Thematic analysis of Indian consumers' purchase intentions for organic apparel

This article evaluates the literature review, characteristics of a focus group discussion design, and the sampling strategy and respondent selection used in the study of Indian consumers' purchase intentions for organic apparel.

Thematic analysis to assess Indian consumers purchase intentions for organic apparel.
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Literature review evaluation.

A literature review has various purposes one of which is to help the researcher in developing a clear
understanding and knowledge of the previous works and trends that are similar to the research problem.
This implies that several theories regarding the topic should be reviewed for a deeper understanding of
the subject under consideration.
The literature review on the theory of planned behavior model has to some extent brought into light
some of the factors influencing the consumption of non-synthetic garments. From the review, subjective
norms, perceived behavior control, attitude and purchase intention clearly come out as factors
influencing consumer purchase of non-synthetic clothes.
However, a good literature review should contain other components for a deep insight into the topic.
These include a clear investigation of the dependent variable of the topic of which the article has a
narrow explanation on. Besides, the literature review on the independent variable does not come out
clearly, for example, when the researcher states that subjective norms affect those consumers who
succumb to the pressure of the society but the research does not point out the effects of individual
norms on consumption of organic apparel.
Secondly, the literature review only focuses on the theory of planned behavior model. In the real sense,
there are other theories relevant in explaining factors that influence consumer purchase of a particular
commodity. Among these theories is the theory of consumer utility. This theory postulates that a
consumer aims at maximizing his/her utility subject to the budget constraint.
Moreover, the summary on literature review does not come out clearly since the researcher simply
concludes the review. A good literature review should contain a clearly thought out conclusion which
should give a good picture to the potential users of the research including the manufactures of the
organic clothing.
A literature review also serves to identify a knowledge gap or a research gap. However, from this
literature review, the research gap does not come out clearly since the available review happens to be

closely related to the researcher's research gap. This should not be the case because one is only
interested in the added value that a researcher has to offer besides the available literature.
A conclusion of a literature review often should indicate more references on available theories regarding
the topic under study, however, this review only concludes without giving such references and thus limits
the usefulness of the research only to this particular literature review.
Characteristics of a focus group discussion design.
A focused group discussion should have a small number of people. This ensures that everyone fits well
around the table and that every participant is fully participating in the discussion. In contrast, when
there are a large number of people, some may end up not contributing to the subject under study. The
research on organic apparel consumption used at most six members in each focus group during the
discussion. This is a good number. Majority of the members contributed during the discussion except
those who were not previously informed about the topic of discussion. A well-focused discussion group
should, therefore, have a maximum of around ten members.
Another characteristic of a focused group discussion is the use of open-ended questions. This implies
that a researcher should not ask questions that require either a yes or no answer. This helps to ensure
that the information obtained is not subjective as the participant is given freedom to say what he or she
feels about the topic under discussion. This is clearly indicated in the research questions that were asked
during the research period. For example, the question on the occasion of purchase and the of type attire.
Asking of non-brand questions also forms part of the focused group discussion characteristics. This
means that the questions asked should be general which ensures that the researcher not only gets
information on his or her topic but also information on other competing products.
Recording of audio or taking notes should be another essential characteristic of a good focused group
discussion. This makes it easy for one to refer to the original responses from the participants and thus
maintaining the original information. Audio recording not only provides first-hand data but also

maintains the originality of the information. From the research methodology used, that is the focused
group discussion, the audio recordings were facilitated using a smartphone thus it satisfied this
particular characteristic.
The use of a moderator with relevant knowledge on the topic of discussion is another characteristic. This
ensures a discussion within the limits of the subject under discussion. The moderator sees to it that the
participants restrain themselves within the topic of their discussion. From the research paper provided,
the discussions were moderated by an expert who is a researcher in the qualitative domain with a post-
doctoral knowledge on the qualitative research techniques.
Critique of the sampling strategy and respondent selection used in the study.
The main sampling method used in this study is purposive sampling. In this technique, the researcher is
dependent on his or her own knowledge when choosing members of the population to participate in the
study. In conducting the research, the researcher grouped the participants into four focused group
discussions. All the participants came from the same city. Furthermore, the selected participants were
the individual who was acquainted with the researcher. In addition to this, the selected participants
constituted of two groups who were students and the other two groups comprised of the university
colleagues. The total number of participants was twenty-six, the first three groups comprised of six
members each and the last group consisted of the remaining. The researcher exempted the study from
the institutional review board for the protection of human subjects.
One of the major demerits of the sampling method used here is that the researcher prone to bias in his
or her selection. This implies that the research can to a great extent influence the information provided
and thus leading to false or inaccurate results. From the above, the researcher selected participants who
were acquainted with him which creates a high chance that the researcher might have influenced the
information given by the respondents.

Proportionality is also another problem associated with the use of this sampling method (Palys, 2008
p.67). Purposive sampling does no account for proportionality of participants among its focus group
discussions thus the outcome from each focus group may differ significantly based on the number of
members in each group. From this research article, the researcher uses four focused discussion groups
with the first three groups having six members and the last group having eight. This proportionality
ultimately brings about differences in the outcomes or the results of the study.
The research selected all of its participants from the same city to represent the whole population of the
country. This implies that there is no equal chance offered to the other cities to also take part in the
study. Therefore, this means that the results of the study would definitely not be a representative of the
whole population.
Other demerits of the purposive sampling method include no possibility of any clue about how accurate
the investigation carried out by this method is and furthermore, the method is unsuitable for very large
samples (Tongco, 2001 p.150).
Critique of the research article outcome.
The research article presents the following outcomes;
1. Intention to purchase organic apparel.
According to the research article, the participants based their decision to buy organic apparel on the
fabric used in making the apparel, the store selling the given apparel, the type of the attire and the time
of purchase. In this regard, the participants indicated that the material that is comfortable to the body is
a superior feature. This is indicated by the participants' choice of cotton and linen over other materials.
From the above, the research does not factor out the tests and preferences for the mixed materials.
2.Attitude.

With regard to the attitude of the respondents, price did not feature out as a major determinant
influencing the purchase of the organic apparel rather the consciousness about the environmental
effects to happen to have a great influence on the type of the attire one chooses to purchase. This
indicates that the participants wish to see natural things exist for a long time for the good of the future
generations. Besides, the other participants claim that a lower price would be necessary to suit a
common man's wallet. From the above outcome, it is evident the research does not clear on which basis,
between the price of the commodity. or the concern over the environment, the consumers make their
buying decisions.
3. Product knowledge and involvement.
Based on this outcome participants within the age group of twenty to twenty-nine years have shown
their interest in being included in the production process of organic apparels, certification, price setting
and quality determination. Involvement in the production process is important, however, the production
process may not always offer such opportunities due to limited chances offered to the qualified
personnel within the above age group. Besides, the participants who were for this opinion were only of
the age brackets, twenty to twenty-nine years, which implies that the other participants may not be of
this opinion.
4. Skepticism.
With this outcome, the participants are uncertain about the complexities associated with working with
the organic apparel. For example, some participants argue that handwashing would create discomfort
for working women if machine wash was not available. Besides, they are concerned that the material will
look inept if not starched during every wash. With skepticism, the user of this research will not be in a
good position to figure out the consumers stand on the organic apparel that is whether to produce it or
not.

The different kinds of responses from the participants make the objective of this research not to be fully
realized.
References.
Palys, T., 2008. Purposive sampling. The Sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods, 2(1),
pp.697-8.
Tongco, M.D.C., 2007. Purposive sampling as a tool for informant selection. Ethnobotany Research and
Applications, 5, pp.147-158.