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E-mail:

Evaluation of Consumer Attention towards Shoes Brands in India

Mr. Manoj Kumar Jatav

(Research Scholar) Jiwaji University, Gwalior

manoj.mnjkmr.kumar@gmail.com

Miss. Anita Singh Chauhan (Asst. Professor)

VISM College, Gwalior (MP) E-mail: singhmgmt17@gmail.com

Abstract

The research will help many marketers to understand consumer perception in today’s cut throat

competition. In shoes Industry, where the majority of the perspective customers rely on word of mouth, their

perception and understanding their needs and requirements is the key to success of the retail stores of shoes

industry. Customer information or feedback will be collected through questionnaire on the basis of the

continuous improvement and new innovation in the value added manufacturing industry (retail shoes store).

The researcher proposes to use different statistical tools for analyzing the data. Perception is basically a

cognitive or thinking process and an individual’s activities, emotions, feelings etc. are based on his perception

of his surroundings or environment. Many researchers have taken place regarding consumer perception. This

research will explore number of factors which affects consumer perception especially through Branded

Products in Shoes industry.

Keywords: Brands, Advertising, Shoes, Marketing

Introduction

Perception of the consumer is one of the vital topics that marketer uses to better understanding of

consumer on how they react when come to buying decisions. Perception is how one view under the influence

of past experience, personal opinion. Brands are a means of differentiating a company’s products and services

from those of its competitors. Retailing in India has grown over the past few years, from Mom & Pop stores,

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hyper stores, super-stores, discount stores, Cash n carry and many new formats are still in nascent stage. Wal-

Mart has just made its inroads on the Indian terrain, Mark &Spencer's are already expanding exponentially.

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.

Consumer

Ultimate user of a product or service, the consumer is not always the purchaser of a product

(customer), in the case of pet food, for example, the pet is technically the consumer because it is the ultimate

user, although of course the advertising is aimed at the pet owner. Consumer are considered to be the users of

the final product for example, purchasers of building products are interim users of the products while

constructing the finished product which may then be purchased by a consumer. Consumer refers to individuals

or households that purchase and use goods and services generated within the economy. The concept of a

consumer is used in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.

Consumer Perception

It is selection, organization, and interpretation of marketing and environmental stimuli in to a

cohesive picture. Following are the some feature of perception, which are as under: Perception is

basically a cognitive or thinking process and an individual’s activities, emotions, feelings etc. are

based on his perception of his surroundings or environment.

Brands

Brand name used by a manufacturer whenever that product is sold. For example, Kissan is a national

brand for food products. “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”.A brand is a collection of experiences and associations connected with a service, a person or any

other entity Brands have become increasingly important components of culture and the economy, now being

described as "cultural accessories and personal philosophies". A mixture of tangible and intangible attributes

symbolized in a trademark, which, if properly managed, creates influence and generates value”.

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Local Brands

Local brand is a company brand marketed and distributed only in some areas of the country.

Local brands may appeal to those consumers who favor small, local producers over large national or

global producers, and may be willing to pay a premium to "buy local"

Example: - Air Shoes, Comex, Jp Footbear

National Brand

The brand name of a product that is distributed nationally under a brand name owned by the producer

or distributor, as opposed to local brands (products distributed only in some areas of the country), and private

label brands (products that carry the brand of the retailer rather than the producer. National brands must

compete with local and private brands. National brands are produced by, widely distributed by, and carry the

name of the manufacturer. Example - Lakhani footwear, Action Footwear, Paragon Footwear, Relaxo

Footwear, Flite Footwear etc.

Multinational/International Brands

Multinational brand are those which are manufactured and sold in different countries and bears its

own brand name. They promote their product mix depending upon the market requirement and act

accordingly. Example:-Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Liberty, Bata, woodland, etc.

Retail Stores

Retailing consists of the sale of goods or merchandise, from a fixed location such as

a department store or kiosk, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser.

Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be individuals or

businesses. In commerce, a retailer buys goods or products in large quantities

from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller

quantities to the end-user. Retail establishments are often called shops or stores. Retailers are at the

end of the supply chain. Manufacturing marketers see the process of retailing as a necessary part of

their overall distribution strategy.

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Consumer Behaviors and Preference One consumer would in general have different consumption behaviors or preferences from

another. He may spend money on computers and technical books, while the other may spend on

clothing and food. Availability of this information on consumer preference will be of great value to a

marketing company, a bank, or a credit card company that can use this information to target different

groups of consumer for improved response rate or profit. By the same token, information on

consumption preference of the residents in one specific region can help businesses in planning their

operations in this region for improved profit. Therefore, it is very important to have a tool that can

help analyze consumer’s behaviors and forecast the changes in purchase patterns and changes in

purchase trend.

Review of Literature

According to Ackerman, D., Tellis, G., (2004) defined that Customer perception is customer’s

intention to purchase a specific product or services in future repeatedly (Jones and Sasser, 1995).

Customer loyalty is defined as an interaction between customers’ relative attitude towards a brand or

store, and their repeated purchase behavior towards that brand or store Bellizzi, J., et al (1981).

Found that Consumer perceptions of national, private, and generic brands. Gathered perceptions of

national, private label and generic brands through a series of Liker-type scales. Carpenter, J.M., &

Moore, M., (2006) explained that Considerable research has been directed towards store attributes

and customer loyalty in western countries (Carpenter and Moore, 2006). However, limited attention

has been paid to this issue in developing countries. Consumers’ perception of store attributes

influenced by retail formats, type of products, cultural value, shopping intention and customer base

(Paulins and Geistfeld, 2003). Bearden (1977) states that store atmosphere, location, parking

facilities, and friendliness of store people are the salient factors that influence consumer store

patronage. As a result store attributes such as service offering, activities, facilities and convenience

have major influence on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Chung, Holdsworth (2001) explores a

quantitative linear model to describe the factors affecting the market acceptance of education in

Singapore and then provides an empirical test of the model, which was validated. The scarcity of

knowledge about consumer behavior in online education in Singapore is the base for this research.

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Objective of the Study

• To develop and standardize a measure to evaluate consumer perception towards Local Brands, National

Brands and International Brands in Retail Stores.

• To identify the underlying factors of Consumer Perception towards Local Brands, National Brands,

International Brands.

• To compare the Consumer Perception between Local, National and International Brands.

• To provide new vistas for further research.

Methodology of the Research

The Study

The study was exploratory in nature with survey method being used to complete the study.

Sampling Design:

Population: Population included all the consumers of branded shoes who visit retail stores of India

region.

Sampling Element: Individual consumers of shoes were the sampling element.

Sampling Technique: Non – Probability purposive sampling technique was used to select the sample.

Sample Size: Sample size was 150 Respondents.

Tools Used for data Collection:

Self-designed questionnaire was used for the evaluation of Consumer Perception towards banded shoes.

Data was collected on a likert type scale, where 1 stands for minimum agreement and 5 stands for

maximum agreement.

Tools Used for Data Analysis:

Consistency Measure, Reliability, KMO Bartlett’s test, t-est, etc.

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Observation and Results

Consistency Measure (Consumer Perception)

Consistency of all the factors in the questionnaires was checked through item to total correlation.

Under this correlation of every item with total was measured and the computed value was compared with

standard value (0.15905989 for 150 respondents).The factors having item to total correlation lower than the

critical value were declared as inconsistent and dropped from the questionnaire.

Table showing item to total correlations for the Measure evaluating

S. N. Items Correlation value Status

1 Role of price in purchasing decision. 0.323271 Accepted

2 Quality of branded products. 0.421411 Accepted

3 Reliability of branded products. 0.61748 Accepted

4 Role of advertisement in creating brand image. 0.411442 Accepted

5 Role of advertisements in purchasing decision 0.534123 Accepted

6 Recommendations of people. 0.294913 Accepted

7 Branded shoes can build status in society. 0.495102 Accepted

8 Brand image. 0.55523 Accepted

9 Brand availability 0.568851 Accepted

10 Sales promotion. 0.400567 Accepted

11 It is necessity to have branded shoes. 0.439309 Accepted

12 Availability of varieties is important. 0.259971 Accepted

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13 No brand loyalty towards branded shoes. 0.185488 Accepted

14 Brands are more durable than local shoes. 0.403792 Accepted

15 Popularity of brand. 0.503413 Accepted

16 Branded shoes are luxurious item. 0.376912 Accepted

17 Brand likeability 0.386241 Accepted

18 Brand loyalty 0.402954 Accepted

19 Recommendation of a brand to others. 0.5591 Accepted

20 Discount offer. 0.156521 Dropped

Reliability Measure

Cronbach alpha method has been applied to calculate reliability of all items in the questionnaire.

Reliability test using SPSS software and the reliability test measures are given below:

Table Showing Alpha Reliability Statistics for Consumer Perception

Reliability Statistics

Variables Cronbach's Alpha No. of Items

All Variables .801 19

It is considered that the reliability value more than 0.7 is good and it can be seen that in statistics, reliability

value is quite higher than the standard value, so all the items in questionnaire are highly reliable.

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Factor Analysis

Principle component factor analysis with Varimax rotation was applied. The factor analysis resulted in 6

factors. The details about factors, the factor name, Eigen value, Variable convergence, Loadings, Variance%

and cumulative% are given in the table.

Table Showing Factor Analysis for Consumer Perception

Factor name Eigen

Value

Variance

%

Variable

Convergence

Loadings

Loyalty 3.868 20.359 Continuous use of a brand.

Recommendation of a brand.

Brand likeability.

.785

.690

.476

Quality 1.818 9.569 Branded shoes are more durable than non

branded shoes.

Popularity of brand is important for purchasing

shoes.

Shoes are always of good quality.

Brand availability is important for you.

Reliability of shoes is very important.

Branded shoes are luxurious item.

.763

.606

.468

.463

.459

Advertisemen

t

1.534 8.073 Advertisement is responsible for creating brand

image.

Advertisements affect purchasing of shoes.

Recommendations of people are also very

.808

.729

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important for purchasing shoes. .493

Status 1.427 7.512 Prestige good

Price plays a very important role in purchasing

of shoes.

It is necessity to have branded shoes.

Brand image.

.739

.684

.603

.443

Varieties in

design

1.348 7.095 Varieties.

Brand loyalty

.780

.558

Promotional

Schemes

1.055 7.095 Sales promotion .772

Z-Test

Z test was applied to evaluate the difference in consumer perception between local and national brands, local

and international brands and national and international brands.

Null Hypothesis:

1. There is no significant difference in Consumer Perception between Local and National brands.

2. There is no significant difference in Consumer Perception between Local and International brands.

3. There is no significant difference in Consumer Perception between National and International brands.

If the value of Z is less than the standard value (1.96 at 5% level of significance) the null hypothesis is

accepted.

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Table for Z test for Consumer Perception

Consumer Perception Value of

Z

Mean of

first x1

Mean of

second x2

Standard

error

Result

Between Local and National

brands

1.8868 68.28 71.39 1.6482 Insignificant

Between Local and

International brands

2.7551384 68.28 73.18 1.7784 Significant

Between National and

International

0.61067 71.39 73.18 2.9311 Insignificant

There is no significant difference in Consumer Perception between Local and International brands and

between National and International brands but there is significant difference in Consumer Perception between

Local and International brands.

Conclusion

This study has resulted in the standardized and reliable measure to evaluate the consumer perception towards

branded shoes. In present scenario it is necessary to understand the consumer perception before positioning the

product in the market. In this study the consumer perception was the only variable. The result of the study

show that there is no significant difference in Consumer Perception towards Local and International brands

and between National and International brands but there is a significant difference in Consumer Perception

towards Local and International brands. The factors like brand loyalty, quality, advertisement, status, variety in

design and promotional activities create an impact on the consumer perception. And among all this factors the

brand loyalty factor has emerged as the most important factor having a greatest impact on the consumer

perception towards the different brands in retail stores among the all factors.

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References

• Ackerman, D., Tellis, G., (2001).Cross-Cultural Study of Shopping and Retail Prices. Journal of retailing 77, 57-82.

• Bellizzi, J., Krueckeberg, H., Hamilton, J., & Martin, W. (1981). Consumer Demographi ,Journal of Retailing, 57(4), 56-70.

• Carpenter, J.M., Moore, M., (2006), Store Attributes, and Retail Format Choice in the US Grocery Market. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 34 (6), 434-447.

• Chung.K.C,Fam.K,Holdsworth.D.K,(2001),”Consumer Behavior in E-Tertiary Education: A Singapore Perspective”, University of national Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 2, No. 4, (pp105-111)

• www.google.co.in • www.scribd.com • www.wikipedia.org • www.timesofindia.com • www.bhaskar.com