BRAND PREFERECE OF MENS WEAR A Research Project

Submitted towards partial fulfilment of Two year MBA degree program (Session 2009-2010)

Submitted to Rajasthan Technical University, Kota

Under the Guidance of Ms. KIRAN VIZRANI

Submitted By ANKITA CHITTORA M.B.A. 4 SEMESTER

PIONEER INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT (Affiliated by RTU, Kota & Approved by AICTE, New Debari, Udaipur 313003 (Rajasthan)Website: www.pioneerinstitute.in

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work incorporated in the present research project entitled BRAND PREFERENCE OF MENS WEAR is my own work and original. This work (in Part or in full) has not been submitted to any University for the award of a degree or diploma.

Place: Udaipur

ANKITA CHITTORA MBA IV Sem.

PREFACE BRAND PREFERENCE OF MENS WEAR is a topic requiring deep study and understanding for which I have tried my level best to analyze and incorporate all the relevant information in this project. All the material contained is this project is true and original to the best of my knowledge. All the pictures used in the project are for representational purposes only.

I am greatly indebted to RTU,KOTA MBA for making me understand the finer points of Marketing; And also acquainting us with the workings of the Product and Brand Management.

It has been a great delight for me to work on this project. The knowledge I have gained while working on this project will stay with me through all the years of my professional life.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The successful completion of any project requires guidance and help from a number of people. I express my sincere thanks are due to Mr.G.P.Bisaria & Mr.N.K.Gupta for allowing me to undertake the paper and making available all facilities for the successful completion of the study. It will be in the fitness of things to express my deep sense of gratitude to my project guide MISS KIRAN VIZRANI , for guiding me right form the inception till the successful completion of the project. I sincerely acknowledge him/her/them for extending their valuable guidance, support for literature, critical reviews of project and the report and above all the moral support he/she/they had provided to me with all stages of this project. In the end, I wish to thank all those whose names have not been mentioned above but who directly or indirectly helped me and cooperation throughout our project

ANKITA CHITTORA

Executive Summary

This research is a co-relational study. The relationship between perceived value, brand preference, customer satisfaction are considered as independent variables and repurchase intention as dependent variable. The purpose of this study is to show how perceived value, brand preference and customer satisfaction influence over customers repurchase intention. Existing literature suggests considerable correlation among the variables mentioned above. Questionnaire was used to collect data regarding perceived value, brand preference, customer satisfaction and repurchase intention. There were total 14 questions and the sample size was 100. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 12 software was employed to analyze the data collected from the actual survey. The researcher runs correlation and stepwise regression on the collected data to analytically investigate the relations between dependent and independent variables and their extent.

It was found from the investigation that perceived value, brand preference, customer satisfaction are significantly positively correlated with repurchase intention. This means that if a yarn customer views perceived value, brand preference and customer satisfaction positively then his or her intention of repurchase that particular brand of yarn will be positive. That means he or she will repurchase that particular companys yarn again and again. We also found from the stepwise regression that brand preference is most significantly correlated with repurchase intention. More promotional activities should be taken to emphasis brand preference. Finally, considering the time resource constrain, the researcher tried to follow every possible guideline to establish the relationship between the variables.

CONTENT CHAPTER NO. DISCRIPTION DECLRATION PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. . 2. BRAND INTODUCTION OF INDUSTRY PAGE NO.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

REVIEW OF LITRATURE RESARCH METHODLOGY FACTS AND FINDINGS SWOT CONCLUSION RECOMMENDATION AND SUGGESTION APPENDICES BIBLIOGRAPHY

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Overview India is a country with diversified customs and cultures; so diverse that Indians differ in their dressing too. Right from the salwaar- kameez to the sari and from lungi to dhoti, our own Indian wear has been vivid and varied. After independence, the trend of branded clothing began in the 1950s following which Liberty became the first company to sell shirts under its brand name. Many Indian companies like Raymonds ventured and made their mark in the apparel industry. With the advent of globalization, radical changes are witnessed in the Indian fashion and textile industry. Today, readymade garments scene has taken a U turn from tailor shops to designer wear boutique creation, from retailers selling from their shops and the likes of Fashion Street of Mumbai to private labels available at shopping malls. The evolution spoke of the up scaling volume, up gradation in quality with reduced prices as well.

The market of branded garments is growing up. With favorable events like end of multifiber agreement, entry of foreign retailers and textile companies into the country and the growth and acknowledgement of the Indian fashion industry throughout the world, apparel marketing has become one of the interesting and tough jobs in the arena of Marketing.

The study emphasizes as to how over the last several decades the face of retail and the distribution of Apparel have changed dramatically. India ranks among the top target countries for any company sourcing textiles and apparel. Indeed, apart from China, no other country can match the size, spread, depth and competitiveness of the Indian textile and apparel industry. Moreover, with the global elimination of quotas at the end of 2004, entry of foreign retailers and textile companies into the country, the growth and acknowledgement of the Indian fashion industry throughout the world, a thorough study of apparel retailing has become necessary in this present scenario.

This report focuses on examining the recent trends of apparel retailing in India, including role of shopping malls, private brands marketing, impact of fashion and movies and other related areas. The report will help readers know about the retail scenario of apparel in India, the importance of the merchandising philosophy, outlines devising merchandise assortment plans, the atmospherics and visual merchandising and investigation of the promotional process.

INTRODUCTION

The apparel industry covers all those companies that are largely engaged in producing various types of garments. The clothings that are manufactured includes kid's clothing, men's.

The textile industry is one of the oldest industries in India. It has played an important role in generating foreign exchange reserves and creating employment opportunities. The concept of readymade garments is relatively new for the Indians. Traditionally, Indians preferred dresses stitched by local tailors, who had tailoring units in townships or cities and catered exclusively to local demand. The growing fashion consciousness during the 1980s and the convenience offered by ready-to-wear garments were largely responsible for the development of the branded apparel industry in India. Other factors which contributed to its growth were: greater purchasing power in the hands of the youth, access to fashion trends outside the country, and the superior quality of fabrics. The 1990s witnessed a drastic change in the overall economic environment of the country. The period was characterized by liberal trade and new investment policies. The effect of liberalized polices was seen in the clothing industry as well. In 2001-02, the domestic apparel market was estimated at Rs 431 billion, of which the readymade garments business was estimated at Rs. 298.5 billion. The branded apparel market accounted for Rs.90 billion of this Rs.298.5 billion market. In other words, a Rs.208.5 billion market still remains to be tapped. The men's clothing segment accounts for the largest share (59%) of the branded apparel market. The major players in the branded apparel market are Madura Garments (part of Indian Rayon), Raymonds, Bombay Dyeing, Arvind Mills, Pantaloons, Zodiac and Acme Clothing. The worldwide apparel industry is one of the most important sectors of the economy with regard to investment, revenue, trade and employment generation all over the world. The apparel industry in India has substantially diversified on the basis of fashion, climate, region, culture and fiscal factors. Indian textile is witnessing great growth and developement in the industrial sector

in India as well as abroad. The significance of the apparel industry is entirely based on the contribution of the industrial productivity and contribution of the industrial productivity and employment. Apparel The importanovered in apparel industry include home decor and

furnishings along with clothing and fashion accessories for kids, women and men.sector in totallity contributes to the country's GDP after agriculture segments . Indian apparel industry has flourished a lot in the recent past and has great significance in today's scenario. However, the industrial growth have managed to set a distinct place in the international market. Each woven fabric is turned into a trendy and fashionable outfit. Intricate embroidery, interesting motifs and symmetrical embellishments have made Indian apparel industry identifiable all over the world. Earlier, apparel industry in India was not so advanced and well equipped to gain recognition worldwide. Only traditionally skilled workers and conventional art form was there in that era that has left its imprints till now. Today also, big designers are considered to be great preservers of Indian embroideries and other functional art work. Each embroidery and each work speaks volume about Indian culture, traditions and faith. But now, advertising, designing and manufacturing of fashionable garments, have changed the outlook of every individual, affected by apparel industry. Now the things are more advance and contemporary. Mixing and matching is what, everybody wants. Each style, patterns, designs and varieties in fabrics has demand and target market of its own. Apparel industry in India is blooming day by day. The latest trends are classified as well as customized according to the essential requirements or preferences of the consumers. These art forms are not only restricted to designing clothes but goes way ahead to fashion accessories like jewelleries, bags, shoes, stoles,decorative items and many more. Diligent efforts and intensive approach towards demand in the market, improvisation of technical support and proper merchandising will make the industry flourish day by day as there are

tremendous scope of growth and advancement in apparel industry with latest fabrics, designers, technologies mushrooming in this sector every season.

The Multi-Fibre Agreement (MFA), that had governed the extent of textile trade between nations since 1962, expired on 1 January, 2005. It is expected that, post-MFA, most tariff distortions would gradually disappear and firms with robust capabilities will gain in the global trade of textile and apparel. The prize is the $360 bn market which is expected to grow to about $600 bn by the year 2010 barely five years after the expiry of MFA. An important question facing Indian firms is whether their capabilities and their diverse supply chain are aligned to benefit from the opening up of global textile market?

The history of textiles in India dates back to the use of mordant dyes and printing blocks around 3000 BC. The diversity of fibres found in India, intricate weaving on its state-of-art manual looms and its organic dyes attracted buyers from all over the world for centuries. The British colonization of India and its industrial policies destroyed the innovative eco-system and left it technologically impoverished. Independent India saw the building up of textile capabilities, diversification of its product base, and its emergence, once again, as an important global player. Today, the textile and apparel sector employs 35.0 mn people (and is the 2nd largest employer), generates 1/5th of the total export earnings and contributes 4 per cent to the GDP thereby making it the largest industrial sector of the country. This textile economy is worth US $37 bn and its share of the global market is about 5.90 per cent. The sector aspires to grow its revenue to US $85bn, its export value to US $50bn and employment to 12 million by the year 2010 (Texmin 2005).

India represents an economic opportunity on a massive scale, both as a global base and as a domestic market. Indian consumer markets are changing fast, with rapid growth in disposable incomes, the development of modern urban lifestyles, and the emergence of the kind of trendconscious consumers that India has not seen in the past.

The Indian Apparel Industry

The Indian apparel industry plays an important role in generating foreign exchange reserves and creating employment opportunities. India is the sixth largest exporter of readymade garments in the world with apparel worth 9.7 billion dollars exported from the country in 2007-08 (Jairam, 2009). The concept of readymade garments is relatively new for the Indians. Traditionally, Indians preferred dresses stitched by local tailors, who had tailoring units in townships or cities and catered exclusively to local demand. The growing fashion consciousness during the 1980s and the convenience offered by ready-to-wear garments were largely responsible for the development of the branded apparel industry in India. Other factors which contributed to its growth were: greater purchasing power in the hands of the youth, access to fashion trends outside the country and the superior quality of fabrics. The 1990s witnessed a drastic change in the overall economic environment of the country. The period was characterized by liberal trade and new investment policies. The effect of liberalized polices was seen in the clothing industry as well. In 2001-02, the domestic apparel market was estimated at Rs 431 billion, of which the readymade garments business was estimated at Rs. 298.5 billion. The branded apparel market accounted for Rs.90 billion of this Rs.298.5 billion market (icmrindia.org). Indias domestic market for clothing, textiles and fashion accessories is currently worth Rs. 113,500 crore as per the India Retail Report 2007 estimates. Nearly 19% of this market is organized. Of the total market size of Rs. 113,500 crore, menswear takes up 32 per cent, followed by womens wear at 29 percent, kids wear at 13 per cent, uniforms at 8 per cent, unisex apparel at 7 per cent and non apparel fashion accessories at 11 per cent (India Retail Report 2007). Thus, it can be seen that a huge chunk of the market is still dominated by unbranded clothing and remains to be tapped by branded apparel manufacturers.

According to "CII-Ernst and Young Textile and Apparel Report-2007-India In the Global Textiles Ecosystem.", the Indian domestic and export markets for textile and apparel are expected to grow at 6.5 per cent and 12 per cent Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), respectively. The growth in the domestic market is driven by favourable demographic factors, rise in disposable incomes and a shift towards branded apparel. The growth in exports is

expected because of International retailers looking at India as the best alternative to China of sourcing of apparel. In order to successfully exploit this potential, branded clothes manufacturers need to be cognizant of customers. evaluation of and attitude towards branded vs. unbranded apparel. The present study primarily focuses on how consumers evaluate branded clothes visvis unbranded clothes based on factors like price, quality, variety etc. Though many interesting articles are found in newspapers and magazines related to the Indian apparel industry, detailed accounts in terms of how customers evaluate branded clothing in comparison to unbranded clothing are seldom made available to the academia and practitioners. Our research is an attempt to address this gap.

Competitiveness of Indian Textile & Apparel Industry India is one of the few countries that owns the complete supply chain in close proximity from diverse fibres to a large market. It is capable of delivering packaged products to customers comprising a variety of fibres, diverse count sizes, cloths of different weight and weave, and a panoply of finishes. This permits the supply chain to mix and match variety in different

segments to deliver new products and applications. This advantage is further accentuated by cost based advantages and diverse traditions in textiles.

Indian strength in spinning is now well established on unit costs on ring yarn, open-ended (OE) yarn as well as textured yarn, Indian firms are ahead of their global competitors including China. Same is true on some woven OE yarn fabric categories (especially grey fabrics) but is not true for other woven segments. India contributes about 23 per cent of world spindles and 6 per cent of world rotors (second highest in the world after China). Fifty five per cent of total investment in technology in the last decade has been made in the spinning sector. Its share in global shuttleless loom, however, is only about 2.8 per cent of world looms (and is ranked 9th in the world). The competitiveness in the weaving sector is adversely affected by low penetration of shuttleless looms (i.e., 1.69 % of Indian looms), the unorganized nature of the sector (i.e., fragmented, small and, often, un-registered units, low investment in technology & practices especially in the powerloom, processing, handloom and knits) and higher power tariffs. There is, however, a

recent trend of investment in setting up hi-tech, stand-alone mid-size weaving companies focusing on export markets. India also has the highest deployment of handlooms in the world (handlooms are low on productivity but produce specialized fabric). While production and export of man-made fibre (and filament yarn) has increased over the years, Indian industry still lags significantly behind US, China, Europe, Taiwan etc. (Texmin, 2005.)

Indian textile industry has suffered in the past from low productivity at both ends of the supply chain low farm yields affecting cotton production and inefficiency in garment sector due to restriction of size and reservation. Add to this, contamination of cotton with consequent increase in cost (as it affects quality and requires installation of additional process to clean and open cotton fibres before carding operations), poor ginning (most equipment dates back to 1940s), high average defect rates in production process (which also leads to increase in effective labour and power costs), hank yarn requirement, etc. and its competitiveness gets compromised severely. Similarly, processing technology is primarily manual and small batch oriented with visual colour matching and sun drying. This leads to inconsistency in conformance quality. Lead times across the sector continue to be affected by variability in the supply chain defect rates average over 5%, average % of orders on time is about 80%, variance in order size across firms is high (e.g., the coefficient of variability of average order size for spinning firms is about 2.6), and on an average, 16 days of sales as work-in-process inventory (the highest for garment firms) and an average of 30 days of sales in raw material inventory (the highest for spinning firms) (Chandra 2004). Some of the hurdles (eg., reservation in the garment sectors) including tariff distortions between the organized and unorganized sectors have now been systematically removed by policy initiatives of Government of India and have opened avenues for firms to compete on the basis of their capabilities.

Trade data of post-MFA performance reveals some interesting trends Indian firms registered a 27 per cent growth in exports to US (against Chinas 52 per cent) during the Jan-April 2005 time period. Most of this growth has been in textiles while apparels show marginal gains. Apparels & accessories constituted 78% of global exports to USA (FICCI 2005). (India is still a relatively

small yet growing player in the global apparel market.) It is expected that India will soon replace Mexico as the second largest apparel supplier to the US.

Challenges facing Indian Textile and Apparel Industry Textile supply chains compete on low cost, high quality, accurate delivery and flexibility in variety and volume. Several challenges stand in the way of Indian firms before they can own a larger share of the global market:

Scale: Except for spinning, all other sectors suffer from the problem of scale. Indian firms are typically smaller than their Chinese or Thai counterparts and there are fewer large firms in India. Some of the Chinese large firms have 1.5 times higher spinning capacity, 1.25 times denim (and 2 times gray fabric) capacity and about 6 times more revenue in garment than their counterparts in India thereby affecting the cost structure as well as ability to attract customers with large orders. The central tendency is to add capacity once the order has been won rather than ahead of the demand. Customers go where they see both capacity and capabilities. Large capacity typically goes with standardized products. These firms need to develop the managerial

capabilities required to manage large work force and design an appropriate supply chain. For the size of the Indian economy, it will have to have bigger firms producing standard products in large volumes as well as small and mid size firms producing large variety in small to mid size batches (the tension between the organized and un-organized sectors will have to be addressed first, though). Then there is the need for emergence of specialist firms that will consolidate orders, book capacities, manage warehouses and logistics of order delivery.

Skills : Three issues must be mentioned here : (a) there is a paucity of technical manpower there exist barely 30 programmes at graduate engineering (including diploma) levels graduating about 1000 students this is insufficient for bringing about technological change in the sector; (b) Indian firms invest very little in training its existing workforce and the skills are limited to existing proceses (Chandra 1998); (c) there is an acute shortage of trained operators and

supervisors in India. It is expected that Indian firms will have to invest close to Rs. 1400 bn by year 2010 to increase its global trade to $ 50 bn. This kind of investment would require, by our calculations, about 70,000 supervisors and 1.05mn operators in the textile sector and at least 112,000 supervisors and 2.8mn operators in the apparel sector (assuming a 80:20 ratio of investment between textiles and apparel). availability of skilled manpower. The real bottleneck to growth is going to be

Cycle Time : Cycle time is the key to competitiveness of a firm as it affects both price and delivery schedule. Cycle time reduction is strongly correlated with high first pass yield, high throughput times, low variability in process times, low WIP and consequently cost. Indian firms have to dramatically reduce cycle times across the entire supply chain which are currently quite high (Chandra, 2004). Customs must provide a turnaround time of day for an order before Indian firms can they expect to become part of larger global supply chains. Indian firms need a strong deployment of industrial engineering with particular emphasis on cellular manufacturing, JIT and statistical process control to reduce lead times on shop floors. Penetration of IT for improving productivity is particularly low in this sector.

Innovation & Technology: A review of the products imported from China to USA during JanuaryApril 2005 reveals that the top three products in terms of percentage increase in imports were Tire Cords & Tire Fabrics (843.4% increase over the previous year), Non-woven fabrics (284.1% increase) and Textile/Fabric Finishing Mill Products (197.2% increase) (FICCI, 2005). None of these items, however, figure in the list of imports from India that have gained in these early days of post-MFA. Entry into newer application domains of industrial textiles, nanotextiles, home furnishings etc. becomes imperative if we are to grow beyond 56% of global market share as these are areas that are projected to grow significantly. Synthetic textiles comprise about 50 per cent of the global textile market. Indian synthetic industry, however, is not well entrenched. The Technology Upgradation Fund of the government is being used to stimulate investment in new processes. However, there is little evidence that this deployment in

technology has accompanied changes in the managerial regimes a necessary condition for increasing productivity and order winning ability.

Domestic Market : The Indian domestic market for all textile and apparel products is estimated at $26 bn and growing. While the market is very competitive at the low end of the value chain, the mid or higher ranges are over priced (i.e., dollar pricing). Firms are not taking advantage of the large domestic market in generating economies of scale to deliver cost advantage in export markets. The Free Trade Agreement with Singapore and Thailand will allow overseas producers to meet the aspirations of domestic buyers with quality and prices that are competitive in the domestic market. Ignoring the domestic market, in the long run, will peril the export markets for domestic producers. In addition, high retail property prices and high channel margins in India will restrict growth of this market. Firms need to make their supply chain leaner in order to overcome these disadvantages. Institutional Support : Textile policy has come long ways in reducing impediments for the industry sometimes driven by global competition and, at other times, by international trade regulations. However, few areas of policy weakness stand out labour reforms (which is hindering movement towards higher scale of operations by Indian firms), power availability and its quality, customs clearance and shipment operations from ports, credit for large scale investments that are needed for upgradation of technology, and development of manpower for the industry. These are problems facing several sectors of industry in India and not by this sector alone.

In conclusion, competitive strategies are developed by sector level firms and its their individual and collective initiatives that secure higher market share in global trade. While one has to be ever vigilant of non-tariff barriers in the post MFA world, the new market will be won on the basis of capabilities across the supply chain. Policy will need to facilitate this building of capabilities at the firm level and the flexible strategies that firms will need to devise periodic

CHAPTER 2

BRAND

Introduction to Brand
Branding Consumers are evolving entities. Their aspirations & expectations are continuously changing. Todays shoppers are more intelligent, discerning & tuned to their individual preference. They are increasingly fashion and brand conscious and select labels which define who they are or who they want to be. The biggest challenge for all the brands is to create loyal consumer who love them. Shoppers Stop Ltd 1

Branding is originally an identifier, but technically a trademark. According tothe UK Trademarks Act of 1994, a brand is any sign capable of being represented graphically, which is capable of distinguishing goods or services of one undertaking from those of another undertaking (Robertson, 2000). Branding is more than just a naming per se or the creation of an external indication that a product or service has received an organisations imprint or mark (Kapferer, 1995). Harris (1995) adds to the above mentioned statements by posing that: the word brand stands as a surrogate for reputation thus representing the organisation that gave it Unbranded Goods An unbranded good is a good which is not recognised by a name. Goods are treated as commodity goods or cases where consumers are reluctant to make brand distinctions, for example, toothpicks, clothes pins. In this stage,consumers memory network consists primarily of a node identifying theproduct category. Such goods are often seen in developing countries. Information about the product is generally limited to product uses(McEnally, de Chernatony 1999).Consumers have little brand knowledge of the product. Brand equity barely exists in this stage. Branded Goods It is possible to state that there are two different approaches of defining a brand, according to various brand definitions. The first of Aaker is the traditional one - more pragmatic view and

perceives a brand as a product identifier, including the source of the product. According to Aaker (1991) "a brand is a distinguishing name and/or symbol such as logo, trademark orpackage design intended to identify the goods, services of either one seller or group of sellers, and to differentiate those goods or services from those of competitors". The brand builds an image of the product itself and is a sort of message devoted to potential customer. Additionally, the psychological behavior of customer defines conscious and unconscious elements that create relationship between the brand and the user (Blery and Gilbert, 2006). Therefore this second approach is the holistic view (Styles and Ambler, 1995), which presents a brand as something more than just the product. This view defines a brand as "the promise of the bundles of attributes that someone buys and that provides satisfactionthe attributes that make up a brand may be real or Illusory rational or emotional, tangible or invisible" (Ambler, 1992). from the previous definition, brands to some extent define our character, identify us with particular lifestyle. Besides, they give us a sense of belonging to a specific social group, that has been underlined by Murphy (1990), who perceives brand "not only as the actual product, but also theunique property of a specific owner and has been developed over time so as to embrace a set of values and attributes - both tangible and intangible which meaningfully and appropriately differentiate products which are otherwise very similar." It is crucial to recognise that brand names are not just mere names, terms, symbols and designs and that they are elements with attributes specifically designed to single out products and services for the consumer. It can therefore be concluded that brands create trust, take away uncertainty, identify products and services, and are more of a tangible item. Apparel and fashion industry in India is in its growth stage. Using consumer sales promotion to differentiate ones offer has become an order of the day in matured urban markets. More and more budget is allocated to these activities in order to the lure the consumers. In such a scenario, it is very essential to study how consumers make their choices in Apparel & Fashion category where there are several brands in the consideration set of a consumer. The financial risk being psychological assurance than a

high consumers do switch from one brand to another due to sales promotion offers and personal comfort zone. Hence it would of interest to a marketer to learn about the consumer preferences with respect to sales promotion offer; what schemes do consumer prefer for what kind of brands, which media do they prefer to know about the brand, product, and related schemes, who prefers the branded apparel and fashion products, the price range of the fashion products. These are the questions which consumer considers while choosing a brand. Similarly even a manager has to consider while introducing a product or brand. Brands build customer loyalty by delivering excellent value no matter the price point-high, low, or medium. Value includes styling, durability, quality fabrics, and consistent fit. To the consumer, a brand name represents familiarity, consistency, and confidence in performance. Brand names when linked with lifestyle, self-expression, and aspirations epitomize intangibles that are desirable to the consumer. Consumers consider fashion as part of an overall budgetary spend, so apparel purchases now compete directly with other choices from the technology, entertainment, beauty and general lifestyle categories for the discretionary rupee.Todays global apparel environment is tougher than ever for brands. There are many reasons for the emergence of this challenging climate;

esigners creating for mass

All of this adds up to one stark fact: those brands that break through the noise and communicate their message to the consumer directly and clearly in a way that means something to them. Rising costs of living around the world cause consumers to stretch their incomes more thinly, meaning necessities are being weighed against apparel. Fashion must have value and purpose

and truly resonate to the consumer. Strong brands with consistent powerful messages can create loyalty and a sense of worth that transcends the burden of choice. 2 Fashion is direct and individual communication. It also nourishes industries with high research requirements due to its present characteristics:

The understanding of consumer s desires behavior, and of purchase process of fashion products is extremely important to design products collections as well as to placement of these products in market. Considering a marketing approach, a fashion product must satisfy the demand target, so the main idea (message) behind the brand (sender) must reach the consumer (receiver).

Consumer Perceptions

Noesjirwan and Crawford (1982:155) are of the opinion that clothing is likely to form an integral part in the enactment of social encounters and it is also seen as a very important channel of nonverbal communication. Clothing is therefore used as a code, which allows messages to be created and understood selectively (Auty & Elliott, 1998:109). They state further that perceptions of brand users have been found to differ for identical brands within a product category. Within the context of this study, customer perceptions regarding branded clothing vis--vis unbranded clothing were tested.

BRANDED COMPANIES IN INDIA Raymonds

Siyarams Reid & taylor Adidas Nike John player Peter England Koutons Wrangler Wisely Kumars Levis Play boy Gap Lee Dig-jam

Grasim Gini & Jony Monte Carlo Dkny Pepe jeans Nautical Mayor John player Louis Vuitton Guess Arrow Van Heusen

RAYMOND

The Raymond Shop is a premium retail store offering complete wardrobe solutions to the discerning man through its range of fine fabrics for suits, jackets, trousers, shirts & finely crafted garments from Raymond, contemporary range of readymade from Park Avenue, stylish casual wear for occasions beyond work from Parx , smart casuals from Color Plus and luxury formals from Manzoni. It also offers Made to Measure a unique offering for a perfect comfort fit. Added to this is quality Custom Tailoring services which makes The Raymond Shop an ideal destination for anyone to look good and feel great.

The Raymond Shop has been a pioneer in organized retailing in the country starting around five decades ago. The Raymond Shops wide reach and range of products, makes it the largest one stop retail network in the country. This chain of shops has over the years become a yardstick by which other retail stores are judged. The retail chain constantly sets new standards and creates environments that make shopping a pleasure.

Values OF RAYMONS

The chain has been customer driven right from the start providing excellent service and merchandise. The Raymond Shops prime five values tightly woven into a cohesive whole are Trust, Excellence, Quality, Leadership and Service.

Reid & Taylor

Reid & Taylor (India) Ltd., is a subsidiary of SKNL. Synonymous with British tradition, Reid & Taylor has been styling the world's elite for over 170 years. It all

began in the 1830's with Alexander Reid, an enterprising Scottish gentleman, embarking on a journey to make his vision a reality. Using locally available Cheviot wool he created Cheviot cloth that soon caught on the fancy of the landed gentry. As the clientele and reputation grew, he was joined by financer Joseph Taylor. Thus, began the enduring partnership of creating finest cloths in the world, which today is better known as Reid & Taylor. Reid & Taylor continues the journey to create the finest fabric passionately and has thus carved out a distinguished name

S.kumarS.Kumars is the manufacturer of blended fabrics for work-wear & daily wear. With strong brand equity and unique strengths, the brand has evolved to include fashionable blended suittings in line with work wear & daily wear for the common man of today. Besides the superior look and finish, the brand spells quality, durability and a value-for-money. Its polyester viscose and polyester cotton blend fabrics are offered in over 150 basic shades the largest spectrum of colours available. Serving the work-wear market, the brand provides sophisticated product and service.

The textile industry is one of the most important industries of the Indian economy and it is the second largest provider of employment after agriculture. It has witnessed phenomenal growth in recent years and attracted fair amount of foreign direct investment (FDI). The textile and apparel industry in India is estimated to be about US$ 36 billion. It is the largest foreign exchange earner, contributing to approximately 15% of Indias exports and 14% of industrial output. Indias solid performance and growth in textile sector is fuelled by several key advantages that the country enjoys in terms of abundant availability of raw material a nd cheap labour, large domestic market, presence of supportive industries and supportive policy initiatives by the government.

The textile industry is India is highly fragmented. It is vertically integrated across the whole value chain and interconnected with various operations. The organised sector consists of spinning mills and composite mills. The unorganised sector consists of handlooms, power looms and handicrafts. The major sub segments of the textile industry are cotton, blended, silk, wool and manmade. The major products in which Indian textile industry deals is readymade garments, suiting and shirting, shirts and trousers, fabrics, bed linen and embroidery work. Exports have been the major growth driver of the Indian textile industry in the recent years. The export market has grown enormously specially after the removal of quotas under Multi Fibre Agreement (MFA). Indias textile exports have registered a growth of 7.7% in 2006-07 compared to the previous year. Government of India has a vision to increase Indias share in the global textile trade to 10% by year 2015 from current 3%. To realize its vision, the Government has taken various steps to strengthen the textile sector that include

Technology Mission on Cotton (TMC) Setting up of Apparel Training and Design Centres (ATDCs) 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the textile sector under automatic route.

Revival plans of the mills run by National Textiles Corporation (NTC). Already, for the revival of 18 textile mills, US$ 2.21 million worth of machineries has been ordered for the up gradation and modernisation of these mills.

The cotton based products, especially in the readymade garments and home furnishings segment will be the key drivers of growth for the industry. Readymade garment exports were worth US$ 8 bn in FY06 and will cross US$ 16 bn by the end of 2010, assuming a conservative growth of 15% p.a. According to estimates, investments in textiles are expected to touch US$ 31 bn by 2010. As per the Textile Vision 2010, the industry is expected to grow by 12% p.a. and create an additional 12 million jobs.

Source: Ministry of Textiles

Textile Cluster Insights Ownership pattern

50% of the sample companies are private limited, 10% are public limited, 26% are partnerships and 14% are proprietary firms 40% of the private limited companies are in the turnover bracket of Rs 40 mn 100 mn. About 22% of the private limited companies are in the turnover bracket of Rs 100 mn 250 mn

Nature of operations

43% of the sample companies are engaged in only manufacturing activity, and 57% are in manufacturing as well as trading

Approximately 37% of the companies engaged only in manufacturing have invested more than Rs 10 mn but less than Rs 50 mn in plant and machineries, 12% have invested Rs 500 mn to Rs 1000 mn

23% of the companies engaged in manufacturing as well as trading activity have invested Rs 10 mn 50 mn in plant and machinery

Sub-segment 73% of the sample textile companies are operating in the cotton sub segment. Approximately 8% companies deal in the manmade segment and 11% of the companies deal in blended segment. 6% of companies deal in the silk sub segment. 35% of the textile companies operating in cotton segment generate 100% revenue from exports.

40% of the sample textile companies are utilising 100% of their installed capacity. Another 46% of the companies are utilising more than 60% their installed capacity. 48% of companies are working in one shift only

22% of the companies have shown revenue growth up to 30% in the last two years. 9% of the companies have shown revenue growth of more than 30% but less than 100%

39% of the companies that have their plants located at Bhiwandi, Ambernath and Dombivli area normally operate in single or at most double shifts. 11% of the companies are situated in Tarapur area. 44% of the companies have their plants in the Mumbai area

Future plans 76% of the sample textile companies have envisaged strategies for future growth. The plans range from capacity expansion, modernisation to new market entry and diversification. Among the priority plans for future growth, around 40% of the companies have plans for capacity expansion. 23% of the companies intend for entry into new markets and marketing related plans. 14% of the companies are planning to diversify. 46% of the companies who have capacity expansion as future plans are private limited. 18% of the companies planning for new markets are exporting mainly to American countries.

Benefits and hindrances Quality up gradation is the area where 44% companies have benefited through the cluster. 42% have benefited from technology availability and 35% have benefited from funding facilities. 42% companies have benefited from manpower training and 41% have benefited in marketing and related activity. The major hindrances faced by the textile industry are Infrastructure, taxes and duties and lack of government subsidies. Companies from areas like Kalyan, Ambernath, Dombivli and Bhiwandi face major problems due to load shedding. Over 40% of the respondent companies felt lack of government support as the major impediment. The upcoming issues are environmental restrictions, high cost of land, and higher cost of labour. Note: The Cluster Insights aims to grasp the pulse of the small and medium enterprises operating in their respective industries. The attempt is to chart their operational structure, business practices, future plans etc. For this exercise, we have considered the companies profiled in this publication.

Brand Brand management is a philosophy and a total approach to managing companies, and as such includes much about changing minds. Brand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand. It seeks to increase the product's perceived value to the customer and thereby increase brand franchise and brand equity. Marketers see a brand as an implied promise that the level of quality people have come to expect from a brand will continue with future purchases of the same product. This may increase sales by making a comparison with competing products more favorable. It may also enable the manufacturer to charge more for the product. The value of the brand is determined by the amount of profit it generates for the manufacturer. This can result from a combination of increased sales and increased price, and/or reduced COGS (cost of goods sold), and/or reduced or more efficient marketing investment. All of these enhancements may improve the profitability of a brand, and thus, "Brand Managers" often carry line-management accountability for a brand's P&L profitability, in contrast to marketing staff manager roles, which are allocated budgets from above, to manage and execute. In this regard, Brand Management is often viewed in organizations as a broader and more strategic role than Marketing alone.

Meaning Brands are a means of differentiating a companys products and services from those of its competitors. There is plenty of evidence to prove that customers will pay a substantial price premium for a good brand and remain loyal to that brand. It is important, therefore, to understand what brands are and why they are important. Businesses that invest in and sustain leading brands prosper whereas those that fail are left to fight for the lower profits available in commodity markets.

Definitions:

it is not factories that make profits, but relationships with customers, and it is company and brand names which secure those relationships Jeff Bezos defines brand as: A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well." Interbrand - a leading branding consultancy - defines a brand in this way: A mixture of tangible and intangible attributes symbolized in a trademark, which, if properly managed, creates influence and generates value. Other definition: A name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of these, that is intended to identify the goods and services of one business or group of businesses and to differentiate them from those of competitors.

Branding-Importance in Marketing Strategy The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers. Therefore it makes sense to understand that branding is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, but it is about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem. The objectives that a good brand will achieve include: Delivers the message clearly

 Confirms your credibility Connects your target prospects emotionally Motivates the buyer Concretes User Loyalty To succeed in branding you must understand the needs and wants of your customers and prospects. You do this by integrating your brand strategies through your company at every point of public contact. Your brand resides within the hearts and minds of customers, clients, and prospects. It is the sum total of their experiences and perceptions, some of which you can influence, and some that you cannot. A strong brand is invaluable as the battle for customers intensifies day by day. It's important defining, and building your brand. After your entire brand is the source of a promise to your consumer. It's a foundational piece in your marketing communication and one you do not want to be without. to spend time investing in researching,

Types of Brands There are two main types of brand manufacturer brands and own-label brands.

Manufacturer brands Manufacturer brands are created by producers and bear their chosen brand name. The producer is responsible for marketing the brand. The brand is owned by the producer.By building their brand names, manufacturers can gain widespread distribution (for example by retailers who want to sell the brand) and build customer loyalty (think about the manufacturer brands that you feel loyal to).

Own label brands Own-label brands are created and owned by businesses that operate in the distribution channel often referred to as distributors. Often these distributors are retailers, but not exclusively. Sometimes the retailers entire product range will be own-label. However, more often, the distributor will mix own-label and manufacturers brands. The major supermarkets (e.g. Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys) are excellent examples of this. Own-label branding if well carried out can often offer the consumer excellent value for money and provide the distributor with additional bargaining power when it comes to negotiating prices and terms with manufacturer brands

Advantages of Brands A strong brand offers many advantages for marketers including: Brands provide multiple sensory stimuli to enhance customer recognition. For example, a brand can be visually recognizable from its packaging, logo, shape, etc. It can also be recognizable via sound, such as hearing the name on a radio advertisement or talking with someone who mentions the product. Customers who are frequent and enthusiastic purchasers of a particular brand are likely to become Brand Loyal. Cultivating brand loyalty among customers is the ultimate reward for successful marketers since these customers are far less likely to be enticed to switch to other brands compared to non-loyal customers. Well-developed and promoted brands make product positioning efforts more effective. The result is that upon exposure to a brand (e.g., hearing it, seeing it) customers conjure up mental images or feelings of the benefits they receive from using that brand. The reverse is even better. When customers associate benefits with a particular brand, the brand may have attained a significant competitive advantage. In these situations the customer who recognizes he needs a solution to a problem (e.g., needs to bleach clothes) may automatically think of one brand that offers the solution to the problem (e.g., Clorox). This benefit = brand association provides a significant advantage for the brand that the customer associates with the benefit sought.

Firms that establish a successful brand can extend the brand by adding new products under the same family brand. Such branding may allow companies to introduce new products more easily since the brand is already recognized within the market.

Strong brands can lead to financial advantages through the concept of Brand Equity in which the brand itself becomes valuable. Such gains can be realized through the out-right sale of a brand or through licensing arrangements. For example, Company A may have a well-recognized brand (Brand X) within a market but for some reason they are looking to concentrate their efforts in other markets. Company B is looking to enter the same market as Brand X. If circumstances are right Company A could sell to Company B the rights to use the Brand X name without selling any other part of the company. That is, Company A simply sells the legal rights to the Brand X name but retains all other parts of Brand X, such as the production facilities and employees. In cases of well developed brands such a transaction may carry a very large price tag. Thus, through strong branding efforts Company A achieves a large financial gain by simply signing over the rights to the name. But why would Company B seek to purchase a brand for such a high price tag? Because by buying the brand Company B has already achieved an important marketing goal building awareness within the target market. The fact the market is already be familiar with the brand allows the Company B to concentrate on other marketing decisions.

Importance of Brand Name : Consumer brand preference means to which brand consumers gives importance and priority. A brand is a name, term, symbol or design or a combination of these that gives identification to the maker and seller of a product or service. Brand is an important part of a product, it gives a name, an identification of product, moreover branding can add value to a product. Mostly people choice the product by its brand. e.g. A bottle of white leinen perfume will be perceived as a high quality expensive product but if the same perfume is in unmarked bottle it would be viewed as lower quality product even if the frequency, quality etc. i.e. are other incidents are identical. This clarifies that a branded product is always preferred in comparison with non-branded product.

Brands also tell the buyer something about product quality, a regular buyer knows that they will get same feature, quality and advantages each time they buy the product. A good name can add greatly to a product success.

Attitudes are expressions of inner feelings that reflect whether a person is favourably or unfavourably pre-disposed to some object or brand. Attitudes are not directly observable but are inferred from what people say or what they do.

Example : If a researcher carries out a survey and finds that a consumer consistently uses a product and also recommend it to friend, it will to concluded that consumer have a positive attitude towards that product.

To survive in such a competitive environment it is quiet necessary to understand liking and disliking of the customer. Consumer attitude help to know about what is their view about product.

Customer is the central point of all marketing activities. Thus, it becomes very necessary to know about his attitude because customer attitude decides the position of product in market. Importance of study of consumer attitudes & brand preference :

In present context, it is very important to study consumer attitudes, as its a competitive world if a manufacturer doesn't know about consumer attitudes he become outdated and couldn't stay in market for long.

The study of consumer nature helps in following : 1. Price Policy. 2. Decision regarding channel distribution. 3. Production policy. 4. Consumer Satisfaction.

Factors affecting customer attitude towards brands On the basis of the previous studies undertaken in this area, a number of factors have been identified which affect the perception of customers in respect of brands and consequently their

evaluation. These factors have been incorporated in the current study to understand their effect on Indian customers choice of clothing. (a) Good quality (b) Costly (c) All the essential products features (d) Value for money (e) More easily available (f) Last longer, latest technology (g) Maintenance free (h) More variety/Range (i) Reliability (j) Trustworthy (k) Prestige (l) Stylistic (m) Better finish & for good looking (n) Risk free (o) Easy to use (p) Aesthetics/ life style (q) Offer good after sales service

CHAPTER 3

Review of literature

Review of Literature

1. Kathirvel Dr.N., Chandrasekaran Dr.N., A text book Indian Journal of Marketing.July-2009 Consumer Behavior And Brand Preference Towards Onida Television- An Empirical Study With References To Karur, Tamil Nadu. Review of Literature He is concluded that (A) The important product attributes of any television like price and company image have received favorable appreciation from the respondent. Product attributes like durability and audio perfection have also been appreciated. It is an unpredictable one in any kind of market but this study has attempted its best to reveal the same. (B) From the study undertaken, between the educational qualification and the model preference of the respondents, it has been found that 58% respondents have preferred the model 21PT 138A of Onida color television of these 24 respondents are graduates.

2. Consumers' Brand Preferences in Greater China's LCD TV Market May 17, 2007 Han-I Chiang Review of Literature As technology advances and prices fall, the LCD TV market is growing and is attracting a new wave of consumers. Understanding the purchasing behavior of these consumers will allow vendors to more effectively develop their market strategies. This report is based on analysis and comparisons of results of surveys conducted by MIC (Market Intelligence Center) on large-size LCD TV consumers in urban areas in Taiwan and China. Topics discussed include target brands of intended purchases, brand image, brand positioning, and factors in consumers' brand evaluation.

3.The influence of brand preference on brand image transfer: A research on brand event congruity in sponsorships Charlene R. Chedi (University of Twente, the Netherlands) 4 .Punjab technical university, jalandhar in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of master of business administration batch (2007-2009) consumer preference about different branded sports shoes. Review of Literature consumer reactions suggests that nike is the market leader among all its close counterparts in the sports shoe and apparel segements. the bottom line of the market research speaks that branded shoes in india has been increasinsg on day by day basis. that sounds good for international as well as domestic market.

5. Master of fashion management department of fashion management studies national institute of fashion technology mumbai minor project: critical analysis of consumer brand preference for apparel & accessories. Review of Literature In India the branding in the garments and accessories is in the growth phase. Consumers have started identifying and preferring branded products over unbranded products due to growth in retail sector. Another observation is that Indian consumer is quality and price conscious rather than brand conscious which means there are very few brand loyal customers. Thus proper category management and catchment can improve branding and brand loyalty in India.

6. Dr. Reeti Agarwal Faculty, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Uttar Pradesh Dr. Ankit Mehrotra Faculty, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Uttar Pradesh UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMERS PERCEPTION AND EVALUATION OF BRANDED VS. UNBRANDED APPARELS.

Review of Literature

An analysis of brand perception and evaluation can furthermore help companies in developing stronger brands and in increasing their presence in the market. The Indian apparel industry is growing by leaps and bounds.Though highly lucrative, there is stiff competition in the market with both branded and unbranded clothes manufacturers vying for a share of the pie.

The findings of the present study provide important insights to all clothes manufactures in India (both branded and unbranded) to increase their foothold and successfully compete in the Indian apparel market.

7. Kamla-Raj 2005 J. Soc. Sci., 10(1): 9-16 (2005) Adeolu B. Ayanwale , Taiwo Alimi and Matthew A. Ayanbimipe Department of Agricultural Economics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-ife, Osun State, Nigeria.The Influence of Advertising on Consumer Brand Preference.

Review of Literature Research continuously into quality improvement that will make consumers enjoy good value for money paid to purchase the brand. Develop more effective advertising campaign that attracts consumers attention and capture their interest. At this stage the companys advertising messages should both be persuasive and reminder-oriented. The messages must be strong and appealing enough to persuade and build brand preferences, encourage switching to the companys brand by changing the perception of the consumers of rival brands the product.

8. Matthias Schramm Torsten Staack Evolving Brand Preferences: The Case of China An empirical analysis.

Review of Literature It seems that further empirical research is necessary to fully understand the preferences of Chinese consumers. This holds especially true as brands are a comparably young phenomenon on the Chinese markets. As can be seen, to some extent varying form cluster to cluster brand preferences are still to be built up. However, this process seems to be of special interest, as it gives us the opportunity to have a closer look of how and why preferences evolve.

9. (Etzel et al., 1997). Evolving Brand Preferences: The Case of China An empirical analysis.

Review of Literature

Advertising, sales promotion and public relations are mass-communication tools available to marketers. As its name suggests, mass communication uses the same message for everyone in an audience. The mass communication tools trade off the advantage of personal selling, the opportunity to tailor a message to each prospect,for the advantage of reaching many people at a lower cost per person.

10. Sandor Czellar and Guido Palazzo : the impact of perceived corporate brand values on brand preference: an exploratory empirical study.

Review of Literature

By strongly focussing on values, corporate branding strategies try to protrude deeply into people's life-world. With their normative kernel and their lifeworld-rooted narrative they can successfully address the growing desire for normative orientation in society. This is why some corporate brands promise to be credible and authentic (e.g., "Coca Cola, the real thing").

11. Md. Pavel Hossain A relational study on perceived value, brand preference, customer satisfaction, and repurchase intention in context of akij textile mills ltd in Bangladesh.

Review of Literature

Eventually, we reach in decision that in this competitive spinning industry perceived value, brand preference and customer satisfaction (independent variables) is very important factors to maintain customers repurchase intention (dependent variable). Hence, to make a customer repurchase yarn and make loyal to Akij Textile Mills, it is necessary to maintain perceived value, satisfy customer through good quality yarn and brand preference through promotion of Akij yarn. However, this relationship study will help for the future study and useful guideline for this kind of research.

12. Mela, Gupta & Lehman, 1997 Brand preferences and advertisement

Review of Literature

Students leant about cellular phone from many sources, mainly from friends and families, through advertisement and from their own experience. Whether a promotion and advertising hurt or help a brand is under-researched.

13. Evans, Moutinho & Van Raaj, 1996. Review of Literature

In the long-run, advertisement help brands by making consumer less price sensitive and more loyal. Exposure of an ad is crucial to be effective in changing consumer knowledge, attitude and behavior.

14. Biehal, Stephens and Curlo (1992) Review of Literature

However according to study by whether consumers like or dislike an ad does not necessarily lead to brand acceptance or rejection. So, even though consumers may like the ad that they see, it does not necessarily mean that they will go out and buy the brand advertised.Usually the consumer uses their attitude towards the ad (Aad) in brand choice equaled that of attitude towards the brands (AB).

15.Grish taneja and neeraj kaushuik, Customers preference and satisfaction towards mens readymade garment retail format.

Review of Literature There is lot of scope for garments retailers for growth in small cities and towns as the income and purchasing power of consumer is increasing. Garments retailers especially in small cities and towns should focus on multi-brand variety at economical prices. 16. Maldonando, Tansuhaj & Muehling, 2003; Hogg & Garrow, 2003; Putrevu, 2001. Review of Literature Previous study have proven that females were more likely to engage in elaboration found that women paid more intention about the details of the characters of an ad when asked to analyze advertising messages. They said that this may be explained by the fact that females have a greater tendency than men to consider external information and information related to others. Women are comprehensive processors who try to gather all available information about the product. 17. Mowen & Minor, 1998 .Brand preference and product attribute Review of Literature Attributes are the characteristic or features that an object may or may not have and includes both intrinsic and extrinsic .Benefits is the positive outcomes that come from the attributes.People seek products that have attributes that will solve their problems and fulfills their needs Understanding why a consumer choose a product based upon its attributes helps marketers to understand why some consumers have preferences for certain brands . 18. Phillip K. Hellier, Gus M. Geursen, Rodney A. Carr and John A. Rickard (2000). Review of Literature They experimental study where they tried to test general service sector model of repurchase intention from the consumer theory literature. A key contribution of the study is that they incorporated perceived value and brand preference into an integrated repurchase intention analysis in the model. The model describes the extent to which customer repurchase intention is influenced by seven important factors service quality, perceived equity and perceived value, customer satisfaction, past loyalty, expected switching cost and brand preference.

CHAPTER 4

Research Design/ Methodology

BRAND PREFRENCE OF MENS WEAR

OBJECTIVE: 1. To know the reason why customer prefer branded wear to over unbranded ones. 2. To study their brand preferences for branded wear. 3. To know the factor influencing customer while choosing branded wear.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Sample universe : Males wearing branded Sample size : 100 Source of data collection: Primary Data Primary data collection through structured questionnaire. Secondary data collection:- journals, past studies etc.

Sampling method: Convenience sampling method is adopted.

Research design : Explorative research design.

SCOPE OF STUDY: This paper focuses on the brand preference regarding apparel of select consumer living in Udaipur cities of Rajasthan.It is confined to the customer visiting the select show room in Udaipur.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY: Though the detailed investigation is made in the present study, still there are following limitations. This study is restricted only to the Udaipur. So, the results may not be applicable to other areas. This study is based on the prevailing customers brand preference. But the customer preference. may change according to time, fashion, technology, development, etc. As per the population of the study is huge, a sample size of 100 sample respondents is only covered till now. Lack of awareness about the Companys products & services among the customers may hamper the primary data collection. Data collection of exact data for the research is not possible because there is a gap between what respondent say and what they actually do. Information provided by the customers may not be accurate. They may hide some of the information at the time of filling up the questionnaires.

REFERENCE: 1. Business line April 18th 2002. 2. The Financial Express November 24th ,2007.

CHAPTER 5

Facts and Findings

TABLE NO.1 AWARNESS ABOUT THE BRAND

S.NO 1. 2. YES NO TOTAL

NO.OF RESPONDENTS 90 10 100

NO % OF RESPONDENTS 90% 10% 100

AWARENESS ABOUT THE BRAND

1 YES 2 NO

INFERENCE: The majority of the respondents 90% are aware about branded clothes and 10% respondents are not aware about unbranded clothes.

TABLE NO.2 PREFERENCE OF THE BRANDED CLOTHES OVER UNBRANDED

S.NO. 1. 2. YES NO TOTAL

NO.OF RESPONDENTS 90 10 100

% OF RESPONDENTS 90% 10% 100

PREFERENCE OF THE BRANDED CLOTHES OVER UNBRANDED

1 YES 2 NO

INFERENCE: The majority of the respondents 90% are prefer branded clothes and 10% respondents are not prefer unbranded clothes.

TABLE NO.3 PORTFOLIO OF CLOTHES

S.NO

NO.OF RESPONDENTS ONLY BRANDED ONLY UNBRANDED MIX OF BOTH BRANDED &UNBRANDED TOTAL 20 0 80 100

NO.OF % RESPONDENTS 20% 0 80% 100%

1 2 3

INFERENCE: The majority of the respondents 20% are having branded clothes and 80% respondents are having mix of branded and unbranded clothes.

TABLE NO.4 FREQUENCY OF PURCHASING BRANDED CLOTHES

S.NO

NO.OF RESPONDENTS ONCE IN A MONTH 13

NO.OF % RESPONDENTS 13%

TWICE IN A MONTH

13

13%

3 4

ONCE IN A QUARTER OCCASIONALLY

13 53

13% 53%

WHEN REQUIRED TOTAL

8 100

8% 100

FREQUENCY OF PURCHASING BRANDED CLOTHES

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 ONCE IN A MONTH TWICE IN A MONTH ONCE IN A QUARTER OCCASIONALLY WHEN REQUIRED

INFERENCE: The majority of the respondents 53% are purchase branded clothes on occasionally base 13% are purchase branded clothes on once in month ,twice in month, & once In quarter. And only 8% respondents are purchase when they required branded clothes.

TABLE NO.5 TYPES OF BRANDED CLOTHES

S.NO.

NO.OF RESPONDENTS

NO. % OF RESPONDENTS

1.

FORMAL

60

60%

2.

INFORMAL

13

13%

3.

TRENDY

26

26%

4.

RAW STUFF

1%

TOTAL

100

100

TYPES OF BRANDED CLOTHES

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 FORMAL INFORMAL TRENDY RAW STUFF

INFERENCE: The majority of the respondents 60% are purchase formal branded clothes,26% are purchase trendy clothes,13% are purchase informal clothes,1% are purchase raw stuff.

TABLE NO.6 PREFER BRAND S.NO 1 2 3 RAYMONDS LEVIS COOTON-COUNTY NO.OF RESPONDENTS 30 30 10 NO.OF%RESPONDENTS 30% 30% 10%

4 5 6

KOUTONS WRANGLER REID &TAYLOR TOTAL

10 10 10 100

10% 10% 10% 100

PREFER BRAND

RAYMONDS LEVIS COOTON-COUNTY KOUTONS WRANGLER REID &TAYLOR

INFERENCE: The majority of the respondents 30% are prefer raymonds 30% are preferd levis 10% respondent are preferd koutons,reid & taylor,wrangler & cooton county.

TABLE NO.7 MOST PREFERD BRAND S.NO. 1. 2. LEVIS RAYMONDS TOTAL NO. OF RESPONDENTS 50 50 100 NO. % OF RESPONDENTS 50% 50% 100

M0ST PREFERD BRAND

LEVIS RAYMONDS

INFERENCE: The majority of the respondents 50% are prefer levis & 50% respondents are prefer raymonds brand.

TABLE NO.8 INFORMATION PROVIDER ABOUT THE BRANDED CLOTHES

S.NO. 1 2 3 T.V. NEWS PAPER OUT-DOOR DISPLAY

NO. OF RESPONDENTS 53 33 4

NO. % OF RESPONDENTS 53% 33% 4%

REFERENCE GROUP

10

10%

TOTAL

100

100

INFORMATION PROVIDER ABOUT THE BRAND

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 T.V. NEWS PAPER OUT-DOOR DISPLAY REFERENCE GROUP

INFERENCE: The majority of the respondents 53% are got the information about branded clothes from T.V.,33% are from news paper,4% are from out -door display,10% are from reference group .

TABLE NO.9 PREFERENCE OF CLOTHES OVER UNBRANDED S.NO NO. OF RESPONDENTS A B C D E F G H I J K GOOD QUALITY VALUE FOR MONEY MORE EASILY AVAILABLE LAST LONGER LESS MAINTENANCE MORE VARIETY TRUSTWORTHY MENTAL SATISFACTION PRESTIGE STYLISTIC OFFER GOOD AFTER SALES SERVICE TOTAL 30 15 5 5 8 8 8 10 5 5 1 NO.% OF RESPONDENTS 30% 15% 5% 5% 8% 8% 8% 10% 5% 5% 1%

100

100

REASON TO PREFER BRANDED CLOTHES

A B C D E F G H I J K

INFERENCE: The majority of the respondents 30% prefer branded clothes because they are having good quality, 15% prefer branded clothes because they give value for money, 5% respondents prefer branded clothes because they are last longer, less maintenance, trustworthy.10% prefer branded clothes because they give mental satisfaction.

TABLE NO.10 PROBLEM REGARDING WITH BRANDED CLOTHES

NO. OF RESPONDENTS S.NO 1. 2. YES NO TOTAL 50 50 100

NO.% OF RESPONDENTS 50% 50% 100%

PROBLEM REGARDING WITH BRANDED CLOTHES

YES NO

INFERENCE: The majority of the respondents 50% are faced the problem regarding with their branded clothes & 50% are not faced the problem regarding with their branded clothes.

TABLE NO.11 PROBLEM SOLVED WITH BRANDED CLOTHES

NO. OF RESPONDENTS S.NO 1. 2. YES NO TOTAL 50 50 100

NO.% OF RESPONDENTS 50% 50% 100%

PROBLEM SOLVED WITH BRANDED CLOTHES

YES NO

INFERENCE: The majority of the respondents 50% are says that the problems are solved & 50% are says that the problem are not solved by the company.

TABLE NO.12 SHIFTING TO ANY OTHER BRAND

S.NO 1 2 YES NO TOTAL

NO. OF RESPONDENTS 90 10 100

NO. OF % RESPONDENTS 90% 10% 100

SHIFTING TO ANY OTHER BRAND

YES NO

INFERENCE: The majority of the respondents 90% are shifted to other brand & 10% are not shifted to other brand.

TABLE NO.13 NO.OF TIMES SHIFTING S.NO 1 2 3 4 ONCE TWICE THRICE MORE THAN THRICE TOTAL NO. OF RESPONDENTS 5 5 10 80 100 NO.% OF RESPONDENTS 5% 5% 10% 80% 100

SHIFTING TO OTHER BRAND

ONCE TWICE THRICE MORE THAN THRICE

INFERENCE: The majority of the respondents 80% are shifted to other brand more than thrice,10% are shifted to thrice time,5% are shifted to twice time & 5% are shifted once time.

TABLE NO.14 STICK TO OUR BRAND

S.NO 1 2 OLD BRAND NEW BRAND

NO. OF RESPONDENTS 20 80 100

NO.% OF RESPONDENTS 20% 80% 100

STICK TOWARDS BRANDS

OLD BRAND NEW BRAND

INFERENCE: The majority of the respondents 80% are not stick to our old brand 20% are stick to our old brand.

CHAPTER 6

SWOT

SWOT analysis of Indian Apparel & Textile Industry

The Indian Textile industry adds 14% to the industrial production and 8% to the GDP of India. It provides employment to 38 million people and thus, is the second largest employment provider after agriculture. The Indian Apparel & Textile Industry is one of the largest sources of foreign exchange flow into the country with the apparel exports accounting for almost 21% of the total exports of the country. A systematic SWOT analysis of the textile and apparel industry indicates the following:1. STRENGTH Raw material base

India has high self sufficiency for raw material particularly natural fibres. Indias cotton crop is the third largest in the world. Indian textile Industry produces and handles all types of fibres. Labour

Cheap labour and strong entrepreneurial skills have always been the backbone of the Indian Apparel and textile Industry. Flexibility

The small size of manufacturing which is predominant in the apparel industry allows for greater flexibility to service smaller and specialized orders. Rich Heritage

The cultural diversity and rich heritage of the country offers good inspiration base for designers. Domestic market

Natural demand drivers including rising income levels, increasing urbanisation and growth of the purchasing population drive domestic demand.

2. WEAKNESS More dependence on cotton

Due to over specialization in cotton, the bulk of the international market is missed out, synthetic products in India are expensive and fabric required for items like swimsuit, sky-wear and industrial apparel is relatively unavailable. Spinning Sector

Spinning sector lacks modernization and there is a need of introducing new technology. Weaving Sector

India has relatively less number of shuttle-less loom. Fabric Processing

Processing is the weakest link in the Indian textile value chain, adversely affecting its ability to compete in exports. Poor Infrastructure

High power costs and long export lead times are eroding Indias export competitiveness across the textile chain. Low Labour Productivity

Productivity levels for manufacturing various apparel items are far lower in India in comparison with its competitors.

OTHER WEAKNESSSES Less attention on man power training Poor quality standards Distance of the potential market Lower average consumption in domestic market Lack of professionalism and integration of supply chain.Dependence on quota system Very low investment on R&D Limited exploitation of economies of scale

3. OPPORTUNITIES Growing Industry

World textile trade would continue to grow at a rate of 3-4% to reach $200-210 billon by 2010. Market access through bilateral negotiation

The trade is growing between regional trade blocs due to bilateral agreements between participating countries. Integration of Information technology

Supply Chain Management and Information Technology has a crucial role in apparel manufacturing. Availability of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), makes communication fast, easy, transparent and reduces duplication. Opportunity in High

India has the opportunity to increase its UVRs (Unit Value Realization) through moving up the value chain by producing value added products and by producing more and more technologically superior products. 4. THREATS Decreasing Fashion Cycle

There has been an increase in seasons per year which has resulted in shortening of the fashion cycle. Formation of Trading Blocks

Formation of trading blocks like NAFTA, SAPTA, etc; has resulted in a change in the world trade scenario. Existence of bilateral agreements would result in significant disadvantage for Indian exports. Phasing out of Quota

India will have to open its protected domestic market for foreign players thus domestic market will suffer.

CHAPTER 7

Conclusion

CONCLUSION

After assessing the overall market scenarios what came in picture was as follows:

1. The majority of the respondents 90% are prefer branded clothes and 10% respondents are not prefer unbranded clothes. 2. Consumer reactions suggests that raymonds and levis is the market leader among all its close counter part in the apparel segements. 3. The majority of the respondents purchase branded clothes on occasionally bases. 4. People are still expecting something more from raymonds and levis 5. Cotton - county is chasing its position most aggresively so now it requires maintaining its position with new stuff. 6. Many customers are still believer on wrangler reid & taylor, koutons, cooton-county. 7. Raymonds has been the major competitor for levis 8. Only 8% market has been covered by reebok in recent past. that is miserable as per its standard 9. The majority of the respondents are got the information about branded clothes from news paper, from out -door display. 10. The majority of the respondents prefer branded clothes because they are having good quality, they give value for money, last longer, less maintenance ,trustworthy branded clothes give mental satisfaction etc. 11. The majority of the respondents 50% are faced the problem regarding with their branded T.V.,

clothes & 50% are not faced the problem regarding with their branded clothes. 12. The majority of the respondents 50% are says that the problems are solved & 50% are says that the problem are not solved by the company. 13. The majority of the respondents are shifted to other brand & some are not shifted to other brand. 14. The some respondents are stick to their old brand and some are not stick to their old brand.

15. Mostly branded clothes are prefer by the youth. 16. Branded clothes are prefer by those persons who are having good earning source. 17. In India the branding in the garments and accessories is in the growth phase. 18. Consumers have started identifying and preferring branded products over unbranded products due to growth in retail sector. 19. Indian consumer is quality and price conscious rather than brand conscious which means there are very few brand loyal customers.

CHAPTER 8

Suggestions

SUGGESTIONS

1 .Wrangler and koutons should try to expand their customers network.

2 .Cooton county and wrangler should try to attract the young people. (Up to 25 years

3 .Raymonds ,koutons, grasim should try to attract old peoples also.

4. All the branded clothes are made good advertisements for their service. Because, advertisements are take little part for influencing the consumers.

5. All the branded clothes are should try to increase sales promotion shceme.

6. 90% of the peoples are aware about the branded clothes. So the also company should try to make awareness of other customer.

7. Flying machine ,siyarams should attract the customers by reducing their price.

8. Some customers are highly dissatisfied about the service of the company. So they should try to add some advanced features towards their services.

11.Company should give periodical offers to their customers.

12.Company should try to give good after sale servi

CHAPTER 9

Appendices

APPENDICES
Q.1 Are you aware about branded clothes or not ? (a) Yes [ ] (b) No [ ]

Q.2 Do you prefer branded wears over unbranded ? (a) Yes [ ] (b) No [ ]

Q. 3. Your clothes portfolio consists of which of the following? (a) Only branded [ ] (b) Only unbranded [ (c) Mix of both branded and unbranded [ ] ]

Q.4 How frequently you purchase branded clothes? (a) Once in a Month [ ] (c) Once in a Quarter [ ] (b) Twice in a month [ (d) occasionally [ ] ]

] (e) When required [

Q.5 Which type of branded clothes you purchase? (a) Formal [ ] (c) Trendy [ ] (b) Informal [ ] (d) Raw Stuff [ ]

Q.6. Which of the following brands you prefer? (Tick as many as you prefer) Raymonds Koutons Siyarams Reid & Taylor Dig jam Cooton- county Kumars Wrangler Levis Peter England Provogue adidas

Play boy Gini & jony Grasim Flying machine

John player Numero uno Reebok Nike

Q.7. Among above, which is your most preferred brand? (Tick the one which is most preferred) Raymonds Koutons Siyarams Reid & Taylor Dig jam Cooton- county Kumars Wrangler Levis Peter England Provogue adidas

Play boy Gini & jony Grasim Flying machine

John player Numero uno Reebok Nike

Q.8 Which media gives you information about the branded clothes? (a) T.V. [ ] ] (b) News paper [ ] ]

(c) Out-door display [

(d) Reference Group [

Q.9 Tick the following as per your preference: I prefer branded clothes over unbranded because they are of: strongly Agree (a) Good quality (b) Value for money Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

(c) More easily available

(d) Last longer

(e) Less Maintenance

(f) More variety/Range

(g) Trustworthy

(h) Mental satisfaction

(i) Prestige

(j) Stylistic

(k) Offer good after sales service

Q.10 Did you experience any problem with your preferred brand ? (a) Yes [ ] (b) No [ ]

Q.11 If yes, was the problem effectively taken care off immediately? (a) Yes [ ] (b) No [ ]

Q.12. Please tick as per your preference: (5 likert Scale) Statements strongly Agree (a) If your income is increase by 50 % then would I would start preferring the branded wear (b) ) If all of your group members\ colleagues wear branded clothes than you would also go for it. (c) Festive discount forces you to buy apparel in festival season. (d) High Acceptance by the society affects my preference. Agree Neutra l Disagree Strongly Disagree

(e) Brand ambassadors affect my preference of branded wear (f) Regular offers (discount) attracts me to buy a particular brand. (g) I buy my preferred branded wear because the its is near to my place. (h) The store ambience forces me to buy from particular shop/or a particular brand. (i) (i) Employees relationship with customers is one th

reason to shop a particular brand from any store.

Q13. Have you ever shifted to any other brand? (a) Yes [ ] (b) No [ ]

Q.14 if yes, please specify the number of times? (a) Once [ (c) Thrice [ ] ] (b) Twice [ ] ]

(d) More than thrice [

Q15. Tick the following: (a) Ill stick to my earlier brand [ ] ]

(b) Ill start preferring the newly preferred brand [

Q.16 What are the reasons for using unbranded clothes over branded? (Rank these as 1-Highest and 5-lowest) Rank (a) Costly (b) Unaware

(c) not easy to available (d) not determine value for money (e) restricted exchange policy

Name (Optional)_______________________________________________ Age: 0 to 20 30 to 40 Income: Below 10,000 [ 15000 to 20000 Sex: Occupation: Male Service Self employee Marital Status: Married [ ] [ [ ] ] [ [ ] [ ] [ ] ] Female Student others Unmarried ] 20 to 30 40 to 50 10000 to 15000 20000 above [ [ ] ] [ [ ] ] [ [ [ ] ] ] [ ]

Qualification:

Graduate P.G. [ ]

] Other

Professional [ ]

CHAPTER 10

Bibliography

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS1. Kotler , Philip, Marketing Management, 11th Ed, Princeton-Hall India 2003. 2. Malhotra , K, Naresh, Marketing Research. 3. Marketing Management : ICMR Publication 4. Business Research methods : ICMR Publication 5. Ramaswamy , S.V. Marketing Management -. 6. Kothari, R.C., Research Methodology.

7. Vittal, Operation Research 8. Jean Rodriguez Paul Dr. Market Areas Analysis 9. Trout ,jack Big Brands Big Trouble Lessons Learned the Hard Why East West Books (Madras) Pvt. Ltd. 10. Moorthi, YLR Brand Management The Indian Context, , Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.

JOURNALS1. Business India 2. 4Ps of Marketing 3. Business Week 4. The Times