The factors influencing Chinese female fashion consumers' preference towards various shopping channels

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the antecedents of shopping channel preferences of young female Chinese fashion consumers, and also to map the landscape of shopping channels in the Chinese fashion market with the increasingly broadened distribution channels. This study concentrated on evaluating how channel characteristics and consumer characteristics can influence consumers’ satisfaction and repurchase intention. This study uses SPSS.22 computer program to analyse the statistical relationships within variables through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and follows a deductive reasoning method. Four hypotheses are examined based on an extensive review of relevant literature and the analysis of the data. The sample of this study contains 452 young female fashion consumers from Chinese tier 2 cities. The link of the questionnaire were sent to the first few respondents in Zhengzhou; and then spread out to other participants based in the same city tier rule, demonstrating the method of snowball sampling. Initially, frequencies and descriptive analyses were conducted to perform preliminary data analysis and to summarise the demographic characteristics of the respondents, and the statistical techniques undertaken for this study include a simple linear regression, multiple regression, T-test and ANOVA. The statistical results confirmed the significant influences that each channel characteristic and subjective norm has towards consumer satisfaction and repurchase intention of various shopping channels. The subjective norm is found to be the most influential factor; however, the influence can be mediated by the satisfaction that Chinese fashion consumers perceive from a shopping channel. The limitations of this study involve the non-probability sampling method and this study only concerns female fashion consumers in Chinese tier 2 cities. In the future research, data could be collected to test the influences in-depth of each antecedent in comparing various stages in buying decision-making process; or sample can be collected in a different city tier in China to test the validity of the study results. The results of this study have contributions to theory by adding channel characteristics and consumer experiences in the context. This study also provides further understanding and analysis for managers that it is significant to design shopping channel performances to satisfy different needs at various stages.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2019
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	William Kennon (Supervisor) & Patsy Perry (Supervisor)