Evaluation Methodology Basics: The Details of Sound Evaluation - Essay Example

Evaluation Methodology Basics: The Details of Sound Evaluation Executive summary The brand preferences among different consumer groups tend to differ because of variation in factors that influence them in their purchasing decisions. The purpose of this research is to identify the key influences that affect student’s purchase decisions as well as the most significant factors in respect to brand consumptions between international and local female students. There are many studies that currently show how consumers with different characteristics respond to different brands inspired by different factors; some of these studies are reviewed in this study. The study will use mixed study design to investigate the relationship between purchase behaviours of international Female students and local Female students at the University? The results will be analysed in SPSS and the differences between the two groups compared. Mostly, it is found that the international students are less ethnocentric in their purchase behaviours compared to their local counterparts. Introduction In recent years there has been a dramatic change that a majority of the modern brand product appeared on the market. The internet has provided consumers with a greater area of choice in choosing their preference and brand production they like to their own needs and requirements. What is more, student population cannot be ignored as they are used to follow the steps of new fashion elements. These changes have created new dynamics in the process of consumer decision making. The purpose of this research is to identify the key influences that affect student’s purchase decisions as well as the most significant factors in respect to brand consumptions between international and local female students. The study aims at investigating the following research questions: What are the main influences and differences of brand purchasing between international Female students and local Female students at the University? Literature review There are many studies that currently show that cultural aspects such as territorial identity and image are strongly associated with consumer perception. According to Solomon and Stuart (2005), the consumer perception is identified with three aspects including exposure, perceptive selection and interpretation. After a customer is exposed to a certain product, they perceive the stimulus that is produced by the product in their own sensory receptors. In the course of these events, the consumers focus on some specific stimuli more than others, which is the perceptive selection. Subsequently, the consumers relate certain importance to the stimuli in the process called ‘interpretation’. This process is affected by a number of relationships, which consumers constructs depending with their needs as well as experiences. The process of perception can be related to the perception of branded products, which could be linked to some particular geographical place or not linked not any, and which are influenced by the consumers’ traits such as lifestyles, opinions, beliefs and values among many others. Other factors that play important role in the selection of specific brands by the consumers include product characteristics such as price, brand and physical features; and the place where the product is sold including product display and the terms of layout, just to mention but a few (Solomon and Stuart, 2005; Silvera et al. , 2008). The perception of local products is influenced by scores of factors. In some cases, such products can be viewed as representative of heritage and culture, commercial presentations, history, tradition and authentic places, all of which shapes a consumer experience with a certain location (Kolar and Zabkar, 2010; Morris and Kirwan, 2010). A number of researchers including Dimara and Skuras (2003), van Ittersum et al. (2003) and Mattiacci and Vignali (2004) acknowledge the importance that the consumer attaches to products linked with certain regions or places. In fact, scores of researchers maintain that knowledge of the country of origin of the local product defines the way the consumer perceives that particular product (Schaefer, 1997). This means that this factor can be cited as one of the major factors that influence product perception (Phau and Leng, 2008). Above all, consumers tend to perceive food products that originate from their mother country as of high quality (Guerrero et al., 2009). In this study, it is considered that factors such as students’ country of origin, culture and opinions from friends have the greatest influence in the choice of products from both local and international students. In particular, the image of origin is associated with the reputation of regions and consumer reaction to feelings and knowledge about the host country, in addition to the culture of that country (Prentice, 2006; Ktonecnik and Gartner, 2007). Therefore, if the products sold in the University are expression of certain regions whose characteristics they exhibit, it is most likely that the culture will play a key role on the perception of such products and on the ultimate purchase decisions. In a University set up, there are reference groups, which include people or groups that students can look up for guidance and opinions. These are important sources of influence on the product brand. In this case, reference groups include friends who influence other students’ buying decisions as a result of their special skills, personality and knowledge. For example, when a certain student undergoes a bad experience with a certain brand, it is most likely that they will influence their friends not to purchase such a brand. Nevertheless, scores of studies have established that the knowledge that consumers derive thorough direct personal encounter is taken to be more reliable that the information obtained from other sources. This creates more formidable beliefs in certain brands. In some countries, the consumer’s purchase pattern and lifestyle are determined by demographics. These factors are believed to play significant roles especially in the consumption of foreign-made products. Singh (1990) cited additive aspects such as income, education and occupation, as some of the sophisticated factors that influence consumers’ purchase decision. Mager and Hulpke (1990) pointed out demographic factors such as occupation, education, income, and family background, which considerably determine the exposure to foreign goods and hence the likelihood of purchasing them. International students are highly exposed to these demographic factors and hence more likely to purchase goods made from other countries. It has also come to light that demographic factors such as income, age and education are strongly associated with product knowledge and information search among other important aspects that influence purchase decisions. The demographic factors such as income, age and education, which are related to ethno-national characteristics, are also very important factors that shape students purchasing behaviours in international Universities. Those consumers who are highly educated are said to be less conservative in their brand choice. In addition, such consumers are less likely to exhibit ethnic prejudice, and they are less likely to be proud of their country. Furthermore, they perceive foreign brands as more favorable than their domestic counterparts As the income level of some people increases, they tend to travel abroad and hence get exposed to a variety of products. This reduces the level of ethnocentric perception and increases the adoption of foreign-made brands. Studies about the country image have given evidence on the direct relationship between higher income and the tendency of accepting products made from abroad. Singh (1990) established that there is a strong relationship between product familiarity and the level of income. Finally, there is a common acceptance that younger consumers have less limitations and restrictions as to choice of brands simply because they are unbound by the historical past and personal experiences. Schaefer (1997) established that older consumers prefer domestic products and hence they are more conservative. On the other hand, younger consumers have a preference for imported brands. On the whole, it is expected that younger student consumers with higher incomes or from rich families and those with higher levels of education are more cosmopolitan and hence less ethnocentric in their brand choice. Methodology The basic aim of this study is to design and implement a qualitative and quantitative analysis the main influences and differences of brand purchasing between international Female students and local Female students at the University. As Davidson ( 2005) explains, quantitative and qualitative techniques presents corresponding aspects of the scientific study method, whereby the quantitative approaches are concerned with testing of hypothesis (primary deduction) while qualitative approaches are concerned with generating of hypothesis (primary induction). A questionnaire will be designed to address the research question. As part of the interview preparation, the researcher will conduct a pilot test, to help decide if there exist any obstacles, limitations, flaws or any other weaknesses that may face the interview design. In case any of these issues are detected, the researcher will make appropriate corrections before the study is implemented (Kvale, 1983). More importantly, the researcher will select participants with similar characteristics and interests to those that will take part in the final study to ensure that the tests are relevant and useful. A sample of fifty international female students and fifty local female students will be selected to participate in the study. The researcher will use simple random sampling to select these participants. This method is found useful for this study because the population characteristics is not very complicated and hence no need of a sophisticated sampling method. Those who will qualify for the study will be issued with the questionnaires and to fill. The researcher will ensure that a clear informed and voluntary agreement is made by the participants. The kind of informed consent, which will be used in this study, will have to meet specific requirements including a statement that the study is about research, specification of any experimental procedures, a description of the procedures that will be involved, an explanation of the purpose of the research, and details of the expected period of participants’ involvement (Ellis and Earley, 2006). When the process of data collection is completed, the researcher will start by capturing the data in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. This data will then be analysed using the IBM SPSS 11.0 package. The data will be described using descriptive statistics as well as frequency tables. According to Hussey and Hussey (1997), descriptive statistics are ideal for reviewing and displaying of quantitative data, hence producing relationships and patterns that can be explained, something that is not possible with raw data Results and description of the data The International Students (IS) seem to spend more on clothing that Local Students (LS), who are known more for frequenting shopping every month. The majority of both local and international students are in the 19-25 age brackets, though the international students seem to have an older average age than their local counterparts. The IS seems to have a taste for fashionable and formal cloths unlike LS who have a high preference for casual wear. Internet is the major source of information for most of the students, whereby the LS appear to use internet more than IS. Style is the most mentioned reasons for buying particular cloths, but the LS is more inclined towards brand preference than their international counterparts. Brand awareness is more associated with LS than IS. The IS have more liking for overseas brands, while the LS seem to value domestic brand most. For the international students, most of the living expense comes from parents and part-time jobs, but the local students tend to rely more on ‘other ways’ besides parents and part-time jobs. The IS are better in following brands with the fear of being left behind the trends than LS. The following SPSS output shows the test of independence on different aspects of the study. From the t-statistics table, the null hypothesis tested is that ‘there is no difference in shopping frequency between the international students and the local students’. The second null hypothesis is that ‘there is no difference on the amount spent on clothing between the international students and the local students’. The results show that, for the frequency of shopping each month, the p-value is 0.24, which is greater than 0.05, hence leading to acceptance of the null hypothesis and concluding that ‘there is no difference in shopping frequency between the international students and the local students’. However, in respect to the amount spent on clothing, the p-value is 0.00, which is less than 0.05, hence leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis and conclusion that ‘there is a significant difference on the amount spent on clothing between the international students and the local students’ The t-statistics for both fashion information and following of fashion are less than 0.05, which leads to the conclusion that there is no difference between internal and local students in respects to the two variables. The above t-statistics show significant difference between international and local students in respect to the sources of the living expenses while the rest of the variables show no difference between the two groups. Discussion and interpretation In view of the above results, it is clear that international students differ from the local students in terms of some of their purchase behaviours and not others. Even though the test statistics show no evidence of difference between the purchasing behaviours of the two groups, mostly this can be attributed to statistical error as there is still some level of deviation. Nevertheless, the sources of living expenses and frequency of shopping between the two groups is very evident; perhaps because of the effect of the international students being in a foreign country and hence not capable of participating in some activities or simply because of cultural and lifestyle differences. The international students are more responsive to fashions and trends, perhaps because of their travelling abroad which has exposed them to different lifestyles and taste in life. However, the issue of the local students being more affiliated with casual and less formal wear can mostly be attributable for culture and lifestyles. Perhaps, the citizens of this particular country are culturally used to casual lifestyles, hence having this as a strong influence during their purchase decisions making. Also, the internet has clearly emerged as a significant source of information for buyers. Both international and local students seek information from the internet, with the local students doing it more perhaps because their country is highly developed in terms of information technology. Maybe, visiting internet frequently has made the local students to be more aware about brands, hence also being influenced more by brands when making their purchase decisions. Because of having a more global exposure and not being in their mother country, the international students prefer brands from foreign countries while the local students prefer domestic brands. Also, the fact that the local students are not exposed to the external worlds makes them more ethnocentric in their purchase behaviours than their international counterparts (Mager and Hulpke,1990). Conclusion This study has helped get insight into the main influences and differences of brand purchasing between international Female students and local Female students at the University. As found from the literature, the two groups have some differences in their purchasing behaviours because the factors that influences them in their decisions making differ to some extent. Most importantly, the fact that the international students are more travelled makes them less ethnocentric and hence more flexible when choosing brands even from foreign countries. Most of the students get information from friends and the internet, which influence them in their purchase decisions. With the local students being more exposed to the internet, they tend to pay more attention to brands than their international counterparts (Dimara and Skuras, 2003). As such, it is clear that the purchasing behaviours between the two groups are different. References Davidson, EJ. (2005). Evaluation methodology basics: the nuts and bolts of sound evaluation. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Dimara, E. and Skuras, D. (2003), "Consumer evaluations of products certification, geographic association and traceability in Greece", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 37 Nos 5/6, pp. 690-705. Ellis, J. and Earley, M. (2006). Reciprocity and constructions of informed consent: Researching with indigenous populations. International Journal of Qualitative Vol. 37 Nos 5/6, pp. 690-705. 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