Chapter 4. Research and Analysis
4.1 Interviews with Zara Taiwanese consumers
4.1.5 Impacts of Zara on the consumer
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a more fair price (大眾或平價), while four thought of H&M (although it is not present currently in Taiwan). On the other hand, regarding the brands considered as more expensive or luxurious (昂貴或高級), there is a variety of responses, such as Burberry, Abercrombie
& Fitch, Louis Vuitton and Chanel (all of them mentioned only once).
4.1.5 Impacts of Zara on the consumer
“My contact with Spanish culture and films was long before (I knew about) Zara.” August
“What I’m interested about Zara is their business philosophy and strategy.” Joanne
“I would want to travel to Spain,” says Louise, who visited Zara three times in the past month. According to her, Zara does not make any special impact on her and the only thing she would think of is just visiting Spain. Similarly, Vanessa says, “I don’t pay any special attention to Zara.” Both of them are our interviewees who do not make any purchase in Zara stores in Taiwan, because they state that the style in Zara do not suit them. Vanessa also explained, Zara is more suitable for workplace and job interviews, hence, the day she applies for some job, she may consider dressing Zara.
Other interviewees are also interested to visit Spain but rather for more precise reasons. “I don’t think Zara has made any impact on me. Perhaps, I would want to go to Spain to buy Zara items, because they are cheaper in Spain,” says Rachel. As well, Alba agrees with her:
Since I’ve seen the surrounding phenomenon of Zara here in Taiwan, I’m very curious about the quality and styles of the clothes in Zara
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locally, in Spain. But above all, I want to check the prices, because it must be much cheaper there. When Zara arrived in Taiwan, I was actually disappointed about the quality of the clothes, because I expected better quality. After several visits, I didn’t quite know what to select because there wasn’t any item whose quality I could be satisfied with. If we compare the quality of Zara clothes with Uniqlo, Uniqlo clothes are more durable (耐穿) but anyway, Zara and Uniqlo offer different concepts and styles.
Alba also adds that she would search a bit about the background of Zara: “I even remember that once I read an extensive report introducing Zara in the magazine Global Views Monthly published in 2006.” Similarly, Laura was also interested in knowing more about Zara: “In the beginning, when I did not quite know about this brand, every time I saw in a magazine an article introducing Zara, I would stop by and read it.” Laura, who currently lives in Chiayi city, lived before in Zhonghe area (中和區), used to visit a Zara store in her free time, and because of the convenience of the MRT transport. Laura adds, that Zara also makes her like Spanish culture: “It makes me want to travel to Spain or eat Spanish food.”
However, Alba, who also attends a flamenco student club and learns Spanish in a language center in Taipei, states that she doesn’t think that her interest towards the Spanish culture is connected to Zara. “Before, when Zara was not in Taiwan yet, I used to browse through the online catalogues and I would just think of it as just another clothing company.”
Our fashion consumer August affirms that indeed, “if you like Zara, you would want to do some research about the brand.” And like Alba, her interest in Spanish culture has no direct relation with Zara: “My contact with Spanish culture and films was long before (I
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knew about) Zara. When I watched the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, my interest towards Zara started to grow.” Similarly, Alice, who works at a shipping company, is also aware that Zara comes from Spain, “because when I was in Spain I bought a lot of clothes in Zara.” But she says that this is the only thing she knows about Zara, as she is not interested in doing any further research concerning its background. She also affirms that she originally already likes Spanish culture, food and films, “though it’s not because of Zara, so there is no direct impact.”
Joanne, who works in international trade, also thinks that the connection between Zara and Spanish culture is not very obvious. “What I’m interested about Zara is their business philosophy and strategy.” She also explains that Zara does not highlight its country of origin or any Spanishness and compares this fact with Mango:
Instead, it’s Mango that feels more like Spanish style. Mango has also invited Penélope Cruz, that sort of Spanish stars as spokesperson, but my impression is that Zara doesn’t have any spokesperson. Zara hardly seems to emphasize it’s a Spanish brand. Zara in Taiwan is registered as
“Dutch Trade”, so in terms of business registration, Zara is registered as a Dutch company in Taiwan.
As we read in Chapter 3, the maxim of Zara is to promote a global fashion, and we have observed that Zara does not clearly point out its country of origin. According to author Martínez (2012, p.99), Zara has embraced since its beginnings a shared fashion culture. Zara has positioned itself as a global brand but adapted for each country and city in which it opens a store. It’s traditionally believed that the country-of-origin effect of a brand enhances the position of the brand internationally, for example, Chanel as French, Uniqlo as Japanese
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or Abercrombie&Fitch as American, because consumers associate the qualities of the fashion brand with the perceptions they have of the country in particular. In contrast, Zara gives rather the perception of a ‘global image’, instead of a ‘Made in Spain’ image. And precisely, it’s this positioning strategy that has contributed to Zara’s image, not only in Taiwan but also in the rest of the world.
Three interviewees have been to Spain before and among them, Joanne comments that she first knew about Zara when she traveled to Spain in 2003:
Before, when I visited Spain, Portugal and Canada, I could buy clothes
‘Made in Spain’, and in Japan I also saw items ‘Made in Spain’.
However lately these years in Taiwan and in Hong Kong most labels are printed as ‘Made in China’.
From her statement we can verify that the production label tag may have some kind of impact with the perception of the brand as coming from Spain. However, as she pointed out before, Zara is not directly connected with Spanish culture. And from our observation, Zara indeed does not promote a Spanish fashion or Spanish image. Nonetheless, what specially concerns Joanne are the negative news surrounding Zara: “Recently a lot of news related to Zara’s sweatshops and toxic chemicals in their clothes make me worry!” Joanne even provided me four links about such news published in Taiwanese media (CTS, TVBS and Apple Daily), in which the country of origin is emphasized by starting the articles with
“Spanish clothing retailer Zara” (西班牙平價服飾ZARA). Even one article that doesn’t report about Zara, but about the recent news related to clothing factories in Bangladesh, the title though includes Zara: “Sweatshops who produce clothes for GAP and Zara” (幫GAP、
ZARA製衣 孟加拉「血汗工廠」). Therefore, although Zara does not highlight the country
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of origin, Taiwanese media ‘do it’ on their behalf.
On the other hand, Vicky, who worked for some months at the Zara store in Kaohsiung city, says that she doesn’t have any special interest in Spanish culture or anything related to Spain. “I would read more about the background of the brand.” She says has downloaded Zara’s app on her phone: “I check it once every two weeks, to know if there is any new item, it’s like catalogue.”
As we observe in our interviewees’ opinions, Zara has little impact in their perception of Spanish culture, since Zara does not highlight its country of origin, instead, the image of a global fashion. Their interest towards Spain is not directly connected with Zara. They clearly separate the Spanish culture from the Zara culture. Once they know Zara comes from Spain, the only thing that may make them want to travel to Spain is to check there the prices of the Zara items, because they assume it’s cheaper than in Taiwan, as Spain is the ‘local’ store.
4.1.6 Impact of Zara on the consumer’s daily life
“If I haven’t bought any clothes for a while, I would think of visiting Zara.” Valeria
“My perspectives looking at clothes has been Zara-nized.” Joanne
“Yes, it does, because I often visit Zara, I feel I’m not used to it if I don’t go,” says Rachel, whose average visit frequency is twice a month. For her, visiting a Zara store has become a habit. And the same occurs to Valeria, who in the past month went twice to a Zara store. She even makes a comparison when going to Zara and Uniqlo:
If I haven’t bought any clothes for a while, I would think of visiting
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Zara. I have the same mood going to both Zara and Uniqlo. The only small difference is that the style in Zara is richer and the price is slightly more expensive, so I feel more like visiting the store, while in Uniqlo I have already in mind what to buy, for example, a basic T-Shirt or a sport coat. I have already a clear target.
We can say that visiting a Zara store has become a habit in their clothing consumption behavior. They don’t go to Zara stores with some specific item to buy, but just to look around and when they haven’t shopped for a while.
Alba follows their Facebook page, and it impacts in her daily life when connecting to Facebook:
No matter if I don’t check it, because every time it’s updated, it shows up on my news feed. And then I would check the Lookbook. Although I don’t purchase, I want to see the combinations of the clothes or any particular style. Only if there were some kind of discount, I would consider of purchasing.
Alba visits a Zara store once a month on average and spends monthly below 990 NTD.
She emphasizes she only considers purchasing in Zara when there are special deals. She is rather interested in the way the models of Lookbook combine the clothes and accessories.
On the other hand, Laura, who applied for an internship in Zara before but wasn’t chosen in the end, affirms that Zara must have probably made an impact on her clothing style. “I also visit Zara stores with friends who like Zara.” Laura goes to Zara once a month on average and spends monthly between 1,000 and 1,990 NTD in Zara. As well, Vicky agrees with Laura:
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From the collections of Zara I can know the key points of this season, and then I know clearly what to dress. When I am walking around in the night market, and if I choose any model, the style of Zara would be present in my mind.
Joanne believes that to some extent, Zara has made an impact in her daily life: “When Zara was not in Taiwan yet, every time I go abroad, I would go to the local Zara stores to purchase, so the impact should be on my purchasing behavior.” And since she purchases items in Zara, she notices that regarding aesthetics, Zara has indeed influenced her: “My perspectives looking at clothes has been Zara-nized.”
We can observe how Zara has made an impact in the clothing consumption behavior of Vicky and Joanne, and along with Laura, also in their respective clothing styles. Every time they window-shop or have intentions to purchase clothes or accessories, their selections are influenced by the style of Zara and by their previous experiences with Zara items.
Nonetheless, for Alice, who has a monthly spending in Zara between 2,000 and 2,990 NTD affirms, “Zara has not made any impact on my daily life.” Similarly, Vanessa and Louise, who don’t purchase in Zara, also believe so.
From our interviewees’ statements, we understand that there is no connection between purchasing in Zara and the possible impact of the brand in our daily life. The impact can come from the visits to the stores, the Lookbook and newsletters. However, there is a significant impact from the styles and clothes combinations they have observed from Zara, as they apply it or simulate for their own fashion style.
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4.1.7 Reason of Zara’s popularity in Taiwan
“Because the price is not very expensive, and the clothes are not very easy to become old fashioned.” Alice
“Zara is more popular in the central and northern part of Taiwan.”
Vicky
This ‘basic’ question refers to the initial motivations of our study. We want to know how Taiwanese Zara fashion consumers perceive the existent or non-existent popularity of the brand in Taiwan. We want to know what are the factors.
Rachel and Alba compare the popularity of the first months when Zara arrived in Taiwan and the situation now. According to Rachel, “in the beginning Zara was very popular because it’s famous. Of course it’s still very popular! Besides, in comparison with other famous brands the price in Zara is cheaper!” We can observe that the initial popularity of the brand comes from the overall reputation that Zara has achieved abroad. Whereas Alba describes two situations she thinks it’s hard to understand:
The first time I went to a Zara store in Taiwan was during the first days of its opening (November 2011). I accompanied a friend. There was a crowd and entrance was limited every certain period of time. But just this past month (April 2013), I went to the Zara in Dongqu area 東區 during the weekend, and to my surprise it was full of people queuing at the entrance. I was shocked and wondered “hasn’t Zara been established here for a long time already? How come such a scene can occur again?”
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Alba believes and clarifies that actually the popularity of Zara is not because it’s Zara, but because it’s a foreign brand: “Most people would visit the Zara store and/or buy (大家會 一窩蜂地去購買或逛), still until today, long after the opening day. I think this is a habit in Taiwan.” She believes that although prices are considered expensive here, people still buy because it’s a foreign brand. She adds, “I guess people like to show off and say I’ve been to Zara today!”
In contrast to what Rachel thinks of the prices in Zara “in comparison to other brands, it’s cheaper”, Alba considers the prices in Zara are indeed expensive, and people mainly purchase Zara or go to Zara just because of the foreign reputation. On the other hand, Alice disagrees slightly with Alba’s opinion: “There are many foreign brands in Taiwan, so I don’t think it’s a matter of foreign reputation or “revere foreign” (崇洋媚外).”Alice justifies the popularity of the brand as followed: “because the price is not very expensive, and the clothes are not very easy to become old fashioned.” Exactly what Zara promotes: fashion at affordable prices. Similarly, Valeria explains that the popularity of the brand comes from two key points in Zara’s business model, the rapid turnover of collections at affordable price:
Because in Taiwan there is no other European brand with such qualities:
fast and with a fair price. Besides, Zara covers several age strata, there are many collections addressed to different age strata of consumers; for example, Mango can’t do this.
As well as Valeria, Joanne believes that Zara sells at fair prices:
The concept of ‘fair price fashion’ in Taiwan is very popular. After all,
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and beautiful. Furthermore the price in Taiwan is settled with sincerity, it’s cheaper than in Hong Kong and Japan. Hence, good sales are inevitable.
Joanne further illustrates the possible Taiwanese consumer profile of Zara: “I think Zara in Taiwan is considered to be popular, but maybe only among people aged 20-40, and probably among female consumers. But I have many friends who buy clothes in the kid section for their children.”
However, what we have read until now are opinions from consumers who are more familiar to the Zara stores in Taipei and the fashion style in Taipei. Vicky, who lives in Kaohsiung city and worked for some months in the Zara store there, goes to Taipei from time to time. She believes that the so-called popularity does not apply for the rest of Taiwan:
I think that Zara is more popular in the central and northern part of Taiwan.
The sales of Zara in Kaohsiung are not as good as in Taipei. When I go to Taipei, I go to the Zara in Dongqu. I’ve found out that there are more models in Taipei than in Kaohsiung. As far as I know, there are no jackets in the man section in Kaohsiung.
In contrast to the comments above, Laura, a master student of Telecommunications, is not sure whether Zara is popular or not in Taiwan, especially among those consumers who haven’t heard about Zara before it arrived here:
I think that if one likes or pays attention to Zara, is probably in love with it or have a better understanding towards the brand. That consumer frequently checks new items or conveniently passes by the Zara store when he or she hangs out. And usually, the majority of such consumers
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know about Zara because they have been abroad, or purchase clothes with brands, or they are fashion followers. But, regarding to those Taiwanese who have known Zara for the first time, since it came in Taipei 101, maybe they find Zara as just ok, or maybe think prices are still expensive. Zara has been in Taiwan for just one or two years, like for example most of my acquaintances, they haven’t quite got to know the brand, hence Zara is not popular for them.
From our interviewees’ statements we can observe that the main reason is the reputation the brand has achieved abroad, especially in other countries, not just locally in Spain. As well, we must point out that the concepts of rapid collections turnovers and fair price are strongly perceived by the consumers. And as Vicky pointed out, such popularity may differ across the country, as the fashion-awareness is mostly concentrated in the capital of Taipei.
However, as Laura explained, Zara has not been here for long (less than two years), hence
However, as Laura explained, Zara has not been here for long (less than two years), hence