Regarding the research methodology, the research will be carried out quantitatively with the help of 100 participants. The data collection will take place via a specific questionnaire designed to gain customer insight when purchasing a new towel. The beams will be attached to the hatch loom to build a terry pile fabric based on specific fabric structure design in the house.
With the dry matter, it will be transport to the later stage of production, which is the value-added process, if the specific batch is required. In the later phase, the fabric will be transferred to the cutting and sewing department. With the hemmed towels, it will be cut down into one piece for final sewing.
Along with the finished towel, it will be packed according to the customer's requirements, which will later be sent to the warehouse in the warehouse for later distribution by the teams at a later stage. With mega data of SKUs, inventory will be difficult to manage and will lead to error. Because false inventory can harm a business in many ways, be it overproduction, the possibility of lost sales, and much more.
This research will focus solely on the factors that influence consumers' purchasing decisions when it comes to towels.
LITERATURE REVIEW
- Consumer behavior
- Price consciousness
- Consumer purchase behavior towards Price of the product
- Consumer purchase behavior towards Functionality
- Quality
- Terry towel and its fiber application
Research by Manning (2003) shows that consumers who are vigilant about prices often understand the standard price of the market. According to Meckes (2018), charging the right price for the product can secure your competitive position in the market. To explain, at a price that is acceptable to consumers, they are likely to purchase the products, which will result in the company making a profit to invest in additional change or expansion in the future.
Therefore, it is crucial that the textile manufacturer sets the right, acceptable price for the consumers so that they can gain an edge in the markets. Therefore, in this case it is safe to say that price is considered an important factor in changing consumer behavior. To explain this, Rattanapitak (2014) conducted research that focuses on the attitudinal power of brands, along with its components, and how this will influence behavioral intentions.
The component of the attitude strength is functional benefits of the brand, self-identification of the brand and brand aesthetic. His research shows that the three-mentioned component has the positive relationship with the altitude strength of the brand. Furthermore, Sanad's (2016) research on consumer attitude and purchase decision towards textile and clothing products also shows that textile product with physical characteristics or function that positively affects comfort, fit, appearance and performance is likely to lead consumer to confidence in making a purchase decision. .
Apart from that, consumers usually rate the quality of the products with that of their rival brands, which is often unstable depending on various factors generated by other brands. Ultimately, consumer perception of product quality can be influenced by several factors at each stage of the purchasing process. The pile loops can cover the entire surface of the fabric in one or both ways.
As for the face of the fabric, it consists of warp yarns which later form a warp pile or a warp pile. In the studies, there were 4 specific types of fiber that were discussed. Based on the research of Ramachandra (2015), bamboo fibers are considered to be a raw material used to produce health-focused products, as it contains properties that favor the consumer to have good health.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Data Collection
With the help of IBM SPSS, this research should have a deeper understanding of different consumer perspective. To identify the significant factors, Factor Analysis can be used as a tool for dimension reduction. Since the regression model can be used to determine the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variable.
Secondary Data
FINDING ANALYSIS
- Frequencies
- Screening question
- Demographic question
- Question 1: What is your age group?
- Question 2: What is your Gender?
- Question 3: How much is your earning per month?
- Question 4: What is your nationality
- Question 5: Which region you live in Thailand
- General Question
- Question 1: How often do you buy towels?
- Question 2: How much do you spend each time buying towels?
- Question 3: How often do you go to the mall
- Question 4: Do you consider using the specific towels for enhancing your shower experience
- Question 5: What do specific towels mean to you?
- Factor Analysis
- Total Variance Explained
- Screen Plot
- Rotated Component Matrix
- First variables: Quality
- Second variables: Function
- Third variables: Price discount
- Mean score
The variation in the age group between the participants should give this research an overview of different age group perspectives when it comes to buying a new towel. The results show that the majority of the participants participating in this research are 84% while the remaining 16% are male. With the participants' variation in earnings, the research can understand different perspectives when it comes to buying a new towel in terms of income.
The result shows that 89% of the participants are Thai and the remaining 11% are non-Thai. With the different nationalities of the participants, the research can further understand both Thai and non-Thai perspectives on purchasing a new towel. The results show that 25 participants buy towels more than 3 times a year, 26 buy them 2-3 times a year, 26 buy them once a year, and 23 will wait more than a year to buy them.
However, the result shows that none of the participants have ever bought a towel that costs over 1,000 THB. The results show that 25% of participants strongly agree to consider using specific towels, 31% also agree to consider using specific towels. Regarding the participants who do not feel that they need specific towels, 23% disagree, while the remaining 21 strongly disagree.
With the results, the research will gain a deeper understanding of the perspective of people who are considering using a particular towel and those who will not use it when it comes to buying new towels. The results show that 31% of the participants believe that a certain towel is the one that would make their daily routine easier, 49% believe that it is a towel that has a special design that suits your preferences, 9% believe that it is just a towel. which can be bought everywhere, and the remaining 11% think that it is just a normal towel, no different from any other towel. According to the results, most participants seem to associate certain towels with towels that can benefit them in some way.
After multiple runs of the factor analysis function in the IBM SPSS software, the results show that initial eigenvalues greater than 1 appeared on the first three components. To determine the number of factors, the plotted position must be greater than 1 of the eigenvalue. From the first glance of the graph we can see that there are significant drops after component 4.
According to the results of the factor analysis run shown above, the results clearly show that there are 3 significant factors that consumers look for, which can be identified as quality, function and price reduction. The components of Function are as follows "Would you be more willing to buy a towel that claims to be lint free?" and "When you want to buy a new towel, you always check the label for function.".
Mean Score
Regression analysis
- Variables Entered/Removed
Regression analysis allows this research to determine the relationships between the dependent variable and the independent variable. In this example, the dependent variable is purchase intention, while the independent variables are variables derived from the calculation variables functions of IBM SPSS software. To understand the result of the regression analysis, it will be necessary to review the table of entered/removed variables and the table of coefficients.
CHA PTE
Coefficients
According to the coefficient table shown above, the result gave that the function is a more significant variable due to the highest sig as well as the standardized coefficients beta. As the mean scores show that the two components under the price discount factors have the highest mean scores.
CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMEDATIONS
Conclusion
Based on the regression analysis model, function is the most important factors that the consumer considered when purchasing a new towel. This gives the research an understanding that consumers are very concerned about whether there will be a price discount or not when it comes to buying a new towel. In addition, there is contradiction between the literature review and the actual result of the finding that needs to be addressed.
According to Rattanapitak (2014), the component of attitude strength is brand functional benefits, brand self-identification and brand aesthetics. His research shows that the three-name component has a positive relationship with brand strength as well as willingness to pay premium price. Consumers are less likely to purchase a towel with more functional benefits, as they are perceived as a premium priced product.
With the completion of this research, the participants in the questionnaire are price-conscious consumers. The research shows that price-conscious consumers have less insight into the market price. The mean score analysis shows that among the price discount factors, the component has the highest mean score, which is: “I can immediately change my product of choice when I see sales and promotions from other brands.” And “I don't really care about retail prices, as long as there are discounts.”
Recommendations
Limitations in the scope of study
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Questionnaire
Are you willing to pay a higher price for a towel with additional features such as antibacterial, odor control, quick drying, high water absorption, lint free, sand resistant, etc. I can change my product instantly if I see sales and promotions from other brands. When deciding to buy a towel, I don't really care about the retail price as long as there are discounts available.
