Fashion Business Research and IT Application

On

IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON APPAREL BUYING PREFERENCES

Submitted by

Anushka Khurana- MFM/21/231

Shrishti Gupta- MFM/21/268

Jasleen Kaur- MFM/21/355

Srishti Kansal- MFM/21/342

Anjali Khandelwal- MFM/21/382

Under the supervision

Dr. Jagriti Mishra

Submitted to
Department of Fashion Management Studies (FMS)
National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)
(Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India)
Parking Sector- 23, Chandimandir Cantonment,
Panchkula, Haryana 134107
http://www.nift.ac.in

December, 2021
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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to thank everyone who have been there to support me in writing this research and
helped me in its successful completion with results. Apart from my own efforts, the success of
any project depends largely on the encouragement and guidelines of many others.

We are highly obliged and liked To thank Mrs. Jagriti Mishra, for giving me this project and
guiding me throughout my research project. Her encouragement, time and efforts motivated me to
work sincerely in this project and helped me to reach my research objectives.

We would also like to thank my classmates, friends, relatives, family members and all those
people who have voluntarily come up to help me by giving their time and support while filling
out the questionnaire as respondents which was the core base of my studies.

At the end, We want to express my sincere gratitude to each and everyone who have contributed
to make this project a successful one.

ANUSHKA KHURANA
SHRISHTI GUPTA
JASLEEN KAUR
SRISHTI KANSAL
ANJALI KHANDELWAL

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………4
TITLE – Impact Of Social Media On Apparel Buying Preferences

1. Background of the Research…………………………….….5

2. Problem Definition…………………………………………5
3. Literature Review……………………………………..........6
4. Research Gap………………………………………………15
5. Objective…………………………………………………...15
6. Research Methodology…………………………………....15
7. Analysis……………………………………………………17
 Reliability Test
 Correlation
 Factor Analysis
 Annova Analysis
 Frequency Test ( Mean, Median & Mode )
 Kruskal Wallis Test
 Chi Square Test
 Cluster Analysis

8. Findings…………………………………………………….32
9. Recommendations & Conclusion ………………………….33
10. Bibliography……………………………………………….34
11. Annexures…………………………………………………35

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 ABSTRACT

Today, social media has created new styles of communication for people and has made a
huge impact on everyday lives. Social media has brought people with common interests
together and expanded the horizon of ideas worldwide. However, there has also been a
profound impact of social media on various industries, one of the highly impacted ones
being apparel buying. With social media being used widely all over the world, people
tend to get more influenced by what they see and hear on these platforms rather than other
forms of media. Social media has changed the way we live and we shop. The study will
focus on the extent of impact social media platforms have on apparel buying in India.
And the demographic division of the impacted customers; what age group/ gender/ social
status of people are more affected this media. The findings will help apparel brands reach
the target customers through social media platforms. The results will also help to
conclude which social media platforms do most customers rely upon. The research paper
will contain an overall evaluation of customer dependency on social media for apparel
buying.

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TITLE: IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON APPAREL BUYING PREFERENCES

BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH

In the past few years, the viral spread of Instagram & other social media has drastically changed the
manner of the traditional buying and selling process. Social Media has changed how people consume
content, especially in the fashion industry. People are no longer picking up magazines as often as they
have in the past. Today, an enormous infusion of social media, in terms of bloggers, internet celebrities,
and ecommerce websites, especially targeting the younger generation, influences the way we dress and
what we feel is ‗fashionable‘.

Fashion and lifestyle bloggers today are highly reputable and influential individuals and those extremely
committed to their craft have earned industry recognition. We are constantly being introduced to ‗what is
trendy‘, on a global scale. The social media platform is not only a getaway for people to buy the products
they look for but also to provides them access to a whole new range of products where they can surf
around until they stumble across products, they find desirable. This liberty of free surfing has
significantly increased the number of online sales.

The resulting interconnectedness has not only changed social interactions between individuals, but also
challenges the traditional communication paradigm between business and consumers.

PROBLEM DEFINITION

The social phenomena investigated in the research study that follows are the elements of consumer‘s
buying preferences & behaviour in online environments and the influence of social media marketing in
the consumer‘s purchase decision. According to Gerald, he found that 47% of the purchases are
influenced by the social media advertising, (Gerald, 2019) and similarly the researcher, Roesler found that
the people who are mostly doing online purchasing are millennia‘s (Roesler, 2019).

The main problem which this study aims to address is analysing customer purchase decisions because
consumer requirements are not constant and the marketer should know their target consumer as there is a
customer for every product. The research study is done more specifically with an aim to measure the
factors that influence the buying decision, there should be a balance generated in quantitative and
qualitative insights. Based on this context, the literature review and the data analysis on its use and
perception of the customers can be used in identifying the best strategies for making an improvement in
consumer engagement through social media.

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REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Social media is rapidly and fundamentally changing; it is different from even a year ago (Appel, Grewal,
Hadi, & T. Stephen, 2019). It is defined as ―internet-based channels allowing users to conveniently and
selectively interact with each other and derive value from user-generated content‖ (A. Hayes & T. Carr,
2015). (Štefko & Steffek, 2018) Stated that the past years have been a period of rapid growth in the
virtual world; what is current and relevant today will be obsolete and out-of date tomorrow. The optimal
use of new technologies, the Internet of things, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and free stores that
shape the picture of today will be a burdensome test for many retailers. Since there is no doubt about the
power of social media and its importance for marketing activities, it has become a substantial part of
marketing strategies of the companies (Štefko, Baˇcík, & Fedorko, 2014) .

Social Media could be defined as ―a term used to describe a variety of Web based platforms, applications
and technologies that enable people to socially interact with one another online.‖ (Thadathil & Limaye,
2018)

Today, online life has made new styles of correspondence for us, which had huge impact of social media
on regular day to day life of the general population. Human behaviour changes the most more when they
bring the most innovated products, particularly the web-based social networking. The everyday utilisation
of social media based life by human beings has expanded so much that it is gradually infusing an
articulation into their behaviour. Internet based life has carried individuals with basic interests together
and extended the skyline of thoughts around the world. Social media life sites, for example, Facebook,
Instagram, LinkedIn, snapchat, WhatsApp, Pinterest, Twitter, Tinder and so forth continually draw in
individuals in a few or the other movement and store up individuals to jump on the fleeting trend of
drifting trends. (Kumar, 2021)

As the influence of social media on various psychological aspects is extremely varied in its scope, Social
media has changed the way brands in the apparel industry relate to their customers. Communication
between the two groups, which had prior to the advent of social media been difficult, has become easier.
Since the comments (negative or positive) from some customers can have massive influence on other
customers' perception of a brand, engaging customers and painstakingly responding to every query is
fast becoming standard practice. This paper focuses on analysis of its significant objective of establishing
a correlation between social media and behavioral patterns of people of different age groups. (Kumar,
2021)

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Social Media Platforms

A social platform is a web-based technology that enables the development, deployment and management
of social media solutions and services. It provides the ability to create social media websites and services
with complete social media network functionality. One of the major uses of social media in 21st century
is advertising the products by the businesses. The emergence of social media has transformed the
world and its entire way of functioning, bringing the world and its people closer. Development in
technology helped retailers to use the more efficient platform for advertising from various traditional
slower ways. Social networking sites shows advertisements to the consumers according to their internet
activity and preferences based on the previous searches and buying. In many instances, when target
market aligns with the user demographics of a social platform, social advertising can provide huge
increases in attracting the consumers on their sites and selling products with lower cost of procurement.
(Lim, Heng, Ng, & Cheah, 2016 )

Types of social media platforms:

 Social networking sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, WhatsApp, and Instagram)

Social Networking Sites are platforms where individuals are able to communicate with others. Social
networking sites, as (Weinberg, 2009) states, ―are generic terms for sites that are used to connect users
with similar backgrounds and interests.

 Microblogging (Twitter, Tumblr)

Microblogging is a real-time information network. It is similar to blogging, yet it limits the number of
words for each post and encourages a faster communication. Microblogging allows users to spread their
short-texted messages via instant messages, mobile phones, e-mails, or the Web. Twitter is one of the
chief and leading microblogs that currently claims to have 321 million monthly users (Shaban, 2019).

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 Photo sharing (Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest)

Posts with images get ten times more engagement than posts without images. The use of the images fill in
a big communication gap on social media. (Weinberg T. , 2009)

 Media-Sharing sites (YouTube, Facebook Live, Periscope, Vimeo Flickr).

Media sharing sites are outlets where individuals can upload, store, and share their photos, videos and
music with other users. (Weinberg T. , 2009). Marketing via social media is a latest platform or the
marketing tool used by fashion businesses to reach the client. (Weinberg T. , 2009), it is a process in
empowering individuals to promote their websites, products, and/or services through online social
channels, to interact with the buyers directly and the ability to tap much larger community that may not
have been available via traditional advertising channels.

Social media demographics

Twitter demographics and usage

 # of daily active users: 187 million

 Largest age group: 30-49 (44%)

 Gender: 32% female, 68% male

 Time spent per day/week: 3.53 minutes per session (Barnhart, 2021)

Snapchat demographics and usage

 # of monthly active users: 265 million

 Largest age group: 13-34 (75%)

 Gender: 58% female, 40% male

 Time spent per day: 26 minutes (Barnhart, 2021)

YouTube demographics and usage

 # of monthly active users: 2 billion

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  Largest age group: 15-25

 Gender: 72% of all female internet users and 72% of all male internet users

 Time spent per day: 41.9 minutes among viewers 18 and older (Barnhart, 2021)

LinkedIn demographics and usage

 # of total users: 738 million

 Largest age group: 46-55

 Gender: 51% male, 49% female

 63% of LinkedIn users access the network monthly, and 22% weekly. (Barnhart, 2021)

Instagram demographics and usage

 # of monthly active users: 1 billion

 Largest age group: 25-34 (33.1%)

 Gender: 57% female, 43% male

 Average time spent per day: 29 minutes (Barnhart, 2021)

Facebook demographics and usage

 # of monthly active users: 2.7 billion

 Largest age group: 25-34 (26.3%)

 Gender: 44% female, 56% male

 Time spent per day: 38 minutes (Barnhart, 2021)

Social Media Marketing

In the digital age, more and more people in western cultures are finding new ways to connect with like-
minded individuals and more interested in satisfying their needs for pleasure and self-actualization.
(Keller, Kotler, & Lane, 2012)

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Consumers deem advertising as a valuable source of information because product information shown in
advertisements help them in making the informed and right purchase decisions. (Pollay & Mittal, 1993)

Social Media Marketing For Fashion Brands

1. Social media integration

In addition to driving traffic to your mobile app, you should also integrate social media into your app.
This encourages users to share them in-app content across their social media channels. For example, if
your fashion app enables users to create look books, they should be able to easily share this with friends
and followers. (Wetzler, 2020)

2. Post frequency

Posting too often can lead users to get frustrated and unfollow, while infrequent activity will not enable
you to achieve your brand‘s full potential on social media. We recommend developing a posting schedule
that plans and monitors the frequency of your social media output. This will enable you to maintain a
steady flow of content and analyse the best frequency for gaining followers and interaction. (Wetzler,
2020)

3. Variety is key

A mixed content strategy often works best across a brand‘s social media channels. This prevents your
accounts from seeming impersonal and unengaging. For best results, share a variety of blog posts, look
books, light-hearted shareable content, user-generated content and exclusive offers. Your mixed strategy
should also include different formats, making use of the several features available on each social media
channel. (Wetzler, 2020)

4. Engage with users

Develop a voice that you and your team can use to interact publically and directly with users. Many
brands have seen success on social media by allowing their marketing team to interact with customers in
comments sections, direct messaging and platform-specific means of communication such as tweets.
(Wetzler, 2020)

Social Media and Apparel Buying

It's not just high fashion experiencing influences from social media. From popular viral videos shared
over and over again on social media to "jokes" and social media inspired sayings on t-shirts, buying
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trends centered on hashtags and our online behaviour is shifting too. According to 2014 market trends, a
2014 survey of social networks and buying behaviour "showed significant proportions of shoppers being
influenced by (and participating in) social sites and friends during their upcoming holiday shopping,"
with the results showing: 30% of shoppers had made a purchase via social media in the last year (up by
12% from 2014), 49% planning to make a purchase because of a social referral, and 44% intending to
discover new products via social networks. In addition, the survey looked at social participation and
found that 48% of those surveyed think it is important to share product recommendations via social media
networks. So the point is, with social media sites only growing from here and buying trends also shifting
to show major influences from social media sites, it's a brave new world for the fashion industry and
retailers. (Sellors, 2014)

Factors influencing the buying of fashion apparel through social media platforms:

1. Social media platform drives impulsive buying

2. Social media as a source of inspiration.

3. Social media as an information source.

4. Social media platform offers reassurance.

5. Ease of comparison in different brands and styles.

6. Self-concepts and personal identity.

7. Online shopping a leisure activity:

9. Buyer protection and return policy:

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing budgets are increasing year-over-year, with 17 percent of companies planning to
spend more than half of their budget on this marketing method. Influencer marketing works because of
the high amount of trust that social influencers have built up with their following and recommendations
from them serve as a form of social proof to your brand‘s potential customers. There are several ways you
can work with influencers to increase sales and spread brand awareness. This is a paid agreement to share
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your products on an influencer‘s social media account - for example, sharing content on Instagram, Snap
or TikTok. It‘s vital to meet advertising standards when spending on product placement, such as
including text in the description that indicates that this is a form of paid advertising. (Wetzler, 2020)

Micro Influencers vs. Macro Influencers

Micro influencers are ‗normal‘ people, so to speak, most of the time they have less than 10,000 followers.
Micro influencers work in a similar way to word of mouth, it‘s often easier to believe a micro influencer
has actually bought or used a featured product. A micro influencer campaign is easy to execute. Macro
influencers are famous, known by the many, a household name. A brand can often choose the exact
celebrity and give them precise instructions on what to post, meaning the outcome can be almost
predicted. This control also enables brands to build a stigma or reputation around their product. (Hatton,
2018)

Social Commerce

Social commerce is the buying and selling of goods or services directly within a social media platform.
So far, three major platforms have introduced social commerce features: Facebook, Instagram and
Pinterest. Others aren‘t far behind, with both YouTube and TikTok exploring ―shop now‖
buttons. Twitter is experimenting with a new card format that features a large ―Shop‖ button as well.
Benefits of Social Commerce: get in front of more potential customers, convert customers where they are,
gather useful data on customer‘s social habits. (Gomez, 2021)

Consumer Behaviour

Consumer is the study ―of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or
dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires‖ (Solomon, 1995).

The term ‗consumer behavior‘ refers to the behavior of both the personal consumer and the organizational
consumer. Studying consumer behavior includes the study of what to buy, how to buy, where to buy and
why people are buying (Dadfor & Chen, 2009;2013)

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Consumer behavior has no history or body of research of its own. It is a new discipline that borrows and
combines factors from psychology (study of the individual), sociology (study of groups), social
psychology (study of how an individual operates in groups), anthropology (the influence of society on the
individual), and economics which attempts to understand the buyer decision-making process individually
and in groups (Dodoo, 2007). Several early theories related to consumer behavior were based on
economic theory, on the notion that individuals act rationally to maximize their benefits in the purchase of
goods and services.

Consumer behavior research attempts to understand the buyer decision-making process, both individually
and collectively. It studies individual consumer characteristics behavioral variables in an attempt to
understand people‘s wants. Consumers are the foundation of every business. What the consumer sees,
thinks, prefers, and buys is of great importance to marketers to fine tune their marketing offers and
achieve high levels of consumer acceptance and satisfaction. Therefore, making a decision, the buyer
considers many factors such as cultural factors, social, personal and psychological categories. It is
essential for marketers to understand consumers to survive and succeed in the competitive marketing
environment.

A number of researchers have identified and analyzed factors affecting the consumers‘ buying behavior
which affects consumer behavior individually or collectively. The age of a consumer can have a
significant impact on his behavior. How old a consumer is generally indicating what? products he or she
may be interested in purchasing. Consumer tastes in food, clothing, cars, furniture and recreation are often
age related. (Rani, 2014) in her study noted that personality is an important factor for purchase behavior.
Again it has been observed that personality at different age groups varies considerably and it is an
important determinant of buying decision. A person does not consume the same product from the age 20
to 70, in every stage. With age, the consumers purchase options, the motive of purchase, and the decisions
to buy the products changes. Therefore, age may significantly influence consumers' purchasing behavior.

Consumers may also purchase impulsively or compulsively. Consumers who purchase impulsively
purchase with reckless abandon, forgoing any self-control that they may possess (Rook, 1987). In
addition, compulsive buying includes consumers who will buy frequently, usually without controlling
their urges ( (Muller, 2015).

Compulsive fashion shoppers regularly overspend on new clothes despite not being able to use them, with
post-shopping excitement often turning into guilt after less than a day. This is an international
phenomenon that is spreading around the world, according to representative surveys commissioned by
Greenpeace. A significant percentage of people qualify as ―excessive shoppers‖ who show traits of

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compulsive shopping behavior (International, 2017). Different studies have considered various
psychographic traits on buying behavior. Materialism, brand engagement in self-concept, status
consumption, and brand loyalty traits were studied in clothing purchase behavior by (Goldsmith, Clark, &
A, 2012)

Covid Crisis

Social media has had a significant role during the coronavirus crisis. Its influence and impact are visible
in various areas of our lives—from work, through education and entertainment, to shopping. The
COVID-19 pandemic and the associated social distancing and lockdown made individuals increasingly
turn to social media for support, entertainment, and connection to other people. Social media has enabled
people to seek and share information about the pandemic and to maintain relationships with relatives,
friends, and fellows during social distancing, assume that the pandemic made individuals more aware of
how they present themselves and what they disclose on social media during the pandemic.

Famous fashion brands like Gucci and Zara are getting affected due to the crisis. Some brands have
reached to such a point where they have to close down their factories. Similarly, prior to the webinar
meeting, the ILO Siraye program conducted a digital survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 on factory
operational activity. Preliminary findings highlight that;

1. The average reported capacity utilization rate decreased by 30% in quarter 1 2020 relative to the same
period in 2019;

2. 54% of the factories surveyed expect a decrease of their revenues by 20% in 2020;

3. Factories have already reduced the working hours for employees in response to production slowdowns,
concerned about employee retention;

4. 58% of manufacturers are willing to re-purpose production towards Covid-19 response goods
(facemasks, towels, bed linen, and patient gowns). They will need support on sourcing of machinery, raw
materials, foreign exchange and training workers, etc.

Getting adequate work force for the production is major challenge for textile Industry. 50% or more than
50 % companies in some cases have come to a point where they are no longer functional. (Juneja &
Pathare, 2020) (Panigrahi, Mehta, & Pasricha, 2020)

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RESEARCH GAP
The advent of social media has changed the globe and its entire way of operating, bringing individuals
from all over the world closer together. Since the reach and engagement of social media has changed over
the last several years, due to which prior studies conclusions are incomplete, and we sought to continue
the research by taking the current social media landscape into consideration. The engagement and number
of users on social media is changing and challenging; in prior studies, the engagement and number of
users were fewer than they have been now. In promotional marketing, social media has evolved into
selling platform. In past few years, social media has garnered a massive audience that can also be used by
a business to advertise themselves.

OBJECTIVE:

● To determine the role and impact of social media within the apparel buying preferences within the
fashion industry.

● To know the customer preferences regarding apparel buying.

● To understand how advancements in the fields of communication like social media impact consumer
behaviour.

● To identify the influencing factor of change in the apparel buying preferences amongst customers.

METHODOLOGY:

This research aims to study the impact of social media on Apparel buying preferences through various
steps that is adopted to achieve the research objective.

Research Design

The concept of research design is to declare a road map for the study in concern using justifiable
methodologies and tools to bring about a distinct rigor and structure to the entire process.

The research paper is based on the empirical data from the respondents who are actively involved in
online shopping platforms. Descriptive work has been carried out as no predefined issue occurs so it may
offer a valuable insight into a specific case. A formal survey is established.

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In attempt to analyse the aforementioned research statement, Quantitative Research method is applied.
Quantitative Research Tools includes the assemble and analysis of objective data, frequently in numerical
way. The research design is finalized before the initiation of data gathering and is not pliable. The
research process, interventions and data gathering tools are standardized to reduce or control possible bias
for acquiring responses from voluntarily respondent.

Data Collection Method

The primary data source of this research was mainly obtained from the questionnaire. Therefore,
questionnaires were distributed via online means to the target respondents. Secondary data was gathered
by referring to the previous studies and collected from platforms like journals, articles and magazine
which was keenly analysed and included as a part of literature review to understand the foundation of this
study.

Data Presentation and Analysis

As the study is more quantitative oriented, collected data will be analysed using analysing software
named ―Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS-26)‖. It contains Assumption testing, correlation
analysis, regression analysis in both simple linear and multiple linear methods in order to test the
hypotheses.

Questionnaire Design

The approach for this research was Questionnaire survey technique of Quantitative Research Tools to
explore views, experiences, beliefs and motivations from the consumers. Survey questionnaire includes
series of questions, developed to fathom a given item or set of items. The results of the survey are kept
anonymous and solely used for this study only.

Population and Sample Size

The study undertakes the target population as fashion conscious and active social media users. The
primary data is collected from 177 respondents who were selected through convenient sampling
technique. The data collection was conducted using a structured questionnaire.

Ethical Consideration

In terms of ethical consideration, the present study focused on the right of the participants by providing
them free will to participate in the research without any coercion. They were informed and ensured of
confidentiality that their individual information would not be released
or published and will be dealt with complete anonymity. It was informed to them that the data would only
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be used by the researchers. Questions like ranking, liker‘s scale, checklist and multiple choice
questions. Secondary data was also collected so as to have accurate results and the required data
was collected from various magazines newspapers, journals, previous researches and internet

SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH STUDY

The scope of this study is to explore the impact of social media on consumer buying preferences &
behaviour of apparel. Along with the study, it would examine the consumer buying behaviour aligned
with the consumer decision making process. Therefore, further insight is required to assess the
consumer‘s attitudes towards online research, more specifically the impact of social media as a research
tool during the consumer‘s decision-making process in the apparel buying.

ANALYSIS

 RELIABILITY TEST
Cronbach‘s Measure is the common measure of internal consistency (―reliability‖). In other words, to
comprehend whether the questions in this questionnaire are reliable or not, a Cronbach‘s Alpha Test was
run.

The above table shows that the Cronbach‘s Alpha is 0.806, which indicates a normal level of internal
consistency in the variable of study to understand the Impact of Social Media on Apparel Buying
Preferences.
Therefore, the extent to which the questionnaire of this study remains the same, and the questionnaire or
the measurement continue to be stable over time and the similarity of measurements within a given time
period is ensured.

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  CORRELATION ANALYSIS
The following tables shows the results of Correlation, a Bivariate Analysis that measures the strength &
relation between two variables conducted using IBM SPSS.
Correlation is a statistical technique that shows how strongly two variables are related to each other or the
degree of association between the two.

A. Correlation – Social Media Usage in Apparel Buying & Comfort Zone of Shopping Environment

The Pearson Correlation for Social Media Usage in Apparel Buying & Comfort Zone of Shopping
Environment is 0.340.
The number of respondents in the sample answering both items is 177.
The diagonal value (1) represents perfect correlations between the two variables and themselves.
The p-value for this correlation coefficient is .000. It‘s not technically zero. SPSS does not give p-values
to more than three decimal places.
The statistical hypothesis test for this p-value is:
 H0 (Null Hypothesis): No significant/ equal relationship between Social Media Usage in
Apparel Buying & Comfort Zone of Shopping Environment
 HA: Statistically significant relationship between Social Media Usage in Apparel Buying &
Comfort Zone of Shopping Environment
Because p < .05, reject the null of no relationship and conclude that the relationship is statistically
significant.
Also, r values around .340 indicating a moderate correlation.
Hence, the correlation between Social Media Usage & Comfort Zone of Shopping Environment is
statistically significant linear relationship. The direction of relationship is positive i.e., Social Media
Usage in Apparel Buying & Comfort Zone of Shopping Environment are positively correlated.

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 B. Correlation – Social Media usage for Apparel Buying & Social Media‘s Triggering Factor on
purchase decision

The Pearson Correlation for Social Media usage for Apparel Buying & Social Media‘s Triggering Factor
on purchase decision is 0.450.
The number of respondents in the sample answering both items is 177.
The diagonal value (1) represents perfect correlations between the two variables and themselves.
The p-value for this correlation coefficient is .000. It‘s not technically zero. SPSS does not give p-values
to more than three decimal places.
The statistical hypothesis test for this p-value is:
 H0 (Null Hypothesis): No significant relationship between Social Media usage for Apparel
Buying & Social Media‘s Triggering Factor on purchase decision
 HA: Statistically significant relationship between Social Media usage for Apparel Buying &
Social Media‘s Triggering Factor on purchase decision
Because p < .05, reject the null of no relationship and conclude that the relationship is statistically
significant.

Also, r values around .450 indicating a moderate correlation.

Hence, the correlation between Social Media usage for Apparel Buying & Social Media‘s Triggering
Factor on purchase decision is statistically significant linear relationship. The direction of relationship is
positive i.e., Social Media usage for Apparel Buying & Social Media‘s Triggering Factor on purchase
decision are positively correlated.

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 C. Correlation – Social Media Usage for Apparel Buying & Frequently Buying through social media

The Pearson Correlation for Social Media Usage for Apparel Buying & Frequently Buying through social
media is 0.520.
The number of respondents in the sample answering both items is 177.
The diagonal value (1) represents perfect correlations between the two variables and themselves.
The p-value for this correlation coefficient is .000. It‘s not technically zero. SPSS does not give p-values
to more than three decimal places.
The statistical hypothesis test for this p-value is:
 H0 (Null Hypothesis): No significant relationship between Social Media Usage for Apparel
Buying & Frequently Buying through social media
 HA: Statistically significant relationship between Social Media Usage for Apparel Buying
& Frequently Buying through social media

Because p < .05, reject the null of no relationship and conclude that the relationship is statistically
significant.

Also, r values around .520 indicating a strong correlation.

Hence, the correlation between Social Media Usage for Apparel Buying & Frequently Buying through
social media is statistically significant linear relationship. The direction of relationship is positive i.e.,
Social Media Usage for Apparel Buying & Frequently Buying through social media are positively
correlated.

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 D. Correlation – Usage of social media for Apparel Related Information Search & Frequently Buying
through social media

The Pearson Correlation for Usage of social media for Apparel Related Information Search & Frequently
Buying through social media is 0.499.
The number of respondents in the sample answering both items is 177.
The diagonal value (1) represents perfect correlations between the two variables and themselves.
The p-value for this correlation coefficient is .000. It‘s not technically zero. SPSS does not give p-values
to more than three decimal places.
The statistical hypothesis test for this p-value is:
 H0 (Null Hypothesis): No significant relationship between Usage of social media for Apparel
Related Information Search & Frequently Buying through social media
 HA: Statistically significant relationship between Usage of social media for Apparel Related
Information Search & Frequently Buying through social media
Because p < .05, reject the null of no relationship and conclude that the relationship is statistically
significant.

Also, r values around .499 indicating a moderate correlation.

Hence, the correlation between Usage of social media for Apparel Related Information Search &
Frequently Buying through social media is statistically significant linear relationship. The direction of
relationship is positive i.e., Usage of social media for Apparel Related Information Search & Frequently
Buying through social media are positively correlated.

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 E. Correlation – Using social media for apparel related information & Change in buying preferences
due to social media

The Pearson Correlation for Using social media for apparel related information & Change in buying
preferences due to social media is 0.647.
The number of respondents in the sample answering both items is 177.
The diagonal value (1) represents perfect correlations between the two variables and themselves.
The p-value for this correlation coefficient is .000. It‘s not technically zero. SPSS does not give p-values
to more than three decimal places.
The statistical hypothesis test for this p-value is:
 Using social media for apparel related information & Change in buying preferences due to
social media
 HA: Statistically significant relationship between Using social media for apparel related
information & Change in buying preferences due to social media
Because p < .05, reject the null of no relationship and conclude that the relationship is statistically
significant.
Also, r values around .647 indicating a very strong correlation.
Hence, the correlation between Using social media for apparel related information & Change in buying
preferences due to social media is statistically significant linear relationship. The direction of relationship
is positive i.e., Using social media for apparel related information & Change in buying preferences due to
social media on purchase decision are positively correlated.

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  FACTOR ANALYSIS
Factor Analysis (FA) attempts to identify underlying variables or factors that explain the pattern of
correlations within a set of observed variables. Used in data reduction to identify a small number of
factors that explains most of the variance observed in a much large number of manifest variables.
In this study, the Factor Analysis was applied to identify the variables, of factors which affect relationship
between factors of buying apparel via social media, change in preferences, affects in the buying pattern,
etc.
a. KMO & Bartlett‘s Test
In the study a sample size of 177 respondents were taken and was checked if it was adequate for the
study. It was checked using Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and Bartlett's Test of
Sphericity as shown in the Table below.

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy value is greater than 0.7 so it indicates the sample is
good for factor analysis. Since significant value is less than 0.05 it indicates that the factor analysis is
correct technique for reducing the large no of attributes into small no of factor components.
As p value is less than 0.05, we can reject the null hypothesis and accepted alternative hypothesis.
HA: - There is a significant relationship between factors of buying apparel via social media, change in
preferences, affects in the buying pattern, etc. (Is accepted)

b. Communalities
Extraction communalities are estimates of the variance in
each variable accounted for by the components.
The communalities in this table are all moderate, which
indicates that the extracted components represent the
variables moderately well.
Values closer to suggest that extracted factors explain more
of the variance of an individual item.

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The Extracted Communalities shows how much of the variance in the variables has been accounted for by
the extracted factors.
For instance, over 79.8% of the variance in change of initial preference of apparels w.r.t. searching
information on social media is accounted for while 55% of the variance in Trigger by social media to
purchase an apparel or trying out a new brand is accounted for.

c. Rotated Component (Factor) Matrix

The idea of rotation is to reduce the number

factors on which the variables under
investigation have high loadings.
Rotation does not actually change anything
but makes the interpretation of the analysis
easier.
Varimax rotation tries to maximize the
variance of each of these factors, so the total
amount of variance accounted for is
redistributed over the three extracted factors.
The factor loadings show that our factors are
fairly desirable with at least 3 variables per
factors that are above .783.

 ANOVA ANALYSIS

ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) is used for examining the differences in the mean value of the dependent
variables associated with the effect of the independent variable. Essentially analysis of variance is used as
a test of means for two or more population. The null hypothesis is that where all means are equal.
H0: u1=u2=u3= uK; where any one variable is NOT different than any other variable
Where K= number of groups.
The alternative hypothesis (Ha) is that there are atleast two group means that are significantly different
from each other.
H1: u1≠ u2 ≠ u3 ≠ uK; where any one variable is NOT equal to any other variable.
Where K= number of groups.
Briefly stated, if the result of a o=one way ANOVA is statiscally significant, then the alternative
hypothesis is accepted otherwise, the alternative hypothesis is rejected.
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ANOVA has been used to determine whether there is any significant relationship between dependent
variables & independent variable.

Dependent Variable
 I often search for apparel related information or offerings by fashion apparel brands on social
media platforms before purchase
 I often buy apparel via social media
 I change my initial preference of apparels after searching relevant information via social media
 Social media triggers you to purchase any apparel or try a new brand
 Social media influencers affects your buying pattern in apparel preferences
 Spotting certain celebrities carrying certain apparel trends over social media affects your
purchasing pattern
 Brand‘s social media presence influences your purchasing decision

Independent Variable
Do you use social media for apparel buying

The results are mentioned below:

ANOVA
Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
I often search for apparel Between Groups 11.926 1 11.926 10.919 .001
related information or Within Groups 191.136 175 1.092
offerings by fashion apparel Total 203.062 176
brands on social media
platforms before purchase
I often buy apparel via social Between Groups 62.384 1 62.384 64.696 .000
media Within Groups 168.746 175 .964
Total 231.130 176
I change my initial preference Between Groups 12.462 1 12.462 12.248 .001
of apparels after searching Within Groups 178.058 175 1.017
relevant information via social Total 190.520 176
media
Social media triggers you to Between Groups 28.807 1 28.807 44.470 .000
purchase any apparel or try a Within Groups 113.363 175 .648
new brand Total 142.169 176
Social media influencers Between Groups 21.659 1 21.659 27.622 .000
affects your buying pattern in Within Groups 137.222 175 .784
apparel preferences Total 158.881 176
Spotting certain celebrities Between Groups 10.686 1 10.686 10.457 .001
carrying certain apparel Within Groups 178.839 175 1.022
trends over social media Total 189.525 176
affects your purchasing
pattern
Brand’s social media Between Groups 8.957 1 8.957 12.517 .001
presence influences your Within Groups 125.224 175 .716
purchasing decision Total 134.181 176

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A one way ANOVA was conducted between do you use social media for apparel buying and
important attributes related to it. The hypothesis is
H0 = Group means of the attributes are not significantly different from each other
Ha= Group means for attributes are significantly different from each other
In above analysis the significance or the p value varies from 0.000 to 0.001
An analysis of variance showed that the effect of social media apparel buying on other attributes
is significant. The significance or the p value is p < 0.5. Thus we reject the null hypothesis as
group means are statistically different from each other, due to which the alternative hypothesis is
accepted.

 FREQUENCY TEST ( MEAN, MEDIAN & MODE )

1. The mean is the average of a data set.

2. The mode is the most common number in a data set.
3. The median is the middle of the set of numbers.
―Missing‖ is the number of observations that do not have data for the variable and are coded as missing.
This is helpful to understand how many observations there are in each analysis that we will run. In our
statistics the missing value is constant in all the variable i.e. ‗1.‘

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First output chart, ―Statistics‖, shows us the number of observations (N) and the descriptive statistics
(Mean, Mode, and Median) we specified with our subcommand of the variable ―Do you use social media
for apparel buying?‖
1. Next, shows the average of all valid observation values in the ―Mean‖ row of 1.20. The middle option
of the observations is coded with a value of 1.00. The most common option selected for ―Do you use
social media for apparel buying?‖ variable is 1 where 1 denotes that most of the people out of 177
uses social media for apparel buying. The mean of this variable is least amongst all the 7 variable
which is 1.20.

2. The next output chart in statistics shows the variable for ―What is your preferred source of
information for your apparel buying decision?‖ The mean, mode, median of this output are 2.00, 1,
1.20 respectively. This shows that the most preferred source of information for buying apparel is
social media. The mean 1.93 is less than of Social media triggers you to purchase any apparel or try a
new brand.

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3. For the variable ―How often do you use your social media account to check new trends in the apparel
sector?‖ the values for mean mode and median are 2.82, 4 and 3.00 respectively. The mean in this is
the highest of all which is 2.82 and shows that most the people amongst 177 people use social media
once in a week.

4. Next, SPSS shows the average of all valid observation values in the ―Mean‖ row of 2.15. The middle
option of the observations is coded with a value of 2.00. The most common option selected for
―Brand‘s social media presence influences your purchasing decision‖ variable is 2. The mean is the
second highest among all 7 and more than 5th variable which is ―Social media triggers you to purchase
any apparel or try a new brand‖ and the mode 2 denotes that most of the people agree to the statement
given.

5. The next output chart in statistics shows the variable for ―Social media triggers you to purchase any
apparel or try a new brand‖ The mean, mode, median of this output are 2.10, 2, 2.00 respectively. The
mode 2 denotes that most of the people agree to the statement given. The mean comes out to be 2.10
which is less than the variable 4 and more than variable 2.

6. For the variable ―If you buy from social media, does good discounts draws you to the place?‖ the
values for mean mode and median are 1.48, 1 and 1.00 respectively. The highest value is 1 which
denotes ‗YES‘ and the mean is 1.48 which and is second least among the 7 variable and more than
variable 7.

7. Next, SPSS shows the average of all valid observation values in the ―Mean‖ row of 1.73. The middle
option of the observations is coded with a value of 2.00. The most common option selected for ―If
not, is risk of getting scammed by the seller, the reason for not making apparel purchases over social
media?‖ variable is 2 where 2 denotes NO out of 177 people. The highest value is 2 which denotes
‗NO‘ and the mean is 1.73 which is more than variable 6 and less than variable 2

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  KRUSKAL WALLIS TEST
The Kruskal-Wallis test is used to answer research questions that compare three or more independent
groups on an ordinal outcome. The Kruskal-Wallis test is considered non-parametric because the
outcome is not measured at a continuous level. The Kruskal-Wallis test is a nonparametric (distribution-
free) test, and we use it when the assumptions of one-way anova are not met. Both the Kruskal-Wallis
test and one-way anova assess for significant differences on a continuous dependent variable by a
categorical independent variable (with two or more groups).
The test determines whether the medians of two or more groups are different. Like most statistical tests,
you calculate a test statistic and compare it to a distribution cut-off point. The test statistic used in this test
is called the H statistic. The hypotheses for the test are:
 H0: medians are equal.
 H1: medians are not equal

In the Test Statistics table, p-value associated with Asymp. Sig. row.
If p value is LESS THAN .05, then there is statistically significant difference in the continuous outcome
variable between the independent groups.
If p-value is MORE THAN .05, then there is not a statistically significant difference in the continuous
outcome variable between the independent groups.
So, in the Test Statistics, p < .05, there is statistically significant difference in the continuous outcome
variable
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  CLUSTER ANALYSIS

It is a data reduction tool that creates subgroups that are more manageable than individual datum. Cluster
analysis (CA) is an exploratory data analysis tool for organizing observed data (e.g., people, things,
events, brands, companies) into meaningful taxonomies, groups, or clusters, based on combinations of
factors, which maximizes the similarity of cases within each cluster while maximizing the dissimilarity
between groups that are initially unknown.
Cluster analysis does not make any distinction between dependent and independent variables.
In this study, the entire set of interdependent relationships is examined. Cluster analysis reduces the
number of observations or cases by grouping them into a smaller set of clusters.
Technique Adapted: As the number of groups or clusters that will emerge from the analysis is not known
in the sample and as optimum solution is soughed, a two-stage sequence of analysis was implemented as
follows:
 A hierarchical cluster analysis
using Ward's method applying
squared Euclidean Distance as the
distance or similarity measure was
carried out. This helped to
determine the optimum number of
clusters we should work with.
 In the next stage the hierarchical
cluster analysis was rerun with the
selected number of clusters, which
enabled us to allocate every case in
our sample to a particular cluster.

K-Means Clustering
This method of clustering is very different from
the hierarchical clustering and Ward method,
which had been applied previously when there
is no prior knowledge of how many clusters
there may be or what they are characterized by.
This is the type of research question that can be
addressed by the k-means clustering algorithm.
In our study we have used both the hierarchical
and the k-means techniques successively. The
former (Ward's method) is used to get some
sense of the possible number of clusters and the
way they merge as seen from the dendrogram.
As from Table below we have deduced 3
Clusters. Then the clustering is rerun with only
a chosen optimum number in which to place all
the cases (k means clustering).

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  H0 = Group means of the attributes are not significantly different from each other
 Ha= Group means for attributes are significantly different from each other
An analysis of variance showed that the effect of social media apparel buying on other attributes is
significant. The significance or the p value is p < 0.5. Thus, we reject the null hypothesis as group means
are statistically different from each other, due to which the alternative hypothesis is accepted.

 CHI-SQUARE TEST

The Chi Square statistic compares the tallies or counts of categorical responses between two (or more)
independent group. It assists us in determining whether a systematic association exists between the two
variables.
The null hypothesis, Ho, is that there is no association between the variables.
For the research hypothesis were formulated to establish the statistical dependence between factors
associated to the demographic variables. The variables with highest factor loading from each Component
in the exploratory factor analysis were selected. Two demographic factors namely, gender and profession
were chosen.

31
Therefore, our chi-square calculated value is less than the chi-square critical value, so we "fail to reject"
our null hypothesis. Hence, there is an association between profession and gender of respondents.
The p-value indicates that these variables are not independent of each other and that there is a statistically
significant relationship between the categorical variables.

FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

 It is suggested for the organizations to understand the crucial role of social media to sell and
promote its merchandise as social media is the best way to entice the customers towards products
and services,
 The marketing methods should be designed in such a way that could attract the various age and
class of the customers.
 Social media influencers make a positive impact on the buying decision process of the customers.
 Consumers are more attracted towards the content that shows discounts, promotions and
influencers because it keeps that ability to change customers mindset and their perception.
 Consumers, influenced by social media are tending to spend 4 times more than their normal
purchase and the attraction towards the products is so high that they buy it on the same day using
social media.
 Social media is effective and cheap.
 Social media can make a direct interaction with customers.
 Social media is an effective way to generate more leads and sales.

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 RECOMMENDATIONS

 Companies should give more importance to social media marketing. Their presence on social
media can give them more visibility and it can also increase the brand value that will lead to more
customer loyalty and customer lifetime value.
 Companies can be more connected with customers through social media because the brands can
communicate with them regularly and help or guide them to make a better purchase decision.
 Companies can use social media more frequently to draw the consumer attention and brand
awareness.
 Brands can be more interactive with the customers and it can get more customers insights and
their reviews and feedbacks to make them feel that they are a part of the brand.
 Brands can share more positive experience of the customers who have already used that product
so that the prospects and the ones who are already planning to buy can relate themselves more.
 Brands need to show themselves as more influential and it should try to make the product viral on
social media.
 Social media influencers should be chosen wisely, they should be the one who can connect with
the customers with their want and needs.

CONCLUSION

The research has shown a powerful impact of social media on consumer buying behaviour in digital age.
No doubt that social media had brought major changes to both, consumer as well as businesses. The
research has shown that consumers are highly selective while making a purchase. Though there is a plenty
of data and sources of information on social media, still personal attitude of the consumers makes a lot of
difference in selecting and making a purchase.
The quality of content on social media makes a big impact so it should be consumer relevant. When the
marketing is done through social media, it is not all about consumer awareness or selling the product
itself. It is more than that which includes retaining a built-up relationship and building it between the
potential buyers and corporations. Now the consumer is the king who can get all the information
regarding a product or services by simply speaking with each other. So, the companies and marketers
should highly careful about the bad mouth on social media because it can lead to destroy the company‘s
reputation.
Even many individuals have agreed on the fact that through social media, they can share their opinion and
talk to other consumers and the corporations more effectively. Social media has definitely bridged up the
gap between the brands and the consumers. Considering this fact, companies are now making each
possible effort in making the buyer feel connected with the brand and allowed them to put their views,
opinions, feedbacks and reviews.

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ANNEXURES

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