5006MKT Consumer Behaviour: A Critical Literature Review on Fashion

This literature review examines consumer behaviour within the fashion industry, focusing on key theories and factors influencing purchasing decisions. It discusses the Theory of Reasoned Action, the Engel Kollat Blackwell Model, and Motivation Need Theory, highlighting their applications in companies like Burberry, NEXT, and Marks & Spencer. The review also explores the evolving concept of consumer behaviour, including the impact of sustainability, digital trends, and economic factors like COVID-19. It further assesses the effectiveness of understanding consumer behaviour in marketing strategies, such as enhancing brand image, increasing market share, and gaining a competitive edge. The report concludes that understanding customer needs and behaviours is crucial for fashion industry organizations to develop effective marketing strategies and achieve business objectives.

First-sit Literature Review

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW ...............................................................................................................3
Theories on consumer behaviour in Fashion Industry................................................................3
Concept of consumer behaviour and factors affecting behaviour of customers within fashion
industry........................................................................................................................................4
Effectiveness of consumer buying behaviour in marketing of fashion industry.........................6
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Customer behaviour is referred as the action which is taken by consumer before taking
decision related with buying of any product and service. For an organisation understanding of
customer behaviour is the major aspect which is required to be managed by the organisation in
such a way that positive benefits can be attained (Cherubino and et. al., 2019). Customer
behaviour plays significant role in the context of managing overall business as positive decisions
can be taken by the organisation and that will provide an edge in terms of acquiring higher
customer base. In the context of fashion industry customer behaviour is considered as the
prominent reason due to which customers are inclined towards use business offerings of the
organisation (D'lima, 2018). In order to write the current research report third option is being
selected which is based on customer theory and implication of the same in context of fashion
industry. The current report is associated with identifying different theories which are helpful for
the fashion industry that to apply their marketing strategies and to attain business objectives as
well (East and et. al., 2021). For an organisation understanding of customer behaviour is the
primal aspect which helps the business to grow and sustain for longer period of time (Nezamova
and Olentsova, 2020).
LITERATURE REVIEW
Theories on consumer behaviour in Fashion Industry
According to Spangenberg and Lorek, (2019), Theory of reasoned action is one of the
theory based on the consumer behaviour which is majorly used by the fashion industry. This
theory focuses on the interrelationship among the existing attitudes of the customers which they
bring in their purchase decisions and the marketing activities conducted by the company. As per
the theory, customers mainly act on the behaviours on which they believe and when receive on
the particular outcome after making purchase form the company. This is a rational type of
decision in which major element used is the basic interest of the consumers which drives the
decisioned making of the target audiences. Burberry is one of the leading internation fashion
company headquartered in UK and established in 1856. it uses this theory in order to identify the
consumer behaviour and survey accordingly ion order to analyse the data and covert it into the
relevant information for better decision making in the promotion of the products and services.

According to do Paço, Shiel and Alves, (2019), Engel Kollat Blackwell Model is an
another theory based on the consumer behaviour which is majorly used by the fashion industry.
This theory focuses on the the evolution of the ideas and which were discussed in the theory of
reasoned action. This theory is majorly based on the innovation and creation of the ideas which
were identified in the previous theory. It has basically five phases such as recognition of the need
is the first phase. Searching of the information is the second phase. Evaluating the alternatives is
the third phase. Purchasing is the fourth phase and post purchase out is the fifth phase which are
adopted by the companies for the evolution of the ideas generated. NEXT is also one of the
leading international clothing company which is headquartered in UK and established in 1864. It
uses this they in order to innovate their methodologies according to the consumer purchase
decisions and buying behaviour towards the brand.
According to Manqele, (2021), Motivation need theory is an another theory based on the
consumer behaviour which is majorly used by the fashion industry. This theory focuses on the
psychology of the customers which basically based on the Maslow hierarchy of needs. It states
the five levels of needs that the customers mainly desires to be fulfilled by the brand. It includes
the physiological and survival needs along with the safety and love needs which is followed by
the esteem and self actualization needs. Marks & Spencer is one of the leading international
retail company headquartered in UK and established in 1884. It uses this theory in context of the
employees and customers as well sop that the customer buying behaviour can be examined in a
more strategic away by simply studying the level of needs. This helps in fulfilling the needs in a
sequential manner so that the purchasing decision of the customers can be analysed in a tactical
manner.
Concept of consumer behaviour and factors affecting behaviour of customers within fashion
industry
According to Santos and et. al., (2021), consumer behaviour refers to the study of
companies, individuals and groups and all the tasks related with the use, buying and disposal of
goods and services. This behaviour contains the way emotion, attitudes and preferences change
or influence buying behaviour of people. Customers have become quite aware about the concept
of sustainability and effects of fast fashion on the environment. Customers have started investing
their funds on high quality, core and statement garments that have great durability as well as
which they can use for styling different looks (Nezamova and Olentsova, 2020). This has

reduced the waste of fashion because life span of the products have increased and customers can
easily update their wardrobe with lower budget. Behaviour of customers have changed with the
time because now they are putting more efforts in identifying their own style rather than
depending upon trends within fast fashion. It has been determined that customers are now largely
depend upon digital methods for buying goods and services. The main attitude behind adopting
digital methods is that they do not need to move out from their houses and get products at the
door step of the customers. Fashion companies and brands are also taking advantage of this
opportunity and using advance marketing techniques for attracting large number of customers
towards their different offerings.
Buying behaviour of customers have changed drastically because customers are now
more aware about the impacts of fast fashion and deciding to refrain from purchasing from fast
fashion companies most often e-commerce retailers. Spending of customers have also decreased
due to the outbreak of global pandemic COVID-19. Customers are now more focused towards
saving their income rather than spending it on luxury or fashion products. This behaviour has
largely impacted purchase from the fashion brands and decreased sales of these brands (Nguyen,
de Leeuw and Dullaert, 2018). The fashion industry has also focused towards developing more
sustainable fashion products and adopting production process which is more eco-freindly.
Purchasing fashion is a complex procedure for customers. The emotional components of impulse
shopping, self-image and continuously changing fashion combine with personal circumstances,
cost and lack of awareness of the fashion industry are creating a difficult set of behaviours for
trying to change.
There are various factors that affect consumer buying behaviour towards the products of
fashion industry because every individual wants to follow latest trend so that they can look
attractive. The main factor that influence buying of customers is perception. In the perception
factor, customers gather information from various source such as social media before buying the
product. These channels include reviews about the product and by considering customers buy the
product (Nguyen and Johnson, 2020) The other significant factor is income level of the
individuals. It is the factor which is directly linked to the purchase of the product because if
individual has low income then they spend less on fashion products and spend more only on
essential products. On the other hand, if customer as great income then they spend more on

luxury and fashion products. Hence, customers have become more aware and consume more
sustainable fashion products.
Effectiveness of consumer buying behaviour in marketing of fashion industry
As per the view of Svajdova (2021), consumer behaviour effects a lot to the business. in
recent time fashion industry across the global try to adopt various strategy in order to influence
buyers towards the product. The busying behaviour of the purchaser are changed by properly
analysing the market and the needs or preference of the buyers. For changing the behaviour of
consumer various marketing strategies are being adopted by the fashion industry so that they can
attract more buyers toward their brand. The effectiveness of consumer buying behaviour in
marketing of fashion industry are as follow:
Enhance mouth publicity: The foremost effect of consumer behaviour toward the brand
is increasing the mouth publicity of the brand which helps them to attract more new buyers for
companies’ product. Mouth publicity is one of the vital tool of marketing which changes the
perception of the buyers. If consumer is happy with the purchase made in the fashion industry
them they start marketing the brand by telling more and more people about it which affect the
marketing strategy of the organisation.
Increase brand image: Another effectiveness of consumer buying behaviour on
marketing of fashion industry is increase brand image. If consumer is inclined toward the brand
they will promote the product of the company which will help the organisation to enhance their
market image. Market image of the company plays a vital role which help in them to fight with
the competitor and gain competitive advantage out of it (Szmigin and Piacentini, 2018).
Consumer are the king of the market in recent time so their attitude and buying pattern impact
the brand mage. So brand image of the business will be more then advertising the company
product will be easier and company can easily make marketing strategy which will best suit for
them.
More market share: One of the vital effectiveness of consumer buying behaviour is
gaining market share in term of profit and customer base. Having strong customer base is very
crucial for the fashion industry because it help them to adopt various innovation and uniqueness
in their product (Ziyadin and et. al., 2019). If buyers are happy with the product serve by the
brand, then they will make repetitive purchase which will help them to gain more market share

as compared to their competitors. This will also help them to gain more market sustainability and
develop their business in greater sense.
Helps in gaining competitive edge: On recent time were competition is so high it is very
important to influence the buyers toward the company product in order to gain competitive
advantage. having more loyal and trusted consumer will help the company to gain competitive
edge in terms of revenue and profit. Loyal buyers will never shift to other brans which will help
them to increase their market capitalisation (Zolkepli Mukhiar and Tan, 2021).
CONCLUSION
From the above detailed examination this can be concluded that customer behaviour is
considered as the major marketing method which is used by the marketer for the purpose of
influence decision making of customers and to undertake their needs and demands can also be
satisfied. By understanding needs of customers the organisation can easily fulfil the gap between
their product and customer so that in needed manner development opportunities can be managed.
In the terms of marketing customer behaviour is considered as the major process which helps the
organisation to understand regarding needs of their customers and methods to satisfy the same.
Using customer behaviour past trends can be analysed so that expectations of customers can be
examined and at the same time business functions can be executed in fruitful manner. The
current report also includes the theory of reasoned action which is related with customer
behaviour and the theory states that the behaviour of individual is determined by intention and
actions. So that in the context of fashion industry as the organisation has huge number of
customer, so that in order to understand the same actions of customers are required to be
understood so that overall benefits can be gained by the organisation.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cherubino, P. and et. al., 2019. Consumer behaviour through the eyes of neurophysiological
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neuroscience.
D'lima, C., 2018. Brand passion and its implication on consumer behaviour. International
Journal of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence, 4(1), pp.30-42.
do Paço, A., Shiel, C. and Alves, H., 2019. A new model for testing green consumer
behaviour. Journal of cleaner production, 207, pp.998-1006.
East, R. and et. al., 2021. Consumer behaviour: Applications in marketing. Sage.
Manqele, M.B., 2021. Using consumer behaviour theories to analyse the relationship between
green technology and customer expectations (Doctoral dissertation).
Nezamova, O. and Olentsova, J., 2020. Monitoring Consumer Behaviour in the Food Market in
the Krasnoyarsk Region of Russia. In E3S Web of Conferences (Vol. 161, p. 01080).
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Nguyen, D.H., de Leeuw, S. and Dullaert, W.E., 2018. Consumer behaviour and order fulfilment
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Nguyen, N. and Johnson, L.W., 2020. Consumer behaviour and environmental
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Santos, V. and et. al., 2021. Factors influencing touristic consumer behaviour. Journal of
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Spangenberg, J.H. and Lorek, S., 2019. Sufficiency and consumer behaviour: From theory to
policy. Energy Policy, 129, pp.1070-1079.
Svajdova, L., 2021. Consumer behaviour during pandemic of COVID-19. Journal of
International Business Research and Marketing, 6(3), pp.34-37.
Szmigin, I. and Piacentini, M., 2018. Consumer behaviour. Oxford University Press.
Ziyadin, S. and et. al., 2019. The role of social media marketing in consumer behaviour. In E3S
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Zolkepli, I.A., Mukhiar, S.N.S. and Tan, C., 2021. Mobile consumer behaviour on apps usage:
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