Realizing the Growth of Modest Fashion Market the Fashion Consumption Behavior of Muslim Women in Europe
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Realizing the Growth of Modest Fashion Market The Fashion Consumption Behavior of Muslim Women in Europe Master: MA IBC – Intercultural Marketing Name: Hawra Hashem Student ID: 68776 Supervisor Name: Kathrine Weicker Thesis ID: 10626 No. of Pages: 79 ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to investigate fashion consumption behavior of millennial Muslim women (MMW) and gain deeper insights into their lived reality. This will assist fashion companies to minimize misconceptions and increase the success of marketing outcomes. The research project will specifically look into how Muslim women living in Europe consume fashion. This preliminary research seeks to answer its research question by employing various theoretical concepts to help elucidate some aspects of MMW behavior, such as: their lifestyle, values, actual shopping behavior and their needs. To cover these areas, the study applies a qualitative research approach consisting of social media data and 8 interviews. 6 interviews were conducted in Denmark and 2 others through the internet. The interviews were then transcribed and thoroughly analyzed via the analytical the tool, QDA miner. The findings show that MMW living in Europe have more in common with their non-Muslim peers in Europe than their Muslim peers in Muslim majority countries. This has been a major misunderstanding by mainstream fashion brands as shown by their limited modest collections. MMW mainly shop from mainstream fashion chains rather than modest brands. MMW express clear needs for clothes which are not traditional but modern and fashionable. They demand personalization and inclusion. Thus, marketers need to realize the importance of understanding this segment. It is recommended that marketers develop market-specific strategies for product development since MMW living in Europe have a different set of values and style from those living elsewhere. Another suggestion is to collaborate with Muslim influencers (MIs) not just for branding purposes but also for product creation. The choice of the influencer should also be market specific to match between values and style. A third recommendation is to implement MMW consumer motives in brand messaging to attract and acquire MMW as consumers. 1 TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 3 1.2 RESEARCH STATEMENT ............................................................................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................. 7 2.1 THE MUSLIM CONSUMERS IN THE FASHION SECTOR ................................................................................................ 7 2.2 PARADOXES AND CONCERNS OF MODEST FASHION ................................................................................................ 10 2.3 THE INDUSTRY ........................................................................................................................................................ 12 2.4 MODEST FASHION ................................................................................................................................................... 13 2.5 RELEVANCE OF- AND REFLECTIONS ON LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................ 16 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................................ 17 2.6 THE FOUR THEORIES OF MOTIVATION FOR WEARING CLOTHES ............................................................................. 17 2.7 THE CONSUMER’S LIFESTYLE ................................................................................................................................. 18 2.8 THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ................................................................................................. 18 2.9 THE ROLE OF CULTURE IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR .................................................................................................. 19 2.10 PERSONAL VALUES – SELF- AND FASHION-CONSCIOUSNESS ................................................................................ 19 2.11 CONSUMERS’ ACTUAL BEHAVIOR ........................................................................................................................ 20 2.12 CONSUMER MOTIVES ............................................................................................................................................ 20 2.13 THE INTERPLAY OF THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................................................. 21 CHAPTER 3 – METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 4 – ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................... 40 4.1 GENERAL OVERVIEW OF DATA FINDINGS ............................................................................................................... 40 4.2 IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................... 42 4.2.1 CONSUMERS’ LIFESTYLE ..................................................................................................................................... 43 4.2.2 PRE-PURCHASE CONSIDERATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 52 4.2.3 BEHAVIOR ............................................................................................................................................................ 58 4.2.4 MOTIVES .............................................................................................................................................................. 64 4.3 VALIDITY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS AND OVERALL REFLECTIONS ........................................................................... 68 CHAPTER 5 – SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION ........................................................................................ 70 CHAPTER 6 – CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 77 6.7 FUTURE PERSPECTIVES ........................................................................................................................................... 79 APPENDIX 1 – CONSUMER MOTIVES .................................................................................................................... 80 APPENDIX 2 – OVERVIEW OF SECONDARY DATA TYPES ............................................................................. 81 APPENDIX 3 – INTERVIEW GUIDE ......................................................................................................................... 82 APPENDIX 4 – LIST OF CONTACTED MMW ........................................................................................................ 83 APPENDIX 5 – INTERVIEW INVITATION LETTER ............................................................................................ 85 APPENDIX 6 – PICTURES OF MAINSTREAM FASHION BRANDS’ MODEST COLLECTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEW .................................................................................................................................................................. 86 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................................... 89 2 CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION Fashion is the process of appearance management in which individuals use clothing to create styles that are accepted by a large group of people at a certain time (Banister & Hogg, 2004). People use fashion to reflect themselves, who they are and what they are (Veblen, 1997; Elliot, 2004). Fashion can be considered as special language that people can interpret differently and thereby express themselves through their style (Solomon, 2004). For decades, fashion designers affected consumers in how they should dress to follow trends and make certain statements. Brands offered various collections of innovative styles for different seasons and advertised them to attract segments (Solomon, 2004). This has changed over the years for several reasons which among others are digitalization, economic development and the millennial generation. Millennials differ from previous generations. They are demanding and have high expectations. They have become the trendsetters and decision makers to how and what they should wear (Rath, 2015). Social media has increased consumers power since they are constantly connecting with each other, to express opinions, review and evaluate products (Solomon, 2018; Chaffey, 2016). Industry reports and marketing books have mostly focused on how the managerial side should attract a given segment to better market their products (Reuters, 2016; McKinsey & BOF, 2017; Al-Mutawa; 2013). When the researcher performed an extensive review of the existing literature, it is discovered that there are a few studies which have studied Muslims