打造一個成功的零售服裝品牌：以Abercrombie and Fitch公司為例 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學國際傳播英語碩士學位學程 International Master’s Program in International Communication Studies College of Communication National Chengchi University. 碩士論文. 政治 Master’s Thesis大. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學 sit. y. Nat. 打造一個成功的零售服裝品牌：. er. io. 以 Abercrombie and Fitch 公司為例. al. n. v i n Ch The Making of a Successful Retail Fashion Brand: engchi U Abercrombie and Fitch Co. as an Example. Student: Christine Fan 樊亭余 Advisor: Professor Kuo Cheng 郭貞. 中華民國 103 年 8 月 August 2014.

(2) Acknowledgements Finally this long journey has finally come to an end, but it leads to a new beginning! First, I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents, thank you for supporting me through this long journey, even though there were times that I wanted to give up you always encouraged me to pull through! To my brothers William and Jason thank you for dealing with my mood swings and nonsense throughout this period of thesis writing. I love you all so much! Second, I would like to thank my adviser Dr. Cheng Kuo for helping me throughout this long process. With all of her patience and guidance I am very grateful to have her as my. 治政大 members Prof. Yuhmiin teacher. I would like to show great appreciation to my committee 立 Chang and Prof. Cathy Weng. Thank you for all the help and teaching you have given me. ‧ 國. 學. though this process of thesis writing.. ‧. Thirdly, I'd like to thank "Tanga Clan" my lazy twin, Barbara Moi. I love you and you. sit. y. Nat. will always be my African sister! To Sebastian Cabrera Leon for always cheering us on and. io. the near future!. er. being an awesome friend from llama land! Tanga Clan will open a new chapter very soon in. al. n. v i n C hand Camille "Bearsh Next, a huge thank you to Juan e n g c h i U Famiry" thank you for always. being there for me through the good and bad times, without you guys this journey wouldn't have been easy. I'd like to thank Dora and Daniel "Fei Zu Darlings" for always cheering me up when I wanted to quit. I'd also like to thank Ian Wang for helping me through the stage of conquering statistical numbers. Thanks to all the friends at "Longmen Starbucks" from late night study sessions and large amounts of caffeine.. Thank you to all the people and friends that I have met along this journey. Daisy, David, Yiting, Amy, Color Family, EveryPeoples, Cat’s, Joanne, Sandy, Ryan, Yoko, Carol,. . i .

(3) Stanley and many others, you know who you are! Last but not least, Thank you IMICS for the help and fun times at NCCU.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. . Ch. engchi. ii . i n U. v.

(4) Abstract In this study the researcher examined the influence of Taiwanese consumers behavior towards overseas retail fashion brand Abercrombie and Fitch Co. The brand was established in the United States of America that offers a range of products such casual sportswear apparel, outerwear, and accessories for men, women, and kids. This study investigated on Taiwanese consumers brand awareness, brand image and purchase intention for the brand. A quantitative analysis will be used for this research by using convenience sampling survey which were distributed online. A total of 192 samples were used for this study. 政治大. (34.9%) of the respondents were male and (65.1%) were female. The researcher used. 立. hierarchical multiple regression analysis to test for the results that were needed for this study.. ‧ 國. 學. The findings indicated that purchase intention is heavily influenced by brand. ‧. awareness and brand image; meanwhile, consumers with higher levels of conspicuous consumption and fashion conscious orientations have greater brand knowledge and better. y. Nat. io. sit. brand image about Abercrombie and Fitch Co. Getting fashion information from friends and. n. al. er. internet led to greater brand awareness about Abercrombie and Fitch Co.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Keywords: Brand Awareness, Brand Image, Conspicuous Consumption, Fashion Consciences, Purchase Intention, Brand Information Source . iii .

(5) 中文摘要. 此研究將探討台灣消費者的消費行為對於國外知名零售絣牌 Abercrombie and Fitch Co. 本品牌建立位於美國以休閒服裝為主，。此研究會探討品牌知名度，品牌形象，購買意向對於這個品牌。此研究採用便利抽樣調查以定量分析取出結果。本研究採取 192 個樣本中 34.9%為男性，65.1%為女性。研究員採用階層回歸分析調查出本研究調查。調查結果指出消費者俱有高度認知對於品牌知名度和品牌形會有嚴重影響消費者的購買意向。. 政治大同時，消費者俱有高度炫耀性消費和時尚觀念對於 Abercrombie and Fitch Co. 品牌知名立. ‧ 國. 學. 度和品牌形的認知會增加。Abercrombie and Fitch Co. 的資訊來源大多數以網路和朋友，因此也提升消費者的品牌知名度對於此品牌。. ‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 關鍵字：品牌知名度，品牌形象，炫耀性消費，時尚觀念，購買意向，品牌資訊來源 . iv .

(6) Table of Contents I. Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………... II. Abstract………………………………………………………………………… III. Chinese Abstract……………………………………………………………… IV. Table of Contents…………………………………………………………….. V. List of Tables………………………………………………………………….. VI. List of Figures…………………………………………………………………. i iii iv v vii vii. Chapter 1 Introduction……………………………………………………………. 1.1 Motivation…………………………………………………………….. 1.2 Purpose of Study …………………………………………………….... 1 2 3. Chapter 2 Literature Review……………………………………………………… 2.1 Consumer Orientation………………………………………………… 2.2 Conspicuous Consumption…………………………………………… 2.3 Fashion Consciousness……………………………………………….. 2.4 Brand Knowledge…………………………………………………….. 2.5 Brand Awareness……………………………………………………… 2.6 Brand Image…………………………………………………………... 2.7 Brand Information Source…………………………………………….. 2.8 Purchase Intention…………………………………………………….. 2.9 Abercrombie and Fitch Co.: Overview……………………………….. 2.9.1 Abercrombie & Fitch……………………………………………….. 2.9.2 abercrombie…………………………………………………………. 2.9.3 Hollister……………………………………………………………... 2.9.4 Gilly Hicks………………………………………………………….. 2.10 Abercrombie and Fitch Co.: Marketing and Advertising…………… 2.11 Abercrombie and Fitch Co. Current Situation………………………. 2.12 Abercrombie and Fitch Co. in the USA……………………………... 2.13 Abercrombie and Fitch Co. Expansion in Asia/ Taiwan……………... 5 5 5 6 7 8 8 9 10 11 12 12 13 13 13 17 17 18. 3.2 Research Hypothesis………………………………………………….. 3.2.1 Gender………………………………………………………………. 3.2.2 Conspicuous Consumption………………………………………….. 3.2.3 Fashion Conciseness………………………………………………… 3.2.4 Brand Information Source…………………………………………... 3.2.5 Brand Knowledge…………………………………………………… 3.3 Data Collection………………………………………………………... 3.4 Measurement of Research Variables………………………………….. 3.4.1 Gender………………………………………………………………. 3.4.2 Conspicuous Consumption………………………………………….. 3.4.3 Fashion Consciousness……………………………………………… 3.4.4 Brand Awareness……………………………………………………. 3.4.5 Brand Image……………………………………………………….... 3.4.6 Purchase Intention…………………………………………………... 3.4.7 Brand Information Source…………………………………………... 3.5 Measurement of Brand Information Source………………………….... 19 19 20 20 21 22 22 23 24 25 26 26 26 27 27 27 28 29. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. n. v i n Ch Chapter 3 Research Methodology………………………………………………… engchi U 3.1 Research Framework…………………………………………………... . v .

(7) 3.6 Data Analysis Procedures…………………………………………….... 30. Chapter 4 Results………………………………………………………………….. 4.1 Descriptive Analysis…………………………………………………... 4.1.1 Demographics……………………………………………………….. 4.1.2 Brand Information Source…………………………………………... 4.1.3 Brand Knowledge…………………………………………………… 4.1.4 Purchase Intention…………………………………………………... 4.2 Hypothesis Testing…………………………………………………….. 31 31 31 32 32 33 33. Chapter 5 Discussion……………………………………………………………… 5.1 Gender ………………………………………………………………... 5.2 Conspicuous Consumption and Fashion Conciseness………………… 5.3 Brand Awareness and Brand Image…………………………………... 5.4 Brand Information Source…………………………………………….. 5.5 Limitations and Future Research………………………………………. 40 41 41 42 42 43. 政治大. References Appendix 1: Questionnaire (English Version) …………………………………… Appendix 2: Questionnaire (Chinese Version) ………………………………….... 學. . ‧ 國. 立. . ‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. . Ch. engchi. vi . i n U. v. 44 48 50.

(8) List of Figures Figure 1: Research Framework……………………………………………………. 19. List of Tables Table 1: Measurement of Research Variables……………………………………. Table 2: Measurement of Brand Information Source…………………………….. Table 3: Demographic Information………………………………………………. Table 4: Mean Values of Variables for Conspicuous Consumption, Fashion Conciseness, Brand Information Source, Brand Knowledge, and Purchase Intention…………………………………………………………………………... Table 5: T-test Results Comparing Gender to Brand Awareness, Brand Image and Purchase Intention……………………………………………………………. Table 6: Hierarchical Multiple Regression of Purchase Intention………………... Table 7: Hierarchical Multiple Regression of Brand Awareness…………………. Table 8: Hierarchical Multiple Regression of Brand Image……………………… Table 9: Results Addressing Research Hypotheses……………………………….. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. . Ch. engchi. vii . i n U. v. 28 30 32 33. 34 35 36 37 40.

(9) Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Clothing is essential for human beings, for some people it is something that is important to oneself, but for others its just getting dressed whether to look good or to feel comfortable, fashion has become an important role to many on a day-to-day basis. Nowadays we are categorized by the society on the way how we act, perceive others, and even set social statuses on first encounters. Therefore, the public is always cautious about how we appear to others and worry what how others perceive us. Being well dressed, and presentable is no longer an “extra effort” for one's daily attire. It has become a daily routine. 治政 to “dress up” for normal daily wear in formal and informal大 settings. In order to keep updated 立 ourselves as well as satisfying our audience.. 學. ‧ 國. with our appearance, we need to spend more time on buying clothes and accessories to satisfy. ‧. Many consumers need to spend a lot of money on “fashion”, but not everyone is able. sit. y. Nat. to afford couture and high fashion products. Being able to afford couture or high fashion. io. er. brands it can also set ones social status level. Thus, in order to achieve the style for these upper class fashion styles and ideas, many retail fashion brands have emerged to the market.. al. n. v i n Cfashion Over the past years, the retail has boomed and made some h e nindustry gchi U. companies become very successful. Abercrombie and Fitch Co. is a brand, which is a popular retail casual wear brand which is well know for many consumers aged 17- 24 in the United States. Having branches across the country of the United States, the company is now expanding out to foreign countries to create more market and revenue. The brand has started to open its arms to the Asian market with a flagship store based in Hong Kong, which is located in the high-end district of the city. In order to draw consumer’s attention the brand needs to have strategies to attract its customers. In this research, the researcher will focus on how does demographics affect consumer purchase.

(10) intentions, as well as using consumer orientations such as conspicuous consumption and fashion consciousness to determine if these variables have an influence on purchase intention. Also taking how do the consumers gain their interest through brand information sources and does this affect the consumers purchase intention.. 1.1 Motivation The motivation of this study is first, I am curious about how are Taiwanese consumers affected and influenced by the western culture. Because I was born in Taiwan but grew up in South Africa. I have inherited the culture and language as a “Western” thus, moving back to. 治政 Taiwan I have found many local Taiwanese consumers that大 have a fad towards being more 立 “Western looking” also know as being “ABC” (American Born Chinese) it seemed to be. ‧ 國. 學. more attractive and popular if you didn’t look like a local. That said I started to notice that a. sit. y. Nat. Which caught my attention to look into this brand.. ‧. brand logo called “Abercrombie and Fitch” was appearing on most of the consumers clothes.. io. er. Second, I personally am fascinated by the different fashion trends in Taiwan, whether from high fashion brands to local and other international retail clothing brands, but although. al. n. v i n we have a large versatile variety to C select but why is Abercrombie and Fitch such a hit h efrom, ngchi U to most consumers in Taiwan, even though not having an actual store in the Taiwanese. market, the brand can still draw a lot of consumer's attention and are willing to fly overseas to other countries such as Hong Kong, China, and Japan to purchase their clothing and products. Lastly, the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch, Micheal Jeffries made controversial comments on how the brand is only suitable for “cool kids” and “good looking people” which resurfaced from January 24, 2006, which backfired on the company seven years later. In the year 2013 their stock dropping 17% in their first quarter of sales and this decrease was before the outbreak of the CEO’s comment back in 2006. Which brings me to my last motive on. . 2 .

(11) whether or not does the company’s negative outbreak or negative brand image influence consumers behavior. Also do consumers still have the desire to continue to support or purchase the brands products. Also I would like to determine how do Taiwanese consumers make or build association with a brand that is not yet in the market in Taiwan, but still have great popularity and revenue.. 1.2 Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is first, to find out whether demographics (i.e. gender, age, education, income) has an influence on brand knowledge and purchase intention. “People are. 治政 positioned to take actions and consume products to achieve大 identities consistent with their 立. ideal self-images. Second, the theory asserts that there is not just one global identity that a. ‧ 國. 學. person enacts, but multiple identities, triggered or activated as a function of the contrasting. ‧. social contexts in which the person moves.” (Kleine et al. 1993). Therefore, having to test for. sit. y. Nat. if Taiwanese consumers purchase intention can be influenced by demographics. Second, is to. io. er. understand, does consumer orientation (i.e. conspicuous consumption, fashion consciousness) have an influence on purchase intention. “People purchase conspicuous goods not simply. al. n. v i n Calso because of their functional utility but social needs by deliberately signaling h etonfulfill gchi U. wealth and status” (Nunes, Drèze, and Han 2011; Veblen 1899). Thus, combined by the data from demographics variable we aim to find out if consumer orientation has an influence on consumer purchase intention. The third part of the research, the author would test for whether brand information source (i.e. family, friend, Internet) have an impact on consumers purchase intention, brand awareness, and brand image. For not having an actual store in the Taiwanese market of Abercrombie and Fitch, consumers may gather their information from either family or friends, then search for more information online. “Consumers tend to search for more. . 3 .

(12) information before making their purchase when they are making decision” (Chao & Rajendran, 1993). Thus, determining how do consumers gather their information about the product and brand. Last, with all the variables (demographics, consumer orientation, brand information source) I will test if these variables will have an influence on brand knowledge (i.e. brand awareness, brand image) “Consumers usually prefer well-known brands, because they presume that they are associated with higher quality. Thus, brand image not only affects how consumers view a product, but also has the benefit of lowering purchase risks” (Loudon & Della Bitta, 1988). Because consumers go through a process of consumer choice before. 治政大brand knowledge may have a making the final purchase of the perceived product, therefore 立 great influence for the consumer and have an impact on purchase intention.. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. . Ch. engchi. 4 . i n U. v.

(13) CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter of the research the author will focus on the literature review regarding on consumer behavior, consumer orientation, which consists of conspicuous consumption and fashion consciousness. Another variable is brand knowledge which consists of brand awareness and brand image. To finish the first part of the literature review with the last variable purchase intention. The last section of the literature review the author will address information about the famous retail fashion brand that bloomed in revenue and expanding worldwide. Also learning how the brand transformed itself from a sports equipment seller to. 治政 a multi-million dollar fashion retail company as it is today.大 We also examine what and how 立 the company targets its customers and promotes their brand to become popular for its. ‧ 國. 學. international market.. ‧ sit. y. Nat. 2.1 Consumer Orientation. io. er. In an attempt to better understand individual orientations, research in psychology divides orientation into directive and dynamic, both of which are found to affect decision making. al. n. v i n regarding consumption of products C (McGuire, 1976). In consumer research, orientation has heng chi U been found to be a set of traits existing in individuals that result in an outcome behavior. (McGuire, 1976). In this research consumer orientation will consist the variable conspicuous consumption and fashion consciousness, which are tested to find if consumer orientation will have an effect on brand knowledge and purchase intention.. 2.2 Conspicuous Consumption Conspicuous is defined as “very noticeable or easy to see, especially because of being unusual or different”, “eye catching”, and “prominent” but in addition to the word. . 5 .

(14) “consumption” the definition of “conspicuous consumption” is to have the meaning of “wasteful and lavish consumption expenses to enhance social prestige.” As the society change, marketing and advertising adapts with the society in order to fulfill the needs of the society. Consumers nowadays are no longer satisfied with goods or services that are standardized as equal, but strive to find differentiation or uniqueness, thus conspicuous consumption is formed. A hundred years ago, according to Thorstein Veblen (1899) he proposed that “American rich were spending a significant portion of their time and money on unnecessary and unproductive leisure expenditures and coined the term conspicuous consumption to. 治政大to understand that conspicuous describe the behavior.” (as seen in Chaudhuri, 2006) Having 立 consumption is classified as consumption that is consumed in an “unproductive leisure. ‧ 國. 學. expenditure” which is describe as a behavior.. ‧. The Theory of Veblen presents conspicuousness as a judged conduct in which status. sit. y. Nat. considerations overrule. To propose “individuals efforts to excel in pecuniary standing” or. io. er. “in the struggle to outdo one another the city population push their normal standard of conspicuous consumption to a higher point.” (Veblen, 1899, p. 53). n. al. 2.3 Fashion Consciousness. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. According to Summers, 1970; Jonathan and Mills, 1982 Fashion consciousness refers to a person’s degree of involvement with the styles or fashion of clothing. An individual does not have to be either a fashion opinion leader or a fashion innovator to be considered fashion conscious. Rather, fashion consciousness is characterized by an interest in clothing and fashion, and in one’s appearance. But as time and fashion evolves, people change with time thus Walsh et al., 2001 found that fashion consciousness among German consumers was related to a desire for up-to-date styles, frequent changes in one’s wardrobe and pleasurable. . 6 .

(15) shopping experiences. As said, fashion moves in a rapid pace and it changes from season to season, thus consumers who are aware of fashion tend to use different ways to get information about fashion. Greco & Paksoy (1989) found that fashion-conscious shoppers rely more on mass media information sources than do non-fashion-conscious segments. Therefore, the Internet may also become a viable source of fashion information (Ross, 2000).. 2.4 Brand Information Source . According to Ward and Ostrom (2003) the Internet provides consumers with far more. 治政 variety in information sources and content when compared大 to traditional sources that 立. marketers were able to control with reasonable effort. To reduce a variety of risks involved in. ‧ 國. 學. buying decisions, consumers constantly search for available information internally or. ‧. externally (Beatty & Smith, 1987; Murray, 1991). The relationship between internal and. sit. y. Nat. external searching has been well documented in the consumer information processing. io. er. literature (Bettman, 1979). According to Bettman (1979), internal information search, by definition, involves memory; whereas external information search involves non-memory. al. n. v i n sources. In a comprehensive reviewC ofh consumer search behavior, e n g c h i U Srinivasan (1990) gives a nice explanation of the interactive process between the internal and external search. . 2.5 Brand Knowledge In order to create a strong and successful brands, marketers need to understand what the target market should be for the brand that is evolving. When we look at brand knowledge we understand that it is made up of two important components, one is brand awareness and the other is brand image. Brand awareness and brand image is the reaction or feeling from the consumer side. Thus, consumers can be controlled by the brand or the company itself via. . 7 .

(16) media and communication. Brand image is correlated with functional and emotional elements which marketers can help companies communicate with its consumers. By correlating diverse information, such as awareness, attributes, benefits, images, thoughts, feelings, attitudes and experiences, to a brand constitutes brand knowledge (Keller, 2003). Brand knowledge is based upon a constant communication with consumers that elicits real comprehension of the product or service (Richards et al., 1998). Keller (2003) defined consumer brand knowledge as all descriptive and evaluative brand-related information, which was individualistic inference about a brand stored in consumer memory. “The overall value. 治政 of a brand is it demonstrates its equity” (Kaplan, 2007) and大 according to Aaker, 1996 “a set 立 of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name and symbol, that add to or subtract. ‧ 國. 學. from the value provided by a product to a firm, or to a firm’s customers or to that firm’s. ‧. customers.” It includes brand related notions such as brand awareness and brand image,. sit er. io. 2.6 Brand Awareness. y. Nat. which compose brand knowledge and directly affect consumer responses (Keller, 1993).. al. n. v i n Brand Awareness means theC ability can recognize and recall a brand in h e ofnagconsumer chi U. different situations (Aaker, 1996.) Brand awareness consists of brand recall and brand. recognition. Brand recall means when consumers see a product category, they can recall a brand name exactly, and brand recognition means consumers has ability to identify a brand when there is a brand cue. That is, consumers can tell a brand correctly if they ever saw or heard it. Brand awareness is related to the strength of a brand node in consumers’ memory and can be reflected by consumers’ ability to recognize the brand within various contexts or situations (Rossiter & Percy, 1987). Brand awareness plays an important role on purchase intention because consumers tend to buy a familiar or well-known product (Keller, 1993;. . 8 .

(17) Macdonald & Sharp, 2000). Brand awareness can help consumers to recognize a brand from a product category and make purchase decision (Percy & Rossiter, 1992). Brand awareness also acts as a critical factor in the consumer purchase intention, and certain brands will accumulate in consumers mind to influence consumer purchase decision. A product with a high level of brand awareness will receive higher consumer preferences because it has higher market share and quality evaluation (Dodds et al., 1991; Grewal et al., 1998).. 2.7 Brand Image De Chernatony & McDonald (1998) defined a successful brand as “an identifiable. 治政 product, service, person, or place augmented in such a way大 that the buyer or user perceives 立. relevant, unique added values which match their needs most closely. Its success results from. ‧ 國. 學. being able to sustain these added values against competitors.”. ‧. Brand image has been argued by brand management scholars (e.g. Aaker, 1996;. sit. y. Nat. Kapferer, 1997) that an essential part of powerful brands which enable brands to differentiate. io. er. their products from their competitors. Brand image is made up of brand association (Koubaa, 2008) it is a set of perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand associations held in the. n. al. Ch. consumers’ memory (Herzog, 1963).. engchi. i n U. v. As seen from (Hubanic & Hubanic, 2009) “Brand image reflects consumers’ perceptions of a brand’s characteristics and can be determined by their associations. The image refers to the way in which consumers’ interpret all of the signals coming from the products, services and communication covered by the brand. Brand image should convey the product’s distinctive benefits and positioning.” It is essential for companies to have a positive and well-known image as an asset, because the image is an important and powerful purchase influencer that affects the consumers’ perception of the company and its communication.. . 9 .

(18) According to Kapferer, 2004 & Grönroos, 2002. The image is the way in which consumers interpret all of the signals coming from the products, services and communication covered by the brand. It reflects the value that customers, possible customers and lost customers associate with the company. A brand has several brand images. The key is to identify the most powerful images and reinforce them through consequent communication. Brand image has four purposes; brand image communicates expectations, it influences the perception of a company’s activities, brand image is a result of consumers’ experiences as well as their expectations and it affects the company internally (Grönroos, 2002). 2.8 Purchase Intention . 立. 政治大. Purchase intention is a kind of decision in which studied why a customer purchases. ‧ 國. 學. a brand in particular. Constructs like considering something purchasing a brand and. ‧. anticipating to purchase a brand aids to scope the intentions of purchasing (Porter, 1974).. sit. y. Nat. Customers’ intention to purchase a focused brand is not merely by his same brand attitude,. io. er. but also by his attitudes leading to other brands in choice of set considered which was elaborated from (Porter 1974). In order to purchase a product or service the consumer would. al. n. v i n C h Bachler, 2004) U portray a type of behavior which (Schoen e n g c h i explained a type of loyal customer, whose purchase decision is insensitive to pricing and the show their loyalty by suggesting positive recommendations to firm and even investing money in the brand which show their extreme trust in the brand. According to Wang, 2004 people of China who have affordability expensive imported branded items of clothing, they are becoming receptive in large number to fashionable styles internationally and demand for imported brand products increasing due to variations in behavior of the consumer as well as growing purchasing power.. . 10 .

(19) According to (Sproles and Kendall, 1986), a consumer’s decision making style is “a mental orientation characterizing a consumer’s approach to making choices”.. 2.9 Abercrombie and Fitch Co.: Overview What makes a brand special? Or put it this way “What makes Abercrombie and Fitch so special?” Every brand has its own story behind the business, for Abercrombie and Fitch Co. its evolving from a sportswear store into a trendy retail fashion store for people who wants to set a trend or be “more cool” in their social status. The company was founded in 1892 in Manhattan of New York City, known for being. 治政大was originally opened by a notable elite outfitter of outdoor and hunting equipment that 立. David T. Abercrombie and Ezra H. Fitch. Expensive shot guns, fishing rods, and tents were. ‧ 國. 學. the more noted products sold at that time. After 12 years of business the company filed for. ‧. chapter 11, bankruptcy and closed its Manhattan flagship store in 1976.. sit. y. Nat. This wasn’t the end of the Abercrombie and Fitch name. In 1978, Oshman’s Sporting. io. er. Goods bought the expired firm’s name and its mailing lists. Soon after Oshman’s rebooted Abercrombie and Fitch by a mail-order retailer that specialized in hunting wear and other. al. n. v i n quality items. By the mid 1980’s theCchain slowly opened other branches in Beverly h estore ngchi U Hills, Dallas, and in New York City. A few years later Oshman’s sold the company name. “Abercrombie and Fitch” to Limited brands in 1988, which is a clothing chain operator that is based in Columbus, Ohio. The current base of Abercrombie and Fitch Co. has stayed in Ohio. However, going through many transformations since its inception the company will thank the direction of CEO Michael Jeffries, Abercrombie & Fitch has firmly established itself in the apparel industry. The company is unique in that it views its brand image and in-store experience as its greatest marketing vehicles. As said the Abercrombie and Fitch Co. brand has become a. . 11 .

(20) retailing niche as an aspirational “casual luxury” lifestyle brand. The company has a total of four brands that operates as sources of revenue: Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie, Hollister, and Gilly Hicks. Each of these brands has its own unique background and story to target different customers, that won’t overlap and avoid cannibalization of sales.. 2.9.1 Abercrombie & Fitch Abercrombie & Fitch is the main brand of the company the concept of the store is to give its consumers a sense of being exclusive and being unique. The products sold at the store. 政治大. range from knit and woven shirts, jackets, polo shirts, jeans, skirts, fragrances, swimwear,. 立. and accessories among other product lines. This is the flagship brand that is the most well. ‧ 國. 學. known to the Abercrombie & Fitch Co. Its target market aims at young adults aged between. ‧. 18-22 years of age, which also fits the image of Ivy League inspirations well. The philosophy of the brand is to give its customers high quality products, even through the economic crisis. y. Nat. believing its efforts will pay off in years to come.. n. al. 2.9.2 abercrombie. Ch. engchi. er. io. sit. the company refused to lower their prices thinking that it may tarnish the brand image and. i n U. v. This brand or line of the company is targeted at the younger generation on kids and teenagers, from the ages of 7-14 year olds. It exposes the “All-American” image, which resonates with other extension from the company called Hollister. But having a more strong emphasis on the East Coast Heritage. The “kids” line is cheaper prices compare to the adult Abercrombie & Fitch which is also popular for Taiwanese female consumers, due to the fact that the Taiwanese female have smaller body structure, therefore allowing them to fit the teenage sizes.. . 12 .

(21) 2.9.3 Hollister Hollister is another successful branch of the company, having the laidback spirit of Southern California in its products. It targets the age group of 14-18 year old both to the U.S market and abroad. Even though the brand has the beach relaxed vibe which most many consumers feel it’s the “equivalent” to Abercrombie & Fitch. As said, this brand gives off the. 政治大 shirts, dresses, swimwear, fragrances, 立 as well as accessories. Hollister is also priced cheaper vibe of bringing the beach to the world. Its products include jeans, shorts, t-shirts, dress. ‧ 國. 學. compared to Abercrombie & Fitch where some consumers feel they are paying less but the same quality and style of product.. ‧. 2.9.4 Gilly Hicks. sit. y. Nat. io. er. Gilly Hicks is not only the youngest brand to the company of Abercrombie and Fitch. al. Co. but also the most unique brand out of the four brands. The target market of this brand is. n. v i n C towards female consumers, because thehbrand in producing bras, underwear, and e n specializes gchi U swimwear for young woman. Gilly Hicks cites Sydney, Australia as the main source of its carefree and sexy inspiration. The vibe of the brand 2.10 Abercrombie and Fitch: Marketing and Advertising Abercrombie and Fitch’s mission statement: “We are committed to providing comfortable and lasting clothing that look good” Having a basic understanding of how Abercrombie exposes its image to its customers the company has a marketing plan that is different from other retailing companies, with that said Abercrombie & Fitch isn’t a company that associates with other companies. One of the company’s biggest belief is that they do not . 13 .

(22) resell their products to other customers or distributers, because they think that it will ruin the unique shopping experience that the store provides to its customers. Abercrombie & Fitch has made a great deal of effort toward brand protection for their products, they refuse having a third party reseller because they want their customers to feel exclusive when they purchase a product that can only be exclusive to the brand. This kind of marketing strategy is difficult to achieve due to a huge loss in revenue for the products that go to waste, but sets an “exclusive” image for the brand and for its customers to feel that they have some form of social status when wearing the brand.. 政治大. Abercrombie and Fitch have 3 strategies to keep and draw its customers back for. 立. more. First, the brand image of the company is one of their most important assets, due to the. ‧ 國. 學. positioning that they are able to charge a premium on their apparel.. ‧. The company has stayed true to its philosophy of only providing quality products to the customer, and believes that their efforts will be rewarded in the years to come, even. y. Nat. io. sit. through slow economic times the brand has refused to cut down on their product prices,. er. because they believe if they do so it would permanently tarnish their iconic brands. Instead. al. n. v i n the company will introduce new items in this way the C hfor their targeted consumers, engchi U. consumers that buy the product would retell their experience to others on how soft or how comfortable and good looking it makes them feel, this kind of word mouth advertising is also one of the company’s marketing strategies. Abercrombie & Fitch considers itself as one of the pioneers of using the in-store experience as a marketing vehicle due to limiting its outreaching marketing efforts, Abercrombie & Fitch regards their in-store experience as the greatest medium for each brand to communicate its ethos. From entering the store customers experience the unique scents, music, lighting, interior, and sales associates that produces the culture if the store’s brand. All. . 14 .

(23) stores are presented the same no matter which location but the feeling and attitude is the same for each brand. Having said that the company builds its image on having the “in store” experience for its customers, the famous scent of their fragrance “Fierce” is a scent that can but smelt once you are near the entrance of the store. The store assistants where required to promote the company’s exclusive fragrance to its customers by handing them blotter cards with spritz of the “Fierce” fragrance and on an hourly routine of spraying the fragrance every 30 to 45 minutes on the clothing and within the store. When the store assistants hand their customers the blotter cards they approach the. 政治大. customers by asking “Get Fierce or Have you checked out our fragrance Fierce?” with this. 立. tag line the company is promoting the brand and the product through the in store experience.. ‧ 國. 學. Soon the company installed automatic spritz machines to keep the store smelling fragrant of the scent. By engaging the scent to the customer’s interests and attention demonstrating the. ‧. advantage and benefits of the unique perfume. Even though all these four brands have stores. Nat. sit. y. in the United States but they also have their way of being direct to their customers, by having. n. al. er. io. official websites for their brands and customers from all over the world can purchase their. i n U. v. items online, also each website is designed to give customers an in-store experience too,. Ch. engchi. having models wearing their clothes and looking good.. Another strategy that the company started to establish to draw more customers to shop at the stores as well as online, they started to have special promotion sales which was something that the brand claimed never to have sale items or special promotion sales on their products. Overtime with the decline of the economy and other retail chain stores as competitors, the brand started offering different types of promotion strategies such as free shipping on purchases over $250 or 25% discount off the total purchase, there are also times you may get an extra coupon for 25% discount off total purchase for consumers to use for. . 15 .

(24) there next purchase, this strategy keeps customers coming back and continue to shop. Through independent websites social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snap Chat all have their own independent fan page to give the direct to consumer experience and exposure for international markets. These fanpages are updated daily to keep its followers attached to the brand and lets their audience feel involved. The company not only have social media platforms for their customers to follow the company have also created App’s for customers to download and are able to shop through the app and makes the experience more personal, as said there is also a app that features the. 政治大. music and playlist that are exclusively played in the stores, consumers can purchase the. 立. playlist app and listen to the music that are played in the current month. As mentioned from. ‧ 國. 學. the above Abercrombie has fulfilled the AIDA marketing theory, by attracting the customer’s. ‧. attention (awareness) with images of good looking male models posing in store, which raises interest in customers by focusing on demonstrating and benefits of the brand. Convincing. y. Nat. io. sit. customers to have the desire the product and in store experience that will satisfy their needs.. n. al. er. Therefore, the action leading the consumers towards purchasing the product.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. What makes the brand Abercrombie and Fitch so appealing to consumers? Having mentioned that the brand portrays an image of being the “popular and cool” kids in school. Thus, making the consumer relate or perceive the image as “when seen in Abercrombie & Fitch clothing you are categorized being in with the popular crowd” The brand always has an image of good - looking models in their clothes posing for their huge blow up photographs within their stores and their shopping bags. The actual stores also spend time making sure the store always smells good with their signature perfume that can be smelt when you are shopping in the store which is one of the ethics of the company to let their customers to have. . 16 .

(25) the “in store” experience. As said, consumers may get the lured or attached to the company’s promoting strategies.. 2.11 Abercrombie and Fitch: Current Situation The Abercrombie and Fitch Company is said to have a very well formed training program for it employees when they start working at the head office which they call their headquarters “campus” which creates a feeling of having to be in college and always being “young and cool” Being young and cool is the motto for the company, as told by past. 治政大 on a day to day bases. The employees the company has rules and regulations for its workers 立. mastermind of the company is Mr. Michael S. Jefferies who transformed the company image. ‧ 國. 學. from failing outfitter of miscellaneous supplies to a successful specialty retailer of apparel as. ‧. it is today. He has built an image for young adults to have a sense of style that is casual yet. sit. y. Nat. cool. His intentions of preserving the company’s prestigious brand image, and refusing to cut. io. n. al. er. corners even during economic recessions.. Ch. 2.12 Abercrombie and Fitch in the United States. engchi. i n U. v. The company started in the United States of America in the 1892 as a store providing quality sporting goods, later selling the name Abercrombie and Fitch name to the Limited Brands, which is now the head office of the company. The Limited Brands changed the brand into a million dollar retail brand, which now has about more that 1000 stores worldwide and still expanding. Although the company closed 68 stores in Fiscal 2011, and reaching a total of 135 stores since the Fiscal 2010. Abercrombie & Fitch attempts to focus its efforts on comparable stores by increasing its sales. Respectively the company has seen an 7% and 5% for Fiscal. . 17 .

(26) years 2010 and 2011, from the 23% decrease in comparable store sales in the 2009 Fiscal year. From having extended its domestic efforts to its two distribution centers, the company has consolidated the distribution centers into one. The decision of the project was to increase future efficiencies and lower operating costs for the company. 2.13 Abercrombie and Fitch Co.: Expansion to The Asian Market The popularity of the brand Abercrombie and Fitch is still increasing worldwide. Thus, making the international market still increasing and gaining revenue. The company opened its flagship store in Hong Kong, one of the fashion capitals in Asia and the center of. 政治大. the Asian market. Abercrombie & Fitch has managed to greatly increase its number of. 立. international stores including other flagship stores outside of the Untied States of America,. ‧ 國. 學. such as Munich, Amsterdam, Dublin, Hamburg, and Shanghai. Rumor has it that the company will step into the Taiwanese market in 2015, locating itself in the center of Taipei. ‧. City. These stores typically have disproportionate sales in comparison to normal stores. Nat. sit. y. because of their increased square footage and placement. However, per square foot,. n. al. i n U. is an encouraging sign for the company for the Asian market.. . Ch. engchi. 18 . er. io. international stores are still outperforming domestic stores by a ratio that exceeds 2:1. Which. v.

(27) Chapter 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Following the literature review from chapter 2 this chapter will discuss the research method used for this research. First, the research framework is introduced, followed by the research hypothesis, research procedure, data collection, research variables, measurement of variables, and lastly with data analysis for this research.. 3.1 Research Framework In this study, the researcher has conducted a framework to understand how each. ‧ 國. 學. H1b . H2c . Ch. engchi H2b . H2d H3a H3b . Brand Information Source -‐Family -‐Friends -‐Internet Figure 1- Research Framework. . 19 . sit. -‐Brand Awareness -‐Brand Image . H4 . er. n. -‐Conspicuous Consumption -‐Fashion Consciousness . al. y. H1a . io H2a . ‧. Demographics -‐Gender . Nat. Individual Differences . 治政 independent variable may affect the dependent variable. 大立. i n U. v. Purchase Intention .

(28) 3.2 Research Hypothesis In this section of the research the researcher has summarized the most relevant conclusions made upon the literature review that helped draw up the following research hypotheses.. The objective of this research is to understand the role of gender, consumer. orientation, and brand knowledge have an influence on consumer purchase intention of Abercrombie & Fitch products.. 3.2.1 Gender Many studies have tested the difference between male and female consumers’. 治政 purchase intention. It was shown that males characteristics大 do not like to ask for advice and 立 consult from other people (Krithika, 2005). A research study showed the. ‧ 國. 學. differences between males and females in accordance with the relationship between. ‧. subjective knowledge, experience and perceived product evaluation difficulty. They. sit. y. Nat. hypothesized and proved that subjective knowledge is a positively correlated with product-. io. er. related experience and inversely related to the perceived evaluation difficulty of products; product-related experience is also inversely related to the perceived evaluation difficulty; the. al. n. v i n Cexperience relationship between product-related subjective knowledge is more strongly h e n gand chi U and positively correlated for females than for males and perceived evaluation difficulty scores are significantly higher for females (i.e. females perceive evaluating goods and services as a more difficult process) (Laroche et al, 2003) Based on the previous finding, hypothesis H1a was derived as follows: H1a: Female consumers are more like to have greater brand awareness and brand image than males consumers.. . 20 .

(29) Continued by Dr. Krithika (2005), with the comparing gender between male and female across four countries as Thailand, Singapore, Australia and USA, found out that, when making purchase decision males will make the decision faster and more efficient than females. Because of, males are playing more leader role than females and also have the different characteristic if compare with females. The characteristics of females are preferred to negotiate intellectual and compromise will make them slower than males when making the decision. Which concludes the next hypothesis: H1b: Female consumers are more likely to have purchase intention than female consumers.. 治政大 3.2.2 Conspicuous Consumption 立. A study done by (Solomon et al. 2002) suggests that consumers may purchase products or. ‧ 國. 學. brands in order to obtain their intangible values. Social value is one type of intangible values.. ‧. Products have been known to possess symbolic or conspicuous consumption value in excess. sit. y. Nat. of their functional utility (Veblen, 1899). According to Goldsmith et al. (1996) assert that. io. er. “one important motivating force that influences a wide range of consumer behavior is the desire to gain status or social prestige from the acquisition and consumption of goods.. al. n. v i n C hsocial status and social Furthermore, perceived value includes e n g c h i U prestige.” The following hypotheses were formed:. H2a: The higher level of conspicuous consumption a consumer has, the greater the brand awareness and better brand image in Abercrombie & Fitch he or she will have. H2b: The higher level of conspicuous consumption a consumer has, the greater the purchase intention for Abercrombie & Fitch he or she will have.. . 21 .

(30) 3.2.3 Fashion Consciousness It refers to the ability of a potential buyer to recognize or recall a brand as a member of a certain product category (Aaker, 1991). According to Keller (1993), brand awareness consists of two sub-dimensions: brand recall and recognition. Brand recognition is the basic first step in the task of brand communication, whereby a firm communicates the product’s attributes until a brand name is established with which to associate them. Brand awareness can be a sign of quality and commitment, letting consumers become familiar with a brand and helping them consider it at the point of purchase (Aaker, 1991). It is important for consumers to recall and recognize the brand in order for the purchase or decision to be made. Therefore, the following hypothesis:. 立. 政治大. H2c: The higher level of fashion consciousness a consumer has, the greater the brand. ‧ 國. 學. awareness and better brand image in Abercrombie & Fitch he or she will have.. er. io. sit. y. Nat. intention for Abercrombie & Fitch he or she will have.. ‧. H2d: The higher level of fashion consciousness a consumer has, the greater the purchase. 3.2.4 Brand Information Source. al. n. v i n Consumers first rely on theirCown previously learned from direct h ememories, ngchi U. experience or indirect observations, to figure out a branded product’s expected performance. They either trust what they already know about a brand or infer expected quality of a branded product. Then, if internal information is insufficient to reach a certain trust level, consumers turn to external information searches to decrease uncertainty about a branded product (Srinivasan 1990). Thus, hypotheses are as follows:. . 22 .

(31) H3a: The more information Taiwanese consumers’ get from family and Internet the greater the brand awareness and brand image about Abercrombie & Fitch. H3b: The more information Taiwanese consumers’ get from family and Internet the greater purchase intention for Abercrombie & Fitch.. 3.2.5 Brand Knowledge Brand awareness plays an important role on purchase intention because consumers tend to buy a familiar and well known product (Keller, 1993; Macdonald and Sharp, 2000). Brand awareness can help consumers to recognize a brand from a product category and make. 治政大 has a great influence on purchase decision (Percy and Rossiter, 1992). Brand awareness 立. selections and can be a prior consideration base in a product category (Hoyer and Brown,. ‧ 國. 學. 1990). Brand awareness also acts as a critical factor in the consumer purchase intention, and. ‧. certain brands will accumulate in consumers’ mind to influence consumer purchase decision.. sit. y. Nat. A product with a high level of brand awareness will receive higher consumer preferences. io. al. v i n C h that purchase intention Engel, et al. (1995) further contend can be divided into engchi U n. 1998).. er. because it has higher market share and quality evaluation (Dodds et al., 1991; Grewal et al.,. unplanned buying, partially planned buying and fully planned buying. Unplanned buying means that consumers make all decisions to buy a product category and a brand in a store. It can be regarded as an impulse buying behavior. Partially planned buying means that consumers only decide a product category and the specification before buying a product, and brands and types will decide in the shop later. Fully planned buying means that consumers decide which product and brand to buy before entering the shop. Kotler (2003) proposes that individual attitudes and unpredictable situations will influence purchase intention. Individual attitudes include personal preferences to others and obedience to others’ expectation and. . 23 .

(32) unpredictable situations signify that consumers change purchase intention because a situation is appearing, for example, when the price is higher that expected price (Dodds et al., 1991). Consumer purchase intention is considered as a subjective inclination toward a product and can be an important index to predict consumer behavior (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). Zeithaml (1988) uses possible to buy, intended to buy and considered to buy as measurement items to measure purchase intention. Therefore for the last research hypothesis is as follows: H4: Brand awareness and brand image will affect consumers’ purchase intention for Abercrombie & Fitch. The researcher used hierarchical multiple regression analysis to test for the above hypotheses.. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. 3.3 Data Collection. ‧. In this exploratory study, the researcher used online questionnaire survey to complete. sit. y. Nat. this study. Data for this research was collected by using online questionnaire survey due to. io. er. the larger audience of respondents from with a wider range of variety in the respondents. The questionnaire was designed to target local Taiwanese consumers who are familiar with. al. n. v i n Ch overseas retail fashion brands. A convenience was used to complete this study. e n gsampling chi U. The target audience for the research was aimed at online local consumers’ because the. fashion has no flagship store in Taiwan therefore Internet is one of the most used form to gather the source of information. According to (Internet World Stats) in the year 2014 the population of Taiwanese Internet users reached to 80% of the whole countries population, therefore choosing to distribute the questionnaire online was because most to the countries populations uses the Internet. The questionnaire survey was uploaded onto an online survey website called surveymonkey.com. After uploading the files the survey was distributed online on June 24, 2014. The survey was shared throughout social network (Facebook, Whatsapp,. . 24 .

(33) LINE, WeChat) and e-mail. On June 30, 2014 the survey was collected with a sample size of 214 respondents. All the measurement of major research variables in the questionnaire were based on a 5 point likert scale which ranked from 1 – strongly disagree to 5 – strongly agree, except for the demographic variable which the respondents were also asked to check the appropriate answer. The questionnaire had a total of 34 questions, which included 5 questions in demographics, 4 questions in conspicuous consumption, 6 questions in fashion consciousness, 6 questions in brand information source, 6 questions in brand awareness, 5 questions in brand image, and 3 questions in purchase intention. The total of 214 samples. 治政大 sample size. Due to missing were collected, but the researcher only include 192 as the final 立 information that the respondent did not fill out in the questionnaire survey.. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. 3.4 Measurement of Research Variables. sit. y. Nat. The measurement items used in this research was adapted from previous research. io. er. therefore the items were validated for this research. All the variables used in this research had undergone reliability tests to see if the items were reliable or not. The questionnaire consisted. al. n. v i n Cforh conspicuous consumption of 5 items for demographics, 4 items (Chaudhuri et al., 2011), 6 engchi U. items for fashion consciousness (Kandi, 2013), 6 items on brand information source, 6 items. for brand awareness Tong and Hawley (2009). 5 items for brand image (Low and Lamb, 2000) and 3 items that covered purchase intention. The questionnaire was adapted according to this research after running reliability test for each of the adapted scales.. . 25 .

(34) 3.4.1 Gender The demographics variable was used in this study was to understand the basic information about the consumer. For gender the respondents had to specify between male and female. For age, education and income 5 point likert scales where used in this study. The respondents checked from age groups of 18 and below, 19 to 23, 24 to 33, 34 to 40, last 41 and above. In education they selected high school and below, high school graduate, college or university graduate, and master degree or above. The last item is income, where respondents responded to NTD30,000 and below, NTD30,001 to NTD50,000, NTD50,001 to NTD70,000, NTD70,001 to NTD90,000, NTD90.000 and above.. 立. 政治大. 3.4.2 Conspicuous Consumption. ‧ 國. 學. The variable conspicuous consumption (M=2.87) is to measure the level of. ‧. conspicuousness the consumer may have in order to make purchasing intentions. Veblen. sit. y. Nat. (1899) said, having to understand that conspicuous consumption is classified as consumption. io. er. that is consumed in an “unproductive leisure expenditure” which is describe as a behavior. In table 3.4 it shows that items that were used to measure this variable. A 5 point likert scale is. al. n. v i n C h disagree and 5-Ustrongly agree. The table also used which respondents checked 1-strongly engchi shows the Cronbach’s α = 0.76 of this variable. 3.4.3 Fashion Consciousness This fashion consciousness variable (M=3.02) is used to measure the level of how conscious are consumers’ about fashion. According to (Walsh et al. (2001) fashion consciousness among German consumers was related to a desire for up-to-date styles, frequent changes in one’s wardrobe and pleasurable shopping experiences. Therefore consumers who are conscious about their appearance may have a higher level of fashion. consciousness. Also see table 3.4 for the items that were used to measure this variable. A 5. . 26 .

(35) point likert scale is used which respondents checked 1-strongly disagree and 5- strongly agree. The table also shows the Cronbach’s α = 0.82 of this variable. 3.4.4 Brand Awareness The variable brand awareness (M=2.91) is used o test for the level of how consumers’ are aware of the brands in which they consume. Brand Awareness means the ability of a consumer can recognize and recall a brand in different situations (Aaker, 1996.) In table 3.4 the items that were used to measure this variable. A 5 point likert scale is used which respondents checked 1-strongly disagree and 5- strongly agree. The table also shows the Cronbach’s α = 0.79 of this variable.. 立. ‧ 國. 學. 3.4.5 Brand Image. 政治大. The brand image (M=3.02) variable is used to test for how a consumers’ perceive the. ‧. brand. De Chernatony & McDonald (1998) defined a successful brand as “an identifiable. Nat. sit. y. product, service, person, or place augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives. n. al. er. io. relevant, unique added values which match their needs most closely. Its success results from. i n U. v. being able to sustain these added values against competitors.” In table 3.4 the items that were. Ch. engchi. used to measure this variable. A 5 point likert scale is used which respondents checked 1strongly disagree and 5- strongly agree. The table also shows the Cronbach’s α = 0.90 of this variable.. 3.4.6 Purchase Intention The variable purchase intention (M=3.01) is used to test for whether consumers’ are willing to purchase the product or not. According to (Porter, 1974) purchase intention is a kind of decision in which studied why a customer purchases a brand in particular. Constructs like considering something purchasing a brand and anticipating to purchase a brand aids to. . 27 .

(36) scope the intentions of purchasing. In table 3.4 it shows the items that were used to measure this variable. A 5 point likert scale is used which respondents checked 1-strongly disagree and 5- strongly agree. The table also shows the Cronbach’s α = 0.82 of this variable.. 3.4.7 Brand Information Source The variable brand information source (M=3.15) is used to test for which source of information about the brand or product does the consumer obtain from. A factor analysis was conducted for this variable to test the items which were used for the questionnaire. Table 1 Measurement of Research Variables Consumer Orientation – Conspicuous Consumption Variables Item CC1 It says something to people around me when I buy a high priced brand. CC2 I buy some products because I want to show others that I am wealthy. CC3 By choosing a product having an exotic look and design, I show my friends that I am different. CC4 I choose products or brands to create my own style that everybody admires. Cronbach’s α = 0.76 Consumer Orientation – Fashion Consciousness Variables Item FC1 I usually have one or more outfits of the very newest style. FC2 I keep my wardrobe up-to-date with the changing fashions. FC3 Fashionable, attractive styling is very important to me. FC4 To get variety, I shop at different stores. FC5 To get variety, I choose different brands. FC6 It’s fun to buy something new and exciting. Cronbach’s α = 0.82 . Source. 學 ‧. ‧ 國. 立. 政治大. Adapted from Lin (2012). n. engchi. 28 . sit er. io. . Ch. y. Nat. al. i n U. v. Source. Adapted from Kandi (2013).

(37) Brand Knowledge – Brand Awareness Variables Item BA1 When speaking of casual clothing some characteristics of Abercrombie and Fitch come to my mind quickly. BA2 I can recognize Abercrombie and Fitch quickly among other competing brands of casual clothing. BA3 I am familiar with Abercrombie and Fitch. BA4 Even if another brand has the same features as Abercrombie and Fitch, I would prefer to buy Abercrombie and Fitch. BA5 If another brand is not different from Abercrombie and Fitch in any way, it seems smarter to purchase. BA6 Abercrombie and Fitch is more than a product to me. Cronbach’s α = 0.79 Brand Knowledge – Brand Image Variables Item BI1 I think Abercrombie and Fitch is fashionable and trendy. BI2 I think Abercrombie and Fitch has reputation for quality. BI3 I think Abercrombie and Fitch is elegant. BI4 I think Abercrombie and Fitch is sophisticated. BI5 I think Abercrombie and Fitch is well known and prestigious. Cronbach’s α = 0.90 Purchase Intention Variables Item PI1 It is very likely I will purchase Abercrombie & Fitch. PI2 I will purchase Abercrombie & Fitch the next time I need (good casual wear) PI3 I will definitely try Abercrombie and Fitch. Cronbach’s α = 0.82. sit. y. Adapted from Low & Lamb (2000). er. n. engchi. Source. ‧. io. Ch. 學. Nat. al. Adapted from Tong & Hawley (2009). 政治大. ‧ 國. 立. Source. i n U. v. Source Adapted from Jiang & Benbasat (2007). 3.5 Measurement of Brand Information Source Factorial analysis was conducted on the variable brand information source (i.e. family, friends, internet) The data collected was used to achieve the results of the items used. . 29 .

(38) to test for the variable brand information source. As seen in Table 3.5 the factor loadings are as follows. Table 2 Measurement of Brand Information Source Measurement Items Factor Loadings Cronbach’s α Family Most of my information about Abercrombie & 0.94 Fitch comes from my family. 0.84 I often discuss information about Abercrombie 0.88 & Fitch with my family. Friends Most of my information about Abercrombie & 0.85 Fitch comes from my friends. 0.65 I often discuss information about Abercrombie 0.62 & Fitch with my friends. Internet I often go online to search for information about 0.97 Abercrombie & Fitch. 0.88 Most of my information about Abercrombie & 0.57 Fitch comes from the Internet. The measurement items used in this study are examined to assure appropriate. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. sit. y. Nat. reliability, the factor loadings shows that the items which were used were significant and had. al. n. . io. regression analysis.. er. patterned relationships. Then these composite measures are used for hierarchical multiple. Ch. engchi. 30 . i n U. v.

(39) Chapter 4 RESULTS The online questionnaires which were distributed as mentioned in chapter 3 from June 24, 2014 through out to June 30, 2014. Responses of 192 local Taiwanese consumers were used in this research for the result findings. The statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 20.0 to achieve and examine the data, as well as test the hypotheses. The first section of this chapter will be based on the descriptive analysis which will be report through tables to illustrate the mean values as well as frequency distributions for the variables used in this research. The second section of this chapter will be focused on the statistical findings using. 治政大 T- tests and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. 立 ‧ 國. 學. 4.1 Descriptive Analysis. ‧. 4.1.1 Demographics. sit. y. Nat. The 214 respondents that responded to the questionnaire, only 192 were valid for data. io. er. analyzing, the remaining questionnaires were invalid for data collection. Among the 192 respondents of local Taiwanese consumers (n=67) 34.9% were male and (n=125) 65.1% were. al. n. v i n C hvaried from 18 andUbelow to 41 and above. 35.9% of female. The age range of this research engchi. the respondents were aged 34 to 40 which was the highest percentage out of the 5 age groups. The level of education of the respondents were mostly college or university graduate (41.7%) On a monthly basis, the majority of the sample (38%) monthly income was NTD30,000 and below. The following information shown in Table 4.1 summarizes the demographic information.. . 31 .

(40) Table 3 Demographic Information. 67 125 192. 34.9% 65.1% 100%. 60 16 30 69 17 192. 31.3% 8.3% 15.6% 35.9% 8.9% 100%. 28 80 49 192. 18.2% 14.6% 41.7% 25.5% 100%. n. engchi. y. sit er. io. Ch. 4.1.2 Brand Information Source. ‧. 73 51 39 16 13 192. Nat. al. %. 政治大 35. ‧ 國. 立. Percentage. 學. 1. Gender Male Female Total 2. Age 18 and below 19 – 23 24 – 33 34 – 40 41 and above Total 3. Education High school undergraduate and below High school graduate College and University graduate Master degree and above Total 4. Income NTD30,000 and below NTD30,001 – NTD50,000 NTD50,001 – NTD70,000 NTD70,001 – NTD 90,000 NTD90,001 and above Total. Number of Cases n. i n U. 38.0% 26.6% 20.3% 8.3% 6.8% 100%. v. A higher mean indicates a higher source of information (i.e. family, friends, internet) the analysis indicates that both brand information source from family (M=3.27, SD=1.16) and internet (M=3.23, SD=1.04) which indicates that both family and Internet sources about the brand is higher than information source from friends. 4.1.3 Brand Knowledge The analysis shows that brand image (M=3.02, SD=0.78) is slightly higher than brand awareness (M=2.91, SD=0.76) but combined it can be perceived that consumers’ with more brand knowledge is more likely to affect purchase intention.. . 32 .