Why Millennials Prefer Purchasing International Premier Italy Apparel Brands in Kuwait? - Research Paper

Introduction

This research intends to assess the following concepts associated with the attitude of millennials towards purchasing premiered clothing brands including materialism, social capital through exploring social media utilization, as well as the requirement for uniqueness. Based on the objective stated above, the dependent variables include the utilization of social media, the need for originality, and materialism. The independent variable involves the nation where Kuwaiti millennials prefer purchasing premiered clothing or apparel brand, which includes Italy.

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Research Questions

• Does an increased requirement for materialism result in a positive attitude towards purchasing Italian premiered apparel brands?
• Do millennials acknowledge the need for uniqueness in their purchasing intentions for Italian clothing brands?
• Does increased social media utilization have a positive impact on the purchase of Italian branded apparels in Kuwait?

Literature Review

This research primarily assesses the factors prompting Kuwaiti millennials to buy Italian premiered apparel brands locally through emphasizing three fundamental concepts, including social capital, the necessity of uniqueness, and materialism. According to Richins (1994), highly materialistic persons tend to prefer expensive and publicly showcased ownership objects. Such products signify either success or social status (Seung-Hee and Workman, 2014, p.128). In contrast, Atay et al. (2009) indicated that such individuals are often concerned about the public judgement of their living status that tends to contrast both affective and cognitive settings with other people. Nonetheless, the theory of social comparison postulates that for one to establish social status, he or she tends to compare his or her material acquisitions with other people’s significant possessions (Chan and Prendergast, 2008). Therefore, this model is crucial for the research as it offers the foundation for acknowledging the impact of materialism on the attitudes of millennials towards purchasing premier luxury clothing brands. The other theory that will be used to examine the attachment of millennials towards specific apparel brand includes the DMM (Dynamic Maturational Model) (Farnfield and Stokowy, 2014, p.49)

Belk (1988) argued that people purchase luxury brands to establish unique identities and create a sense of identity-based on the fact that what they possess often defines them. However, more recent research led by Woodside (2012) indicated that most consumers with increased requirement for uniqueness exhibit a highly likely behaviour of buying goods categorized by first-class prices. Therefore, it is highly likely that the millennials will have a positive attitude towards purchasing brands from another country based on the increased need for uniqueness as advertised widely (Kapferer and Michaut-Denizeau, 2020, p.35).

Chen et al. (2020) noted that the utilization of social media among millennials had become a crucial decision-making process in the purchase of luxury brands across the globe. Similarly, Mostafa (2019) noted that the current culture involving social interactions through the media among the young generation of Kuwait, particularly the females, exercises an enduring behavioural attitude on purchasing luxury brands. This research is in line with the study of Aaker (2000) that indicated that cultural diversity impacts consumers’ behaviours as well as their attitudes. The connection between the purchase intention of apparel brands and millennial’s social media (Chu and Kamal, 2011), along with the attitudes towards the advertisement of the brands (Kamal et al., 2013) has been widely researched. For instance, Jin (2012) discovered that customers astounded by a well-recognized Facebook page exhibited positive attitudes towards purchasing the advertised items.

Sampling

The sample will include individuals aged not more than 35 years since millennials have been characterized by Twenge et al. as individuals born during the 1980s (2017, p.433). The targeted participants will be contacted through social media platforms, including online searches through LinkedIn, as well as via emails based on the model illustrated by Ai et al. (2017, p.1520). The survey links will be further posted to multiple Facebook groups associated with Italian luxury apparels to attract more participants. The sampling exercise is mainly a non-probability convenience sampling because it targets millennials (Rita et al., 2019, p.2034) explicitly and not the general population that would require a random sampling procedure, thus utilizing a probability sampling approach (Uprichard, 2013). The targeted sample size includes 300 participants.

Methodology

The type of research includes an exploratory study based on a mono-quantitative methodological approach adopting an online survey technique. Specifically, the research will utilize a longitudinal design to reinforce any causal connection between the independent variables (Wagner et al. 1994, p.73). Finally, data will be gathered through the use of questionnaires administered via emails (Michaelidou and Dibb, 2006, p.289).

References

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