An exploratory study of key factors influencing Buying behavior in fashion clothing among Thai tweenage girls in Bangkok.

Abstract

There is a growing potential of fast fashion in Asia region, especially in the major city like Bangkok. The tweenage (pre-adolescent between 11-15 years old) fashion market is one of the flourishing segmentation, but there are not many studies on the customers' buying behavior and the influencing factors. The aim of this study is to understand the influences on Thai tweenage girls’ thoughts on buying behavior in fashion clothing, and what factors lead them to purchase the fashion clothing. The conceptual framework was used to explore the relationship between the tweenage girls’ buying behavior and reference group; namely, parents, friends, and media. Qualitative research approach was employed and In-depth interview was used to gather data. With convenience sampling technique, the total samples of fifteen girls were picked – five of them from girl schools and another ten from co-educational schools. It is found that self-motivated needs, media and parents are the main influences on Thai tweenage girls’ thoughts on fast fashion buying behavior, while friends do not have much direct impact, but served as medium to exchange fashion information. To attract the tweenage girls’ attention, fashion suppliers should consider their 4Ps marketing mix by designing the clothes that makes the girl look and feel good, focusing on campaign where both mothers and daughters could enjoy at the same time, locating the stores nearby the weekend-activity based community, and setting the price which is affordable by the parents. For further study, it is advisable to conduct a specific research on particular brand to gain insights on driven mechanism on need recognition toward Thai tweenage girls’ buying behavior. Also the quantitative research approach would be a plus to generalize the findings.