Chong Hor Yee, Lim Hooi Huang, Muhammad Hafiz, Kho Hock Seng,
Margaret Yong Shu Wen. (DIM Friday 830-1130)Task 1Topic : To
determine the influences of social media and its tools for online
shopping purchasing behaviour for fashion apparels. IntroductionThe
ideology of fashion was imposed mainly as a luxury item or status
before the birth of the digital age and internet era. Before this,
people had to wait on the day of launching to actually witness the
latest designs, but now, people could access the latest fashion
from the palm of their hands. With the birth of the internet
coupled with the economy of scale and with ease of access to the
internet, fashion is no longer an elites game. Technology has
helped the fashion industry grow tremendously over the past years.
This research essay is undertaken to analyse the influences of
social media and its tools towards online purchasing behaviour for
fashion apparels.Research Rational The main discussion of this
research is to identify the effects of social media towards
consumer online purchase behaviour. In addition, this research
explores how influential social media can be towards customers
fashion purchase decision. This research also explores the
psychological and behavioural drivers of online fashion purchasing.
Moreover, the research argues on how fashion brands use social
media to promote online shopping apparels. Last but not least, the
research analyses the changes in trends of purchasing fashion
apparels before and after the birth of online shopping.
Task 2Research Questions1. To what extent does social media and
its tools influences customer online fashion purchase decision?2.
What are the psychological and behavioural drivers of online
fashion purchase? 3. How do brands promote their online shopping of
fashion apparels?4. What are the changes in trends of purchasing
fashion apparels before and after the birth of online shopping?
Research Objectives1. To explore the extent of the influences of
social media towards online fashion purchase decision.2. To explore
the psychological and behavioural drivers of online fashion
purchase.3. To identify marketing strategies used to promote online
shopping of fashion apparels.4. To identify the changes in trends
of purchasing fashion apparels before and after the birth of online
shopping. Task 3 : Literature searchTitle: Information availability
on US apparel merchant Web SitesJournal
:http://elib.segi.edu.my:2057/journals.htm?issn=13612026&volume=6&issue=2&articleid=858521&show=htmlThe
research problem of this journal is online merchant Web Sites
provide only limited product information to the customers, hence,
increase the risk perceived to purchase clothing on the Internet.
The objective of this journal is to explore the availability of
product and customer service information of a Web Site affects the
intention to purchase on the Internet. According to Lin and Lu
(2000), the main finding of this journal is the quality of a Web
Site, which described by information quality, response time and
system accessibility. Therefore, this journal is related based on
to explore the extent of the influences of social media towards
online fashion purchase decision.Title : Psychological and
behavioural drivers of online clothing purchase.Journal:
http://elib.segi.edu.my:2057/journals.htm?issn=1361-2026&volume=8&issue=1&articleid=858569&show=htmlThe
research objective of this journal is to examine psychological
characteristics that lead consumers to buy clothing online. The
main findings of this journal imply that online apparel buying is
motivated more by Internet innovativeness than by clothing
innovativeness. This journal is related based on the objective of
the research, which is to explore the psychological and behavioural
drivers of online fashion purchase.Title : Social network online
communities: information sources for apparel shoppingJournal :
http://elib.segi.edu.my:2057/journals.htm?issn=0736-3761&volume=29&issue=6&articleid=17050939&show=htmlThe
research objective of this journal is to understand the effects of
social network online communities towards information seeking
behaviour and purchase decision for online apparel shopping. The
main findings of this journal confirms the positive effects of
social network online communities towards consumers purchase
decision. This journal is related based on the objective of the
research, which is to explore the extent of the influences of
social media towards online fashion purchase decision. Title :
Online Branding Strategies of UK Fashion
Retailershttp://elib.segi.edu.my:2057/journals.htm?issn=1066-2243&volume=19&issue=3&articleid=1795284&show=htmlThe
research objective of this journal is to explore the strategies of
online branding by UK fashion retailers. This article analyses how
online channels are used, including communicating brand identity
and presence, as well as building brand relationships. The main
findings of this article is, fashion retailers offer online
transactions and able to achieve consistency on visual identity for
both online and other channels. However, these fashion retailers
have an underdeveloped online channel. This journal is related
based on the objective of the research, which is identifying
marketing strategies used to promote online shopping of fashion
apparels. Title: Understanding designer clothing purchases over the
internetJournal :
http://elib.segi.edu.my:2057/journals.htm?issn=1361-2026&volume=14&issue=3&articleid=1875533&show=htmlThe
research objective of this journal is to understand designer
clothing purchases over the internet. Based on (Lee and Littrell,
2005; Park and Kim, 2007) , the article discussed that by having a
competitive price and having product in stock, it influences the
attitude and buying perception of customers over the internet.
Designs of clothing can contribute to purchase through internet but
there are only several studies that are researching on the similar
topic. The article states also states that individual are most
likely to search for information if they have the intention of
buying. This proves that intention to purchase over the internet is
mostly based on the behavior of an individual and how they judge
the product. This journal is related to the objective of the
research, which is to identify the changes in trends of purchasing
fashion apparels before and after the birth of online shopping.
Title : Internet retailing: the past, the present and the
futureJournal :
http://elib.segi.edu.my:2057/journals.htm?issn=09590552&volume=38&issue=11/12&articleid=1895952&show=html
With the growing popularity of the Internet, online retailing
has become a new electronic market place to promote products and
services. Online retailing is a part of marketing channel which
regularly used by most of the marketers to extend product lines,
improve cost efficient and customer relationships. Besides that,
the research objective of this journal is to determine how online
retailing transforms the shopping habits of the society based on
the traditional promotional strategies. Meanwhile, online retailing
has become a vehicle for promoting products and services and
capturing sales. The main finding of this journal is to identify
the advancing of social media nowadays is replacing the one-to-one
marketing strategy. This journal is related based on the changes in
trends of purchasing fashion apparels before and after the
emergence of online retailing.
Task 4 : Literature ReviewOnline Fashion PurchasingIn this
millennial era, the internet and technology has made it possible to
purchase fashion apparels from home. The total amount of spending
on the Internet has increased tremendously and is expected to reach
$3 trillion by 2003 (IDC, 1999). The percentage of US Internet
users reporting they have purchased clothing online has grown
rapidly, doubling from 8 percent in September 1999 to 16 percent in
May 2000 (Pastore, 2000). Despite the rapid growth in online sales
of apparel, some consumers are reluctant to shop for clothing on
the Internet (Park and Stoel, 2002). A recent trade study showed
that these non-purchasers perceive risk to exist due to their
inability to try on garments, feel the fabric, and read information
on care and content labels (Pastore, 2000). Research has shown that
intention to search for information on the Internet has a direct
effect on intention to purchase on the Internet (Shim et al.,
2000). If a customer is satisfied with the information provided by
the retailer, they are more likely to make a purchase (Park and
Stoel, 2002). The Internet can be used to provide consistent and
comprehensive product and customer service information (Park and
Stoel, 2002). In addition, customer service over the Web is likely
to be more consistent than traditional retailing because the online
retailer can provide more detailed and extended information to any
shopper at any time (Silverman, 1998). Perceived Risk for Online
Fashion PurchaseSimpson and Lakner (1993) found that four
dimensions of risks may exist when consumers make decisions
regarding apparel selection and purchase apparel using mail order:
social/psychological risk (e.g. concerns with fashion innovation,
acceptance, planning purchases, conforming to others), economic
risk (e.g. concerning prices of apparel, possible financial loss),
performance risk (e.g. style, durability, or wear life of a
garment), and physical risk (e.g. bodily comfort, discomfort,
appearance). ). For the most part, consumers perceive more risk
associated with in-home shopping than with in-store shopping
(Donthu and Garcia, 1999; Schoenbachler and Gordon, 2002;
Vijayasarathy and Jones, 2000).Psychological and Behavioural
Drivers of Online Fashion PurchaseIn 1999, clothing accounted for
13.3 percent of retail sales online (US Census Bureau, 1999). In
2001, more than one third of online purchases were clothing
(Goldsmith and Lynn, 2004). Nowadays, retail merchants focuses more
resources on the Internet in an effort to increase the protability
of their Web sites (Grimes, 2002). For the most part, consumers
perceive more risk associated with in-home shopping than with
in-store shopping (Donthu and Garcia, 1999; Schoenbachler and
Gordon, 2002; Vijayasarathy and Jones, 2000). However, this risk
lessens with experience of shopping through direct channels (Hawes,
1986). This scenario seems to be playing itself out with regards to
online shopping as well (Miyazaki and Fernandez, 2001;
Vijayasarathy and Jones, 2000). A recently published study
(Goldsmith and Goldsmith, 2002) found that online apparel buyers
could not be distinguished by their demographics or their purchase
of more apparel by other means. They shared similar attitudes
toward online shopping with non-buyers but were not more innovative
toward clothing and fashions than the non-buyers. Online apparel
purchasers, however, did use the Internet more and were more
innovative toward using the Internet than non-buyers were. These
ndings imply that online apparel buying is motivated more by
Internet innovativeness than by clothing innovativeness (Goldsmith
and Lynn, 2004). It appears that being an Internet innovator and an
experienced catalogue shopper are more predictive of online
clothing shopping than an interest in fashion (Goldsmith and Lynn,
2004).Influence of Social Network on Online Fashion PurchaseSocial
network online communities, such as Facebook.com and Instagram.com,
serve as platforms where millions of consumers all over the world
are connected with one another and exchange opinions, ideas and
information (Park and Cho, 2012). In the case of Facebook.com,
there were 55 million users as of December 2008 (Arrington, 2009)
and the number increased to over 500 million in 2011(Facebook.com,
2011). Shared information among community members forms strong
e-word of mouth effects that signicantly inuence retail sales and
brand images (Brown et al., 2002; Flavian and Guinaliu, 2005).
Utilizing the social network online community, retailers keep track
of changes in consumers demands and shopping behaviors (Flavian and
Guinaliu, 2005). Particularly, fashion and apparel shopping is
suggested as one of the most popular discussion topics among social
network online community members and apparel retailers could gain
direct feedback from consumers while monitoring the discussions in
social network online communities (Thomas et al., 2007). Many
consumers visit a social network online community to gain apparel
shopping information (Thomas et al., 2007). Social network online
community as an information sourceOnline community was rst dened by
Howard Rheingold (1993) as a social aggregation of people carrying
out public discussions long enough, with sufcient human feeling, to
form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace (p. 146).Bagozzi
and Dholakia (2002) explained that an online community is the
computer-mediated social space in which content is produced by
members through continuous communication processes. A brand
community, often established in virtual spaces, is developed by
admirers of a specic brand, which can be either individuals or the
company (e.g. Harley-Davidson, Apple Computer, i-Village, Nike,
etc.)(Park and Cho, 2012). Brand communities for apparel products
were often hosted by retailers who target for young generations
(Kim and Jin, 2006). The major interactive communications tools in
the communities were bulletin and message boards which induce the
consumers participations (Park and Cho, 2012). Discussions about
brands, designers, and retailers make the online community as an
information center by creating strong word of mouth effect (Park
and Cho, 2012).The importance of a social network online community
as an information source will be more signicant because of the
current size of the community users and the growth (Park and Cho,
2012). To current consumers especially those who are savvy to
technology, a social network online community may serve as a major
place to share and garner shopping information. One good example of
this would be lowyat.forums.com.my where the users exchange
information within their community. Marketing Strategies of Online
Fashion ApparelsAn online brand is defined as a brand that has an
online presence (Rowley, 2009). Chaffeys (2008) denition of online
branding to propose that online branding is: How online channels
are used to support brands, which in essence are the sum of the
characteristics of a product, service or organization as perceived
and experienced by a user, customer or other stakeholder. The
growing recognition of the value of brands, especially in the
retail industry (Ailawadi and Keller, 2004) and the status of
brands as one of the four most popular discussion topics within a
fashion and style discussion forum (Thomas et al., 2007) suggests
that it may be timely to explore online branding in fashion
retailing in more detail(Rowley, 2008). There is evidence to
suggest that brand knowledge has a direct and positive effect on
intention to adopt an online retailer (Chen and He, 2003) and that
brand familiarity inuences purchase intention (Park and Stoel,
2005). Online branding more generally (or e-branding, digital
branding, internet branding, or i-branding as it has variously been
labelled) has also received relatively limited attention (Rowley,
2008). Online branding requires a review of established branding
principles coupled with an understanding of the specic
opportunities offered by the online channel (Rowley, 2008).The
majority of research in the area of online fashion retailing has
been concerned to better understand consumer behaviour, including
the identication of online shopper characteristics and the
examination of cross channel shopping behaviour (Rowley, 2008).
Goldsmith and Flynns (2004) research on the psychological and
behavioural drivers of online clothing purchase, showed that being
an adventurous online buyer and a heavy catalogue shopper had the
most impact on online clothing buying. Kim and Kim (2004) found
that their transaction/cost factor and their incentive programs
factor were important predictors of purchase intention. Similarly,
Kim and Stoel (2004) conrmed the importance of transaction cost
factors (e.g. credit card security, fast delivery time, privacy
assurance, money back guarantees) over web site design features in
perceptions of online clothing shopping attributes (Rowley,
2008).Park and Stoel (2005) found that familiarity with brands
offered online, together with previous experience of shopping
online, inuenced perceptions of the risk associated with shopping
online, as well as intentions to purchase online.All of the UK
non-value fashion retailers now have transactional web sites, and
all top UK value fashion retailers have a web site that they use
for communication and to establish an online brand presence
(Rowley, 2008). Rowley (2008) also found that brand visual identity
online is consistent with visual identity through other channels,
and is applied consistently throughout web sites.Trends of
Purchasing fashion apparels before and after the birth of Online
ShoppingIt is now widely recognised that the internets power, scope
and interactivity provide retailers with the potential to transform
their customers shopping experience (Evanschitzky et al., 2004;
Wolnbarger and Gilly, 2003), and in so doing, strengthen their own
competitive positions (Doherty and Ellis-Chadwick, 2009; Levenburg,
2005).The internets capacity to provide information, facilitate
two-way communication with customers, collect market research data,
promote goods and services and ultimately to support the online
ordering of merchandise, provides retailers with an extremely rich
and exible new channel (Basu and Muylle, 2003). In so doing, the
internet gives retailers a mechanism for: broadening target
markets, improving customer communications, extending product
lines, improving cost efciency, enhancing customer relationships
and delivering customised offers (Srinivasan et al., 2002). By and
large, consumers have responded enthusiastically to these
innovations (Eng and Kim, 2006; Soopramanien and Robertson, 2007),
and online retail sales have grown signicantly over the past 15
years and are predicted to continue rising into the future
(Ellis-Chadwick et al., 2002; Ho et al., 2007).From the very
beginning, the potential of the internet as a radically different
and a highly effective communications channel appeared obvious:
global reach, ease of access, enhanced interactivity, exibility and
speed, ability to communicate large amounts of information, cost
efciency and ease of maintenance (Pyle, 1996; Jones and
Vijayasarathy, 1998). It was quickly recognised that it was amongst
retailers that the most signicant impact of the internet was likely
to be experienced (Doherty and Chadwick, 2010).Retailers soon
realised the internets potential to provide information, facilitate
two-way communication with customers, collect market research data,
promote goods and services and ultimately tos upport the online
ordering of merchandise, provides an extremely rich and exible new
retail channel (Doherty et al., 1999). The commercial liberation of
the internet networks in 1989 started the goldrush era of the
internet (Brown, 1995). Auger and Gallaugher (1997) envisaged that
the typical internet consumer would be better educated and more
afuent than the average shopper. Burke (1997) suggested that
internet shopping might be most appealing to those consumers who
did not have much time or desire to go shopping. Other authors
predicted that in an internet world, the balance of power may shift
to the consumer (Bakos, 1991; Hagel and Armstrong, 1997), and in so
doing, this would make internet shopping appeal to those who wanted
to get the best value from their retail spend (McWilliam et al.,
1997). Effective one-to-one marketing requires the capture of
signicant quantities of customer-oriented information, so that
their needs and preferences can be inferred, and then elements of
the marketing mix can be specically tailored to these requirements
(Arora et al., 2008). Online retailing is now providing retailers
with the rich source of individualized customer data, that allows
them to undertake effective one-to-one marketing (Frow and Payne,
2009) and in doing so make a very real contribution to improved
organisational performance (Gurau et al., 2003; Schoder and Madeja,
2004; Warrington et al., 2007). A successful internet business must
always be able to cover its xed costs and may often benet greatly
from having a rst mover advantage (Earl and Mandeville, 2009). The
Future of Internet RetailingIn the UK, it has been estimated that
the number of customers being served by the UK online and catalogue
retail industry, which currently stands at 26.9 million active
online consumers, will rise to around 30 million by the year 2013,
representing over half of the UK population (IMRG, 2010). Although
Weltevrenden (2007) was clear that, as yet, the internet has had a
limited impact on city centre stores, Doherty and Chadwick (2010)
argued that it would seem inevitable that, in the longer term, the
size and composition of the high street will be signicantly
impacted, as online shopping becomes a far more mainstream
activity.Given the consumers desire to use the internet as a exible
tool for researching products and locating stores, as well as
purchasing merchandise, it would also seem likely that the
multi-channel format will be the preferred design (Hahn and Kim,
2009). Established retailers will inevitably continue to face stiff
competition from the successful and high-prole virtual merchants
and disintermediators, such as Amazon.com, Apple.com and Dell.com
(Doherty and Chadwick, 2010). Kaufman-Scarborough et al. (2010)
suggest that in future, this wealth of consumer-oriented data, will
also allow retailers to better predict their customers
requirements, and, in so doing, provide a better level of customer
service. Social Media Influences on Online Fashion
PurchasingAccording to Brown et al. (2007), word of mouth [WOM] has
greater impact on product judgements, attitude formation, and
decision making than formal marketing communications. This view is
strongly supported by Trusov et al. (2009) who nd that word of
mouth referrals have a more signicant impact on new customer
acquisition, than traditional advertising mechanisms. An
alternative, and perhaps more likely, scenario is that in the Web
2.0 era (Wirtz et al., 2010), in which social networking plays an
increasingly powerful role, consumers will become less susceptible
to the power of one-to-one marketing. Doherty and Chadwick (2010)
argues that it is very likely that the power of social networking
will continue to expand, and have a far greater effect on the
modern consumers online shopping behaviour. as social networking is
but one element of the Web 2.0 environment, retailers will also
face increasingly intense pressure from consumers to: deliver a
more authentic dialogue; provide opportunities to customise the
interface and allow consumers to generate their own content (Wirtz
et al., 2010). Doherty and Chadwick (2010) also stated that
retailers will also face growing pressure from consumers to allow
their services to be accessed exibly from a growing array of mobile
devices, as they want to be able to shop on the move.It was
prophesised that, at the very dawn of the online era, that the
Internet would represent the most important wave in the information
revolution (Evans and Wurster, 1997, p. 70). From the perspective
of the here and now, and looking forward, there is plenty of
evidence to suggest that this internet-enabled revolution has got
much more life in it yet (Doherty and Chadwick, 2010).
Task 5SECTION A:Personal DetailsInstruction: Please thick as
appropriate that most closely match your personal opinions.
1) Age: 17-21 22-26 26-30 30 ++
2) Gender: Male Female
3) Monthly Income Range: Below RM 1000 RM 1001 RM 2000 Above RM
2000
4) Are you a frequent user of social media
(Twitter,Instagram,Pinterest,Facebook)? Yes No
5) Do you have any experience through online shopping/
E-shopping for Fashion apparel? Yes No
6) Do you have E-banking or cash deposit experience? Yes No
Section B:Please tick on the box on each line to indicate how
much you agree or disagree with each of the following statement
No.StronglyDisagreeDisagreeNeutralAgreeStronglyAgree
1Do you consider yourself a constant user to social media (such
as Facebook, Twitter, etc.)?
2You are more likely to shop online than going to an actual
store.
3You think that online store/ E-shopping could provide
information in more detail regarding the products than an actual
store.
4Products sold online are much cheaper
5Online store/ E-shopping is a convenient option for you to
shop.
6Any enquiries are easy to make via online.
7You can get immediate respond from the customer service
online.
Section C:1. Do you think social media creates trustworthiness
to the society? Yes No
2. Has social media influenced your buying decision/ behavior
toward a product? Yes No
Why? (Please defined in specific terms)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. In your opinion, online shopping/ E-shopping has becomes the
stronger competitor than a store owned. Yes No
4. Do you think social media is replacing the traditional
marketing methods (such as personal selling, direct marketing,
etc.)? Yes No
Why? (Please defined in specific terms)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Task 6
Limitations and ImplicationsThere are several limitations and
implications in this research. The first main limitation would be
the limitation of time. There is not enough time for the
questionnaires to be given out to the students in SEGi College
Subang Jaya. The online questionnaires were shared on social media
such as facebook but the scopes of respondents were not wide
enough. Only 60 respondents gave input towards the questionnaires
thus this research needs more time to be completely filled. Another
limitation would be that this research has limited resources. The
exact social media that is being used to influence online fashion
apparel purchasing cannot be detected. The data is only collected
by survey, there was no actual interview or observation on
respondents.
ConclusionPark and Cho (2012) mentioned that social network
online communities serves as a platform for millions of consumers
to connect with each other and exchange opinions, ideas and
information. Based on the research objectives and questions, the
results of the survey has shown that social media heavily
influences the decision to purchase an online fashion apparel.
Entrepreneur.com (2014) stated almost every small business is on
social media, and 94 percent of them use these social platforms for
marketing purposes (attracting clients and building a brand), As
social media usage becomes ubiquitous, the rate will only continue
to grow, as more small businesses use Facebook pages and Twitter as
their main platforms for communication, even more so than their
websites. Many if not millions have already acknowledged the usages
of social media towards not just online fashion items, but with
other items as well that are available in the internet. With social
media sites such as Instagram and Pinterest and many more to name,
social media will be a big influence towards the online fashion
retail industry.
Task 7 REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Park, J. H., & Stoel, L.
(2002). Apparel Shopping On The Internet: Information Availability
On US Apparel Merchant Web Sites. Journal of Fashion Marketing and
Management, 6(2), 158-176. Retrieved March 24, 2014, from the
Emerald Insight database Goldsmith, R. E., & Flynn, L. R.
(2004). Psychological and behavioral drivers of online clothing
purchase. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 8(1), 84-95.
Retrieved March 24, 2014, from the Emerald Insight database. Park,
H., & Cho, H. (2012). Social network online communities:
information sources for apparel shopping. Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 29(6), 400-411. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from the
Emerald Insight database. Rowley, J. (2009). Online Branding
Strategies Of UK Fashion Retailers. Internet Research, 19(3),
348-369. Retrieved March 24, 2014, from the Emerald Insight
database. Fogel, J., & Schneider, M. (2010). Understanding
designer clothing purchases over the internet. Journal of Fashion
Marketing and Management, 14(3), 367-396. Retrieved March 24, 2014,
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Present And The Future. International Journal of Retail &
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