A Comparative Study

of
The Urban and Semi Urban Buying Behavior
towards Branded Clothes among College
Students

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of

Bangalore University for the award of the degree of
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
By
Arun Xavier
07JJCM6009

Under the Guidance of

Prof. Vinod Joseph (MBA)

KRISTU JAYANTI COLLEGE

K.NARAYANAPURA, KOTHANUR POST
BANGALORE - 77
2008 – 2009
 DECLARATION

I, Arun Xavier, hereby declare that this study titled “A Comparative Study of the

Urban and Semi Urban Buying Behavior towards Branded Clothes among College

Students”, submitted by me to the department of Management of Bangalore University,

in partial fulfillment of requirement of MBA programme is a bonafide work carried out

by me under the guidance of Prof. Vinod Joseph. This has not been submitted earlier

to any other university or institution for the award of any degree / diploma / certificate

or published any time before.

Arun Xavier
07JJCM6009

KRISTU JAYANTI COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY

(Affiliated to Bangalore University)
K. Narayanapura, Kothanur P.O
Bangalore - 560 077
 CERTIFICATE FROM GUIDE & HEAD OF THE INSTITUTION

Certified that this dissertation entitled “A Comparative Study of the Urban and Semi Urban
Buying Behavior towards Branded Clothes among College Students”, submitted in partial
fulfillment for the award of MBA Degree of Bangalore University was carried out by Arun
Xavier under the guidance of Prof. Vinod Joseph This has not been submitted to any other
university or institution for the award of any degree/ diploma/ certificate.

Prof. Vinod Joseph Dr. Pious Thomas Fr. Josekutty P.D.

(Internal Guide) (Coordinator, MBA) (Principal)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I, Arun Xavier, wish to express my profound sense of gratitude to all the

people who helped in making this project a great success.

I would first thank God Almighty for giving me the wisdom and strength to
undertake this project.
 I record my thanks to my Principal Rev.Fr. Josekutty P.D who has been
instrumental in allowing this project to be completed. Without his prayers and
assurance this project would never have happened.

I extend my sincere gratitude to the internal guide Prof. Vinod Joseph of Kristu
Jayanti College (Bangalore University) for his time to time suggestions, support
and guidance.

Thanks are due to all students of various colleges of Bangalore, Kolar and
Bellary who could find time to fill up my questionnaire.

I also thank all my friends who helped me to technically and intellectually to

complete this work.

Arun Xavier
07JJCM6009
IV Semester MBA,
Kristu Jayanti College,
Bangalore.
 Table of Contents

Chapter- 1: Introduction 1
1.1. Need for the Study 2
1.2. Statement of Purpose 4
Chapter- 2: Research Design 6
2.1. Title of the Study 7
2.2. Statement of the Problem: 7
2.3. Objectives of the Study 7
2.4. Scope of the Study 8
2.5. Review of Literature 8
2.6. Sources of Data 14
2.7. Actual Collection of Data 14
2.8. Sampling Techniques 15
2.9. Research Methodology 15
2.10. Data Analysis & Interpretation 16
2.11. Limitations of the Study 17
Chapter- 3: Industry Profile 19
3.1. Indian Textiles- A historical perspective 23
3.2. Fashion in India 25
3.3. Growth of the Industry 27
3.4. Characteristics of the Industry 27
3.5. SWOT of Apparel Industry in India 29
3.6. Major Players in the Industry 31
3.7. Future Outlook of the Industry 31
3.8. Challenges Faced by Indian Textile Industry 32
3.9. Conclusion 35
Chapter- 4: Analyses and Interpretation of Data 37
4.1. Data Analysis and Interpretation 39
Chapter- 5: Findings, Suggestions and Conclusion 67
5.1. Findings 68
5.2. Suggestions 70
5.3. Conclusion 71
Bibliography
Annexure
 List of Tables

Sl. No. Tables Page

No.

1 Table 4.1 39

2 Table 4.2 41

3 Table 4.3 43

4 Table 4.4 45

5 Table 4.5 47

6 Table 4.6 49

7 Table 4.7 51

8 Table 4.8 53

9 Table 4.9 55

10 Table 4.10 57

11 Table 4.11 59

12 Table 4.12 61

13 Table 4.13 63

14 Table 4.14 65
List of Figures
Sl. No. Page
No.

1 Figure 4.1 39

2 Figure 4.2 41

3 Figure 4.3 43

4 Figure 4.4 45

5 Figure 4.5 47

6 Figure 4.6 49

7 Figure 4.7 51

8 Figure 4.8 53

9 Figure 4.9 55

10 Figure 4.10 57

11 Figure 4.11 59

12 Figure 4.12 61

13 Figure 4.13 63

14 Figure 4.14 65
 Executive Summary

It’s an era of brands. For anything and everything we go after brands. Clothing brands

have a particular appeal to the young generation. Trends almost always originate from

campuses or they are first adapted in campuses.

In this dissertation, my endeavour is to have a comparative study of urban

(Bangalore) and semi urban (Kolar & Bellary) college student’s consumer buying behaviour

towards branded cloths in Karnataka. The basic differences of the perceptions of urban and

semi urban youth regarding clothing brands will be specially handled in this work.
 My objectives in this study are first of all to rate and compare the brand awareness

regarding clothing, of urban and semi urban collage students of Karnataka, to study the basic

differences of the perceptions, urban and semi urban students carry regarding clothing brands,

to asses the difference in behavioural responses of urban and semi urban college students

towards clothing brands, to asses the factors affecting the buying behavior of college students

from an urban and semi urban view with regard to clothing brands and to know how a more

effective brand promotion of clothing brands can be executed in urban and semi urban

Karnataka.

Certain findings of this study are like, the percentage of college students buying branded

clothing is considerably high in urban areas in comparison with semi urban areas, Semi urban

students buy less of branded clothing and the main reason for this behaviour is the high

prices of these branded apparels, urban population has better access and convenient shopping

facilities which help them to have better brand awareness regarding clothing brands, semi

urban students are keener on having branded sportswear, the larger population who buys the

branded apparel items in the urban areas doesn’t think that the branded apparels are superior

to unbranded apparels in the matter of quality, many of the urban college students see the

purchase and use of branded clothing as a social up gradation factor, aspiration for status is

more evident among semi urban students in comparison with urban college students, urban

people are more influenced by ads in comparison with semi urban people, urban population

seems to be more regularly spending on branded clothing in comparison with semi urban

people, there is an increased tendency of urban college students to go for Exclusive

showrooms for the purchase of branded clothing., the spending capacity and habit is more

extravagant among urban students, when semi urban college students give priority to factors

such as quality and personally fitting urban college students gives importance to the attributes

of brand image and quality, urban India has begun recognizing the quality of domestic
products or at least they don’t think that Indian products are to be less valued, semi urban

India still shows the mentality of a decade ago, i.e. the belief that quality is the monopoly of

Europeans and brand loyalty seems to be more prevalent among the youth of urban areas than

in semi urban areas.

The basic differences of the perceptions of urban and semi urban youth regarding

clothing brands were specially handled in this work. My comparative study really doesn’t

reach to any specific conclusion. This study only describe the various consumer behavioural

traits present in both urban and semi urban college students and trying to see it from a

generalized point of view. The general purpose of the study will be served, if any searching

soul in the future, finds it an inspiration to pursue an extensive study on this subject.