Visual Merchandising in Sportswear Retail
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Due to an increasingly health-conscious lifestyle, consumer behavior has changed in recent years. The purpose of this quantitative pilot study is to gain a better understanding of consumer attitudes and behaviors towards visual merchandising in sportswear retail, as well as the relationship between visual merchandising and consumer purchasing. Importantly, this study highlights a correlation between attitudes towards sportswear; attitude toward visual merchandising and purchasing behavior in sportswear retailers; and attitude towards visual merchandising. It also highlights a correlation between attitude towards visual merchandising and purchasing behavior in sportswear retail.
Two-hundred respondents who have made an impulse purchase in sportswear from June 2017 to November 2017 participated in an online and offline survey. The majority of the respondents self-identified as athletic sportswear consumers. Results indicate that the primary reasons for their sportswear consumption are: to wear more comfortable clothing and to enhance an athletic look; in addition, influencing factors in their purchasing decisions include: fit, design, and comfort. Respondents who highly value fashion-related attributes (e.g., design, comfort and versatility) also highly value visual merchandising. They appear to value brand image and the satisfaction in owning certain brands that reflect their self-image and status. As for respondents who value function-related attributes, such as product innovation versus its aesthetic qualities, their attitudes and purchasing behaviors tend not to be influenced by visual merchandising. Lastly, attitudes towards visual merchandising has a direct relationship with purchasing behavior in sportswear retail; in particular, respondents who are attracted by visual merchandising have higher tendencies to make a sportswear purchase.
Article Details
References
Chatvijit, S. (2012). Exploring the Effects of Scarcity, Impulse Buying and Product Returning Behavior in the Fast Fashion Environment Among Female Fashion Conscious Consumers, Retrieved September 24, 2017, from https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/ Chatvijit_uncg_0154M_11026.pdf
Chi, T. (2013). The effects of contingency factors on perceived values of casual sportswear: An empirical study of US consumers. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistic, 25(2), 249-262.
du Plessis, P. J., & Rousseau, G. G. (2003). Visual merchandising displays effect – or not – on consumers: The predicament faced by apparel retailers, Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 8(5), 95-104.
Escales, X. (2017). Sportswear makes inroads in the fashion business. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from https://www.ie.edu/corporate-relations/insights/sportswear-makes-inroads-in-the-fashion-business/
Grotjohn, D. K. (2000). An Application of the Elaboration Likelihood Model to Product Safety Warning. (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved September 24, 2017, from ProQuest. (UMI No.9974541)
Jain, V., Takayanagi, M. & Malthouse, E. C. (2014). Effects of show windows on female consumers’ shopping behavior. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 31(5). 380-390.
Kotler, P., Wong, V., Saunders, J. & Armstrong, G. (2005). Principles of Marketing (4th ed., European Edition). Pearson Prentice Hall.
Law, D., Wong, C. & Yip, J. (2012). How does visual merchandising affect consumer affective response? An intimate apparel experience. European Journal of Marketing, 46(1/2), 112-133.
Levi, E., & Weitz, S. (2009). Visual merchandising displays effect – or not – on consumers: The predicament faced by apparel retailers, Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 8(5), 95-104.
Lim, C. H. , Kim, K., & Cheong, Y. (2016). Factors affecting sportswear buying behavior – a comparative analysis of luxury sportswear. Journal of Business Research, 69, 5793-5800.
Maehle, N., Otnes, C., & Supphellen, M. (2011). Consumers’ perceptions of the dimensions of brand personality”, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 10(5), 290-303.
Mathew, R. (2008). Visual merchandising displays effect – or not – on consumers: The predicament faced by apparel retailers, Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, 8(5), 95-104.
Maymand, M.M., & Ahmadinejad, M. (2011). Impulse buying: The role of store environmental stimulation and situational factors (An empirical investigation, African Journal of Business Management, 5(34), 13057-13065.
Newberry. (2009). Exploring the personality of sportswear brands. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 4(2), 178-192.
Opriş, M., & Brătucu, G. (2013). Visual merchandising window display. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov, 6, 51-56.
Rahulan, M., Troynikov, O., & Watson, C. (2015). Consumer behavior of generational cohorts for compression sportswear. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 19(1), 87-104.
Randiwela P., & Wanninayake W. (2007). The impact of visual merchandizing on consumer store choice decisions in Sri Lankan supermarkets. 7th Global Conference on Business and Economics. 1-18.
Sachdeva, I., & Goel, S. (2015). Retail store environment and customer experience: A paradigm. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 19(3), 290-298.
Shopify Inc. (n.d.). Visual merchandising 101: create an effective window display. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from https://www.shopify.com/guides/ultimate-guide-to-pop-up-shops/visualmerchandising-101
Solomon, M. R. (2015). Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having and Being (11th ed., Global ed.). Pearson Education Limited.
Soomro, Y. A., Kaimkhani, S. A., & Iqbal, J. (2017). Effect of visual merchandising elements of retail store on consumer attention. Journal of Business Strategies, 11(1), 21-40.
Statista. (2017). Size of the Sportswear Market Worldwide from 2009 to 2017 (in Billion U.S. Dollars), Retrieved September 24, 2017, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/ 613169/size-of-the-global-sportswear-market/
Su, J., & Tong, X. (2015). Brand personality and brand equity: Evidence from the sportswear industry”, Journal of Product & Brand Management, 24(2), 124-133.
Tong, X., & Su, J. (2014). Exploring the personality of sportswear brands. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 4(2), 178-192.