Recommendations for Online Apparel Industries

The provided research paper focuses on the marketing management of online apparel industries, identifying regulatory variables influencing consumer behavior and distinguishing between online and offline purchasing choices. Recommendations include enhancing product variety, posting lucrative advertisements, and offering discounts to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Running head: COMPANY SBU ANALYSIS
Company SBU analysis
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Background of the papers
Article 1: The Effects of Social Media Marketing on Online Consumer Behavior
The emergence of consumer behavior in marketing was during the early 40s as a distinct
sub-discipline in the marketing area. In the 1st article the effect of social media on global
marketing has been discussed. In this era of modernization, consumers can directly communicate
with the brand representative with the help of social media. The emergence of social media in
marketing has enabled the companies to identify their specific group of consumers and
understand their needs (Vinerean et al. 2013). This in turn, enables the brands to develop
products and services keeping in mind the requirements of their consumers and hence enhance
the consumer satisfaction. Besides that, direct communication with the consumers enhances
customer-company interaction that in turn results in increased consumer loyalty and brand
equity.
Article 2: Apparel product attributes, web browsing, and e-impulse buying on shopping
websites
According to recent research reports, online apparel retailers can be considered as one of the
most powerful drivers of online sale compared to automobile and computer sales. This can be
evidenced by the enhancement in online apparel sale in the US from resulting in a increased
revenue of 26.6 billion dollars in 2008 (Park et al. 2012). In this research paper, the relation
among web browsing, product attributes and impulsive buying of apparel product through online
marketing has been explored. The findings of the research paper confirm that apparel product
attribute consists of three factors namely, price, sensory and selection attributes.
Article 3: Situational variables in online versus offline channel choice

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The usage of online networking in marketing and the advancement of user interface
consumer behaviour become highly variable depending on the characteristic of marketing
strategies for both online and offline purchasing. Therefore analysing the customer behaviour
with respect to the interaction channel utilized by any business organization has become one of
the essential factors to be analysed. Moreover, this article is focused on the operational and
resultant differences between the impact of online and offline based marketing channel within on
customer behaviour (Chocarro, Cortiñas and Villanueva 2013). In order to analyse the issues in
this article, research has been conducted with the help of quantitative data analysis method that
helped to formulate the findings and recommendation.
Research issues in the selected articles
Article 1
The aim of the research is to find out the number and amount of social media users who
possess a positive outlook regarding advertisement of business with the help of social media. In
order to conduct the research, the researchers have considered the students of ‘Lucian Blaga’
University situated at Sibiu in Romania as the sample of the research. Apart from that field
research that includes a collection of information from respondents via the internet is also
performed. The field research was conducted from 17th September to 18th November of the year
2011.
Article 2
The aim of the assessment is to understand the relationship among product attributes of the
apparel industry, web browsing of the consumers and e-impulse buying. The objective of the

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research paper is to a) identification of critical factors of apparel product attributes which has
relevance with web browsing. b) Estimation of the structural model related to casual
relationships among web browsing, e-impulse and product attributes. In order to conduct this
research, a questionnaire has been developed and was answered by 356 university students.
Apart from that, in order to conduct data analysis, two of the data analysis processes, namely,
confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling has been used.
Article 3
In this article, the customer behaviour and their resultant choice with respect to the
communicational media and purchasing opportunities have been examined. The article analyses
various situational factors regarding the customer choice and influences within both physical and
virtual purchasing platform. In terms of physical purchasing platform, the article has discussed
the traditional market and stores as well as how they influence the customer behaviour and
choice. On the other hand, virtual platform refers the advanced internet based online marketing
websites and e-purchasing. The article also discussed various situational variables as well as their
effectiveness in a choice of product categories from both company's and consumer's perspective.
Major findings
Article 1
In order to obtain the result of the research, the first analysis done is the factor analysis
and as a result of the third analysis, four groups that represent student's activities in various
social media sites that have been found. The first group of sample named ‘Expressers and
Informers’ are found to be majorly focusing on themselves by uploading information on Twitter,
wiki articles and through blogging. The second group named as ‘Engagers’ not only involves

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themselves in reading various articles and reviews but also post comments, reviews and rating
online services as well as products used by them. The third group, entitled as ‘Networkers and
socializer' is found to very active on social media platforms. The final group named as watchers
and listeners are found to be really active in social media. From cluster analysis, it has been
found that 36.9 percent of the total respondents click on social media advertising with the
intention to buy products or services while 32.2 percent does not prefer intrusive online
advertising but has clicked on a few profiles targeted advertisement online. Finally, it has been
found that students who actually often click on social media advertisements have a positive
reaction to such marketing instruments.
Article 2
The result of this research paper, confirm the three-factor of apparel product attributes
namely, price, a variety of selection and sensory attributes. When it comes to the variety of
selection, four items related with a variety of fashion brands and items are found. When it comes
to the price attribute, it has been found that this factor focuses on economic benefit and consumer
value. Finally, sensory attribute involves colour, styling and sizes which are three items
associated with apparel shopping. When it comes to web browsing the study has found that two
types of web browsing namely, utilitarian and hedonic web browsing are common among
consumers. From the findings of the structural model, it has been found that variety of selection
imposes a positive impact on utilitarian browsing where as, price imposes a positive impact on
hedonic web browsing. Apart from that, the negative impact of utilitarian browsing and the
positive impact of hedonic browsing on e-impulse buying has been found.
Article 3

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According to the data analysis and findings of the research conducted in this article,
individual interaction channel choice has a different influence on the potential customer
behaviour. The results show that in current market condition, consumers prefer online marketing
and purchasing channels over the offline or traditional market. Additionally, the research has
also shown that consumers prefer using online based purchasing and e-payment when they are
busy. Along with that, the layout and simplicity of marketing website highly motivate the users
to purchase from the online facility. Consumers are also more likely to select the virtual
purchasing method after the closing time of the stores. On the other hand, these behavioural
variables also change depending on the demographical, sociological and economic background
of the consumers. The major variable in these results is the use of computers and smart phones
that reflects direct proportionality with online marketing tendency of potential buyers.
Moreover, the result has shown that there are many regulatory variables that have a significant
impact on consumer behaviour and choice.
Implications for marketing managers as outlined in the articles
Article 1
Considering the fact that online marketing can be considered to be a crucial way to deal
with the emerging consumer behavior in the modern era, business owner as well as managers
should understand the behavior of their consumers and develop effective strategies to attract
them towards their products or services. From the major findings of the research paper, some of
the implications for marketing managers in order to attract the young consumers towards their
online advertisement are discussed below:

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 Marketing managers should concentrate on enhancing the performance of their online
advertising. This can be done by understanding the source of trust of the consumers that
involves online blogs and articles written about the products or services. Another
approach that should be considered by the managers involves understanding the concerns
of the consumers regarding their privacy during online marketing.
 Managers should be capable of identifying the specific group of consumers who are more
inclined towards online marketing compared to other consumers. Effective identification
of consumers should be followed by targeting them and recognizing their specific needs
in order to gain competitive advantage.
 Managers should create a buyers persona in order to adjust or develop the online
marketing strategy with respect to the interests of the consumers. This will help the
management to figure out which products or services go best for which part of the
consumers. In order to provide the right online incentives to the right online consumers,
the managers should use online reputation systems.
 Finally, the managers should implement a commitment focused approach instead of a
transaction-focused approach in order to engage the consumers.
Article 2
The research provides the managers of apparel companies with insights of the developing
e-business by providing an effective understanding of impulse buying behaviours of the
consumers in conjunction with web browsing. From the chief findings of the research, some of
the implications for the managers o the company are as follows:

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 When it comes to online shopping of apparel, a variety of selection plays a major driving
factor for consumers. However, having a large variety to chose from discouraging
impulse buying of the consumers. Since, online apparel stores across the world provide a
huge variety of apparels with respect to price, design and colour, consumers are most
likely to enhance web browsing for comparison and gathering information. This finding
enables the managers to understand that variety of selection results in rational informative
buying of apparels.
 Considering the fact that e-consumers compare online apparel websites on the basis of
economic basis and reasonable pricing, managers need to offer apparels to the consumers
at optimum pricing for long-term benefit.
 Finally, the author suggested the managers to focus more on providing adequate product
information and entertainment for attracting more and more consumers.
Article 3
As per the result, it is clearly noticeable that there are multiple regulatory variables that
motivate the buyer's choice and purchasing behaviour towards the online based marketing and e-
purchasing methods. On the other hand, the marketing manager of any business organisation has
the responsibility to grudge the consumer segment with respect to their trends of product choice
and purchasing behaviour. In order to maximise the resultant profit the marketing management
of any company has to articulate the customer trends towards the online purchasing considering
the regulatory factors including simplicity and attractiveness of online websites. Moreover, a
proper understanding of consumer choice within the online platform and formulating the virtual

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marketing strategy to attract more customers can enable the opportunity to expand the customer
base.
Use of online website can also be utilised as a feedback collecting media where the consumers
can give reviews about their experience regarding the product they have purchased and the
services. These feedbacks are very helpful in business strategy making and altering consumer
communication method. Although the marketing managers cannot control each and every
situational variable and their interrelationship the understanding of these variables and their
effectiveness can enable further opportunity to improve the business quality and profitability.
This analytical understanding can help the marketing managers to choose an appropriate channel
to communicate with their potential buyers and to motivate them. This article has discussed all
the possible utilisation of the alternative consumer behaviours with the help of marketing related
implementation.
Comments on the key issues discussed in the articles/your recommendations
Article 1
In order to increase the overall revenue of the company by online marketing with the help
of social media, some of the effective recommendations are as follows:
1. In order to attract social media users to go through the advertisement posted by a specific
business organization, lucrative discounts and free samples should be offered. This will
not only encourage the social media users to go through the online advertisement and will
eventually enhance the number of consumers of the company (Goh, Heng and Lin 2013).

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2. Apart from focusing on developing a lucrative advertisement, managers should focus on
developing an effective consumer-company relationship by regularly conversing with
then with the help of social media (Wang, Yu and Wei, 2012). Effective communication
will not only help the organization to gain the trust of the consumers but will help them to
understand their requirement. This, in turn, will help the company to develop products
that can effectively satisfy the consumers and this eventually will enhance the consumer
loyalty of the company.
Article 2
Considering the major finding of the research paper, some of the crucial recommendation
for the online apparel industries includes:
1. Online apparel companies should focus on enhancing the variety of selection with respect
to colour and styling in order to provide a huge range of apparels to choose from.
2. In order to gain competitive advantages, companies should post lucrative advertisements
on various social media platforms will be able to grab the attention of the consumers
easily (Hollebeek, Glynn and Brodie 2014).
3. Frequent offers including huge discounts as well as benefits like free delivery and any
time return facilities should be implemented in order enhance the satisfaction of the
consumers. This will not only enhance the consumer loyalty of the online apparel
organization but will also enhance their brand equity in the long run.
Article 3
This article makes three major contributions to the marketing management study namely,
identification of regulatory variables influencing the consumer behaviour, distinguish between

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online and offline purchasing choice of buyers and potential utilisation of the consumer trends
within the current market scenario. Marketing management of any business organisation can
utilise the trends of online use for purchasing as a navigational and promotional tool.
Promotional mail is a very common tool that is currently used to inform the loyal consumers
about the new product, stock, discount and offers (Ha and Stoel 2012). The online website can
also be utilised as a feedback collecting media, which are very helpful in business strategy
making and altering consumer communication method. Through this feedback, the consumers
will be able to voice their opinions about their experience regarding the product they have
purchased and the services. In order to maximise the resultant profit the marketing management
of any company has to articulate the customer trends towards the online purchasing considering
the regulatory factors (Park and Cho 2012).

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Reference List
Chocarro, R., Cortiñas, M. and Villanueva, M.L., 2013. Situational variables in online versus
offline channel choice. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 12(5), pp.347-361.
Goh, K.Y., Heng, C.S. and Lin, Z., 2013. Social media brand community and consumer
behavior: Quantifying the relative impact of user-and marketer-generated content. Information
Systems Research, 24(1), pp.88-107.
Ha, S. and Stoel, L., 2012. Online apparel retailing: roles of e-shopping quality and experiential
e-shopping motives. Journal of Service Management, 23(2), pp.197-215.
Hollebeek, L.D., Glynn, M.S. and Brodie, R.J., 2014. Consumer brand engagement in social
media: Conceptualization, scale development and validation. Journal of interactive
marketing, 28(2), pp.149-165.
Park, E.J., Kim, E.Y., Funches, V.M. and Foxx, W., 2012. Apparel product attributes, web
browsing, and e-impulse buying on shopping websites. Journal of Business Research, 65(11),
pp.1583-1589.
Park, H. and Cho, H., 2012. Social network online communities: information sources for apparel
shopping. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 29(6), pp.400-411.
Vinerean, S., Cetina, I., Dumitrescu, L. and Tichindelean, M., 2013. The effects of social media
marketing on online consumer behavior. International Journal of Business and
Management, 8(14), p.66.

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Wang, X., Yu, C. and Wei, Y., 2012. Social media peer communication and impacts on purchase
intentions: A consumer socialization framework. Journal of interactive marketing, 26(4), pp.198-
208.