M. Tech. (Marketing, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology / One important motivating force that influences a wide range of consumer behaviour is the desire to gain status or social prestige from the acquisition and consumption of goods. More often than not, individuals purchase expensive and luxury goods to display their social standing. In addition, individuals purchase status products to fulfil their material desires and reinforce their group identity. This is often a case with regards to youth consumers who often purchase expensive, luxury fashionable clothing brands to portray status and impress their peers. This behaviour seems to be trending among township consumers. The township market is a major contributor to the South African economy with an annual spending power of approximately R307-R308 billion. This study sought to investigate the influence of fashion clothing involvement, materialism and group identity on fashion brand status consumption amongst the youth. The research concentrates specifically on township youth consumers aged between 18 to 24 years, located in the Sedibeng district. This study made use of a non-probability convenience sample. A self-administered questionnaire was designed based on the scales used in previous studies. Five fieldworkers were selected and received training from the researcher on the purpose of the research as well as the critical elements of fieldwork. Once the training was completed, the questionnaires were distributed by fieldworkers. The questionnaire requested respondents to indicate on a five-point Likert scale the extent of their agreement or disagreement with items designed to measure their status consumption, fashion clothing involvement, materialism and group identity. In addition, the participants were requested to provide certain demographic data. For this study, a sample of 400 township youth individuals, residing within the Sedibeng district, was drawn. From this sample, only 345 questionnaires were usable leading to a response rate of 83 percent. The captured data were analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics comprising of correlation and regression analysis. The findings indicate that fashion clothing involvement significantly and positively predicted status consumption of township youth consumers. Therefore, the results show that fashion-involved consumers are more likely to engage in status consumption. There was a direct relationship between materialism and status consumption. Group identity had a significant positive influence on status consumption. Owing to the high demand for status brands or products by township youth consumers, it is recommended that marketers should tap the market potential of this consumer segment while considering the influence of their reference groups. In addition, their advertisements should emphasise the brand or product’s ability to indicate status. Furthermore, marketers should make use of social media to effectively reach youth consumers. Insights gained from this study will help marketers to better understand township youth consumers, their engagement in status consumption, and their involvement in fashion clothing, which, in turn, should help them tailor their marketing efforts in such a way as to appeal to this segment in an appropriate manner.

Thesis. (M. Tech. (Dept. of Marketing, Faculty of Management Sciences)) -- Vaal University of Technology, 2011. / The underlying determinants of how and why people shop has been a topic of study for many years, when typologies of shopping styles were developed. These studies have been successful in demonstrating that some shoppers display consistent shopping orientations that can be diametrically opposed, for example, the functional shopper versus the recreational shopper. This study concentrates on purchasing patterns of consumers by examining the decision-making styles of Generation Y consumers with regard to fashion apparel. The study reports on various stages that consumers undergo when confronted with a decision situation. These stages are outlined as need recognition, information search, pre-purchase evaluation, purchase, consumption and post-consumption. The buying behaviours influencing consumers were categorised into internal and external factors. The internal factor includes perception, motivation, learning, attitudes, personalities, self-concept, lifestyle and demography. The external factors comprised the following variables, namely, cultural background, subculture, family influence, and the social factor. The general characteristics of Generation Y were briefly discussed. Various dimensions used to measure consumer decision-making styles were reviewed in the study related to perfectionism, brand consciousness, novelty-fashion consciousness, recreational consciousness, price-and-value-for-money consciousness, impulsiveness and confusion as a result of overchoice of brands. The study adopted quantitative approach. A structured questionnaire was used to survey 230 students who were selected using non-probability convenience sampling. Seven dimensions measuring consumer decision-making styles were found to be applicable within the Generation Y context. These consumers were profiled as being quality conscious, brand conscious, novelty-seeking, hedonistic, confused by overchoice, habitual, brand loyal and fashion conscious. Differences were found between consumers who are confused by overchoice and younger Generation Y consumers. Younger consumers were found to be more confused by overchoice compared to their older counterparts. It is suggested that apparel retailers should try to use communication channels which will be more understandable by Generation Y consumers, and they should provide information that assists buyers to make a rational decision in the buying process. Differences were also confirmed between habitual, brand-loyal consumers and age. It was found that younger consumers are more likely to be loyal to specific brands as compared to their older counterparts. Differences were noted between brand conscious, confused by overchoice and gender. Brand consciousness was regarded as a reflection of men‟s desire to use shopping as a demonstration of their superiority, as well as being beneficial because they reduce search costs. It was revealed that males were more brand conscious than their female counterparts. It also highlighted that males were more confused by overchoice than females. The study found that the majority of Generation Y does pursue quality, even if it means paying higher prices. It is recommended that retailers should continue to emphasise their well-known brand names and set prices at levels where consumers perceive the quality of the product by its price. Retailers should focus on diverse designs, sizes and colours in their product assortment and range. The introduction of new products through the use of fashion shows, fashion magazines and advertisements may provide added advantages in terms of brand awareness / Central Research Committee of the Vaal University of Technology

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-09-05T12:10:14Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Nathália Cristina Brunini.pdf: 2472684 bytes, checksum: e6e9b52adf05886e07d6ad834f99c3ea (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-05T12:10:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nathália Cristina Brunini.pdf: 2472684 bytes, checksum: e6e9b52adf05886e07d6ad834f99c3ea (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-08-13 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The theme of this research is the fashion market model known as fast fashion, characterized by its rapid production and marketing speed. The study seeks to understand this model as an ambivalent system, in other words, on the one hand, the "democratization" of fashion. On the other hand, a predatory and exploitative circuit, since it increases the access of the general public to the latest trends due to the affordable price, but at the same time expands the political, economic and social cracks, explained by the precarious conditions of work in which it is manufactured part of the fast fashion products. The central hypothesis is that the partnerships made between renowned designers and sizeable fast fashion retailers are a symptom of the new modes of communication, in an era marked by the generalization of aesthetic strategies, with a commercial purpose, under the discourse of accessibility to the general public. As a corpus of the research, we opted for the case study of the Riachuelo retail chain, especially the partnerships signed between the Brazilian company and four renowned designers: Oskar Metsavaht (2010), Osklen, Donatella Versace (2014), Versace, Karl Lagerfeld (2016), Chanel and Fendi, and one of the most recent, Paula Raia (2017), self-styled slow fashion. As methodological strategies, we follow the proposal to broadly contextualize the incidence of fast fashion in the major European fashion centres and at Brazil; to analyse the growth and repositioning of Riachuelo, which, from a small fabric store in Pernambuco (the 1940s), became a Brazilian fashion retail giant; and to discuss, conceptually, the fragility of this democratization within the framework of fast fashion, based on the explication of Riachuelo's communicational strategies, present in materials for the partnerships as mentioned above / O tema desta pesquisa é o modelo mercadológico de moda conhecido como fast fashion, caracterizado pela sua rápida velocidade de produção e comercialização. O estudo busca entender este modelo como um sistema ambivalente, ou seja, por um lado “democratizador” de moda, mas, por outro, um circuito predador e exploratório, uma vez que aumenta o acesso do grande público às últimas tendências, devido ao preço acessível, mas, ao mesmo tempo, amplia as fissuras políticas, econômicas e sociais, explicitadas pelas condições precárias de trabalho em que é fabricada grande parte dos produtos de moda rápida. A principal hipótese é que as parcerias feitas entre renomados estilistas e grandes redes de lojas populares adeptas ao fast fashion são um sintoma dos novos modos de comunicação, em uma era marcada pela generalização das estratégias estéticas, com finalidade mercantil, sob o discurso de acessibilidade ao grande público. Como corpus da pesquisa, optamos pelo estudo de caso da rede de varejo Riachuelo, especialmente as parcerias firmadas entre a empresa brasileira e quatro estilistas renomados: Oskar Metsavaht (2010), da marca carioca Osklen, Donatella Versace (2014), da Versace, Karl Lagerfeld (2016), da Chanel e da Fendi, e, uma das mais recentes, Paula Raia (2017), autointitulada slow fashion. Como estratégias metodológicas, propõe-se contextualizar, de forma ampla, a incidência do fast fashion nos grandes centros europeus de moda e no Brasil; analisar o crescimento e reposicionamento da Riachuelo que, de pequena loja de tecidos pernambucana (década de 1940), tornou-se a gigante do varejo de moda brasileira; e discutir, conceitualmente, a fragilidade dessa democratização dentro dos moldes do fast fashion, a partir da explicitação de estratégias comunicacionais da Riachuelo, presentes em materiais de divulgação das parcerias citadas

By the later decades of the twentieth century, retail internationalization was no longer the activity of a few multi-national retailers; revising the traditional view of retailing as a national business and the need to understand the process of internationalization. Academic research enriched the understanding of this activity, moving away from the early use of surveys to delve into the specific processes of the retailers in order to properly analyze foreign expansion activity. Initial research focused on the perspective of the firm, contributing to knowledge of the why, where, and how of the internationalization process. As this research expanded its scope, it became necessary for researchers to explore when internationalization occurs and to document what was the impact of internationalization on the host country. This call for research was made by Dawson (2003), who proposed a framework for the study of foreign impact on the domestic retailers of a host country. This study utilizes the Dawson model to measure, analyze, and explain the when and what of the retail internationalization process. In recognition of the complexity of the retail internationalization process, it was determined that the study would focus on one type of impact: changes in sectoral competitiveness. It was also determined that this study should be undertaken in a market and retail sector where substantial foreign entry had occurred and could potentially be measured, analyzed and explained. Therefore, the study is undertaken in the Canadian apparel sector between 1989 and 2007. The study was conducted as a mixed method research in two stages: an empirical study of market data and an interview study of industry experts. Since retail functions at the local level, the shopping centre was used as a microcosm of the market and provided empirical evidence to measure impacts in a temporal sense and by intensity. The interviews with industry experts were used to collaborate and explain the mall data, providing important first-hand context to explain the retail internationalization process. This study contributes to the validation of the Dawson model as a tool to measure and explain the impacts of foreign entry on a host country’s sectoral competitiveness, and through its methodology will provide the necessary modifications to the model for continued study of the retail internationalization process.

This study proposes a loyalty segmentation model for the South African men's retail credit fashion industry. Retailers operate in a highly competitive market where competitors strive for share-of-wallet of the same customer. The likely victor in this battle is the retailer who best understands customer needs, purchase behaviour and utilises this information to influence customer's spending patterns. The research method comprised a postal survey to randomly selected customers. The process included the construct of the loyalty model which comprised four input models, namely the Competitiveness, Brand experience, Referral and Credit appeal models as well as a number of customer demographics. The Desert scenario, where extreme conditions exist, is used as the analogy for the Segmentation model, with four macro segments (Desert, Oasis, Sand Storm, Rain clouds) being used to categorise respondents along two criteria, namely that of value and relative risk. Segment characteristics are used to segment the retailer's database. / Business Management / MCom (Business Management)

The purpose was to investigate career expectations and goals of junior and senior fashion merchandising majors at North Texas State University and to compare findings with expectations for trainees of retail employers with executive training programs in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The findings indicated that most female students are planning their career goals in business for the next five years. Students are confused as to what employee benefits they might receive at the entry level. College recruitment is an important method of hiring executive trainees. Length of training programs vary from six months to three years. At the time of the study, trainees could expect a beginning salary of nine to ten thousand dollars.

A key to a business's success is reaching the target market. This ensures that consumers are exposed to the retailer's offerings and by turn, inspired to purchase. In turn, the business can reach its goal of a profitable organization. The purpose of this paper was to determine the most effective fashion advertising appeals for reaching target markets. To address these issues, this thesis consisted of two studies. The purpose of the first study was to determine the advice given to fashion entrepreneurs regarding effective target market practices. The purpose of the second study was to determine effective advertising strategies fashion entrepreneurs may employ for effectively reaching target markets. Data was collected to test the effectiveness of the advice from Study 1, degrees of brand awareness, attitudes towards advertising, willingness to follow trends, purchase intention, purchase behavior, and shopping involvement. The Theory of Reasoned Action was employed as the theoretical framework of the study. The framework was utilized to predict that attitudes towards targeted advertising and pressure to follow fashion trends would positively relate to intent to purchase which, in turn, would positively relate to purchase behavior. The results of this paper concluded the TRA model provided a proper framework to predict purchase behavior from targeted advertising employed by fashion entrepreneurs.

M. Tech. (Department of Visual Arts and Design, Faculty of Human Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Fashion entrepreneurs with no formal fashion-related education or training are hereafter referred to by the acronym FEWFFET (fashion entrepreneurs without formal fashion-related education or training). Entrepreneurship provides a feasible means of employment in a country where national unemployment rates are alarmingly high. To succeed, entrepreneurs require business knowledge and skill to operate profitable and sustainable businesses. However, entrepreneurs who were previously disadvantaged often possess only low levels of education, limited qualifications and training. This applies to survivalist fashion entrepreneurs in the Sedibeng District Municipality (SDM) who produce various items of apparel and clothing. Over a third of these entrepreneurs are not formally educated in business management and may not possess the adequate knowledge to operate their fashion business successfully. The research aim was to investigate the uses and challenges pertaining to business skills amongst FEWFFET to determine their business skills training needs. The sample population included 105 black fashion entrepreneurs, operating micro, survivalist enterprises within peri-urban, resource-poor communities in the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) of Sedibeng, Gauteng. A quantitative study using non-probability purposive sampling and snowball sampling was performed. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were conducted with respondents at fabric and haberdashery stores or within their home-business environments. The results indicated that respondents lacked business plan development skills and showed only moderate skills in finance and marketing. Respondents indicated business skills training needs for developing a business plan, conducting basic bookkeeping, determining correct product pricing, drafting quotations and invoices, developing a budget, conducting basic market research and advertising their products and services.

M. Tech. (Department of Visual Arts and Design: Fashion, Faculty of Human Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The fashion trade is a global industry (Amankhwah, Badoe & Chichi 2014:144) that plays a major role in the socio-economic development of many countries (Sarpong, Howard & Osei-Ntiri 2011:98). A number of Asian countries, for example, have been known to thrive in the international textile and fashion trade, owing to their successful training programs in fashion and apparel design (Maiyo, Abong’o & Tuigon’g 2014:63). In South Africa (SA) fashion is also seen as an important industry, as it forms part of economic development programs (Dlodlo 2014:191) and aids in income generation for individuals, not only in major cities, but also in smaller towns and peri-urban areas. Thus, the statement can be made that the successful training of individuals through training programs (with regard to fashion-related skills) has a direct link to a thriving fashion industry and a direct impact on individuals, group and community income generation. Nonetheless, not all individuals within the fashion industry have acquired formal fashion training. Some may have obtained fashion-related skills (such as sewing, pattern making and fashion drawing) through family members, short courses, school or in-service work experience elsewhere. These skills, particularly fashion drawing and illustration (hereafter referred to as fashion drawing), are necessary visual communication tools with which the designer relays their ideas and designs to the client. Visual communication is a pictorial form of communication where visual symbols are incorporated in order to convey information (Liu 2015:41) and this process of visual communication enables both parties to be equally clear about the proposed design (Tatham & Seaman 2004:114; Calderin 2013:148). Thus, specifically in relation to the field of fashion, visual communication is used to communicate designs or ideas to individuals in a visual manner by making use of sketches, photographs, drawings, etc. However, in a previous study conducted in the Sedibeng District Municipality (SDM) (Van Wyk 2007:78), it was found that the most prominent skill that fashion entrepreneurs felt they needed, but lacked, is that of fashion drawing. Of the total sample population, 19% indicated that they do not possess fashion drawing skills. Although this is not a significantly high number, it is important to note that 66% of the mentioned study’s respondents had obtained qualifications from tertiary institutions (Van Wyk 2007:77), which would in all probability have included a fashion drawing curriculum. The lack of drawing skills could be problematic, as this lack relates to client satisfaction which, in turn, promotes the success of entrepreneurial endeavours (Burns & Bryant 2002:42). To address this, the current study was aimed at determining the level, nature and type of fashion drawing applied by fashion entrepreneurs with no formal fashion-related training (FEWNFFRT)1 within the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM). This ascertainment was completed in terms, specifically, of the following: the use of fashion sketches to visually communicate the design of the garment to the client; the challenges experienced by the fashion entrepreneurs when communicating an idea or design to a client; and the need for training in fashion drawing as a means of visual communication. A quantitative, non-experimental needs assessment was conducted among a group of FEWNFFRT within the ELM. It is important for the reader to note that this specific research study formed part of a larger study, in which the data was gathered in a joint manner with another researcher (whose study focussed on the business skills training needs for FEWNFFRT in the ELM). To clarify, data was collected and analysed together, but the interpretation and application of the data differed due to different research questions, focus and context. Therefore, while the same data was gathered and used in conjunction with another researcher, it should be noted that this study followed a unique angle. The reason for the joint data collection was dictated by the specific constraint of the study in terms of the specific inclusion criteria to which the sample population had to adhere. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were employed in order to gather data from respondents. This type of data collection tool was seen as the most appropriate for the collection of data for this study, as it was conducted in a verbal manner and allowed the interviewer to explain questions and instruction to the respondents in cases where questions were in any way unclear or the respondents were uncertain. This in turn ensured a higher response rate and enhanced the quality of the data gathered. Insight gained from this study aided in generating a new understanding of the fashion drawing skills training needs of fashion entrepreneurs in the ELM region, which may guide future research aimed at developing training programs, materials and interventions with regard to fashion drawing skills.

M. Tech. (Department of Visual Arts and Design: Fashion, Faculty of Human Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Customer satisfaction has proven to be a major determinant on the success or failure of a business. Regrettably, fashion entrepreneurs are not meeting customer expectations because they have problems that are affecting the quality of their work. In order to promote customer satisfaction, fashion entrepreneurs require a master plan that is customer-based. Thus, they could implement customisation of garments to address customers’ concerns. It is, therefore, crucial for home-based fashion entrepreneurs to be aware of their customers’ needs and the factors that affect their satisfaction to boost its levels. Based on this background, it was found necessary to conduct a research study with the aim to determine factors that affect customer satisfaction of custom-made garments produced by home-based fashion entrepreneurs in the Emfuleni Local Municipality. A qualitative study, applying purposive and snowball sampling techniques, was conducted by means of one-on-one interviews. Data saturation guided the study and was reached after nineteen women were interviewed and two more interviews were done to enhance credibility. Analysis of data was conducted applying the six stages of Creswell’s approach of data analysis. During this process four themes emerged and were presented in line with their categories. The study findings revealed that some of the factors that largely influenced customer satisfaction were service quality, product quality, price, value and location. Garment fit and uniqueness were also found to be reasons why participants opted for custom-made garments. However, some of the participating women did not get the satisfaction they were seeking. Their satisfaction was negatively affected by garment quality, lack of communication, missing delivery deadlines and inaccessibility of the entrepreneur. The research outcome provides home-based fashion entrepreneurs with useful information to improve the levels of customer satisfaction.