A BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY REPORT ON

Factors Affecting Consumers Decision Making while Purchasing a SHIRT

SUBMITTED BY:ROHIT AGARWAL SECTION O 12BSP2410

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Content Page Executive Summary 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Origin of the Report 1.2 Objectives of the Study 1.3 Methodology 1.4 Limitations of the Study 2.0 RELATIVE CONSTRUCTS OF THE STUDY 3.0 OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS 4.0 HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY 4.1 Influence of Quality 4.2 Influence of Brand Image 4.3 Influence of Fashion 4.4 Influence of Availability 4.5 Influence of Price 4.6 Influence of Durability 4.7 Influence of comfortablility 4.8 Influence of social status 4.9 Influence of Payment options (credit) 4.10 Influence of Discount 4.11 Influence of celebrity endorsement 4.12 Influence of variety 4.13 Influence of Exchange policy 4.14 Influence of Color

4.15 Influence of Design of shirt (checks/plain) 4.16 Influence of size of store 4.17 Influence of accessibility 5.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 5.1 Presets 5.2 Sample 5.3 Data Collection Method and Procedure 5.4 Measurement of the Variables 6.0 RESULTS 7.0 DISCUSSION 8.0 CONCLUSION 9.0 LIMITATION AND FUTURE RESEARCH APPENDIX A. Internal Consistency Test B. R2 values C. Regression Analysis D. References E. Sample Questionnaire

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The Business Research Methodology paper, Factors Affecting Consumers Decision Making while Purchasing a Shirt is the most important addition to the practical application of theoretical knowledge and experience on real research aspects. This is really a delightful experience. It is amazing and fascinating finding that so many dependable people around, who have given necessary guidelines and advices while formulating this paper. Learning what determines a good employer, I remain ever grateful to them, who all have helped to write this report. I also extend my acknowledgement to all those, who helped me by answering my queries pertinent to the data collection of my report. A special debt is due to my instructor Prof. Varsha Verde, our respected faculty for the valuable guidance in the preparation of this report. I have been immensely benefited from her valuable guidance in the process of understanding and preparing this report. Without her active support, continuous encouragement, and constructive criticism, probably it would not have been possible to write an informative and objective report. Her active assistance in working out a framework for the paper has helped to complete the assignment within given time. I also acknowledge the contributions of the librarian of IBS MUMBAI for allowing me to utilize the library facilities.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body. Although shirt was an item of men's underwear until the twentieth century, today it is one of most popular form of man's garment. Shirts can be of different kinds like camp shirt, formal shirt, sports shirt etc. Shirts are alm ost ubiquitous with their uncountable variations. However, among the myriad kinds of shirts, consumers often stick to some definite ones. This study focuses on analysis of the factors that affect a consumer while making purchase decision of a shirt. The seventeen factors I considered, here are: Quality, Brand Image, Fashion, Availability and Price of the shirt, Durability, comfortable, social status, Payment options (credit) ,Discount, celebrity endorsement, variety, Exchange policy, Color of shirt, Design of shirt (checks/plain), size of store, accessibility. Both primary and secondary data has been used. Primary data were collected from the direct responses from the sample size of 85 comprised of person of different demographics. Because of the conclusive nature of the research, primarily I used quantitative questioning (on 5 scale likert scale) in the surveys. For the secondary data, different established theories and articles was reviewed. An exploratory research with some respondents were also conducted to gain the practical insights of this research and to get the prime factors that affect consumers while purchasing a shirt. SPSS 21 was used for regression analysis and to measure the significance of independent variables on the dependent variable. After doing the required statistical operations, I got the finding. It was revealed that, only brand image and price of the shirt have significant effect on consumers decision making process. The other three variables: quality, fashion and availability are not significant and thus

rejected. So the result is, only brand image and price have a direct positive relationship with consumer decision making while purchasing a shirt.

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Shirts are bought for everyday or occasional use by people anywhere in the world. In our country, shirts are mainly used by men, not women. The issues regarding consumer preference in buying a shirt involves price of the product, quality of the shirt, brand image of the shirt, convenience of the store and fashion consciousness of the individual customer. Customer behavior study is based on consumer buying behavior, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Consumer behavior is influenced by: demographics, psychographics (lifestyle), personality, motivation, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and feelings. Consumer behavior is concerned with consumer need. A consumer action in the direction of satisfying his/her needs leads to his behavior. Consumer decision making is a process that intertwines various stimuli towards the purchase decision. Marketers all over the world are trying to find out what factors are responsible for the final decision taken by an individual. This study will find the significance of factors that affect consumers to purchase a shirt.

1.1 Origin of the Report

The main purpose of the study is to fulfill the requirements of Business Research Methodology (BRM) as the part of our PGPM program. As a student of Business Research Methodology, I was assigned by my course instructor Prof. Varsha Verde to involve in this study. The course BRM as well as this report helps a student to get necessary knowledge which is very useful for the students in building their future career.

1.2 Objectives of the Study

Broad Objective
The main objective of this report is to get the practical insight of the techniques and strategies of conducting a research project.

Specific Objectives
To identify the underlying factors that affect consumers to choose a shirt.

1.3 Methodology
The research is basically both exploratory and conclusive in nature. In the first place, an interview with one of the top managers of SHOPPER STOP was held. Secondly, a set of questionnaire were prepared and distributed among the people from all segments. Based on the data given by them, analysis was done. Finally with the help of secondary data, the report is completed.

Primary data
1. Questionnaire Survey

Secondary Data
1. Previous research of the same nature.

1.4 Limitations of the Study

Time constraints were one of the most important factors that imposed restrictions on conducting the study extensively. Scarcity of Secondary Data Our sample size was small Cost constraints. Lack of experience

2.0 RELATIVE CONSTRUCTS OF THE STUDY

The relative constructs of the study are: Quality, Brand Image, Fashion, Availability and Price, Durability, comfortable, social status, Payment options (credit) ,Discount, celebrity endorsement, variety, Exchange policy, Color of shirt, Design of shirt (checks/plain), size of store, accessibility.

Quality
Perceived product quality is perhaps one of the most important constructs while purchasing any product. In recent years, perceived quality has been the subject of considerable interest by both practitioners and researchers, mainly in services marketing. Moreover, the relationships between these constructs for goods rather than services have not been studied extensively in marketing. Perceived quality has attracted the interest of practitioners and researchers because of a belief in its beneficial effects on performance. Indeed, the belief that high perceived quality leads to repeated purchases is the bedrock of any business. Thus a better understanding of the relationship between perceived product quality and product involvement, consumer satisfaction and purchase intentions may help academics develop a model of consumer decision making for goods. It may also provide practitioners with indications as to where best to devote attention and scarce corporate resources.

Brand Image
Brand is a name in every consumers mind and it is characterized by a noticeable name or symbol which can differentiate the goods and services from the rivals. In addition to a specific brand name, a brand is also composed of products, packaging, promotion, advertising, as well as its overall presentation .From the consumers perspective, brand is a guarantor of reliability and quality in consumer products. Added to this, consumers would like to buy and use brandname

products with a view to highlight their personality in different situational contexts. Nowadays, consumers have a wide range of choice to choose from when they enter a shopping mall. It is found that consumers emotions are one of the major determinants which affect their buying behavior. According to some research on shopping habits, nearly onefourth of the respondents are likely to impulsebuy clothes and accessories. When deciding which products to purchase, consumers would have their preferences, which are developed in accordance with their perceptions towards the brand. Successful branding could make consumers aware of the presence of the brand and hence could increase the chance of buying the companys products and services.

Fashion
Fashion system combines quick response production capabilities with enhanced product design capabilities to both design hot products that capture the latest consumer trends and exploit minimal production lead times to match supply with uncertain demand. The purchase intention for fashion and designer apparel is stimulated among consumers in the social contexts. The distinctiveness of fashion features (e.g., designer brand, celebrity endorsement, media reviews) that are consistently associated with emotional expressions plays the strongest role in the buying behavior among consumers. Some studies suggest that the perception of a person on his personality is a distinctive and salient trait that differentiates behavior. An individual who have high social standing and are one of the principal drivers of consumer behavior towards fashion apparel is the dominance of social interactions. The involvement of consumers in fashion products depends not only on their own perceptions but also on peers response to their personality and change proneness .The relation between clothes and identity is perceived by the consumers from the perspective of their values generated in various social interactions. Consumers get involved in exhibiting fashion and lifestyle as an aesthetic way of presenting their personality. Hence, clothing is often considered as an opportunity for communicating a new order of identity of a person.

Availability
Availability is becoming an increasingly important issue for consumers seeking out convenient product solutions, and some research claims store loyalty is fading as the customer "propensity for promiscuity" grows. The research found German shoppers are the most likely to substitute stores if a product is outofstock, with over one in two claiming this is a response to availability issues. The majority of shoppers across the EU also admit to switching shop if they cannot find key products they need. A large proportion of items the consumer believes to be "soldout" are actually instore but in a new location, while many missing products were never on the store inventory in the first place. While it is important to go back to basics and ensure the retail team works to iron out these instore problems. Staff motivation, collaborative retail and supply partnerships, inventory accuracy, retailready packaging (RRP), reducing product ranges and increasing the use of RFID (radio frequency identification) technology are all vital for perfecting the art of supply. Retail and shelf ready packaging has been one of the latest developments to assist the availability issue, speeding up the delivery of goods from factory to shelf.

Price
Price for a product or service has a very significant effect on how the consumer behaves. If consumers believe that the charged price is lower than competitors it could cause a major spike in sales. But if the price is significantly higher than expected, the response can be disappointing. In either case a change in price could produce unexpected results when it comes to consumer buying behavior. Often price could affect consumer behavior. Lowering or initially setting a lower price than expected can have a different set of effects on a consumer. In one case, a priceconscious consumer is grateful for a price break and will possibly stock up on the item at the low price. In other cases, the consumer could become suspicious of the low price and assume it means the product is of a lower quality.

Due to the potentially unexpected effects of price on consumers, price often affects significantly on consumers decision making process. Making a change to the price of a product or service is very risky, so do so with caution and after much consideration. Customers exhibit a complex kind of behavior with the effect of price. Setting high price sometimes signal good quality and lower price means low quality. However, consumers purchase ability increases as the price decreases.

Color
Color has a huge impact on how customers react to a product. Understanding how colors affect consumer purchasing behavior is highly important for marketers. 93% of customers place visual appearance and color above other factors when shopping. Customers are persuaded by visual cues, the strongest of which is color. Different colors are associated with different types of products and shoppers. Color is believed to be one of the most powerful elements of design for web sites, direct mail, ads, and other marketing materials. It carries meaning through associations and/or your body physical response. Color associates can vary from country to country but in Western culture they are basically the same.

3.0 OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This research gave the opportunity to dig into the specific issues that a consumer assesses while purchasing a shirt. This topic will provide the insight to learn the influences of behavioral variables of the consumers which in turn lead to the purchasing decision. Perspective like the effect of brand image, fashion and style will be brought into the topic. Finally, the findings of the result will be used to make theories and shared to the different retailers and wholesalers of shirts. The principle objective of this report was to identify when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy a shirt. This study also dealt with the variables that affect the consumer purchasing decision. The weight and significance of the variables were measured as well. The broad research question is: What are the factors that affect a consumer while purchasing a shirt? This broad question will be narrowed down into seventeen specific questions. And they are: 1. Does quality have an influence on consumer while purchasing a shirt? 2. Does brand image have an influence on consumer while purchasing a shirt? 3. Does fashion has an influence on consumer while purchasing a shirt? 4. Does availability have an influence on consumer while purchasing a shirt? 5. Does price have an influence on consumer while purchasing a shirt? 6. Does durability have an influence on consumer while purchasing a shirt? 7. Does comfortability have an influence on consumer while purchasing a shirt? 8. Does social status influence consumer while purchasing a shirt? 9. Does discount influence consumer while purchasing a shirt? 10. Does celebrity endorsement induces consumer while purchasing a shirt? 11. Does Accessibility influence consumer while purchasing a shirt? 12. Does variety influences consumer while purchasing a shirt? 13. Does size of store have an influence on consumer while purchasing a shirt?

14. Does durability have an influence on consumer while purchasing a shirt? 15. Does exchange policy influences consumer while purchasing a shirt? 16. Does design influence consumer while purchasing a shirt? 17. Does color influence consumer while purchasing a shirt?

4.0 HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY

The hypothesis used to test the positive or negative effect of the independent variables on Consumers purchase decision is:

4.1 Influence of Quality

Quality is one of the prime factors that affect consumers in a purchase decision. Consumers today dont generally buy just a brand or product rather, he/she purchase all the benefit associated with it. And quality is the totality of the features that the product offers. If the product is associated with highperceived quality, consumers trust a brand and the brands preference is also get augmented. We tried to measure whether quality of shirts are significant to the consumers or not. In our study, our first hypothesis is about the influence of quality. And the hypothesis is: H1: Quality of the shirt has a direct positive influence on consumers purchase decision.

4.2 Influence of Brand Image

Often brand images reinforce the consumers to make a purchase decision. Brand value is one of the important factors today. Top brand names have a dominating and significant influence in evaluating a brand. In case of purchasing shirt, I tried to appraise the effect of brand image. In my study, the second hypothesis is about the influence of brand image and the hypothesis is: H2: If consumers perception of brand image of the shirt is more favorable, their evaluation of a shirt is positive.

4.3 Influence of Fashion

Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person. The pace of change accelerated considerably in the following century, and women and men's fashion, especially in the dressing and adorning of the hair, became equally complex and changing. The current fashion, celebrity influences lure the consumers to purchase fashionable shirts. I tried to identify the relative importance of fashion for consumers in purchasing a shirt. So, the third hypothesis is about the influence of fashion. And the hypothesis is: H3: Consumers are influenced by current fashion while purchasing a shirt.

4.4 Influence of Availability

For the products that are not that much significant and require less consumer involvement, consumers usually purchase those from the available sources. Instead of going to a distant shop, they purchase from the nearest outlets. In our study, we tried to measure whether consumers purchase shirts that are nearly available to them or not. So, the fourth hypothesis is about the influence of availability. And the hypothesis is: H4: Consumers purchase a shirt that is widely and conveniently available to them.

4.5 Influence of Price

A growing body of literature indicates that consumers do not always attend to, know, and remember actual prices of products; instead, they encode prices in ways that are meaningful to them (e.g., cheap versus expensive). Therefore, perceived price is not equivalent to objective price. However, I included price in my study to get insight about their impact on consumers decision making. So the fifth hypothesis is:

H5: Price (higher vs. lower) has a direct positive effect on consumers evaluation of a shirt.

4.6 Influence of comfortability

H6: consumer purchase those shirts which are comfortable in wearing

4.7 Influence of social status

H7: Consumer wear branded shirt as a social status

4.8 Influence of Payment options(credit)

H8: Consumer look for credit payment option while buying a shirt.

4.9 Influence of Discount

H9: consumer is influenced by discounts available on shirts.

4.10 Influence of celebrity endorsement

H10: Consumer is attracted towards those brands which are endorsed by celebrity.

4.11 Influence of variety

H11: Consumer look for different varieties of shirts available in store.

4.12 Influence of Exchange policy

H12: Consumer is highly influenced by the exchange policy.

4.13 Influence of Color of shirt

H13: Consumer look for color of shirts while purchasing

4.14 Influence of Design of shirt (checks/plain)

H14: Consumer is influenced by design of shirts

4.15 Influence of size of store

H15: Consumer are fascinated by size of store

4.16 Influence of accessibility

H16: Consumer chose those brands of shirt which is accessible

4.17 Influence of Durability

H17: Consumer is influenced by durability of shirt

5.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This is a cause and effect survey aimed at measuring the factors that affects one consumer while purchasing a shirt. The study also determines the significance of each factor. Survey method has been used for this study. The presets, the sampling method, data collection method and procedure and all the dependent measures used in this study are discussed below.

5.1 Presets
To determine the factors that have influence on a consumers purchase decision, an exploratory research had been conducted. On the research, the respondents were asked to write down the important factors they consider in choosing a shirt. A convenient sample of 15 students had been used. From the survey, I got the independent variables (Price, Quality, Brand Image, Availability, Fashion, Durability, comfortable, social status, Payment options (credit) ,Discount, celebrity endorsement, variety, Exchange policy, Color of shirt, Design of shirt (checks/plain), size of store, accessibility. ) for my research. Again, another sample of 15 students was asked to write down the important factor they considered in the last shirt they purchased. This helped to get insight in the significance of the affecting factors.

5.2 Sample
The sample was heterogeneous. I had seventeen independent variables in my study. Hence, a total of 85 responses were collected from students, businessmen and service holders having different income level and from different age group. Most of the responses were collected from students as it was convenient to me and also because I did not assume that it will have an adverse affect on data collected. Moreover, most of the respondents were male (e.g. there are 17% female respondents) because I thought that as majority of the buyers of shirts in our

country are males; it will help me identify the answers in an efficient manner. Although there is an increasing trend among women to wear shirts and they can always buy shirts for their male relatives or acquaintances, and I assumed they have sufficient knowledge on the matter. In my survey, I found that majority of the respondents lie within a certain age range and most of them have a certain income range because the survey was heavily dominated by people doing their Postgraduates program. Since, majority of the respondents were students, 51% of them had income below 5000. 29% had income level of 500015000, 10% had 1500030000, 9% had income level of 3000045000 and only 1% had income above 45000. 83% of the respondents were students, 4% were businessman, 6% were govt. job holder, 7% were private job holder. All the respondents fell under these 4 professional dimensions.

5.3 Data Collection Method and Procedure

In this study, a questionnaire served as a data gathering instrument. The surface page of the questionnaire told the respondents about the purposes of the study. The subsequent two pages contained one filter questions, seventeen Likert chart questions and four demographic questions. A five point Likert scale had been used. There were five questions about the dependent variable and seventeen questions were asked to measure the seventeen independent variables: Price, Quality, Brand Image, Availability, Fashion, Durability, comfortable, social status, Payment options (credit) ,Discount, celebrity endorsement, variety, Exchange policy, Color of shirt, Design of shirt (checks/plain), size of store, accessibility. Questions used to check the subjects demographics like age, gender, income level and profession presented in the last page of the questionnaire. Most respondents spent less than 10 minutes to complete the questionnaire.

5.4 Measurement of the Variables

The Likert scale that had been used here had total 22 questions, 5 for the dependent variables, and the rest 17 for seventeen independent variables. The

reliability or the internal consistency of the questions had been measured Cronbach coefficient alpha using the statistical software SPSS. The minimum acceptable range for primary research has to be more than 0.5. Cronbach alpha of the seventeen dependent variable was .396, however, after deducting the fourth dependent variable scale the alpha value turned .5 which was acceptable (See the Apendix A). In the case of quality, the alpha value was .38 , however, after deducting 3rd quality scale, the alpha value turned into .54 (See the Apendix A). The questions regarding brand image had alpha value of .12. After deducting the second question of the brand image, the alpha value turned into .624 (See the Apendix A). The Cronbach alpha value for the variable Fashion was .5 which was acceptable and all the questions related to fashion were taken into consideration (See the Apendix A). Availability had alpha value of .443 and after deducting the 1st question related to availability, the Cronbach alpha value turned into .552 (See the Apendix A). However, a puzzling result was found in the case of price. Here the initial alpha value was .14 and it couldnt be more than .275 by deducting any scales of price. So, the regression model had been run taking each of the scales (R1, R2,R3). The R2 value for the regression model were, .156, .17 and .219 respectively. Since using P3, the regression model was most strong, P3 was used in regression. (See the Appendix B) Summary of the Reliability Measurement

Dimensions Number of Items Alpha Value

Dependent Variable 4 .5 Quality 2 .54 Brand Image 2 624 Fashion 3 .5 Availability 2 .552 Price 1 Table:1 Here, all the alpha values were between .5 to .624. The qualitative analysis support for the importance of the variables thought to affect consumers purchase decision. Hence, to deal with these variables more deeply, we estimated a regression model motivated by the hypothesis.

6.0 RESULTS
The independent variables which were hypothesized are listed on table 2. The first variable is the quality of the shirt (H1), the following variables are brand image of the shirt (H2), current fashion (H3), Availability of the shirt (H4) and the Price of the shirt (H5). The regression analysis of the 70 subjects and the five independent variables are reported in table 2. (See Apendix C) Independent Variables Standardized Regression Coefficients Regression Coefficients tvalue pvalue Quality .054 .112 .481 .632 Brand Image .360 .311 2.99 .004 Fashion .111 .119 0.9 .372 Availability .167 .115 1.486 .142 Price .259 .175 2.268 .027 Table: 2 (A Regression Model of the Factors Affecting Consumers Decision Making while Purchasing a Shirt)
18

Sample size = 70 Adjusted R2 = 0.219 H1 predicts that the quality of the shirt has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. Table 2 shows that quality influences consumers to purchase shirts positively. However, this is not significant. (Here, value = .054, P=.632). So, this hypothesis is not accepted. H2 predicts that the brand image of the shirt has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. Table 2 shows that brand image influences consumers to purchase shirts positively. And this is also significant. (Here, value = .360, P=.004). So, this hypothesis is accepted. H3 predicts that the current fashion has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. Table 2 shows that fashion negatively influences consumers to purchase shirts. Moreover, this is not significant. (Here, value = .111, P=.142). So, this hypothesis is not accepted. H4 predicts that the availability of the shirt has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. Table 2 shows that availability has a negative impact on influencing consumers to purchase shirts. However, this is not significant. (Here, value = .167, P=.142). So, this hypothesis is not accepted.

H5 predicts that the price of the shirt has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. Table 2 shows that price influences consumers to purchase shirts positively. And this is also significant. (Here, value = .259, P=.027). So, this hypothesis is accepted. However, it is to be noted that, this variable was not reliable, so we took only one scale instead of averaging. Hence, although this variable was accepted, it has not reliability.

7.0 DISCUSSION
Effect of Quality H1 predicts that the quality of the shirt has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. The result shows, value = .054, P=.632. This variable does not have significant influence on the consumers purchase decision. Sometimes, the definition of quality gets distorted and offset by some other extraneous variables like, celebrity influence, words of mouth and price. The sample we chose didnt put much weight on quality as a determinant of purchase. Effect of Brand Image H2 predicts that the brand image of the shirt has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. The result shows that brand image influences consumers to purchase shirts positively. And this is also significant. (Here, value = .360, P=.004). Today marketer heavily depends on creating brand value. Consumers today often go after established brand images regardless of the quality and price. Our sample voted brand image significantly. Effect of Fashion H3 predicts that the current fashion has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. The result shows, value = .111, P=.142. This variable does not have significant influence on the consumers purchase decision. The result we got was negative. Since our sample was heterogeneous, respondents exhibited a diversified view and opinion regarding fashion. Our sample was reluctant to accept fashion as a prime factor. Rather they focused more on brand image and price of the shirt. Effect of Availability H4 predicts that the availability of the shirt has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. The result shows, value = .167, P=.142. The findings prove that, people today are reluctant to purchase shirts that are available to them. They are willing to travel a long distance to purchase their desired shirt. Thanks to the means of easy communication, today people are getting the chance to buy their shirts from distant places even from abroad. So, it clearly prove that, availability does not have an effect on consumers decision making process. Effect of Price H5 predicts that the price of the shirt has a positive influence on the consumers purchasing decision. The result shows, value = .259, P=.027. Price has significant and positive relation with consumers decision making process. Today, in the 21st century, the definition of price became distorted. Gone are those days, when consumers bought the products having the least value. Today, as we got from our sample, they would to pay premium price for their desired shirt.

8.0 CONCLUSION
In this study, consumer decision making process for purchasing a shirt was tested by using seventeen independent variables. The research was done to identify which factors have significant influence on the matter. The seventeen independent variables are Brand Image, Quality, Availability, Fashion and Price. Durability, comfortable, social status, Payment options (credit) ,Discount, celebrity endorsement, variety, Exchange policy, Color of shirt, Design of shirt (checks/plain), size of store, accessibility.
The results of the study show that Brand Image and Price have a positive and significant influence on consumer decision making. Perhaps, consumers prefer a better branded shirt than a non branded shirt. They dont mind paying more money for a shirt that has a good brand name. However, contradictory results occurred when we found out that Fashion has negative influence on purchase though it was not significant. The reason might be that most people are resistant for a change in their dress up; they want majority of population to adopt the change before trying it on themselves. Moreover, we found that Quality of a shirt has positive influence but it was insignificant. The reason might be that most of our respondents were students and they are happy as long as they have purchased a shirt that has a good brand name. They dont mind the quality of the shirt as a good brand does not always mean excellent quality. In addition, we found that availability has a negative influence on people but it is insignificant. The reason might be that, people go to their desired shop to purchase a shirt no matter how far it is as it has an effect on their life style.

9.0 LIMITATION AND FUTURE RESEARCH

Although I have conducted my survey on people with various professions, it was heavily dominated by students. As a result I did not get a clear idea of the overall market. Had I not conducted most of our surveys on students, the results might have differed. The regression model showed a comparatively low which means effect of other variables (Extraneous Variables) are important for the decision making process of consumers. So, I strongly suggest that future research should be done on more samples other than students. I have failed to include more independent variables such as lighting effects of the shop, Music playing on the background, Crowd, Behavior of sales personnel, Viral marketing, word of influence etc. I could not include these hypothesizes because of lack of time and as this is my first research I thought it would be wise to stick with as less variables as possible. Future research should include all the possible variables for a better answer to the phenomenon. Future research should find appropriate reasons to back our findings. I think that it would be vital to the managers of the shops which sell shirts. Another vital limitation of this study is the overall reliability of the scales. Our Chronbach alpha ranges from .5 to .624, which is not that much reliable. It means that, either our questionnaire was not that much reliable or the respondents lacked consistency or adequate knowledge.

Appendix
A. Internal Consistency Test 1. Dependent Variable Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items .396 5 ItemTotal Statistics Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Corrected ItemTotal Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted Dep1 13.4857 5.094 .294 .274 Dep2 13.9571 5.056 .223 .325 Dep3 13.7714 4.063 .492 .074 Dep4 13.4571 6.687 .054 .500 Dep5 14.3000 5.517 .092 .435 After deducting dependent variable 4 , we got Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items .500 4 ItemTotal Statistics Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Corrected ItemTotal

Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted Dep1 9.7000 4.561 .323 .406 Dep2 10.1714 4.550 .239 .477 Dep3 9.9857 3.753 .467 .255 Dep5 10.5143 4.688 .173 .542
24

2. Independent variable 2.1 Quality Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items .380 3 ItemTotal Statistics Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Corrected ItemTotal Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted Q1 7.7429 1.904 .218 .300 Q2 7.7000 1.459 .384 .061a Q3 7.7000 1.981 .093 .540 After deducting Q3, Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items .540 2 2.2 Brand Image
Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items .120 3

25
Item-Total Statistics

Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Corrected ItemTotal Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted B1 6.4429 2.337 .138 -.106a B2 6.8286 2.521 -.116 .624 B3 6.9286 2.386 .252 -.303a

After deducting B2
Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items .624 2

26

2.3 Fashion Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items .500 3 ItemTotal Statistics Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Corrected ItemTotal Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted F1 7.3714 1.802 .363 .315 F2 6.5429 2.455 .241 .514 F3 6.7429 2.107 .353 .340 2.4 Availability Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items .433 3 ItemTotal Statistics

Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Corrected ItemTotal Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted A1 6.8143 2.675 .137 .552 A2 6.9286 2.357 .272 .318 A3 6.8571 1.979 .395 .069 After deducting A1, Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items .552 2 2.5 Price Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items .140 3 ItemTotal Statistics Scale Mean if Item Deleted Scale Variance if Item Deleted Corrected ItemTotal Correlation Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted P1 7.0571 1.823 .097 .034 P2 5.9714 1.883 .119 .009a P3 6.4857 1.790 .008 .275

B. R2 values using P1,P2,P3 respectively Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .395a .156 .090 .66543 a. Predictors: (Constant), P1, Availability, Quality, BrandImage, Fashion Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .412a .170 .105 .65991 a. Predictors: (Constant), Quality, BrandImage, P2, Availability, Fashion Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .468a .219 .158 .64021 a. Predictors: (Constant), P3, Availability, Quality, BrandImage, Fashion C. Regression Analysis Variables Entered/Removedb Model Variables Entered Variables Removed Method 1 P3, Availability, Quality, BrandImage, Fashion . Enter a. All requested variables entered.

b. Dependent Variable: DVariable Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .468a .219 .158 .64021 a. Predictors: (Constant), P3, Availability, Quality, BrandImage, Fashion Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients B Std. Error Beta t Sig. 1 (Constant) 2.315 .675 3.432 .001 BrandImage .311 .104 .360 2.990 .004 Fashion .119 .132 .111 .900 .372 Availability .115 .077 .167 1.486 .142 Quality .054 .112 .054 .481 .632 P3 .175 .077 .259 2.268 .027 a. Dependent Variable: DVariable

D. References
1. D. Chawla & N. Sondhia, Research Methodology. 2. N.K Malhotra , S. Dash , Marketing Research, 6th edition. 3. P. Kotler , Marketing Management, 12th edition. 4. Consumer Reports Online Clothing Shopping Survey (http://pressroom.consumerreports.org/pressroom/2008/10/llbeanzapposand landsendstandout inconsumerreportsonlineclothingshoppingsurvey.html) 5. A Case Study of Clothing (http://www.khea.or.kr/InternationalJournal/2003/4 1/5.PDF) Market

6. Price:http://www.warc.com/Pages/Taxonomy/Results.aspx?SubjectRef=17 2&Filter=All 7. Importance of Brand Names to Customers: http://www.itchybrainscentral.com/brandnamesimportancecustomersre search.html 8. Availability Heuristic: http://heuristics.behaviouralfinance.net/availability/ 9. Quality: Quality and Consumer Decision Making in the Market for Health Insurance and Health Care Services: http://mcr.sagepub.com/content/66/1_suppl/28S.short 10.Consumer behavior: http://wwwrohan.sdsu.edu/~renglish/370/notes/chapt05/ 11. Brand Awareness Effects on Consumer Decision Making for a Common, Repeat Purchase Product:: A Replication: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296398000708

E. Sample Questionnaire
Dear respondents, I, student of IBS MUMBAI, is conducting a research on Factors Affecting Consumers Decision Making while Purchasing a Shirt for partial requirement of the course Business Research Methodology (BRM). I assure you that all the data provided in the questionnaire will be kept confidential and used for academic purpose only. Your co-operation is highly appreciated.
1. Have you ever bought a shirt? (If your answer is no, dont proceed, please return the questionnaire) a) Yes b) No Please answer the following questions by putting tick () mark on your agreement level.
Strongly Agree (1) 2) Last time I bought a shirt, I only considered the Quality of the shirt 3) Last time I bought a shirt, I only considered the Brand Image of the shirt 4) Last time I bought a shirt, I only considered the Price of the shirt 5) Last time I bought a shirt, I only considered the current Fashion 6) Last time I bought a shirt, I only considered the Availability of the shirt 7) Durability of shirts are my primary concern 8) I love a shirt that is Comfortable 9) My social status is increased when I wear branded shirts Agree (2) Neutral (3) Disagree (4) Strongly Disagree (5)

10) I buy more shirts if there is Discount 11) I am influenced by the clothing of my favorite celebrity 12) I always go to the nearest shop to buy shirts (Accessibility) 13) I prefer purchasing shirts, if there is wide Variety in the stores 14) The bigger the store is, the easier it is for me to purchase shirts (size of store) 15) I buy shirts, only if there is any exchange policy. 16) I consider Design(plain/checks) While purchasing shirts 17) I buy shirts, if there is credit payment option. 18) I consider Color of shirt while purchasing. 19. Gender? a) Male 20. Age? a) Below 18 b) 18-23 c) 24-28 d) 29-35 e) Above 35 21. Monthly Income? a) Below 5000 Rs b) 5000 Rs 15000 Rs c) 15000 Rs 30000 Rs d) 30000 Rs 45000 Rs e) 45000 Rs above 22. Profession? a) Student b) Businessman c) Government job holder d) Private job holder e) Other.. b) Female

Thank you for your participation.