# I. Introduction onsumer buying behavior towards branded apparel involves a psychological process that is recognizing a consumer's unfulfilled need, want, and demand and trying to gather information to solve the problem of clothing either with the foreign or local brand (Panitapu, 2013). But in the market, there are many options or alternatives. The decision of buying cloth either foreign or local brand depends on the consumer. The consumer will take decision if he would like to be powered by the marketing strategies of the retailer brand for a product or a service. The consumer decides what they want to buy and when they want to buy it. By this consumer chooses between competitors and their products. Understanding consumer behavior will help one to become better marketers as it is the foundation for segmenting markets, positioning products and developing appropriate marketing. It will also help a better understanding of our consumption behaviour. The most significant is to determine the need of consumers, what kind of apparels consumers like to wear. This research analyses the factors by knowing how consumers' response towards foreign and domestic brands for purchasing clothes from many alternatives. # II. Literature Review Researchers found that the brand name is used as a cue to assess the quality of a product and influences consumers' perceptions. Fabric, material, style, and design divided the top-quality clothing from low-quality clothing (Prof & Koca, 2016). The researcher investigated the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and consumer attitudes toward foreign manufactured products and also revealed consumer get affected by the country of origin (Julina & Kariyawan, 1987) (Kinra, 2006). Previously researcher analysed the relationship between variables of consumer behavior which is related with store environment (Abdu & Purwanto, 2013) (Hosseini, Jayashree, & Malarvizhi, 2014) (Liljander, K., Polsa, P., & Van Riel, 2009). The researchers found that many consumers inclined to purchase imported foreign branded clothes besides the local branded clothes. The researcher identified that the consumers get attracted to foreign products of those countries that they are familiar with (Islam et al., 2014) (Wang, Siu, & Hui, 2004). Study reflects that there are many demographic, cultural, social factors which influence on the customer's perception of retail showroom and buying of apparel product (Islam et al., 2014). Showroom ambience also influence on the buying behavior of retail outlet. Cat's Eye, Infinity, Aarong, Westecs, Ecstacy, Kay-kraft, Yellow, Le Reve are the most preferred brands which provides many better offers and features. The buying behavior of clothing apparel is composed of several determinant aspects, i.e., that product and brand characteristics that determine which product and/or brand the consumer buys. A large number of research works relating to various aspects of buying behavior, consumer preference, brand and the determinant attributes of fashion apparel have been published in the home and abroad. A review of past literature has come up with certain key areas which contribute to the current literature to explore the attributes that influence the buying behavior of clothing apparel among consumers of Bangladesh. Many types of research had been done in this context before in many countries in different C views. In this study, the main focus is to identify the factors from many variables which influence to choose brand either domestic or foreign. All factors cannot be worked at all time while choosing clothes. Here the variables in the factor analysis are specified based on these previous researches. It appears from the preceding discussions that, there is considerable research in psychology and in some other branches on how consumers evaluate different attributes to make choices. However, consumer buying behavior towards clothing apparel may not be addressed earlier from the viewpoint of foreign brands of apparel, boutiques and fashion houses in Bangladesh along with our domestic brands. It would, therefore, not be unjustifiable to state that conducting this study to investigate the factors influencing the consumers buying behavior of foreign brands clothing apparel is unique, meaningful. It will help as guidelines for the similar studies in years ahead. Buying behavioral factors can be recognized during a consumer purchase pattern (Kotler & Arnstrong, 1999). A consumer who has just been informed by her tailor that stitching her desired attire will cost more than it's worth. This consumer realizes that she now has a clothing problem and wants to fulfil that need with the purchase of a branded cloth. The consumer may involve in searching on the Internet and outlets to determine the types of clothes available and their respective features (Grimsley, 2003). She has decided to narrow her choices down to three dresses based on price, style, and size regarding the brand. The consumer will mould a decision to obtain her clothes. The prime decision may depend on price or availability. She has decided to purchase a particular model of dress because its price was the best she could expense and the dress outlet is available from her home. The consumer will evaluate whether the purchase satisfies her needs and wants to buy from the particular brand (AMA, 2011). Later on, she will make a future purchase decision from that brands or not so that consumer buying behavior is becoming a compulsory to know for each marketer to run their business because consumers are the ultimate deciders of any business success or failure. To compete with foreign apparel brands local producers and their brands need to know how the consumer behaves towards their brand because consumers choose the competitors and the products. As during purchase of branded apparel not only age, occupation, income may affect, but also price, size, availability, promotion, consumer willingness to buy, their emotions and many more things are related, this paper tries to give the factors and their intensity level of them which affecting branded apparel buying pattern. # III. Research Methods The study is an original research based on survey method. Samples of 200 consumers were collected using convenience sampling method covering the area of Dhaka City of Bangladesh. A close-end questionnaire was used to get the answer of research question with the help of interview during consumers purchase hours that how they behave in different situations regarding the marketing strategies taken by the marketers. The periodicals were the secondary data source. The collected data was sorted, calculated and analyzed using the simple statistical tools of SPSS. # a) Research Design Descriptive kind of research design was used to collect primary data about foreign and domestic brands with the help of survey technique among consumers. # b) Study Place Data of the target population was obtained from different wholesale & retail stores and fashion houses located at Jamuna Future Park, Bashundhara City, Police Plaza, Tokyo Square, New Market and many more within Dhaka Metropolitan area. # c) Study Population The target populations were males and females of 13 years of age or above who visited in the shopping malls, fashion houses which were vast. 100000 consumers were used as population size for this study. # d) Study Sample Size The following formula used to calculate the appropriate sample size: n= z 2 pq/d 2 Where, n = Sample Size z = 1.96, z -value of standard normal distribution (at 95% confidence level). p = Expected a proportion of event or prevalence of the event. Here, 'p' is 50%, q= 100-p = 100-50= 50% D Here, n=196 So, this study needs a sample of about 200 consumers. # e) Sampling Techniques Convenience sampling was fitting for this study. # f) Data Collection Tools A pre-tested questionnaire based on the objectives and variables was asked by oral interview. The questionnaire comprised of closed -ended questions and a Likert scale was used in most of them to gather information on how consumer behave toward branded apparels in Bangladesh. # g) Data Analysis Tools The data for this study were analyzed by using IBM SPSS Statistics V21 and MS Excel 10. # b) Factor Analysis Factor Analysis Test is used to identify reduced factors from various factors. KMO & Bartlett's Test: Before applying factor analysis test the value of KMO is determined at first. In this study, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value is 0.665 shown in Table 2 which is mediocre. In this case, the Bartlett Test value is 0.000<0.05 as shown in Table 2, so the set of distribution is multivariate normal and acceptable for factor analysis. .000 Total Variance: Seven factors with an eigen value of more than 1.0 account for nearly 65 percent of variance shown in Table 3.For the initial column, there are as 24 components as variables and in a correlation analysis the sum of eigen value equitable to this component number 24.The second extraction column represents that nearly 65% of the variability in the original 24 variables which reduce the complexity of data set using these components with 35% loss of information. The rotation loading is for interpretation ("IBM," 1914). # V. Discussions This study included those who buy branded clothes. Most of the time respondents (45.5%) purchase branded clothes. About 43% occasionally buy while another 11.5% buy always branded clothes. Among these respondents, some purchase the domestic brand or some foreign brand. This study is to determine the factors which affect consumers during purchase to choose foreign or local brand apparels. Family income plays a role behind choosing a brand. After analyzing, this can be said that people who are in the age group of young adult ranging 26-39 years are more aware of branded clothes. Besides this service holder (50.5%) give more affords in buying branded clothes. From the above Table 5and Figure 1 it can be noticed that according to the respondents, the willingness of buying foreign branded clothes is too much intense (2.86 > 2.48). Because of globalization consumers get more chance for exploring and can shop internationally via online. Retailer of foreign branded clothes carries a deep assortment of products in size, colors and the style which give better performance in comfort and quality so that many respondents agreed to buy also foreign branded clothes. Therefore, factor 2 (2.26) mean value is comparatively closer than the overall mean. But there is also one target group of respondents who are influenced to buy domestic branded apparels because own culture but somehow this is not so ethnocentric that a consumer will not purchase another. This third factor level of ethnocentrism is clear from the mean difference from the overall mean value (2.23<2.48). The social, print and electric media provide impact in mind during the purchase of clothes. Moreover, people are aware of fashion and current trend. Though some follow international celebrities, respondents have their style. Thus the result of external influences is mixed with different response and shows a high mean value than the overall mean value (3.16>2.48). The consumer-oriented promotion tools aim at increasing the sales to existing consumers, and to attract new customers to the brands so that the consumer can take the benefit of promotion tools either from the manufactures or the dealer, or from both (Yasmin, 2016). Having these strategies on mind some retailers of our local brand are doing well to attract local consumers and this is shown in the result as the mean value (2.66) of the fifth factor is much higher than overall mean. They are offering many offers and discounts as well as. Moreover the services are now satisfactory level such as salesmanship, credit card. But to survive in the globalized market, local producers need to be more strategic and competitive in pricing. The mean value (2.13) of the sixth factor is lower than the overall mean (2.48). This evaluation reveals that consumers know that local producers may not fulfill and serve their all demands for now, but they want their brands should be dominant. They also want to shift their purchasing pattern if the local producers can modify the designs and production pattern to grab more market share compare to foreign market. The findings indicate the reason for lowest mean (2.05) of the last factor is consumers hold stereotyped images of countries and that these images affect their perceptions. They prefer the manufacturing country label while buying apparels. # VI. Conclusions This study accomplishes a summary that consumer grasps the clothes with the reflection of its reach, quality, price, and the promotional tools. The consumers will understand the differences between brands to other alternatives and then take a decision whether to purchase or not. This study recapitulates the factors affecting branded apparel buying due to know the consumer demand which will help producers to develop and design apparels. Besides this, consumers will also understand their clothing consumption behavior. Researchers must make sure to examine consumer behavior and decision-making processes in detail across different settings, locations, people, and time which may help each stakeholder like consumer, producer and even government. This study was for DMP city only, so there has a lot of scopes to do further research for another. 1![Figure 1: Overall view of seven factors](image-2.png "Figure 1 :") 1Year 2018 2KMO and Bartlett's TestKaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy0.665Approx. Chi-Square1905.137Bartlett's Test of SphericityDf276Sig. 3Total Variance ExplainedComponentTotalInitial Eigen Values % of Variance Cumulative %Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Total % of Variance Cumulative %Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings % of Cumulative Total Variance %14.42718.44618.4464.42718.44618.4463.08612.86012.86023.26313.59732.0433.26313.59732.0432.57910.74723.60732.2289.28441.3272.2289.28441.3272.1298.86932.47741.6847.01848.3451.6847.01848.3452.0648.60141.07851.4936.22254.5671.4936.22254.5672.0088.36849.44661.3005.41659.9831.3005.41659.9831.9268.02557.47171.0884.53364.5161.0884.53364.5161.6917.04564.5168.9493.95368.4699.9283.86672.33510.7913.29575.63011.7273.03178.66112.6812.83881.49913.6592.74484.24314.6332.63686.87915.4912.04588.92416.4812.00590.92817.4421.84292.77018.3861.61094.38019.3291.37295.75220.2991.24596.99721.2461.02598.02122.236.98399.00423.169.70699.710 4Rotated Component Matrix aStatements12Component 3 4 567For parties, occasions I prefer to wear designer clothes of foreign brand..708 .140 -.064 .082 .012 .103 .087If a foreign and a domestic brand are priced same, I would prefer the foreign one..639 .144 -.129 .015 .259 -.074 -.063All my friends wear foreign branded clothes, so do I..626 -.003 -.209 .198 .152 -.141 .373Buying foreign branded clothes seems quite prestigious to me..623 .033 .184 .186 .127 -.289 -.036I find the desired colors of clothes while purchasing from foreign brand..048 .930 .067 .056 .043 .082 -.012I find the desired sizes of clothes while purchasing from foreign brand..109 .910 .136 .059 -.075 .032 -.092I feel comfortable to wear foreign branded clothes..212 .527 -.153 .364 -.050 -.304 .049I like the styles of foreign brands for current fashion and trend..422 .436 -.046 .235 -.018 -.245 .181If a foreign brand is not easily available, I would go for the domestic brand..081 .106 .821 .154 -.054 .065 -.079Our Bangali culture influences me to buy domestic branded clothes.-.382 .016 .711 .090 .060 .064 .063I am interested for those foreign brands who advertised in media..218 .219 .353 .757 .056 .085 .019I follow the clothes of international celebrities..186 .306 .266 .736 -.019 .071 -.047I can easily find the foreign brand outlets at everywhere..502 .290 .208 -.550 .024 -.028 .093Salesmanship and courtesy of local brand show room are in satisfactory level. .015 -.117 .125 -.231 .719 .067 -.122Facility for use of credit card is available in local brand show room.-.033 .009 .313 .261 .600 .060 .253Our domestic brand should be more dominant.-.220 .134 .069 .023 -.204 .716 .030I love the fusions on dress..442 -.153 -.137 .100 .030 .305 -.069I think our local producers are capable to serve our demand.-.240 -.048 .301 .086 .203 .683 .095I give preference of which country's brand during purchase foreign branded clothes..035 .176 .195 .078 -.183 .010 .804I consider where a cloth is manufactured when purchasing it..140 -.200 -.150 -.102 .114 .031 .772Buying foreign branded clothes will have an adverse impact on our economy.-.120 -.057 -.291 -.197 .276 .328 .303Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis, Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalizationa. Rotation converged in 16 iterationsOffers and discounts are less in local clothes than foreign one. .348 .090 -.285 .142 .570 -.149 .043 The price of local branded clothes is much lower than foreign branded clothes. .390 .025 -.325 -.043 .556 -.091 -.072 I consider the quality of domestic brand clothes while purchasing. -.249 .420 .061 -.350 -.405 -.020 -.012 5FactorsComponents with mean score x ? =(? xi )/n (obtained from % of Responses in 5 Point Likert Scale processed by SPSS 21)Factors NameMean ValueAverage of Seven Factorsa. For parties, occasions I prefer to wear designer clothes offoreign brand.(2.41)Willingness ofFactor 1buying foreign2.86brands * Analysis of Consumer Behavior Affecting Consumer Willingness to Buy in 7-Eleven Convenience Store GAbdu Purwanto 10.13189/ujm.2013.010205 Universal Journal of Management 1 2 2013 * American Marketing Association Dictionary AM AAma 2011. 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