Fashion Preferences Among Kent Institute Students

This assignment analyzes fashion preferences amongst students attending Kent Institute. It investigates the relationship between gender and spending habits on fashion wear. The research also looks at whether there's a correlation between being an online shopper and the frequency of online purchases. The findings will provide insights into student preferences and inform purchasing decisions for the institution's fashion department.

MARKET RESEARCH ABOUT FASHION PREFERENCE AMONG KENT INSTITUTE
STUDENTS.
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Executive summary
This report had the aim of determining the correlation between expenses of an individual per
month with their gender and to determine if there exist relationship between online shoppers and
the frequency at which they shop online as the two key objective to be met. A total of 20
participants were surveyed. The methods that were used to collect data were through the
structured questions in the questionnaires and the respondents were selected randomly through
simple random sampling method. This ensured for uniform picking of the participants and
reduced biasness. The collected data were entered in excel then transferred to the SPSS version
20 for data analysis. In meeting the objectives of the research, two hypotheses were tested where
the results from the tested hypotheses were that there was correlation between expenses of an
individual per month with their gender and the second hypothesis tested there was no
relationship that existed between online shoppers and the frequency at which they shopped
online. The market research report therefore recommended that the fashion wear to consider all
the results as obtained when making important business decisions and orders.
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Table of contents
Executive summary…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..ii
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………..1
Methods of data collection…………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………2
Summary of the dataset………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………..3
Data analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………..9
Hypothesis testing………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………..10
Conclusion and recommendation……………………………………………………………………………….…………………….12
Reference………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13
Appendix: Questionnaire……………………………………………………………………………..……………………………….....15
List of tables
Table 1: Gender of the participants………………………………………………………………………………………………..……..…………………………….3
Table 2: Frequency of buying fashion wear per month………………………………………………………..……………………………………………….4
Table 3: Preferred Colors by the respondents………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………….……5
Table 4: Students’ Expense per Month..........................................................................................................................5
Table 5: Do you Shop online?…………….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…….6
Table 6: Frequency of Shopping online.........................................................................................................................6
Table 7: Descriptive Statistics for Quantitative Variables……………………………………………………………………………………………………..9
Table 8: Correlations between Gender and Expense per Month………………………………………………………………………..…………….…10
Table 9: Table 9: shopped online * frequency online Cross-tabulation ……………………………………………….……………..…11
Table 10: Chi-Square Tests…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………….…………11
Table 10: Correlations between Shopped online and Frequency of Shopping online
List of figures
Figure 1: A graph of Expenses per Month by Gender……………………………………………………………..…………7
Figure 2: A Graph of Age by Gender……………………………………………………………….………………………..………9
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Introduction
As time goes by and new generations coming, fashions are also changing with time to fit the
desire of the current generations. Australia is experiencing a rapid fashion wear style change that
are made in a manner that they can stand distinct from the European fashion wear. Culture is a
big influence in the transformation of the fashions as considered by Australian designers (Weller,
2013). The research was therefore conducted to check on the market requirement and what is
preferred by the Kent Institute students to avoid having a lot of dead stock. From the responses
from the students, the information can be transmitted to the designers so that whenever they are
designing a new fashion they should consider the preference of the students. The aim of every
producer have been to have their products bought at the shortest time possible so that they can
produce more and maximize their sales and so to the profits (Nagurney, 2010). Starting up a
fashion wear shop around Kent institution targeting the students as the potential customers need
the supply of the fashions that are most preferred by the students. Taste and preference of people
vary from one individual to another, but through carrying out a research, the market research
results can be useful to identify the common preference of the students. As being one of the
factors to consider, population is fundamental for it is associated with the number of possible
customers that would be shopping from the business. The business is to be located at a strategic
location adjacent to the institution so that the students can easily access the shop. We targeted a
population of over 7000 students. Out of that population, a sample size of 20 respondents was
taken to participate in the research process. The sample size was made as small to suit and reduce
on the expenses that would be incurred should the researcher engage a larger proportion or the
entire population.
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Business technology have rocked all the forms of business and the business management is
tending to shift to cope up with the current changes. Social media has formed a platform where
the business personnel and their customers interact on a daily basis concerning the products
supplied or sold by the business (Trainor et al, 2014). As a result therefore, the fashion wear
business management wished to venture into online selling and among the objectives being;
i) To determine the correlation between expenses of an individual per month with their
gender.
ii) To determine if there exist relationship between online shoppers and the frequency at
which they shop online. To meet these objectives, questions on the questionnaires
were structured to aim at answering some of these questions by the respondents.
Methods of data collection
There are several methods that can be used by the researchers to collect data from the
respondents. In this market research, questionnaires were preferred. Questionnaire is a set of
structured questions interrogating the respondents about a certain subject of study that is filled by
the respondents themselves (Scheidt-Nave et al, 2012). The question types that were used in the
questionnaire structure were closed ended questions that were specifically for quantitative and
qualitative data. This is far much different from interviews where the enumerator ask questions
to the respondents directly. The questionnaires used in this case were handed to the respondents
directly one on one. Regular and routine data were aimed at being collected concerning the
fashion wear as used by the respondents. Questionnaires are known for their advantages of
providing the participants with ample time to respond to the questions thus giving them
confidence of providing reliable information. The questions structure were made short and easy
to understand to avoid the problem of skipping some of the questions by the respondents when
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responding to the questions. The questions outlined in the questionnaire covered both the
qualitative and quantitative data. Every selected participant was required to respond to all the
questions as outlined on the questionnaire and then hand it back to the researcher when it is filled
with answers. At some points, interviews were incorporated with the questionnaires for clarity pf
the questions the respondents found unclear so that the correct responses were provided.
From the population of over 7000 students, the sample size that was preferred for use was 20.
The participants were selected at random by applying the probabilistic methods such as the
simple random sampling so that the participants are not only collected from one part of Kent
institution but is spread to cover all parts of the entire institution. This helped to deal with
biasness in the collected data and ensuring the correctness of the data. Though small sample size
is known for its unrepresentativeness of the population, it was preferred due to some of the
advantages it has (Cattaneo et al, 2015). One of the major advantages was that it was pocket
friendly and unexpansive not to forget that it also did not consume a lot of time as compared to
when the sample size is big.
Summary of the dataset
Gender Age
Frequenc
y
Exp/
month Fashion Color Preference Material
Shoppe
d online
Frequenc
y online
Female 23-27 Weekly >100 Shoes only Blue
Casual
wear
Leather
shoes Yes
5-10
times
Female 18-22 Twice 51-100 Shoes only Red
Casual
wear
Syntheti
c leather
shoes Yes <5 times
Male 28-32 Once 20-50
Clothes and
shoes Black
Official
wear
Syntheti
c leather
shoes No
5-10
times
Female 23-27
Five times
and more >100
Clothes and
shoes White
Casual
wear
Rubber
shoes No
5-10
times
Male 23-27 Twice 51-100 Clothes only Blue
Official
wear
Leather
shoes Yes
5-10
times
Male 23-27 Once 20-50 Clothes and Black Official Leather No 5-10
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shoes wear shoes times
Female 18-22 Weekly >100 Shoes only
Maroo
n
Casual
wear
Leather
shoes Yes <5 times
Male 23-27 Twice <20
Clothes and
shoes Red
Official
wear
Syntheti
c leather
shoes No
5-10
times
Female 23-27 Weekly 20-50 Clothes only Purple
Casual
wear
Rubber
shoes Yes <5 times
Male >32 Once 20-50 Clothes only Green
Official
wear
Rubber
shoes Yes
5-10
times
Male 28-32 Twice <20 Shoes only Black
Casual
wear
Syntheti
c leather
shoes Yes
5-10
times
Male >32 Twice 51-100 Shoes only Blue
Casual
wear
Syntheti
c leather
shoes No
5-10
times
Female 23-27
Five times
and more 51-100
Clothes and
shoes Black
Casual
wear
Leather
shoes Yes <5 times
Female >32 Weekly >100
Clothes and
shoes Yellow
Casual
wear
Leather
shoes Yes <5 times
Male 23-27 Once 20-50 Shoes only Green
Official
wear
Rubber
shoes Yes
5-10
times
Male 28-32 Twice <20 Clothes only Black
Official
wear
Rubber
shoes Yes
5-10
times
Male 23-27 Twice <20 Clothes only White
Casual
wear
Rubber
shoes Yes
5-10
times
Female 18-22 Weekly 20-50 Clothes only
Maroo
n
Casual
wear
Rubber
shoes Yes <5 times
Female 23-27 Twice 51-100 Shoes only Red
Official
wear
Leather
shoes Yes
5-10
times
Female 23-27 Weekly >100 Shoes only Purple
Casual
wear
Leather
shoes Yes <5 times
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Table 1: Gender of the respondents
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Male 10 50.0 50.0 50.0
Female 10 50.0 50.0 100.0
Total 20 100.0 100.0
The presented table above represents the gender of the students who were sampled to take part in
the data collection process. As seen, equal number of males to that of females represented by
50% was sampled. Gender equity was opted for to avoid one gender dominancy. Demographic
information are some of the important data in the market research since the characteristics of the
targeted population can be easily understood which can be important in the business decision
making.
Table 2: Frequency of buying fashion wear per month
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Once 4 20.0 20.0 20.0
Twice 8 40.0 40.0 60.0
Weekly 6 30.0 30.0 90.0
Five times and more 2 10.0 10.0 100.0
Total 20 100.0 100.0
The frequency at which the customers buy products from the market is one of the key aspects to
be considered when carrying out market research. In this case, since the business to be opened
was dealing with the fashion wear, the respondents were required to state their frequency of
buying the fashion wear products. 20% of the respondents responded that they only buy fashion
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wear once, 40% responded that they do buy the fashion wear twice per month, 30% responded
that they bought fashion wear on weekly basis and lastly only 10% of the respondents responded
that they would buy fashion wear five times or more in a month.
Table 3: Preferred Colors by the respondents
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
White 2 10.0 10.0 10.0
Black 5 25.0 25.0 35.0
Green 2 10.0 10.0 45.0
Yellow 1 5.0 5.0 50.0
Blue 3 15.0 15.0 65.0
Maroon 2 10.0 10.0 75.0
Red 3 15.0 15.0 90.0
Purple 2 10.0 10.0 100.0
Total 20 100.0 100.0
Taste of the customers vary from one customer to the other. The taste vary from color to other
aspects. 10% of the respondents preferred white color, 25% preferred black, 10% preferred
green, 5% preferred yellow, 15% preferred blue, 10% preferred maroon, 15% preferred red and
lastly 10% preferred purple for their fashion wear. In this case, supply of the fashion wear has to
consider those color taste whenever they are placing order of the fashion wear to be supplied to
have customers’ demands met.
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Table 4: Students’ Expense per Month
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
<20 4 20.0 20.0 20.0
20-50 6 30.0 30.0 50.0
51-100 5 25.0 25.0 75.0
>100 5 25.0 25.0 100.0
Total 20 100.0 100.0
Twenty percent of the sampled students responded that they did spend less than 20 dollars per
month on fashion wear, 30% responded that they did spend 20-50 dollars per month, 25% of the
sample responded that they did spend between 51 and 100 dollars on fashion wear per month and
another 25% responded that they did spend over 100 dollars per month. From this, it can be seen
that majority of the students were spending relatively substantial amount on fashion wear per
month. This can be taken into consideration by the business management and decision makers to
decide on what amount of goods to supply and how frequent to do that should the spending
behavior of the students remain this way.
Table 5: Do you Shop online?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Yes 15 75.0 75.0 75.0
No 5 25.0 25.0 100.0
Total 20 100.0 100.0
To the question of whether the sampled students shopped online, 75% of the sample responded
that they do shop online against 25% of the students who responded that they do not shop online.
This showed that high number of were online shoppers and this could lead to the possibility of
engaging in online business to sell the fashion wears to the students when making business
decisions.
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Table 6: Frequency of Shopping online
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
<5 times 7 35.0 35.0 35.0
5-10 times 13 65.0 65.0 100.0
Total 20 100.0 100.0
For the students who ever shopped online, 35% of the sample responded that they did shop less
than 5 times online in a year while the remaining 65% of the respondents responded that they did
shop 5-10 times in a year. Despite the growth of technology and interaction between the business
and the customers, the internet coverage in almost all over the places, people were still not
shopping online at high frequency in a year. Thinking of incorporating online shopping in this
case would still be a good idea that would be beneficial in the future as people change from
physical shopping to online shopping with time.
Figure 1: A graph of Expenses per Month by Gender
From the sample, 2 males had their expenses below 20 dollars, 5 male students had their
expenses between 20 and 50 dollars, 2 had their expenses ranging between 51 and 100 with only
one male student responding that his expenses were more than 100 dollars. On the other hand, 2
female students responded that their expenses were less than 20 dollars, 1 had expenses between
20 and 50 dollars, 3 had their expenses between 51 and 100 dollars and finally 4 had their
expenses above 100 dollars. It can therefore be concluded from the data that most of the female
students had higher expenses on fashion wear than their male counterparts.
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Figure 2: A Graph of Age by Gender
Only one male student from the sample had 18-22 years of age, 5 of the males had their ages at
23-27 years, 3 had 28-32 years and lastly another one male had over 32 years. On the other hand,
2 female students had their ages between 18 and 22 years, 6 had 23-27 years and the other 2 had
their ages above 32 years. Their seemed to be a balance in terms of age for both genders but most
of the students had their ages ranging between 23-27 years.
Data analysis
The participants’ average age in the process was 26.05 years with the variance of 18.682 and
standard deviation of 4.322. Expense per month for sampled individuals had a mean of 82.15
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Table 7: Descriptive Statistics for Quantitative Variables
N Mean Std. Deviation Variance
age 20 24.05 4.322 18.682
exp_month 20 82.15 47.472 2253.555
Valid N (listwise) 20

dollars, variance of 2253.555 and the standard deviation of 47.472. it can therefore be seen from
the above table results that students expenditure on fashion wear was below 100 dollars per
month.
Hypothesis testing
Table 8: Correlations Between Gender and Expense
per Month
gender exp_month
gender
Pearson Correlation 1 .700**
Sig. (2-tailed) .001
N 20 20
exp_month
Pearson Correlation .700** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .001
N 20 20
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Hypothesis
H0: There is no correlation between expenses of an individual on fashion wear per month with
their gender.
H1: There is correlation between expenses of an individual on fashion wear per month with their
gender.
In the market research, one of the key objectives was to determine the correlation between
expenses of an individual per month with their gender. From the correlation test table the
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Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was .700 meaning that the correlation was positive and strong
between the expenses per month of an individual with their gender. The expenses of an
individual were most likely to be affected by the gender of an individual as they showed strong
correlation. As a result therefore, we reject the null hypothesis since significance value is less
than P-value (.05) and conclude that there is a correlation between expenses of an individual on
fashion wear per month with their gender.
Table 9: shopped online * frequency online Cross-tabulation
frequency_online Total
<5 times 5-10 times
shopped_online
Yes Count 7 8 15
% within shopped_online 46.7% 53.3% 100.0%
No Count 0 5 5
% within shopped_online 0.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Total
Count 7 13 20
% within shopped_online 35.0% 65.0% 100.0%
Forty six point seven percent of the sampled students responded that they shopped online in less
than 5 times per year against 53.3% of the respondents who responded that they did shop online
at a frequency of between 5 and 10 times per academic year. This showed that the majority of the
students were online shoppers at a relatively higher frequency in each academic year.
Table 10: Correlations between Shopped online and Frequency of Shopping
online
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Shopped online Frequency online
Shopped online
Pearson Correlation 1 .424
Sig. (2-tailed) .063
N 20 20
Frequency online
Pearson Correlation .424 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .063
N 20 20
Hypothesis
H0: There is no relationship existing between online shoppers and the frequency at which they
shop online.
H1: There is relationship existing between online shoppers and the frequency at which they shop
online.
Since the significance value (i.e. .063) is greater than P-value (.05), we fail to reject the null
hypothesis and make a conclusion that indeed there was no relationship existing between online
shoppers and the frequency at which students shopped online. This means that being that the
students shop online would not be enough to determine the number of times they would be
shopping online. From this therefore the business decision makers are supposed to take into
account that they should not only rely on the fact that large number of the students were
shopping online but the frequency of shopping also matters and which the test has determined to
there being no relationship.
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Conclusion and recommendation
In conclusion, from the result we have found out that the mode of expenses of an individual is
directly related to gender of an individual in response to buying fashion wear. Also, it can be
concluded that there is no relationship existing between online shoppers and the frequency at
which they shop online. It is therefore recommended that the business purchase department to
consider the varied preferences of the students so that the fashions supplied best suit students’
desire.
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Reference
Cattaneo, M.D., Frandsen, B.R. and Titiunik, R., 2015. Randomization inference in the regression
discontinuity design: An application to party advantages in the US Senate. Journal of Causal
Inference, 3(1), pp.1-24.
Nagurney, A. 2010. Supply chain network design under profit maximization and oligopolistic
competition. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 46(3), 281-
294.
Scheidt-Nave, C., Kamtsiuris, P., Gößwald, A., Hölling, H., Lange, M., Busch, M. A., ... &
Hapke, U. 2012. German health interview and examination survey for adults (DEGS)-design,
objectives and implementation of the first data collection wave. BMC public health, 12(1), 730.
Trainor, K. J., Andzulis, J. M., Rapp, A., & Agnihotri, R. 2014. Social media technology usage
and customer relationship performance: A capabilities-based examination of social
CRM. Journal of Business Research, 67(6), 1201-1208.
Weller, S. 2013. Consuming the city: Public fashion festivals and the participatory economies of
urban spaces in Melbourne, Australia. Urban Studies, 50(14), 2853-2868.
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APPENDIX: QUESTIONNAIRE
FASHION PREFERENCE AMONG KENT INSTITUTE STUDENTS
Please mark with a tick where necessary to fill in the boxes provided. Thank you for your time.
1. What is your gender?
Male Female
2. How old are you?
18-22 23-27 28-32 over 32
3. How often do you buy fashion wear per month?
Once Twice Weekly Five times and more
4. How much do you spend on fashion wear per month?
<20 20-50 51-100 >100
5. What do you normally buy whenever you visit the fashion shop?
Shoes only Clothes only Clothes and Shoes
6. Which cloth color do you most prefer?
White
Black
Green
Yellow
Blue
Maroon
Red
Purple
Others
7. What is your preferred fashion?
Official wear Casual wear Sports wear
8. What shoes material do you prefer?
Leather shoes Synthetic leather shoes Rubber shoes
9. Do you shop online?
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Yes No
10. How frequent do you shop online per academic year?
< 5 times 5-10 times >10 times
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