The conditions under which we live are called our environment. Just as the environment of one nation or society differs from that of another nation or society so the environment of one neighborhood differs from that of another. In fashion merchandising, it is important to be aware of the conditions that affect a particular target customer's environment and to know how the environment differs from one target group to another. Heights Fashion Institute Jaipur is the best Fashion design institute in jaipur.
Four major environment factors affect fashion interest and demand:
1. Demographics and psychographics.
2. The degree of economic development of a country or society.
3. The sociological characteristics of the class structure.
4. The psychological attitudes of consumers.
DEMOGRAPHICS AND PSYCHOGRAPHICS
Manufacturers and retailers both try to identify and select target markets for their goods. They attempt to determine who their customer is, what that customer wants, how much the customers are willing to pay for goods, where these potential customers are located and how many of the targeted customers there are. Today, demographic and psychographic data are a vital part of determining these important factors
Demographics are studies that divide broad groups of consumers into smaller, more homogeneous target segments. The variables covered in a demographic study are: population distribution by regional, urban, suburban and rural population; age; sex; family life cycle; race; religion; nationality, education; occupation and income.
Psychographics are studies that develop fuller, more personal portraits of potential customers Psychographic studies more fully predict consumer purchase patterns and distinguish users of product. The variables covered in a psychographic study are: personality; attitude, interests, personal opinions and actual product benefits desired. These studies help greatly in matching the image of company and its product with the type of consumer using the product. Psychographics help companies understand the behaviour of present and potential customers. Heights Fashion Institute Jaipur is provides the best Fashion design courses in Jaipur.
ECONOMIC FACTORS
The growth of fashion demand depends on a high level of economic development which is reflected in consumer income, population characteristics and technological advances. There is a relationship between economics and fashion. Most economically sophisticated countries discard their national costumes long before other nations begin to abandon theirs. England, for example, which led the Western World into the industrial revolution, was the first country to stop wearing traditional national dress.
CONSUMER INCOME
Consumer income can be measured in terms of personal income, disposable income and discretionary income. Many groups of people use the amount of personal income as an indicator of "arriving" in their particular social set. The more personal income they have, the more socially acceptable they consider themselves to be.
PERSONAL INCOME
The total or gross income received by the population as a whole is called personal income. It consists of wages, salaries, interest, dividends and all other income for everyone in the country. Divide personal income by the number of people in the population and the result is per capita personal income.
DISPOSABLE PERSONAL INCOME
The amount a person has left to spend or save after paying taxes is called disposable personal income. It is roughly equivalent to take home pay and provides an approximation of the purchasing power of each consumer during any given year.
DISCRETIONARY INCOME
The money that an individual or family can spend or save after buying necessities food, clothing, shelter and basic transportation-is called discretionary income. Inflation is defined as "An increase in the volume of money and credit relative to available goods resulting in a substantial and continuing rise in the general price level". Inflation, therefore, is an economic situation in which demand exceeds supply. Scarcity of goods and services, in relation to demand, results in ever-increasing prices. A decline in purchasing power of money is caused by inflation.
In a recession which represents a low point in a business cycle, money and credit become scarce or "tight". Interest rates are high, production is down and the rate of unemployment is up. People in the low and fixed-income groups are the hardest hit; those with high incomes are the least affected. Yet these groups are small when compared with the middle-income group. It is the reaction of these middle-income people to any economic squeeze that is the greatest concern of the fashion merchant. For not only is the middle-income group the largest, it is also the most important market for fashion merchandise.
EFFECT ON FASHION MARKETING
Both inflation and recession affect consumers' buying patterns. Fashion merchants in particular must thoroughly understand the effects of inflation and recession when planning their inventory assortments and promotional activities. Manufacturers must also understand how consumers are affected by economic factors.
Most manufacturers are concerned with national trends. Retailers, however, must consider the impact of statistics in their local areas as well as the statistics from national studies. Market segmentation is the separating of the total consumer market into smaller groups. These are known as market segments. Through identifying and studying each market segment, producers and retailers are able to target their goods and services to their special markets.
The factors leading to the economic development of a country or society are:
(a) Population
(b) Technological Advances
( c ) Manufacturing Equipment & Processes
(d) Agriculture
(e) Communication
(f) Transportation
SOCIOLOGICAL FACTORS
To understand fashion, one needs to understand the sociological scene in which fashion trends begin grow and fade away. Changes in fashion are caused by changes in the attitudes of consumers, which are in turn influence by changes in the social patterns of the times. The key sociological factors influencing fashion today are leisure time, ethnic influences, status of women, social and physical mobility and wars, disasters and crises.
Leisure time the time that can be spent away from the workplace in any way desired.
The ways in which people use their leisure time are as varied as people themselves. Some turn to active or spectator sports, others prefer to travel Many seek outlets for self-improvement, wi growing numbers fill their time and enhance their standard of living with a second job. Increase leisure has brought changes to people's lives in many ways-in values, standards of living and scope of activities. As a result, whole new markets have sprung up. Demand for larger and more versati wardrobes for the many activities, consumers can now explore and enjoy has mushroomed. Heights Fashion Institute Jaipur is the best institute for Fashion designing in jaipur.
ETHNIC INFLUENCES
In recent years, minority groups of the nation's total population, have experienced vast population increases and sociological changes.
For eg. blacks are better educated and hold higher-level jobs than they did in the past. With better education comes a stronger sense of oneself and one's heritage. Today many black people show the pride they feel in their African heritage by wearing African styles, fabrics and patterns. Nonblacks have adopted these styles as well. Fashion companies have acknowledged the changes that have occurred among the black population and have reflected these changes in the products they market.
STATUS OF WOMEN
In the early 1900s, woman could not vote, serve on a jury, earn a living at any but a few occupations, own property or enter public places unescorted. She passed directly from her father's control to her husband's control, without rights or monies. In both households she dressed to please the man and reflect his status.
Profound changes began to occur during World War I and have accelerated ever since. The most dramatic advances have happened since the mid-1960s in the advent of the women's movement Women's demands for equal opportunity, equal pay and equal rights in every facet of life continue to bring about even more changes. These changes have affected not only fashion but the entire field of marketing. Heights Fashion Institute Jaipur is the best Fashion design institute in jaipur.
SOCIAL MOBILITY
Almost all societies have classes and individuals choose either to stand out from or to conform to their actual or aspired-to class.
Classes exist in every society/culture but they are based largely upon occupation, income, residential location, education or avocation and their boundaries have become increasingly fluid. They range from the immensely wealthy through the many middle-income levels and finally to the low-income and poverty levels. At the very bottom are the so-called hard-core unemployed and those people who have no homes and whose possessions can be carried from place to place.
Most fashion authorities agree that there is a direct relationship between the growth and strength of the middle class and the growth and strength of fashion demand. The middle class has the highest physical, social and financial mobility. Because it is the largest class, it has the majority vote in the adoption of fashions. Members of the middle class tend to be followers, not leaders, of fashion and the persistence of their following often spurs fashion leaders to seek newer and different fashions of their own.
PHYSICAL MOBILITY
Physical mobility like social mobility encourages the demand for and response to fashion. One effect of travel is "cross-pollination" of cultures. After seeing how other people live, travelers bring home a desire to adopt or adapt some of what they observed and make it part of their environment.
People enjoy several kinds of following physical mobility -
(a) Daily Routine of travelling to work place (b) Vocation travel
(c) Change of Residence
WARS, DISASTERS AND CRISIS
Wars, widespread disasters and crisis shake people's lives and focus attention on ideas, events and places they may be completely new. People develop a need for fashions that are compatible with their altered attitudes and environments.
Such changes took place in women's activities and in fashions as a result of the two world wars. World War I brought women into the business world in significant numbers and encouraged their desire for independence and suffrage. It gave them reason to demand styles that allowed freer physical movement. World War II drew women into such traditionally masculine jobs as riveting for which they previously had not been considered strong enough. It put them in war plants on night. shifts. It even brought women other than nurses into the military services for the first time in the country's history. All these changes gave rise to women's fashions previously considered appropriate only for men, such as slacks, sport shirts and jeans.
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
Fashion interest and demand at any given time relies heavily on the prevailing psychological attitudes. The five basic psychological factors that influence fashion demand are boredom, curiosity, reaction to convention, need for self-assurance and desire for companionship. These factors motivate a large share of people's actions and reactions in general.
Conclusion:
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