Marketing strategy for eco-apparel

The purpose of this research is to identify the marketing barriers of eco-apparel products and to develop a marketing strategy framework that can be employed by eco-apparel companies in the process of devising marketing tactics to overcome the marketing barriers. The overall research design is qualitative, using both thematic as well as content analysis methods for data analysis. The data were collected through 24 qualitative interviews and 12 technical reports on eco-apparel and conventional apparel. The research found that dull and monotonous products, improper labelling with substandard certification, unsuitable fitting, unfashionable and unstylish products, lack of warranties, exclusive distribution, healthiness and environmental friendliness, fair wages, disposal and recyclability, low branding, consumer ignorance, and premium pricing are marketing barriers to eco-apparel acquisition. The findings suggest that eco-apparel companies need to eliminate improper labelling that uses substandard certification and to eliminate exclusive distribution. They also need to raise intensity of distribution, widen the range of products; raise consumers’ awareness of the value of fair wages and of the value of disposability, recyclability, healthiness and environmental friendliness; promote durability, and comfort of fabric, reduce the price of their products; and reduce consumer ignorance about eco-apparel products. The companies should add warranties to their products and create more colour, suitable fitting, fashionable and stylish products, as well as make use of branding. The theoretical contribution of this research is the development of a marketing strategy framework for eco-apparel using the Strategy Canvas and Four Actions Framework (Kim & Mauborgne 2015). Marketing practitioners can use the outcomes of this research as basic premises for the design of their marketing tactics. The limitation of this research is that all research interview participants were from one country, Australia. In future, the scope of this research can be expanded to international markets

An examination of the relationship between consumers' cultural values and their functional food perception

There is rising concern regarding the increase in occurrences of chronic health problems attributed to unhealthy food choices. Although functional foods are being recommended as one of the ways to prevent such health problems, the reports produced by the Department of Health, Australia, show that Australians are not consuming functional foods as recommended. Some of the reasons for non-compliance with the recommended functional food guidelines could be linked to the multicultural population of Australia. Consumers from different cultures have shared knowledge or understanding and views about food that might determine how they perceive functional foods. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between consumers’ cultural values and their functional food perception. The research is driven by the pragmatic philosophical orientation and uses the exploratory sequential research strategy that employs a mix of qualitative and quantitative research. The qualitative stage involves the Grounded theory method and the quantitative stage involves Exploratory Factors Analysis (EFA) followed by correlation analysis and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The samples for the study consisted of consumers from three major ethnic groups in Australia: Anglo-Australian, Chinese and Indian. The findings of the study revealed that the following cultural values; self-directed learning, consistency, stimulation, conformity and consumer motives influence consumers’ functional food perception. A theoretical framework of functional food perception has been constructed through this research. The cultural values driven framework can be of help to functional food marketers and health policy makers in profiling consumers and developing strategies leading towards functional food consumption

Eco-apparel marketing strategy: an innovative approach to overcome marketing barriers

The aim of this paper is to identify the marketing barriers facing eco-apparel products and to devise a marketing strategy framework that could be employed to overcome these barriers in an effort to make eco-apparel the preferred choice for the majority of apparel customers. The production of eco-apparel has a minimal negative effect on the natural environment as compared to the production of conventional apparel. While some research has touched on the subject of eco-apparel marketing, the barriers to eco-apparel marketing have not been comprehensively identified and adequately studied, and at the same time eco-apparel has remained a niche market. To identify and sufficiently address the marketing barriers, it is important to understand the key factors in apparel marketing and the performance of eco-apparel across those key factors. The research is thus underpinned by theory derived from strategic marketing, namely the Strategy Canvas and Four Actions Framework (Kim & Mauborgne, 2005). The qualitative research method was employed in this study. The research made use of both primary and secondary data. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 apparel managers and 12 apparel consumers. In addition, the research utilized 12 technical reports relevant to both eco-apparel and conventional apparel. NVivo, a qualitative data analysis software, was employed along with the manual process to organise and analyse the data, and the findings from apparel managers and apparel consumers were triangulated. The theoretical contribution of this research is the development of a marketing strategy framework using the Strategy Canvas and Four Actions Framework. With respect to practical contribution, the findings of the research are expected to help in the formulation of marketing strategies that can successfully boost market demand for eco-apparel and therefore at the same time help to reduce the negative impact on the natural environment

A study investigating the relationships between consumers' cultural values, their functional food perception and behaviour

The study is designed to investigate the relationships between consumers’ cultural values and their perceptions of functional foods. The Australian Dietary Guidelines have recommended the amount and kinds of foods that Australians need to eat to reduce the risk of chronic health problems. A reasonable number of foods in the guidelines fall under the functional foods category; for example, whole grain food products, legumes/lentils and non-starchy vegetables. Most Australian consumers are not eating foods as recommended by the dietary guidelines. One of the underlying reasons for such noncompliance could be the multicultural nature of the population in Australia. Consumers from different ethnic backgrounds have cultural values inherited from their tradition, family or parents, which can influence their decisions on how or whether they should choose foods recommended by the guidelines. There are very few studies specifically focusing on the relationship between consumers’ cultural values and their perception of functional food products, and most of the studies are either exploratory in nature or have been carried out under different cultural contexts than Australia, or they did not specifically study cultural values that affect functional food perceptions. There is a need for a rigorous study to confirm whether and how culture affects functional food perception and the cultural values that specifically influence the perception of functional foods. This research will follow a sequential research design, “qual-QUAN”. The study will include participants from Anglo-Australia, Indian and Chinese origin living in Australia. The research is aiming to recruit at least 20 consumers for a qualitative study and 600 participants for a quantitative study. The qualitative data will be collected through in-depth interviews and will be analysed using the Grounded Theory method. The quantitative data will be collected by questionnaire survey and will be analysed using the Exploratory Factor Analysis method

Strategic profile for positioning eco-apparel among mainstream apparel consumers

This paper develops a strategic profile for positioning ecologically produced apparel (eco-apparel) to make eco-apparel the preferred choice among mainstream apparel customers. This qualitative study employed 24 in-depth interviews involving eco-apparel consumers and managers. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. This research suggests that there is a mismatch between the value expected by apparel consumers and the value offered by eco-apparel. To attract mainstream apparel consumers, environment-friendliness claims need to be implicit while aesthetic claims should be explicit. Perceived psychological risk due to misleading information, combined with the effort required to purchase due to limited availability, has added to the problems of marketing eco-apparel. Eco-apparel companies could consider this study as a guide to develop value and actions for promoting their products to apparel consumers, through the application of the Four Actions Framework. While previous studies have suggested environment-friendliness as a key factor in marketing eco-apparel, this study suggests that environment-friendliness features should not be the emphasis of eco-apparel marketing. This research has determined the customer value proposition for eco-apparel using the Four Actions Framework, and this is a novel approach that has not been applied by previous research in eco-apparel marketing

An instrument for measuring the influence of consumers’ cultural values on functional food perception

Purpose The purpose of the article is to develop an instrument for measuring the influence of consumers' cultural values on functional food perception. Design/methodology/approach The study is quantitative in nature and builds on an earlier qualitative study that employed in-depth interviews, thematic analysis and constant comparative analysis to construct a survey instrument which initially had 53 items. The quantitative study involved an online survey that was conducted using this instrument, which resulted in 365 complete cases that included 173 Anglo-Australian, 102 Chinese and 90 Indian respondents living in Australia. The survey data were subjected to exploratory factor analysis using Principal axis factoring, with Promax rotation. Findings The research has validated that functional food perception is dependent upon consumers' cultural values. The results of the exploratory factor analysis provided a six-factor instrument with 32 items. Research limitations/implications Only three ethnic groups were involved in this study and that is not entirely representative of Australia or other countries. The instrument, however, will allow researchers in the field of functional food to extend the research to other diverse communities. Practical implications The instrument will further enable functional food producers and marketers to develop effective marketing strategies based on their knowledge of the influence of cultural values on functional food perception. Originality/value The instrument developed from this study, for measuring consumers' functional food perception based on cultural values, is the first of its kind

Cultural values affect functional food perception

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between consumers’ cultural values and their functional food perception. Design/methodology/approach – The research is qualitative in nature and uses the grounded theory method. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with three ethnic groups, Anglo-Australian,Chinese and Indian ethnic groups in Australia. The constant comparative data analysis approach was used to analyse the interview text. Findings – The results indicate that there is a relationship between consumers’ cultural values and their functional food perception. Functional food perception depends upon the consumers' predisposition towards their culture, their motives for functional food consumption and the level of perseverance towards functional foods. Research limitations/implications – The study includes only three ethnic groups and is qualitative in nature, which may limit its generalisability to the universe. The inclusion of more ethnic groups and additional sources of data could form directions for future research. Practical implications – Functional food marketers can assess the kind of cultural values the ethnic groups in Australia uphold and capture those values in their marketing strategies. The cultural values in the framework could be used for the segmentation of functional food consumers. In a multicultural setting like Australia, segmentation of consumers based on the standard values would be more feasible and effective to target consumers spread across different ethnic groups but who uphold similar values. Originality/value – The research has attempted to fill the gap in the existing literature about the relationship between culture and functional food perception. The latent variables in the theoretical framework proposed by the qualitative enquiry can be a good starting point for understanding the influence of cultural values on functional food perception and the development of a more comprehensive theoretical framework for functional food behaviour