CHAPTER 9: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
9.1 To identify the most patronised stores according to a sample of male and female
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169 important. In this particular study, the first research objective was to determine the competitors in the South African clothing industry according to a sample of Generation Y consumers.
Question 1 of the focus group questionnaire was open-ended and asked the participants to disclose where they purchase their clothing. The discussion on this question was transcribed, coded and analysed and the findings revealed that the most preferred clothing stores according to the focus group participants were Mr Price with a frequency of 20%, Edgars (15%), YDE (11%), Woolworths and Identity both with a frequency of 9%. Mr Price, Edgars, YDE, Woolworths and Identity were thus identified as the most patronised clothing stores according to the focus group sample of Generation Y consumers, and were thus used to formulate Question 1 of the questionnaire for the second, quantitative stage of the triangulated research design.
Further relevant focus group findings relating to this objective included the responses to Question 8 of the focus group questionnaire, which involved a list of various sub-questions relating to apparel buying behaviour and required the respondents to answer Yes or No. The questions with the highest frequency of Yes responses were regarding whether the focus group participants‟ choice of clothing retailer is affected by the quantity being purchased as well as whether they are buying a gift or shopping for themselves, both with 70.3% Yes responses.
Another interesting finding was that only 35% of the focus group participants said Yes to being loyal to a specific clothing store. This correlates with the finding obtained by Cheng (1999 cited in Wolburg and Pokrywcznski 2001: 38) who found that Generation Y consumers can potentially be very “brand-loyal if they trust the brand; however, if they don't trust the brand, they run away screaming". Therefore, in summary, the focus group findings and analysis uncovered the following: the most patronised clothing retailers according to the focus group participants were Mr Price, Edgars, YDE, Woolworths and Identity. However, it is also worth noting that the focus group consumers‟ choice of clothing retailer is frequently dependent on and influenced by the quantity of clothing being purchased, as well as whether the consumer is purchasing a gift or shopping for themselves.
Question 1 of the Stage 2 questionnaire was a close-ended question which asked the respondents to choose which clothing retailers they shop at most of the time when buying clothing, with Mr Price, Edgars, YDE, Woolworths and Identity as their options, as identified from the focus group findings, as well as an Other choice. The choices were, however, not mutually exclusive and thus respondents were able to select more than one clothing retailer should that be applicable to their apparel purchase behaviour. The data collected from the responses to Question 1 was analysed to determine who the major and most prominent competitors are according to this particular research sample. Thus, this data was used to achieve
170 the first research objective. The respondents‟ answers to Question 1 revealed four clothing retailers as the most patronised according to this research sample, namely Mr Price (67.4%), Edgars (52.8%), Woolworths (24.3%) and Identity (21.1%), which were most frequently chosen from the provided list of clothing retailers. This correlated to some extent with the findings of Datamonitor (2005 cited in Du Preez et al. 2007: 9) which referred to Edgars, Mr Price, Truworths and Foschini as the “leading retailers in South Africa”
Question 4 of the Stage 2 questionnaire also involved a set of statements regarding the buying behaviour of clothing and required the respondents to indicate their level of agreement with the statement on a scale from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. Further interesting findings which may be used to explain the stores most frequently chosen by the sample of Generation Y consumers included the following:
A total of 58.9% of the sample of Generation Y respondents agree and strongly agree that YDE is too expensive for them to patronise.
41.8% of the questionnaire respondents believe that Woolworths is too expensive for them to shop at.
The above-mentioned findings may serve to explain the exclusion of stores such as YDE and Woolworths as the most patronised by the respondents as these clothing retailers seem to be perceived as being „too expensive‟ for them to purchase their clothing from. This correlates with the findings obtained during the focus group discussion which revealed that 13% of the participants are discouraged by high prices and thus avoid certain clothing retailers based solely on this attribute.
The majority of the questionnaire respondents (65.8%) disagree and strongly disagree that they do not shop at Mr Price because everyone shops there.
A further finding obtained during the focus group sessions, namely that 21% of the participants avoid Mr Price because „everyone shops there‟, has successfully been disproved as 65.8% of the respondents disagree with this statement and are thus not discouraged by the popularity and commonness of this clothing retailer, as is clearly evident from the large percentage (67.4%) of respondents who indicated to shopping at Mr Price. 73.4% of the questionnaire respondents agree and strongly agree that Mr Price is the best store for low prices, an important attribute to this sample of Generation Y consumers, as is clear from the high mean importance rating of 7.08. This aids in explaining the popularity of this clothing retailer, particularly amongst the student, Generation Y consumer segment. This is confirmed by Yarrow and O‟Donnell (2009:
43) who explain that, during the economic recession, for instance, many older generations significantly altered their buying behaviour while Generation Y consumers “have carried
171 retailers of affordable fast fashion safely through the tough early months of 2009” (Yarrow and O‟Donnell 2009: 43). This is a result of the important role that shopping plays in the lives of Generation Y consumers as they engage “in clothing shopping for its entertainment value”
(Moore and Carpenter 2008: 332), as is apparent from the 66.3% of questionnaire respondents who said they do enjoy shopping. This in itself represents a major opportunity for marketers and retailers “to be a central part of these consumers‟ lives” (Yarrow and O‟Donnell 2009: 75). By achieving this, retailers will be equipped to remain competitive and profitable within the highly competitive market that is retailing. Du Preez and Visser (2003: 19) add that “all stakeholders in the apparel industry could benefit from an understanding of the youth market”, particularly since these segments “are extremely lucrative, with high expenditure on apparel” (Du Preez and Visser 2003: 19).
In conclusion, the most patronised stores according to this sample of Generation Y consumers are Mr Price, Edgars, Woolworths and Identity. Assael (1995 cited in Chen-Yu and Seock 2002:
55), however, further states that “consumers in each market segment form images of various stores based on their perceptions of the attributes they consider important and will use these criteria to select a store”. The aim of the next research objective is to investigate this by identifying the criteria Generation Y consumers use when selecting a clothing retailer.
9.2 To determine the relative importance of the attributes that Generation Y