Consumer Behaviour Footwear Industry
Consumer Behaviour Footwear Industry
Consumer Behaviour Footwear Industry
Literature Review................................................................................................... 4
Future Outlook....................................................................................................... 6
KEY PLAYERS:......................................................................................................... 6
Attributes:.............................................................................................................. 7
Attribute Concept............................................................................................... 7
METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................... 8
Conceptual Framework....................................................................................... 8
Analysis of data:............................................................................................... 10
Footwear Preferences:...................................................................................11
Footwear Characteristics:..............................................................................12
Personal Characteristics:...............................................................................12
Annexure: Questionnaire..................................................................................... 13
BIBLIOGRAPHY:.................................................................................................... 15
Footwear Industry: Introduction
Retailing is the most active and attractive sector of last decade. While the retailing industry itself has
been present since ages in our country, it is only the recent past that it has witnessed so much
dynamism. The emergence of retailing in India has more to do with the increased purchasing power of
buyers, especially post-liberalization, increase in product variety, and increase in economies of scale,
with the aid of modern supply and distributions solution. Footwear is a necessity to every person and
at the same time is now a lifestyle as also a performance enhancement product; and is thus a segment
with vast potential. The Indian footwear market is estimated to be worth Rs.13, 750 Crore and
constitutes just about one percent of Indian retail. About 37.8 percent of Footwear retail is in the
organized segment, which qualifies it as the second most organized retail category in India, next only
to Watches.
The footwear market today is showing a trend where more and more competitors within the segment
are coming together and forming alliances through cross-promotions and tie-ups benefits for enhanced
reach and offering the consumer access to a wider range of products and brands.
“Customers around the world are heavily influenced by the image that a brand portrays and, as a
result, leading companies are carrying out a number of wide-ranging initiatives to strengthen and
re-position their brands.”
These initiatives range from launching new products and new advertising campaigns to selective
sponsorship and brand placement. Consumer retention remains a vital factor for footwear companies'
continued success, and a market position can be improved or lost depending on customer numbers.
Brand equity of products is becoming - and will continue to be - one of the most important factors
affecting consumer purchasing decisions. Increasing competition and falling prices have driven
suppliers to re-think their strategies and develop additional capabilities such as:
- Product development and design
- Logistics management
- IT infrastructure
- Inventory control.
Some of the Key features of Indian Footwear Retail are as follows:
• The Indian footwear retail market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 20% for the period
spanning from 2008 to 2011.
• Footwear is expected to comprise about 60% of the total leather exports by 2011 from over
38% in 2006-07.
• Presently, the Indian footwear market is dominated by Men’s footwear market that accounts
for nearly 58% of the total Indian footwear retail market.
• By products, the Indian footwear market is dominated by casual footwear market that makes
up for nearly two-third of the total footwear retail market.
• As footwear retailing in India remain focused on men’s shoes, there exists a plethora of
opportunities in the exclusive ladies’ and kids’ footwear segment with no organized retailing
chain having a national presence in either of these categories.
• The Indian footwear market scores over other footwear markets as it gives benefits like low
cost of production, abundant raw material, and has huge consumption market.
• The footwear component industry also has enormous opportunity for growth to cater to
increasing production of footwear of various types, both for export and domestic market.
Due to the increasing effects of globalization, consumer demands, retail structure, and technology,
retailers are identifying market opportunities through intensified gathering of data on consumer
footwear purchase behaviour and shopping orientations via loyalty cards. The bottom line is that both
retailers and manufacturers are after the same thing: customer loyalty. Market segmentation provides
a way to understand and enhance customer loyalty by enabling marketers to tailor products and efforts
to the needs of particular groups of customers (Kelly, 1998).
Literature Review
Market Segmentation
Segmentation has evolved from an academic concept (Smith, 1956) into a key marketing planning
tool (Sheth, Sisodia, & Sharma, 2000). In this context, segmentation provides a strategic marketing
approach to understanding a particular group of consumers' purchasing behaviour (Kelly, 1998). In
turn, the accuracy of a firm's use of segmentation is an important criterion of competitive market
advantage (Sauerman, 1998). The objective of segmentation research is to analyze markets, find
unique opportunities, and increase market share (Cross, 1999).
Segmentation Concept: A customer-based versus product/service-based classification scheme often
is used as a theoretical framework for segmentation research. Customer based classification entails
finding unique characteristics of consumers; for example, demographics, psychographics, values, and
needs, that distinguish them in significant ways for marketing planning purposes. In comparison, a
product/service-based approach determines the types of benefits customers want from specific
attributes of certain products or services, usage rates or patterns, and other aspects of the
product/service usage situation.
Segmentation Bases: Customer-based segmentation variables within the observable classification fit
into four groups: cultural, geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic. Observable product/service
bases comprise variables related to buying and consumption behaviour: user status, usage frequency,
brand loyalty, store loyalty and patronage, stage of adoption, and usage situations. Customer based
unobservable segmentation variables fit into four groups: psychographics, values, personality, and
life-style.
Product Involvement
The theory of consumer Involvement has had a major impact on the study of consumer behaviour in
the last 30 years. While researchers agree that the study of involvement is important to explaining and
predicting behaviour of the consumer there is little consensus on how to best define and measure the
construct of involvement. Involvement is generally considered to be a function of three factors: (a)
individual characteristics; (b) situational factors including purchase situation and the degree of risk
perceived in the purchase; and (c) physical characteristics of the product.
The literature reveals involvement can be related to ego, product, situation, values, brand, interest, and
purchase.
Product Attributes
Why consumers buy particular products has been an Issue addressed in empirical and conceptual
studies (Vriens & Hofstede, 2000). Market research often aims at understanding the reasons
underlying consumers' product preferences. Most methods for investigating product preference
assume that preferences are based on combinations of utilities consumers get from separate product
cues or attributes (Creusen & Schoormans, 1997). Differences in consumer preferences are thus
expected to be related to differences in product attributes.
Attribute Concept: According to consumer behaviour theories, the purchase of a product is guided
by consumers' assessment and evaluation of the attributes defining the product. Consequently,
consumers are influenced in product evaluations and buying decisions by factors such as brand, price,
and colour. Consumer researchers are interested not only in which cues are used and the relative
impact of each cue, but also with the ways the cues are combined to arrive at judgments and choices.
Footwear Industry
The footwear industry has continued to grow and maintain market share even though new materials
are being developed for footwear. However, thoughts on how the footwear market will evolve are
split. Some believe that footwear is a global market that can be standardized, perpetuating mass
production of high volume uniform styling. Others see different countries and markets having their
own specific needs, encouraging a move away from volume production. In either view, future success
in the footwear industry will depend on efficient global resourcing to ensure that the right quantities
of shoes in the right sizes are in the right retailers at the right time.
Future Outlook
The future growth and prosperity of the footwear market will depend, in part, on how accurately the
target market is defined and on the development of product assortments based on distinct purchase
behaviour. Segmentation based on consumers' product involvement and their perceptions of product
attributes can contribute to successful targeting of specific profitable markets. In order for
segmentation to be successful, the market must be described in measurable terms, be accessible, be
divided into homogeneous groups, and be potentially profitable (Cross, 1999). By segmenting the
market, companies can determine the best marketing mix or products needed to target particular
consumers (Sauerman, 1988). Current changes affecting marketers such as, micro marketing
segmentation, global market segmentation, direct marketing segmentation, retail segmentation, geo-
demographic segmentation, segmentation for optimizing service quality, segmentation for customer
satisfaction evaluation, segmentation for new product development, segmentation using single-source
data, and so on (Wedel & Kamakura, 1998; Myers, 1996; Wensley. 1995;
Weinstein, 1994) will all impact footwear retailers and manufacturers. An effective segmentation
program based on product Involvement and product attributes will help analyze markets, find unique
opportunities, and increase market share (Cross, 1999). The footwear industry has continued to grow
and maintain market share. However, the future profitability of the footwear industry depends in part
on how well marketers can continue to provide consumers with the right mix of products and
effectively target consumers based on their footwear preferences. Segmentation based on product
Involvement and product attributes can become an effective tool to this end.
KEY PLAYERS:
Bata is name that is synonymous with quality and durability. Over the years, this shoe company has
retained this quality of value for money by producing products that are easily within the reach of
common consumers. With an exclusive showroom in Ahmedabad, today Liberty Shoes Ltd.
produces footwear for the entire family and is a trusted name across the world. Another popular shoe
store among the locals is Metro Shoes. Metro offers a wide variety of footwear for all age groups like
shoes, sandals, chappals etc. for both men and women. It is a one stop shop for all your footwear
needs. Another name to reckon with in the footwear market of Ahmedabad is Woodland. The brand
name itself is an icon of simplicity blended with trustworthiness. The rough and tough shoes, sandals
and chappals can be worn on the toughest of excursions and they will never let you down. Lifestyle's
footwear section offers a wide range of latest model shoes of various brands. Khadims Started
footwear retailing in 1993, it is one of the pioneer in footwear industry in India offering quality
products at affordable prices.
Besides this there are some small retailers as well fighting for the market pie.
Attributes:
Why consumers buy particular products has been an Issue addressed in empirical and conceptual
studies. Market research often aims at understanding the reasons underlying consumers' product
preferences. Most methods for Investigating product preference assume that preferences are based on
combinations of utilities consumers get from separate product cues or attributes. Differences in
consumer preferences are thus expected to be related to differences in product attributes.
Attribute Concept
According to consumer behavior theories, the purchase of a product is guided by consumers'
assessment and evaluation of the attributes defining the product. Consequently, consumers are
infiuenced in product evaluations and buying decisions by factors such as brand, price, and color.
Consumer researchers are interested not only In which cues are used and the relative impact of each
cue, but also with the ways the cues are combined to arrive at judgments and choices.
METHODOLOGY
The purpose of this study was to determine If High Involvement (HI) consumers and Low
Involvement (LI) consumers differed in their purchase of their footwear and what are the criteria that
they consider while buying the footwear.
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework underlying this research is the relationship between product involvement
and product attributes that impact consumer purchase behaviour. Consumer involvement is defined as
a person's perceived relevance of a product or service based on inherent needs, values, and interests.
Clothing was one of a few high involvement products, because clothing is perceived as reflecting on
one's self-image, clothing is costly, the risks of a wrong decision are high, and/or when the act of
purchase or consumption takes place. It is of high personal importance or relevance to the decision
maker. However, the level and risks may vary with the type of clothing. Consumer involvement with
a particular product is important because different levels of Involvement may lead to different
perceptions of attributes and to different choices. A basic premise underlying consumer behaviour is
that when making purchase and consumption decisions, consumers search for product information in
order to discriminate between comparable products and make efficient. The information-processing
paradigm suggests that in evaluating products, consumers seek and process Information about
alternative products and multiple product attributes. In turn, product characteristics, including intrinsic
and extrinsic attributes, are cues used by the consumer to develop perceptions of a product and have
an influence on the purchase decision and consumption process The concept of involvement appeared
to be useful to segment consumers by the degree and level of product involvement and then to
investigate product attributes used in the evaluation of a product that might result from different levels
of involvement.
2. Footwear consumption patterns were measured by responses to Q-02 and Q-03 of the
questionnaire. Consumption patterns were product specific preferences with regard to
leather dress shoe wardrobe. Consumption pattern data of the respondents were
analyzed to determine consumption motivation as an act toward extrinsic and intrinsic
product attributes
3. Footwear preferences were measured by responses to Q-04 through Q -07 of the
questionnaire. Shopping preference data of the respondents were analyzed to
determine shopping preferences toward leather footwear.
4. Footwear characteristics were measured by response to Q-08 in Section 6 of the
questionnaire. Footwear characteristics were product specific feelings about the pair
of footwear. Footwear characteristic data of the respondents were analyzed to
determine feelings as a motivation toward extrinsic and intrinsic product attributes.
Subjects used a Likert scale using 5-place response formats. The feeling measure was
composed of 6 extrinsic and 11 intrinsic product attributes used in the purchase
criteria measure. The extrinsic product attributes were fashion, contemporary versus
traditional, price, attractiveness, versatility, and brand. The intrinsic product attributes
were conservative versus casual, comfort, colour, quality, breathability, care, natural
leather, touch, construction, durability, and fit.
5. Q-09, Q-10 and Q-11 asked about personal characteristics such as marital status, age
and current employment. These characteristics affected the choice of footwear to a
great extent.
Analysis of data:
Q-03: 67% of the responses fell in the range of somewhat satisfied to very satisfied.
The individual break up is as follows:
Somewhat satisfied- 20%
Satisfied- 37%
Very Satisfied- 10%
Footwear Preferences:
Q-04 to Q-07:
Q-04 received a mixed response as customers today are not very brand loyal.
Q-05: Some of the favorite brands cited by the respondents are Bata, Metro, Nike, Liberty.
The respondents who were not very fashion conscious preferred brands like Bata, Khadims,
Mumbai Store, Eagle shoes and local unbranded footwear retailers.
Responding to Q-06, most of the customers shopped at the exclusive retail outlets of retailers.
Personal Characteristics:
40% of the respondents were in the age group of 16-30.
The remaining respondents were above the age of 30 yrs.
Also, 20% of the respondents were single and the remaining respondents were married.
Regarding current employment status, around 30% of them were students.
Retailers often want to know how to more effectively tailor their marketing, advertising, and
promotional activities based on a specific market segment to which a consumer belongs but
lack precise identifiers needed to predict group membership. Overall, the analyses offer
considerable support for the assumption that identified extrinsic and intrinsic product
attributes can influence their purchase decisions for footwear.
1. How would you describe your clothing and shoe purchasing practices for business wear?
(Circle only One response per statement)
Strongly Indifferent Strongly
Agree Disagree
I often try new fashion ideas before my co-workers 5 4 3 2 1
2. How many pairs of footwear have you purchased for yourself during the past 2 years?
3. How satisfied were you with the selection in the retail stores:
• Very Satisfied
• Satisfied
• Somewhat Satisfied
• Somewhat Dissatisfied
• Dissatisfied
• Very Dissatisfied
_____________________________________________________________________
8. Listed below are characteristics one might consider when describing their feelings about
footwear. Use the scales below and circle the number which best reflects your feelings about
their footwear. (Circle One number per single scale.)
Single Married
*********************************Thank You*********************************
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
http://ahmedabad.clickindia.com/business/shops/sportsfootwear.html
http://footwearsinfoline.tripod.com/indian_retail_overvw.htm
http://footwearsinfoline.tripod.com/retail_current_scene.htm
http://footwearsinfoline.tripod.com/footwear_retail_overvw.htm
Aaker, D.A., & Day. G.S. (1990). Marketing Research. (4^^ Ed.). New York: John Wiley and
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Andrews, J.C, Durvasula, S., & Akhter, S.H. (1990). A framework for conceptualizing and
measuring the involvement construct in advertising research. Journal of Advertising. 19(4).
27-40.
Assael, H. (1984). Consumer behaviour and marketing action. Boston, MA: Kent Publishing.