is significant association between the brand awareness and the gender of respondents. 4. There is significant association between the source of awareness and the gender of respondents. 5. There is significant association between the See/ Hear Advertisements and the gender of

respondents. 6. 7. 8. There is significant association between the type of fabric and the gender of respondents. There is significant association between the purchase occasion and the gender of respondents. There is significant association between the influence the purchase decision and the gender of

respondents. 9. There is significant association between the brand awareness and the marital status of

respondents. 10. There is significant association between the source of awareness and the marital status respondents. 11. There is significant association between the See/Hear advertisement. and the marital status of respondents. of

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12. There is significant association between the Type of fabric and the marital status of respondents. 13. There is significant association between the purchase occasion and the marital status of respondents. 14. There is significant association between the influence the purchase decision and the marital status of respondents. 15. There is significant association between the Brand Awareness and the income respondents. 16. There is significant association between the source of Awareness and the income respondents. 17. There is significant association between the See/Hear Advertisement and the income respondents. 18. There is significant association between the Type of Fabric and the income of the respondents. 19. There is significant association between the purchase occasion and the income respondents. 20. There is significant association between the influence of purchase decision and the income of the respondents. 21. There is significant association between the Brand Awareness and the occupation respondents. 22. There is significant association between the source of Awareness and the occupation respondents. 23. There is significant association between the See/Hear Advertisements and the occupation the respondents. of of the of the of the of the of the of the

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24. There is significant association between the Type of fabric and the occupation respondents.

of

the

25. There is significant association between the purchase occasion and the occupation
respondents.

of the

26. There is significant association between the influence of purchase decision and the occupation of the respondents.

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5.2 SUGGESTIONS

1. Any T-shirt brand that is planning to be launched in Tiruppur should mainly concentrate upon the
promotional offers that has to be hosted by the brand. Next to it they have to concentrate upon building a brand name. 2. Also they have to concentrate upon the designs, price and fabrics. 3. The new player should be able to compete with the Classic Polo brand of T-Shirts, as most of the respondents are customers of that brand. 4. The awareness advertisements should be designed for men and women separately. 5. Special offers could be planned to attract target customers based on occasion and for men and women separately. 6. Product range could be planned from low price to high price to meet the varying requirements of the target market.

5.3 CONCLUSION
Customers are mainly focused on offers next brands. So it is understood that they expect good quality from low price. So the new entrants and the existing brands could focus on providing quality products at reasonable price at the same also concentrate on building their own brand image in a unique way. Advertisements seem to play a major role in building brand awareness, apart from quality that is understood without mentioning. Also the gender differences should be borne in mind while designing offers, T-shirt varieties, occasions of launching varieties, etc. T-shirts dictate the fashion rule in a knitting hub like COIMBATORE, and hence production and promotion of them should be unique and attractive.

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