Thai Designer Clothing Brands In Comparison Marketing Essay

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015

International brands - international and luxurious events such as grand openings and fashion shows….using celebrities to promote their products and brands such David Beckham and H&M, Topshop with Kate Moss and collaboration such as H&M and Marni, Versace and Adidas and Stella McCarthy.

Local companies are aware of the globalism affecting purchase decision of consumers and therefore often give their local prodiced goods a foreign nam to make them appear like global products (Ying, 2002)

Abstract

Key words: Consumer Buying Behaviour, Consumer perception, Consumer preference, Local brands, International brands, Country of origin, Country of manufacture, Brand image.

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The purposes of this study are to explore and understand factors affecting customer buying behaviour, decision making process and consumer perceptions towards local and international apparel brands among Thai female consumers. Furthermore, the findings can act as essential information for brands and marketers whom can apply into their further marketing strategies. Prior to understanding the subjects of the study, accomplishments of secondary objectives were vital. The secondary objectives were to identify the factors which associates with global brands among Thai consumers; to highlight the factors which associates with Thai brands among Thai consumers; to determine the factors affecting the brand image of Thai brands; to determine the process and factors affecting the buying behaviour and decision making of Thai consumers and to identify ways in which to solve issues that is affecting Brand image of Thai brands.

Furthermore, the information gathered for objectives of the study act to determine the two hypotheses: H1: Country of Origin and Made in plays a vital role in consumer's perceptions of brands and their buying behaviour and H2: Thai consumers are increasingly buying more Thai brands than International brands.

The study undertook a qualitative research by using the form of focus group to obtain relevant information and further understand decision making process and consumer perceptions when evaluating and making purchases. The study also offers limitations of the study and recommendations for future research.

Introduction

With the recent globalization, it has contributed to the shrinking of global marketplace and therefore, an increased in global market competition with both international and local brands competing in the same marketplace (Roy and Chau, 2011), although, within the same product category, consumers will perceive international and local brands differently (Herche, 1992). Therefore, it is crucial for brands to build and create positive perceptions within the mind of the consumers. Hence, consumers use brands as cues to make decisions to purchase or try products and to determine the performances and quality of products instead of researching for information (Ger et al., 1993). As many studies conducted in developing countries, they have all concluded that some consumers prefer international brands due to symbolic meanings, status enhancing tools and provide the sense of being a part of the global consumer community (Kottak, 1990; Agbonifoh and Elimimian, 1999; Batra et al., 2000). This is especially in the case of apparel when it is related to conspicuous consumption and status revealing perception (Piron, 2000).

According to Yip (1995), increasing number of brands is adopting the global strategy in branding and the strategy is appealing to a growing segment of consumers worldwide with similar taste and preferences (Hassan and Katsanis, 1994) and therefore, there has been a shift from local brands to international brands in the recent years. This is echoed by Dogerlioglu-Demir and Tansuhaj (2011), due to the fact that integrated media, global images are in daily lives of consumers and brands are promoted globally, consumers are increasingly similar tastes in clothing, music, food and lifestyles.

Therefore, it is significant for brands and marketers to gain a depth understanding of consumer's perceptions and buying behaviour and why consumers especially in the developing countries do prefer international brands to local brands, in order for local brands to implement strategies and have a better opportunity in competing with international brands that are considered to have higher economic power.

This study is aim to understand consumer buying behavior and consumer perceptions towards international and local brands in apparel sector in Thailand. This sector of the market has been chosen due to the fact that there are increase numbers of Thai brands entering the local markets and only a few have managed to go abroad. Furthermore, in the last decade International brands are also entering Thai market more than ever due to the growing demand which increases more competitions for local brands. This has provided the purpose of the study of Thai apparel industry.

Summary of Chapters

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter will introduce the dissertation and relevant subjects.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

This chapter is the examination of existing studies and researches which has been conducted on the subjects that are significant to this study. The reviews of the literature are theories and concepts which discusses in this paper, literature are taken form journals, books and reports. It begins with an overview of a consumer buying behaviour and the process in which consumers make their decisions and factors influencing those decisions when purchasing Thereafter, there will be a review of literature regarding brand name, brand image, brand equity, local brands versus international brands, consumers perception and preference, Country of Origin and Country of Manufacture.

Chapter 3: Overview of the Industry

The chapter is to provide the overview of current situation and history of apparel market in Thailand. Moreover, it will provide readers with general information of local and international brands which are currently operating in the Thai market. Local brands will include both brands which are operating internationally and nationally.

Chapter 4: Research Methodology

This chapter will provide the readers with research methods which the researcher used to gather data required for the study. Primary data was collected through the use of qualitative research method of focus group discussion and secondary data through journals, reports and books.

Chapter 5: Analysis and Findings

This chapter used the data collected from the focus group discussion and in conjunction with secondary data and the researcher's own point of views. In additions, quotes from participants in the focus group are used to form a thorough analysis of the findings.

Chapter 6: Conclusions

This chapter will concluded the findings of the entire study, along with providing limitations of the study and recommendations for further research to be conducted.

Main Hypothesis/Research Questions

Main hypotheses:

H1: Country of Origin and Made in label plays a vital role in consumer's perceptions of a brands and their buying behaviour

H2: Thai consumers are increasing buying more Thai brands

Topics and Questions:

There are increasing in number of local brands going international: Has the perception of local brands changed? What has changed?

However there are many of Local brands that have not gone international, what are your perceptions towards those brands?

1.1.1 And what do think are the reasons behind this, in comparison to brands that have managed to go abroad?

2. Does Country of Origin affect your buying behaviour and evaluating your purchases? For example, does the label 'Made in Thailand' make you perceive the product to be inferior in quality?

2.1 For instance, international brands that have the label Made in Thailand, China or Vietnam influences your buying behaviour/ brand image or how you perceive the brand?

3. If a local brands have a similar strategy as Superdry, i.e. American brand with Japanese design and image: Would this work with Thai consumers and changes their buying behaviour and how they perceive Thai brands?

3.1 Does widely available replicate clothing product in Thailand effect your decision in buying Local brands?

4. When you are going shopping would you say you are going to International brand rather than Local brand? Why?

5. If a product of a Local brand and International brand has a same or similar pricing, which brand would you choose? Why?

6. In your opinion, what are the positives and negatives factors of Thai brands affecting their brand image?

7. Do you agree that Buying behaviour of Thai consumers heavily affected by brand status and positive image of global brand names rather than actual quality of the products. Discuss

8. What information do you process when you decide to go shopping for new apparel/what questions and factors you think about prior to shopping?

.Aims & objectives

Aims:

To underline and identify the reasons and the preferences of Thai consumers between local and global brands

To identify the factors playing key roles in determine the buying behaviour of local consumers towards local and global brands

Objectives

To identify the factors which associates with global brands among Thai consumers

To identify the factors which associates with Thai brands among Thai consumers

To determine the process and factors affecting the buying behaviour and decision making of Thai consumers

To identify ways in which to solve issues that is affecting Brand image of Thai brand

Literature Review

In this chapter, the relevant theories, journals and reports who have tried to understand the key factors influencing consumer buying behaviour, consumer perceptions, brand image and country of origin effect will be reviewed and examine to provide a general background to current knowledge of key academic topics from key texts.

5.1 Consumer Buying Behaviour

Everyone is considered to be a consumer, we all required to consume and purchase products and services for our daily use according to our needs, preferences and economic power. Consumer behaviour is defined by Solomon and Rabolt, (2004), using one word; "consumption" which occurs when individuals select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ides, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires. As definition suggests, the process starts well ahead of consumers set foot in the store. Consumers will go through phrases of decision making process before making the final decision to purchase a product or a service. Therefore, it is vital for organisations to understand their customer's thinking process and preferences, in order to satisfy the customers and maximise sales and profits. In order to understand the consumer behaviour, there are 5 key questions which needed to be answer (see Fig. 1.1), which can be done through consumer research.

Figure 1.1: Key questions to understanding customers (Jobber, D., and Fahy, J., 2003)

All the above of questions of who, how, what, where and when which influence consumers' purchases are all depending on internal factors such as attitudes, personality, perceptions, self-concepts and emotions; and external factors such as social class, cultural beliefs and group association (see Fig 1.4).

Initiator: the person who begins the process of considering a purchase. Information may be gathered by this person to help decision making

Influencer:

Decider:

Buyer:

User:

Blackwell, R.D., Miniard, P.W. and Engel, J.F. (2000), Consumer Behaviour, Orlando, FL: Dryden, page 174.

5.1.2 Fashion Consumer Decision Making Process

There are 5 stages in the consumer decision making process model which consist of need recognition/problem awareness, information research, and evaluation of alternatives, purchase and post-purchase evaluation (Blackwell et al., 2000). However, Yurchisin and Johnson (2010) have included 2 additional stages into the process: use, care, storage and disposal in order to express the consumption process in apparel products (see Fig 1.2). However, this section will concentrate on the business model ……………of decision making process

Problem recognition/Problem awareness

This is the first stage in the consumer decision making process model. According to Dunne and Lusch (2005) the problem recognition occurs when the consumer's desired state of affairs departs sufficiently from the actual state of affairs to place the consumer in the state of unrest so that he or she begins thinking of ways to resolve the difference or in another words, consumers enters the decision making process when they feel there is a need to enhance their lives in a certain way.

All consumers will come to a point where they feel there is a need to fulfil their needs or solve their problem. The most fundamental needs are physiological needs and our very survival depends on satisfying these needs (Blackwell et al., 2001) For example, if a consumer who is going on a skiing holiday, there will be a need to buy warm clothing to keep warm and provide protection against the cold weather, therefore, he or she does not get ill.

However, it does not mean that where there is a need or a problem, this will automatically trigger the consumers into advancing to the next stage in the decision making process, i.e. information search. This is due to the fact that current need or problem does not out weight the problem solving alternatives. For instance, a consumer may feel he or she needed a new shirt but the alternatives might provide a small difference in satisfaction, therefore, no information search or purchase will take place and the decision making process stopped.

In addition, this stage can provide opportunities for the marketers to identify insights into consumers and implement marketing strategies. First, by identifying customer problems and act on the information such as easy iron shirts for busy businessmen or consumers who dislike ironing or hectic lifestyle. Moreover, fashion industry is a fast changing industry, therefore, this will act as a stimulus and lead to form a need for consumers to buy something newer, better and sooner than might otherwise have been necessary (Wolff, 2007). The use of media, for instances, fashion show, magazine and using celebrities to wear apparel from certain brands can also act as a power marketing tools as retailer and designers will want consumers to purchase new apparel by making consumers believing that apparel worn last year are no longer adequate.

Information Search

As the problem or need have been identified and it is sufficiently strong, consumers will enter the second stage and searching for information available on the product or the service. There are two searches when seeking for information; internal and external search. Internal search consists of an attempt to scan information stored in memory to recall past experiences and/or knowledge regarding various purchase alternatives (Belch and Belch, 2004). For instance, when purchasing a new shirt, consumers may recall from the previous shirt purchases (e.g., Pink), where they were purchased (e.g., a department store, a website), how they performed (e.g. quality), and how they made you feel (e.g., attractive, unhappy) (Yurchisin and Johnson 2010). In contrast, some consumers may have their usual or favourite brands or stores where they regularly return to.

If no solution is found from internal search then the engaging in external search will begins. External search would include sources such as friends, family, work colleagues or the marketplace.

This stage of the model has been enhanced by the advanced technology of internet, where they are easy access and wide range of websites providing reviews and information from experts and other consumers. At the end of this stage, consumers will have narrowed down their choices and build up an awareness set.

Evaluation of Alternatives

At this stage, consumers have processes all information they have gathered and left small group of choices. Now, they will be in the stage where they use what it is known as 'choice criteria' to determine their final decision before making the purchase (Lake, 2009). There are 4 types of criteria which are includes technical, economic, social and personal aspects (see Fig 1.3) Choice criteria can be described as attributes and benefits a customer uses when evaluating products or services (Jobber and Fahy, 2003).

The purchasing process is depending on the degree of importance the product or a service is considered to be to the consumers, this can be classified as either a high involvement purchases where an extensive evaluation will be carried out or a low involvement purchases where there is likely to be less evaluation involved. The level of involvement is considered to be a core element in how consumers evaluate a brand.

Laurent and Kapferer have proposed that there are four factors determining the involvement, as follows:………………………

Purchase Decision

This is the stage when the customers will have to make the decision to purchase products or services after evaluating all alternatives and comes to a conclusion. Belch and Belch (2004) stated that there

Post-Purchase Evaluation of Decision

Customers will frequently experience in post-purchase concerns. All purchases will create doubts and questions for customers whether they have made the right decision in purchasing a particular products or services; this is commonly known as 'cognitive dissonance.' Hint, a purchase of the chosen product will means the refusal of a feature of the alternatives which the consumers may also have a preference for. The level of concern is usually occurring when there is a high involvement when evaluating the purchases. There are four mostly causes of cognitive dissonance such as the price of the purchase, a difficult decision where there are wide range of alternatives with similar features, when the decision is unchangeable and when the consumer is tend to have a high level of experience anxiety (Hawkins et al., 1989). Post purchase experience will likely play a key role in the consumers' future purchase of that particular products or services, therefore it is vital for the consumers to be satisfied from the purchase and for marketers to understand the concerns so they can solve and improve their products and services from any dissatisfaction arises.

Figure 1.2 Decision making model

5.1.3 Factors Influencing Decision Making Among Apparel Consumers

During the consumer decision making process, there are other factors which will determine and affect their decision makings and behaviours apart from factors featured in their lives. There are two main factors which strongly influences their decisions (see fig 1.4). Firstly, internal factors such as motivations, beliefs and attitudes, gender and personality, for example, a female customer purchased an expensive designer dress and showed to her outside of work place friends, in whom they can validate with the dress as they have the same personalities, beliefs. However, her colleagues at work have thought different due to their differences in personalities; beliefs or motives in making purchase decision or male colleagues will have a different view to the dress as they are different in gender. Secondly, external factors such as social class and culture. Culture - can be defined as "the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another (Hofstede, 2001). For instance, people from Western cultures (European countries) thrive on individualism where consumers are more likely to be satisfied with purchasing apparel which expresses their individuality or no one else has it. In contrast, people from Eastern cultures (China and Japan) thrive on collectivism where they stress on interdependence and therefore are most likely to be satisfied to purchase items which others wear. (Hofstede, 2001).

Figure 1.4: Factors influence consumer buying behaviour

5.3 Local Brands versus International brands

In many developing countries such as Thailand, local and international values cross paths in majority of consumers' daily lives. Therefore, it not unusual for the consumers to make a comparison and search for differences in features and benefits between local and international brands (Knight, 1999), moreover, the evaluations for local and international brands will be different by the consumers when making a comparison (Herche, 1992), for instance, quality and status.

Local brands are defined as 'brands that exist in one country or in a limited geographical area (Wolfe, 1991) while global or international brands are defined by Johannson and Ronkainen (2004) as 'a brand that is marketed under the same name in multiple countries with similar and centrally coordinated marketing strategies.'

Many literatures affirms that international brands are perceived as status-enhancers (Batra et al., 2000), provide superior in term of quality, more prestigious (Steenkamp et al., 2000), global myth and social responsibility (Herring, 2004), in comparison to local brands. However, an exploratory research Schuiling et al (2004)conducted in European countries, stressed that there are positive factors in the local brands where they benefits from brand equality and high brand awareness. Conversely, with the new advanced technology and communications in the modern world, information is now widely and easier become accessible to consumers worldwide which act can act as a marketing tool for local brands to gain market shares within the sector. Furthermore, the understanding, connectivity, direct identification with consumers' own local traditions, customs and culture can act as advantages for local brands (Cayla and Eckhardt, 2007, Ger, 1999). The benefits of local brands are also echoed in the research by Holt et al (2003) who emphases on the fact that local brands are perceived to have a better value as international brands will have a much higher pricing strategies. This situation may be due the role in which consumer ethnocentrism plays in the mind of consumers. Consumer ethnocentrism is defined by Kinra (2006) as 'a psychological construct representing how consumers view products made in their own country markets as objects of pride and identity versus those from other country markets,' therefore, local brands are preferred by the consumers.

It was argued by Schuilling (2004) through the findings of his research which illustrates that local brands are perceived as 'down to earth' where they do not provide the sense of excitements, instead only fulfilling the basic needs and sense of tradition that associate with local cultures. This is very different in the developing countries and emerging markets where consumers are considered to be materialism (Dogerlioglu-Demir and Tansuhaj, 2011) and consequently, associates international brands with high social status and prestige (Li and Gallup, 1995) especially with the wealthy and young consumers because they like the 'international flair' within the international brands (Kapferer, 2002).

It is also an obstacle for local brands to compete with international brands due to the fact that local brands are largely produced and promoted locally with limited distribution, investment, and are generally available within the country (Van Gelder, 2003), even with the e-commerce and modern technology.

5.4 Consumer Perception and Preference for International Brands

It has been demonstrated in 5.3 the fact that international brands possesses the sense of high status, superior quality and high status (Batra el al., 2000), however, all these prestige are not considered to be the most critical factor in driving preference for international brands (Steenkamp et al., 2003), instead, brand globalness which are perceived by consumers have the capability to create consumer perceptions of brand superiority (Shocker et al., 1994). Many studies conducted have all came to similar outcomes where Country of Origin of international brands was an important aspect on affecting the consumer's preferences towards local and international brands (Verlegh and Steenkamp, 1999; Wang et al., 2004; Kinra 2006). Country of Origin will be discussed in more depth in the next part.

A study conducted by Steenkamp (2003) in South Korea and the United States was to obtain a further understanding into the consumer preference for local and international brands. The research implemented the three pathways which included: higher perceived quality, higher prestige and the psychological benefits, in order to understand the perceived brand globalness (PBG) and how this have effects on consumers' purchase likelihood (see fig 1.5). The researcher came to the conclusion that the most intensify factor of PBG's effectiveness on purchase likelihood was through perceptions of superior quality and less replied on higher prestige and status. Han (1990) also added that the three pathways set by Steenkamp (2003), can directly affect the purchase likelihood and indirectly affect through brand quality and brand prestige.

Figure 1.5 Conceptual model of Perceived Brand Globalness (Steenkamp el al., 2003)

Country of origin

There are other concepts which are playing a vital part in buying behaviours and attitudes towards both local and global brands worldwide, for instance, "Country of Origin and Made in label" (Koubaa, 2008).

Majority of the global brands has been well recognised and long-established identities where products are perceived to be high in status and quality. BRAND IMAGE.? Therefore, this has further illustrates the obstacles which local brands faces to climb up the brand status and establishing themselves within the market. As Keller 1993 suggested that by conducting a research on brand image and its effect on buying behaviour will provide a core element in order for brands to prepare marketing mix issues and also act as crucial role in building long term brand equity.UNCLEAR

Further studies have also stressed that buying behaviour of consumers purchasing fashion products are heavily reflects of impulse buying. Fashion-oriented clothing impulse buying has been defined by Park (2006) as "person's awareness and perception of fashion ability attributed to an innovative design or style or another words "fashion-oriented impulse buying occurs when consumers see a new fashion product and but it because they are motivated by the suggestions to buy new products (Han et al., 1991) and brand image play a key role in determine that decision. HOW DOES IMPULSE BUYING LINK TO BRAND IMAGE, OR IS IT A FACTOR IN ITS OWN RIGHT? TRY AND BE MORE PRECISE AND CAREFUL IN WHAT YOU SAY.

Brand name

Brand names or trademarks can be used to determine the quality of the product and along with increasing competition in the market, this forces organisations to create and develop a brand name which is well known in order to provide a competitive advantage for the organisation. Furthermore, brand name can act as a powerful means of differentiation (Pappu et al., 1995) and differentiation is an essential competitive positioning strategy (Porter, 1990). Building a brand name will require a large investment from the beginning; therefore, organisations with large capital to invest in developing a brand will have an advantage as successful brand name can lead to many benefits if it is successful. However, it is time consuming and the process can require a number of years. In contrast, smaller organisations with small or minimal start-up capital may use to struggle when competing with competitors with larger capital but can now become successful in developing a well-known brand name due to the modern HERE BRAND NAME MOVES INTO A DISCUSSION ABOUT PROMOTION AND ADVERTISING. IS THAT THE ONLY ASPECT OF HOW YOU BUILD A BRAND NAME.? technology. A good example would be the use of social networks such as Facebook and Instagram with no operating costs in which can increase interest in the brand and this can now reach wider and larger market. Furthermore the followers from these social network sites can be seen as potential customers and will provide word of mouth and therefore free public relation within itself. In addition, previous researches has shown that even if the organisation spent vast sums on advertising, this does not always justified or guaranteed by short term sales and the return in the investment can be translated into factors such as brand awareness, image and loyalty (Motameni and Shahrokhi, 1998).

Brand Image

Brand image is defined by Keller (1993, p. 3) as "the perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand associations held in consumer memory." To put it more simply, brand image is what comes to mind of the consumer when a brand name is mentioned. The importance of branding has been further stated by Keller (2008), "The brand is one of the most important assets an organisation owns. Organisation with high brand equity achieves high perceptions of the brand by the customers, great loyalty by customers, less vulnerability to competitors' marketing actions, high profit margins, less negative reaction by customers to price increases, higher support of middlemen, higher marketing promotion effectiveness, increasing licensing and brand extension opportunities."

Brand Equity

Keller (1998) believed that for any organisation to build a brand, building brand equity should be considered as a core element and this will provided advantages to the organisation. For instance, higher consumer preferences and purchase intentions will be as a result from high brand equity levels (Cobb-Walgren el al., 1995), high stock returns (Aaker and Jacobson, 1994) and lower advertising to sales ratios (Sriram el al., 2007). Furthermore, brand equity can be developed from the confidence that consumers place in one brand over another (Kamakura and Russell, 1991). Many researchers asserted that elements such as brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality, brans association makes up the dimensions of brand equity (Shocker and Weitz, 1998; Aaker, 1991 and Yoo et al., 2000).

There are numerous of definitions of brand equity but it can be broadly classified into two categories; based on financial-perspective and emphasis the value of a brand to the organisation (e.g. Mahajan et al., 1990 and Simon and Sullivan, 1993). The second category is based on the consumer-perspective and explained as the value of a brand to the consumer (e.g. Aaker 1991 and Rangaswamy et al., 1993) (Pappu et al., 2005). Although, the most two recognised definitions of brand equity by Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993) have a different take, in term of its concept but both defined from a consumer perspective based on consumer's memory-based brand association.

Brand equity was defined by Aaker (1991, p 15) as:

"A set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name and symbol, that adds to or detracts from the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or to firm's customers."

Definition by Keller (1993):

"the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of a brand."

Moreover, Aaker's concept of brand equity sees it as a set of assets (or liabilities) with brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality, brand loyalty and other proprietary assets were the five assets of brand equity in which he proposed (Pappu et al., 2005) where a few of these assets are mentioned in this research.

As can be seen from previous researchers that brand equity id considered to be a core element in consumers making their decision when purchasing and consumer's perception on the products from each brand. For example, Raju (1995) stated that many Japanese and Western brands are well established in developing countries and therefore being perceived by consumers to have a higher standard, quality and more luxury in comparison to the local products/brands.

Country of Origin Effect

Due to the fact that Thailand as a country is considered by many the so called "developing country" and the image and recognition of Thailand by people have always been a holiday destination and exporter of agriculture goods rather than country which produces quality fashion products. Therefore, this plays a vital role in the image of fashion clothing coming out from Thailand and Thai designers. This have led to the concept of Country of Origin (COO) to be relevant to the research to determine how Thai clothing brands are being perceived by Thai consumers and an issue which Thai brands will require to overcomes to succeed in the global market and first of all within the domestic market.

Country of origin can be defined as "……the picture, the reputation, the stereotype that businessmen and consumers attach to products of a specific country. This image is created by such variables as representative products, national characteristics, economic and political background, history, and traditions." (Nagashima, 1970). More recent definition given by Roth and Romeo (1992) is as follows, "The overall perception consumers form of the products from a particular country, based on their prior perceptions of the country's production and marketing strengths and weaknesses."

There has been numerous researches and literature that has been conducted on the subject of COO. Many have found that the COO of a product is frequently used by the consumers as an extrinsic cue to determine in their buying decision such as Han (1989); Hong and Wyer (1990), and Ahmed and d'Astoud (2008) (Prendergast et al,. 2010). The extrinsic cues can be determine as intangible products traits such as price and brand name, where intrinsic cues are associated with the physical aspects of the product (Bikey and Nes, 1982) and moreover, the impact of consumer's knowledge regarding product's COO has on subsequent product evaluation (Papadapoulos and Heslop, 1993). It was further stressed by Kinra 2006 that the COO is to be considered as the pivotal factor when it comes to consumer attitudes towards local and foreign brands. For instance, the most recent clothing brand, "Superdry" , all their clothing products will have Japanese writing on them and many consumers' initial perceptions will think it is a Japanese brand. However, it is in fact a British brand where the designer was inspired by a trip to Tokyo and the design influences from Japanese graphics and vintage Americana (Superdry, 2012). Furthermore, the Japanese writings on their products are somewhat unrelated to the products and many consumers will likely do not know what the words actually mean, but to the consumers it does not really matter as the Japanese writing provides them with the sense of fashion, COO and International brand. Similarly, Kanynak and Kara (1997), showed that the local consumers tend to have significantly more favourable beliefs, attitudes and intentions towards imported products then local products.

Marketers and organisations has been inventing new concept to assist and determine the consumers' attitudes towards brands. The most noticeable concept for COO label is "made in". The "made in Europe" was implemented in order to examine how consumers' perceived the quality of the products with the label when comparing to "made in USA" and "made in Japan". As found out by Schweiger et al., (1995), the quality of products with made in Europe label were perceived to be at a similar level of the US and Japanese competitors in the global markets.

Country of Manufacture

With the advanced technology and logistic, international brands are outsourcing their manufacturing process and taking advantage of lower wage rates and other operating costs in order to increase their profit margin by relocating their manufacturing to the developing countries (Prendergast et al., 2010). As a result, the concept of COO and an exclusivity of a brand or product associating with one country is now no longer the case for many brands. For instance, Nike is will perceived as an American leading sport brand but their manufacturing has been relocating to countries such as Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Thailand and even in Portugal. Therefore, a product may be branded in country X, but manufactured in Y or Z (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000). With this in mind, many academic has come up with new concepts which are more appropriate to the situation of multi-country affiliation such as country of manufacture (COM) (Samiee, 1994) and country of branding (COB) (Johansson, 1989). However, the concept of COO has recently again been argued by Phau and Prendergast (2000) who suggested due to the globalisation, COB is more suitable and accurate than COO

Industry Overview

History and Background of Thai Clothing and Textile Industry

Thai textile and clothing production has had a long history but the industry was established late in comparison to other Asian countries (Koomsup, 1973:cited Suphachalasai, 1994: p 19). It was until the 1936 when the first textile machine was imported from Germany for military purposes (Koomsup, 1973) which led to a first privately owned textile company by Thai businessman in 1942 (Supachalasai, 1994). The industry started to boom and rapidly picked up pace, which led to foreign investors entering Thailand, most noticeable was the Japanese joint venture during the 1960s. This has played in a vital role to the industry by introducing new management techniques, contribution of capital and technology (Katano, 1981).

Clothing dominated the apparel industry in Thailand in 2010. Women remain the key target market and sales of women's apparel saw the highest growth in 2010, in particular in women's jeans, shorts and trousers and sports footwear. Lifestyles of women have changed as they socialise more and respond to the health awareness trend.

International brands gear up and outperform local brands

Store-based retailing remains dominant channel for apparel sales

Thai brands and their products were usually available at local indoor markets and small boutiques, mainly available and targeting local and younger consumers with minimal collections and low pricing strategy. However, the strategy and trend has shifted to higher pricing strategy and upper market consumers, in addition, selected Thai brands such Kloset, Sretsis, Senada, Disaya and Greyhound are now competing next to international brands in the shopping malls nationwide. The mentioned brands are also available in various countries across the world. In contrast, brands like Milin, Issue, Kwankao and Vickteerut are also moved up to shopping malls but have not managed to go abroad.

International brands has been opening their stores worldwide, especially in Thailand where new international brands are introduced almost every year - both pure imports and from local companies which have licensed brands and are producing them locally.in the past decade (Euromonitor International, 2010), therefore, creating more competitions for local brands. However, not only top high street brands that have been entering Thai market but also high end, luxury, designer brands such as Chanel, Christian Dior, Hermes and Louis Vuitton. Moreover, Thai brands such as Asava, Munchu's, Theatre, Olanor and Curated by Ekthongprasert has been attempting to enter foreign markets through e-commerce but still not considered as International brands may be due to their current brand image, brand position and reputation. Hence, internet retailing accounting for slightly over 1% of total apparel sales in Thailand (Euromonitor International, 2010), for local brands to compete and survive in this market, these obstacles are required to be tackled. The issue has been recognised by Bangkok Fashion Society (BFS) where they have gathered all Thai brands mentioned above and managed to get all brands involved in a campaign known as 'Stop Fake, Wear Original Now', which started in February 2011, in order to stop consumers purchasing fake global clothing products and help to increase the sales of Thai brands as this has been identified as they crucial issue which has stalled the progression of Thai brands, therefore, increasing Thai brands' ability to sustain themselves and progress in the world of fashion by starting with the local market (Fashion Biz, 2011). In addition, their previous campaign set up was called 'Think Global Dress Local' 2009 to encourage consumers to turn to purchase and wear Thai brands. The successes of these two campaigns could be seen from the increased number of consumers registered with brand's fan pages with approximate number of 30,000 fans per brand comparing to an average of 7,000 registers in 2009. Furthermore, Thai celebrities are now wearing apparel from Thai brands to events rather than international brands which they previously wore.

Local Apparel brands in Thailand

Local brands with products and stores available outside Thailand

Greyhound Original was first established in 1980 and opened its first store in the same year in Bangkok, offering men's casual wear. It was not until 1990 when Greyhound expanded their collections by launching women's wear, along with leather goods and accessories - The Greyhound brand style = Chic and Contemporary, simple but never boring. They expanded their range of products and services in order to add value and different aspects to the brand: Greyhound café was opened in 1998 and went onto launched a second apparel line to offers younger flamboyant clothes with modern, casual and experimental street attitude called "Playhound by Greyhound" - Playhound brand style = Greyhound + Playtime. To date, they now have 14 stand-alone and shop-in-shop boutique stores plus 5 cafes and 1 bar and restaurant in Bangkok alone with 2 stores in Hong Kong and Singapore. Moreover, their products are also available in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Russia, France, Switzerland, Germany and Sweden through distributors (Greyhound, 2012).

Kloset was founded in 2001 and the brand offers women's apparel and accessories. The brand gain an inspiration from collection of embraces the designer's childlike-endearment and Thai culture's whimsy and playfulness with handcrafted details add to each collection including lace nets, low gauge knits and ribbon tape. There are currently 4 in Bangkok, Thailand and Kloset's products are now exported into 11 countries worldwide: the United States, France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Greece, Spain, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia (Kloset, 2012).

Sretsis was officially started in 2002 by three sisters who run the brand; a designer, a marketer and a publisher. The Sretsis sisters started from sewing each other's prom dress and playing around with other's outfits. The concept and designs of the brand still hold on to the childhood ideology and sisterhood with their signature quirk, subtle cheeks, stubborn sweetness and rebellious spirits. There are 2 stores in Thailand with products available through distributors internationally in 8 countries: the United States, France, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Singapore, Japan, China and Australia (Sretsis, 2012).

Disaya was founded in 2006 by Disaya Sorakraikitikul, the brand offers women's ready to wear and jewellery collection which influenced by London and unique creativity embedded within the city. Disaya was first presented internationally in 2007. Her first collection caught the attention of both local and international audience picking up 70 stockists and worn by Amy Whitehouse, Jennifer Lopez and Kelly Osbourne. Disaya is sold in over 20 countries worldwide at various retailers including Harrods, Henri Bendels, Harvey Nichols, Le Bon Marche and Seibu with 5 flagship stores in Thailand (Disaya, 2012).

Senada and Senada Theory were founded in 1991 by Chanita Preechawitayakul who is also the design director. The brand is now managed by Strong Waves Co., Ltd. The brand is inspired by the fusion of vintage romance, ethnic charm, savvy street style, feminine and cutting edge. There are 5 flagships stores in Thailand and available internationally through distributors in 16 countries worldwide (Senada, 2012).

Available nationally

Milin was established in 2009 by Milin Yuvacharuskul with are 5 flagship stores in Thailand the concept is to bring sexy back to Thai fashion with sophistication and embracing the versatility of day to night outfit that best sums up the work hard play harder lifestyle of Milin.

Kwankao was founded by Kwankao Svetavimala and was launched in 2011 with two flagship stores in Thailand, for the purpose of fulfilling the designer's dream and vision of creating wearable clothes for women based on 'chic and chill' elegance (Kwankao, 2012)

Vatanika was founded in 2010 by Vatanika Patamasingh and first collection launched in the same year with two flagship stores in Thailand (Vatanika, 2012).

Global Apparel brands in Thailand

Ted Baker was founded in 1987 with the first flagship store was opened in Glasgow, Scotland in 1988. It was first launched and renounced for men's contemporary shirt specialist. Ted Baker's approach to marketing has remained the same from day one with mainly through word of mouth and without international advertising campaign. The expansion of Ted Baker's collections has included menswear, womenswear, global, endurance, accessories, fragrance, skinwear, footwear, eyewear and watches. There are stores across the United Kingdom and the United States and expanded into 6 countries across Asia and Middle East including Bangkok, Thailand, after signing three new territorial license agreements in 2006.

Paul Smith is an English fashion designer whom reputation began with menswear before expanding into womenswear, accessories, books, art and antiques with his signature multistripe appearing on all products. He transmits a sense of humour and mischief mixed with his love of tradition and the classics with popular culture. He opened his first boutique in Nottingham, United Kingdom in 1970. In 1976, Paul Smith label was first introduced to the international eyes in Paris with his menswear collection and now there are 14 different collections under the label. All collections are wholesaled to 66 countries worldwide including Bangkok, Thailand and 17 flagship stores in England. It is a huge success in Japan where there are now over 200 stores in operation (Paul Smith, 2012).

French Connection or widely known as 'FCUK' was founded in 1972 by Stephen Marks who set out to create well designed fashionable clothing with a quirky sign spin on design. FCUK offers menswear, womenswear and expanded its portfolio including toiletries, accessories and shoes. There are 11 flagship stores in the United Kingdom with 33 stores worldwide including 7 stores across Thailand (French Connection, 2012).

Armani Exchange This is a youthful label created designed by Giorgio Armani and was launched in 1991 and its concept is an accessible Armani, inspired by street-chic-culture, fashionable dance music and all aspects that signifies freedom and personal style. There are over 200 stores in 32 countries worldwide such as Thailand, Qatar, Brazil and Barbados.

However, with Thai brand having to enter a very competitive market, a report published by the (Thai chamber of commerce in 2011) has suggested that there has been a 20% increase in export of Thai clothing brand to United States of America and the popularity of Thai brands has also been further boosted by having Hollywood film stars being photographed in them. WE NEED TO SEE SOME ACTUAL FIGURES. 20% OF WHAT? The boom in Thai brands can be seen by the fact that the government has set up a department to assist and encourage exporting of Thai clothing brands by working with private company to gather Thai designers around the world who are working for the international brands to set up a project called "Fashion network" DATE? REFERENCE? in order for Thai brands to have a better opportunity in penetrating the International clothing industry and act to assist Thai brand in term of their brand marketing. Furthermore, the report further stated that the Thai clothing industry has exported 194 million US dollars in 2011 which seen an increase of 2.8%. As reported by AC Nelson that there has been an increase by 76% increase in the market house brand in past 3 years. This has been echoed by the like of the market analysts and organisations within the market and also predicts that the market will keep progressing in the next year. This is due to the fact that the price and living standard has increased whereas as people's income has not grown at the same rate. In addition, the buying behaviour of city people has also changed where they have turned their attention to purchasing more house brands due to their better of quality. This has encourage the smaller businesses sell house brand to turn their hand and become more serious and hope to see the progress of house brand in the next year similar level of the international brands. (Gotomanager, 2012) THIS WHOLE PARAGRAPH VERY UNCLEAR - EXPAND AND GIVE MORE DETAIL.

CONCLUSION? A sign of brighter future for Thai brand can be seen by the fact that Thai product has been perceived by consumers in vast country in the like of the United States of America where the perceptions are that Thai brands are well designed at a competitive prices when comparing with the higher prices of global brands (The Thai Chamber of Commerce, 2011). SUPPORT WITH DIRECT QUOTATION FROM THIS REPORT

THIS PARAGRAPH STARTS A NEW SUBJECT. THINK HOW TO INTRODUCE IT. USE SUB-HEADINGS Furthermore, consumers will already hold certain perceptions and elements associating with individual brands through their previous experiences, word of mouth, advertisement or image that has be associated. These pre conceived perceptions will affect the buying behaviour and decision making of consumers; therefore, it is important for the researcher to identify the factors that are associating with Thai brands and consequently, improve their image to minimise or eliminate the negative factors associating with their brands. Are the issues arising from pre conceived perceptions of the brand and/or the actual design or quality itself?

As can be seen above that more than ever before in which there are many Thai clothing brands and those designers has got together and came up with 3 trends in order to help the progression of Thai brands which are as follow:

1. Pioneer/Explorer:

2. Classcial Sensualism:

3. Redefinition:

(Source: FashionBiz, 2011)

This has shown that Thai designers are identifying the problems and working together to tackle the problems. HOW IS THIS RELEVANT? IS THIS THE RIGHT PLACE FOR THIS INFORMATION? WHO AND WHEN DID THEY GET TOGETHER? DOES THIS WORK AS A FORM OF BRANDING? .

UNCLEAR SENTENCE Due to the fact that some consumers may have never physically been in contact with products from local brands but the buying behaviours can be altered through perceptions. This will happen to many of us, including myself where I have perceptions of certain brand before I have even experience the products or the services myself which resulted in myself eliminating a certain brand.

Some scholars has conducted studies of marketing and consumer behaviour have expressed that factors such as availability, advertising, image and consumer characteristics does affect the way consumer behave towards a brand (Engel et al,. 1986 and Bromley 1993) and consumers will based their decision on an image of a brand which consumers perceived to be reflecting their own self-image (Schiffman and Kanuk 1983). Therefore, will lead to creating a knock on affect, either positively or negatively and consequently, the effect can be seen from the sales as showed in previously studies (Graeff 1996 and Mehta 1999).

Research Methodology

Research methodology is relates to the broad philosophy and preferred to the way of research conducted, often this refers to the choice of quantitative or qualitative methodologies. There are differences between qualitative and quantitative, Wengraf (2001) comments that the qualitative research is descriptive in term of character where quantitative research usually produces its findings as precisely as possible and in term of numbers and statistics.

Qualitative research method is used for this study for data collection, both primary and secondary are collected and used. As Fossey et al., (2002) explained that Qualitative researches are oriented towards developing understanding of the meaning and experience dimensions of human lives and their social interactions which suited to the study of consumer buying behaviour and perceptions.

For this study, both primary and secondary data were used. According to Malhotra (2005), primary data are originated by the researcher for the specific purpose to addresses the problem. There are different forms to collect primary data such as interview, observation, focus group and survey. However, focus group has been chosen and used for this study.

Secondary data are known to be collected through existing journals and reports. Marketing journals and reports related to the subjects being researched were used as secondary data for this study prior to the collection of primary data. This procedure has been affirmed by Malhotra (2005) who stated, "Examination of available secondary data is a prerequisite to the collection of primary data. Start with secondary data and proceed to primary data only when the secondary data sources have been exhausted or yield managerial returns."

Other method form of research methodology is quantitative methods as Bell (1999) suggests that quantitative methods are used in research in order to generate and further explore hypotheses where qualitative strategies are more appropriate in testing such hypotheses, putting it in another way qualitative research orientates more towards an inductive research strategy while quantitative research employs a deductive strategy. Therefore, for this particular research, a qualitative method of focus group discussion will be conducted for data collection.

Focus Group

The focus group is a potential method to obtain deep detail of data which enables an effective analysis. This method of research usually involve a small group of participants gathered by the researcher to discuss a particular issue under the guidance, in this case which is the researcher, who would preferably to play a detached role (Wibeck et al., 2007) and the form of discussion will lasts between 60 -90 minutes and all discussions are either audio and/or video tapes before transcribed and analysed (Barbour and Kitzinger, 1999). The procedure and arrangements for this research will be demonstrated in the next section. Importantly, the focus group will provide opportunities for the participants to interact with each other and certain topics can be further extended in their discussions. Furthermore, focus groups are group discussions organised to explore a specific set of issues such as people's views and experiences (Barker and Rich 1992).

As Morgan (1997, p 2) commented, 'The hallmark of focus groups is their explicit use of group interaction to produce data and insights that would be less accessible without the interaction found in a group'. Moreover, discussions can provide information which may not be accessible in an individual interview (Kitzinger, 1994) and can raise issues which the researcher may be thought of before, (Morgan, 1993, 1997). Additional, focus group discussions 'provide direct evidence about similarities and differences in the participant's opinions and experiences as opposed to reaching such conclusions from post hoc analyses of separate statements from each interviewee' (Morgan, 1997, p 10).

The selection of participants will be vital for the researcher to gather the collect the appropriate data and for discussions provide. Jarrett (1993) and others often recommended to select homogeneous focus groups as they believes that if the participants with the same interests, experiences and opinions will more likely share and exchange their ideas and thought among the focus group. However, Kitzinger and Barbour (1999), argued that a heterogeneity among the participants can also reveal further insights into the topics in the. In addition, Kitzinger (1994, p 113) argues that 'the difference between participants … allows one to observe not only how people theorise their own point of view but how they do so in relation to other perspectives and how they put their own ideas "to work." Therefore, it is the responsibility of the researcher to conduct the session which all participants will be willing to share their opinions and also expand each point further rather than agreeing with each other on every topic and to make the selection of participants randomly.

Sampling

Sampling is the process of selecting a sample, and includes everything that is involved in the selection and only a relatively small number of population members are to queried (Tull and Albaum, 1973).

The method of the qualitative method of focus group discussion was used for data collection and took place in Bangkok, Thailand. There were 20 women who aged between 20-35 years old of Thai nationality participating in the focus group who were randomly selected and all participants were local brand community selected by the researcher which the researcher had already email them to ask for volunteers. The age group of 20-35 years old had been selected to participate in the focus group because they are the target group of the Thai apparel brands and reported as the age group that have the highest spending of apparel in Thai market. In addition, the main apparel lines of Thai brands are women's clothing. All participants were consumers within the Thai market, due to the fact the study is aim to understand the behaviour of consumers and perceptions to assist Thai apparel brands and enhance their sales and brand image.

Focus Group Procedure

The group participants randomly selected were separated into 2 groups of 10 participants. At the start of each session, all participants were informed that all discussions will private and confidential to the purpose of the study. Discussions of both groups were recorded by voice recorder during the all sessions and each session lasted approximately 60 minutes. The researcher provided a set of topics and questions for the participants to discuss and the researcher sat in the discussions and interacted in the discussions in order to expand the topics and discussions which was assisted in gathering and discovering in depth details (see Appendix 1 for topics and questions).

Ethical issues

There were several ethical issues that the researcher needed to consider during conduction of the research and writing the dissertation; the ethical issues are as follows:

As secondary data were used in this paper, the researcher had referenced appropriately of any works which was taken from journals and reports. Therefore, there were no works being passed on as the researcher's own work.

The researcher is required to be truthful by reporting and using the data which has been gathered through the research methodology which has been chosen and not to mislead the readers, as a result, all discussions were voice recorded.

The research will have to keep any information which has been gathered private and confidential where a request has been made and respect the information and the providers. In addition, for social responsibility purpose, the researcher was required to assist to encourage and cause no harm to the society through the research, thus, no participants were forced or pressurised into answering and discussing any topics which they felt uncomfortable with or invaded their privacy in any way.

Analysis and Findings

Introduction

This chapter is to critically analyse and discuss the findings through the use qualitative data collected from the focus group discussions along with and supported by secondary data and the researcher's own point of view in order to establish the objectives of the study. In additions, quotes from participants in the focus group are used to form a thorough analysis of the findings. The chapter will provide a brief background of all 20 respondents who took part in the focus group.

Background of the Respondents

For this study, the researcher held 2 focus group discussions in which they the 20 respondents were split into 2 groups of 10. Respondents were randomly selected who were all female and aged 20-35 years old.

Table 1 - Background of the respondents

Analysis and Discussion of finding in accomplishment of the objectives of the study

As indicated by Fossey et al., (2002) that when aiming to gain an understand and perform an analysis of qualitative data available, the researcher will require conceptual level processes to explore the meaning, patterns or connections within the data along with researcher's own thought, reflection and intuition.

The researcher had set topic and questions for the focus group in order to obtain the most relevant responds from the respondents, aiming to assist in accomplishment of the study's objectives.

Objective one: To identify the factors that associates and affecting consumer preference with international brands among Thai consumers

There were participants within the focus group who consumed or/and consuming international brands, therefore, the researchers was able to use their thoughts and beliefs to understand and identify factors affecting consumer preference towards international brands among Thai consumers.

An international brand or global brand is perceived by consumers as brand which is believed to be marketed and recognised in multiple countries (Steenkamp et al., 2003 citied in Sze Yin Ho el al., 2011). This reflected in comments made by many respondents who purchases and prefers international brands.

Commented by respondents who purchases Paul Smith, French Connection, Topshop and H&M:

"…..because of the brands being recognised in many countries across the world and accepted by consumers worldwide, therefore, quality must be at a high standard for people to buy them." - Respondent 14

"I chose to buy foreign brands due to the fact that it gives me value for money in terms of their better standard of quality and provide me a better personal feelings when wearing foreign brands which people will recognise and it considered to be cooler," - Respondent 1

From the discussions, there were no respondent who would prefer to purchase local brands ahead of international brands if they have the buying power as one stated "…if money was not an issue, I would buy international brands 10 times of 10 because it just make me feel good." -Respondent 3. In addition, a respondent who purchase Armani Exchange was because of its global brand image and its link with the mainstream branding of Giorgio Armani

This illustrated that all the prestige that associates with international brands plays a crucial role in influencing the preference of Thai consumers towards international brands as international brands possesses the sense of high status, superior quality and high status (Batra el al., 2000).

Dogerlioglu-Demir and Tansuhaj (2011) implies that mat