Chapter 4. Research and Analysis
4.1 Interviews with Zara Taiwanese consumers
4.1.3 Value of Zara in Taiwan
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“create” their own style, by combining a bit of here (night markets, alleys or online clothing stores) and a bit of there (Zara). Taiwanese style today can be summarized in a phrase included in the 2011 special issue of the magazine Global Views Montly: “In order to be fashionable, one has to be smart in combining fashion (時髦還要聰明混搭出時尚)”.
Therefore, fashion in Taiwan is viewed as a social phenomenon, as fashion does not depend on any social hierarchy. Taiwanese’ own interests and daily life influence their own perspectives towards fashion. Thus, each one determines the directions of fashion change.
We have also observed how symbolic consumption works for some of them. For example, for Jojo and August, the consumption of Zara items is used as an outward expression of their own style, rather than communicating others about their own wealth, social status or sense of group membership. They actually consume the style that Zara items have, in order to express their own style and ultimately, their identity. Thus, as we reviewed before Baudrillard, we can observe Zara items for some of our interviewees do carry a further meaning beyond the mere functional purpose. Zara items have acquired a symbolic value, which these interviewees translate as style.
4.1.3 Value of Zara in Taiwan
“Zara doesn’t make people wait for new clothes to come. It’s this continuous introduction of new clothes what attracts the general
public.” Alba
“People dress Zara because of the way others perceive the brand -a highly valued one.” Vanessa
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August emphasizes the details of the designs in Zara: “From the outside you can see a usual piece of T-shirt, but if you look deeper, you find one sleeve with flounces. And this is exactly the kind of details that make Zara’s clothes so attractive.” In her opinion, Zara allows itself to sell at such prices because of the designs they produce. She explains: “With one sole pattern, Zara re-uses it by doing “new” models with different fabrics and colors, i.e.
designers will try to make the most of that pattern, especially, if it is a successful pattern.”
Jojo agrees with August. She illustrates her experience with Zara in the beginning, when it arrived in Taiwan (she did not know the brand before). She was shocked by the prices:
I just couldn’t understand why Zara was selling at such expensive prices. I remember two years ago, I saw a piece of basics in night markets sold at 150 NTD, and a similar one in Zara 790 NTD or 990 NTD. How come such a big difference? But then I realized that “the similar one” had some special design (the pattern wasn’t totally straight), it had indeed a couple of details that the one in night markets lacked. This is the reason why I eventually bought the one in Zara.
She justifies this purchase because she gives importance to the way she dresses herself.
She pays more attention to the design and details of the clothes, not just simply the appearance and functionality of the clothes. She adds, “Because dress and clothing represent yourself. I don’t want to dress randomly (因為穿著代表你自己，不想隨便).” From their statements, we can see that for Jojo and August, the value of the brand lies on the details of the items, and how they would evaluate purchasing Zara over models from other brands.
However, for Rachel, the value of Zara is, instead, the rapid turnover of collections:
“Every time I visit a Zara store, and see new items, it just makes me happy and makes me
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want to buy them.” Asking her whether she would buy immediately the items she likes, she nods and explains:
If I don’t buy what I like at that precise moment, it gets sold later very quickly. The only solution is to wait until the sales come out. But when it’s sales period, then you can’t find your size. But obviously I would still check the price first before jumping into the purchase.
From Rachel’s comment we can verify how the factor of rapid turnover in collections that Zara strongly promotes is well valued in Taiwan. Similarly, Alba believes that the variety of styles is thanks precisely to such rapid turnover of collections. “People won’t see that the clothes for the spring season during the whole three months remain the same; Zara doesn’t make people wait for new clothes to come. It’s this continuous introduction of new clothes what attracts the general public.” In contrast to Alba, as we mentioned before, for August, the reason behind the variety of styles is the re-use of a sole pattern. Nevertheless, this variety of styles is what lets Valeria and Laura consider that the value of Zara in Taiwan is the convenience of clothes combinations: “Zara suits my clothing style,” says Laura.
Vanessa believes that the value lies on the brand itself: “People dress Zara because of the way others perceive the brand -a highly valued one.” Vanessa’s opinion implies that it’s mainly about the popularity of the brand and its impression it gives to the general public.
Some people, without being asked, would say on purpose “I’m wearing Zara clothes!” or
“I’ve been to Zara today.”
Alice and Joanne believe that the value of Zara lies on the fair price. We suppose that it’s because they have full-time jobs and with their monthly spending in clothes they can afford more choices. And among all the clothing brands established in Taiwan, Zara is considered
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to offer a fair price. Joanne adds that Zara is fashionable, while Alice considers the fabrics’
quality as good. Alba points out the price, “If we compare similar models with other brands, I think that Zara is cheaper, affordable and acceptable.” However, she says, “Although I still think that the quality and the price don’t match.” As we mentioned before, Zara is still considered expensive for Taiwanese standards.
We can now summarize the main five values of Zara in Taiwan found in the statements of our interviewees: The details, the rapid turnover of collections, the variety of styles, the popularity of the brand, and the fair price. Precisely these are the values that make Zara attractive to Taiwanese fashion consumers.