Midterm Report – Luxury apparel

The objective of the Project:

The project aims to study the various factors affecting Consumer Behaviour in the luxury
apparels market in India. This includes looking at defining the term ‘luxury,' studying the
characteristics and personas of luxury buyers, understanding their buying motivations and
framing a comprehensive list of traits and factors that can be associated with consumer
behavior in this segment.
Scope of the Project:
The scope of the project involves an extensive review of the literature available on luxury goods
and marketing luxury products. The objective of the literature review is to understand how
marketing luxury goods is different from a brand perspective as well as a consumer perspective.
Once we are able to identify an initial set of parameters, we intend to conduct in-depth
interviews with some typical buyers of luxury products. These interviews will help us better
understand the perspective of the consumer and the motivation to buy luxury products.
Revenue in the Luxury Apparel segment amounts to US$76,728m in 2019. As per the
Transparency Market Research report, the global luxury apparels market is estimated to be
worth US$60.7 bn by the end of 2024. The market is expected to expand with a CAGR of 13.2
% within the forecast period of 2016 to 2024. Based on material, the market is dominated by
the category of cotton with an account of 35.87% of the total share of the market. As per
geographical segmentation, Asia Pacific is estimated to be contributing more number of shares
with a CAGR of 14.75% by the end of the forecast period. There is intense competition between
players to collect most revenue as compared to the other companies and establish their foothold
in the market.
Thus despite the limited attention in marketing literature, ‘luxury apparels' is a vast and very
fast-growing market. Hence it is essential to carefully study and understand the factors that
play a significant role in consumer behavior. The model is to be tested on Indian consumers
who are avid consumers of luxury apparels. Sample population comprise of mainly XLRI
students and post-graduates who are young, educated, working professionals with enough
disposable income to shop for luxury apparels.
Analysis:
For, the part of this analysis as already mentioned in the scope, we define the luxury apparel
by clothing that cost Rs. 5000/- and above. Typically this kind of products would fall into the
mass luxury category. Also, we would only be sticking to in-depth interviews for research as
there is a shortage of subjects availability. We did a wardrobe analysis to identify our research
audience. Based on the literature review, we have determined the following parameters that
might be affecting consumer behavior in the luxury segment:
1) Personal Characteristics: Income, culture, Knowledge, Key values
2) Brand Value: Perceived Premiumness, Aesthetics, Rarity, Buying Experience
3) Motivational: Social Media influence, Peer pressure, Conspicuous consumption
We will be using the VALS scale (Indian perspective) to identify the fundamental values and
behaviors exhibited by the people, who engage in the consumption of luxury apparel. We have
done the interviews with ten people as of now, and we intend to interview 15 more people.
Once, this data is available; we would be using the respective statistic measures like t-test, χ2
test, or other qualitative techniques to analyze the same.

1|Page Group : 1B – Luxury Apparel

Survey Questionnaire and Data so far: The questionnaire, along with the Value Lifestyle
survey, will be used for the analysis.

Way Forward :
Once we get the information from all the interviewees, we would like to understand the role
played by price, aesthetics, perceived premiumness, buying environment, and exclusivity in
building the brand value of a product in the luxury apparel segment.
Also, we are interested in understanding the target group for luxury goods. We will be
analyzing the data collected to arrive at insights on the role played income, culture, knowledge
in defining the target segment for luxury apparel goods.
Finally, we would like to arrive at insights on buying motivations for luxury apparels. We are
primarily interested in the impact of social media, peer pressure, hedonic, and conspicuous
consumption on influencing the purchase decision.
And eventually, based on the insights from above, we will be arriving at a comprehensive list
of traits and factors, if possible, develop a framework defining with consumer behavior in this
segment.

2|Page Group : 1B – Luxury Apparel