Kaggle dataset (437)

Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background to the research problem 1.1.1 E-commerce Model E-commerce or electronic commerce is a digital age revenue model that is being adopted by firms in several sectors across the world. This model adopts the processes of selling or buying products (as well as services) over internet with digital channels. These channels take advantage of various technological applications like mobile commerce, digital supply chain management, electronic fund transfer, online transaction processing, inventory management systems, EDI, data analytics, AI and machine learning and so on (Shorman, Allaymounq and Hamid, 2019). The concept of this model was being conceptualised and developed slowly since the 1980s. However, with the advent of commercial use of internet e-commerce model was possible to be slowly adopted by some companies since in 90s and 2000s. However, in the recent times, it is a widely adopted model among both sellers and buyers. In the recent few years many technological innovations and developments made the critical growth of this domain a possible for several sectors across the world (Guthrie, Fosso-Wamba and Arnaud, 2021). The overall global revenue in the e-commerce market has been projected to be USD3.6 trillion in 2023 with a projected growth rate (CAGR) of 11.16% annually to reach USD5.56 trillion market in 2027 (Statista, 2023a). The number of global users in the e- commerce market is assumed to be about 5.3 billion with a user penetration rate of 57.2% in 2023 (the ARPU or average revenue per user is about USD827.4) (Statista, 2023a). Asian markets like China and India has been observed to be the most significant market across different sectors in the world. BibliographyBibliography 2

There has been a critical transformative development of the market in India where e- commerce has been the critical game-changer according to experts (Jain, 2023). This development in the e-commerce industry is a critical development for the several companies serving in this sector. There are requirements of understanding the critical success factors like customer perspective, market approaches and other such critical aspects that are going to be critical for the various firms in this industry in particular. This is the main research problem for the current research thesis. 1.2 Research Aims and Objectives As identified in the research problem statement evaluated in the above background study for the investigative project, the main focus of the current research is to evaluate the effect of e- marketing on purchase decisions for imported luxury fashion products in India, by examining the factors that influence consumers' purchase decisions and exploring the impact of e- marketing on these factors. This research aim can be broken down into certain key objectives for the study which are as follows:  To identify the key factors influencing purchase decision in the fashion e-commerce industry for the luxury fashion segment in India  To identify the key factors of e-marketing that are critical for the targeted sector  To evaluate the respective impacts of the e-marketing factors on the purchase decision factors in the luxury fashion e-commerce sector in India  To determine the future strategies that the firms in the luxury fashion e-commerce sector in India needs to design, develop and follow 1.3 Research Questions Based on the key objectives identified above, the key research questions for the current research thesis can be evaluated as follows: BibliographyBibliography 5

 In the chapter 5, these results of the data analyses are evaluated in details considering their context with the main theoretical framework of the research thesis and the overall implication of these findings.  In the chapter 6, the conclusion and recommendations based on the findings of the data analyses and their discussion are considered to be discussed in detail. Figure 2: Dissertation Structure (Source: created by author) Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Literature Review Chaoter 3: Research Methodology Chapter 4: Results and Analysis Chapter 5: Discussion of Results Chapter 6: Conslusion and Recommendations BibliographyBibliography 8

(Cabigiosu, 2020). Brand value and heritage, economic value everything became critically important attributes in the industry. Currently the global revenue of the fashion industry stands at a value of EUR1. 64 trillion with an annual growth of 4-5% since 2013 till the advent of the pandemic (Cabigiosu, 2020). The growth of the purchase power in the emerging economies, especially those in the Asian market, made the rapid growth of luxury fashion industry a possibility. The global market size of the luxury fashion industry reached EUR281 billion with an annual growth of 4-5% in 2018 and 2019 (Cabigiosu, 2020). Among the market leaders in this segment, Gucci is the brand with the most rapid growth rate of about 37% in terms of sales (Cabigiosu, 2020). There are several different sales categories that were used over the years as the primary channels by the luxury with mono-brand stores (31%), specialty stores (20%) and department stores (18%) being the top most common channels (Cabigiosu, 2020). However, the online stores are becoming an emerging sales and revenue channel for the companies amounting ti about 12% of the net revenue generation in this segment. The story of the luxury fashion segment is continuously being considered as a roadmap towards expansion to a greater buyer strength, expanding the productivity and revenue year- by-year. As per the findings by Ozdamar-Ertekin (2019), this roadmap is gradually considering the contexts of sustainable end-to-end retail economy to meet a wider consumer need in the market. Therefore, exploring new channels and product ranges has been a critical virtue for brand positioning in the luxury fashion segment globally. According to Ala, Nair and Rasul (2022), the luxury fashion market is expanding to new lengths and the brands are expanding to new markets especially in the Asian regions. This even includes South-East Asian markets like Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and so on. However, there market-specific requirements that require much more critical concerns to be put on in this segment in particular, rather than a standardised international attitude of BibliographyBibliography 11

Figure 3: E-commerce growth in India by market revenue (Source: Minhas, 2023) According to the report by Statista (2023b), India is the second largest by internet users globally with around 900 million users and has been facing a rapid internet revolution across several socio-economic structures. There are multiple factors that are found to be attributable to this particular development for the country, such as the Digital India policy by the government in 2015 (for digitisation of government services), the cheap availability of 4G cellular network technology in the market and the resulting propelled social media trends. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has also diversified internet usage at an even swifter rate India. Moreover, the ongoing 5G network revolution is supposed to boost this digitisation even further for India. The overall internet penetration rate in India has reached a rate of 48.7% in 2022 from just 4% in 2007 (Basuroy, 2023). The trends have shown that the connections across the country has nearly tripled by 2021 with the young generations adapted with the digital world (netizens) being the greatest virtue in this critical revolution (Basuroy, 2023). BibliographyBibliography 14

are certain key virtues of the channels used that matters while considering the evolution of the purchase decision among the consumers in the market in particular. These factors include use of mobile apps, social media marketing adoption, intelligent use of website and so on. These factors critically influence how an individual gets attracted towards the brand and its products to purchase them. The critical virtue in this context involves ease of use and consumer reach and so on. In the study by Aycock (2021) on the digital or online market of luxury fashion brands, certain critical factors affecting the perceived value of brands and their products that are found to be affecting the purchase decision. Figure 5: Research Framework by Aycock (2021) (Source: Aycock, 2021) According to the cross-cultural study by Burnasheva, GuSuh and Villalobos-Moron (2019), there are certain perceptions of luxury brands that critically affect the purchase intentions in the luxury fashion industry in particular apart from the other aspects like informative BibliographyBibliography 17

research questions the key target or dependent variable of the current research investigation is the purchase decision (in the luxury fashion e-market in India). This would include purchase frequency, perceived preference for products, perceived preference for brands. On the other hand, the key independent or predicting factors would be the e-marketing factors involved in this domain or industry in particular. Now, there are various such factors that can have critical impacts on the purchase decision in this segment. However, the empirical evaluation on the key themes in the research context has helped in identifying the most critical factors of e-marketing in this context. Product marketing: Firstly, the product marketing is a key virtue that has been found to be critical for the purchase decision making. This includes product range, brand range, product review, meeting customer product needs, product warranties. Price marketing: Further, the price marketing is also critical for influencing the purchase decision among the customers. This can include virtues like product price range, discount & offers available on price. Promotional marketing: Another influencing factor has been observed to be the promotional marketing that includes versatility of channels, market reach, perceived expectations. Customer engagement: Customer engagement marketing is also a critical virtue of the e- marketing aspect that influences purchase decisions. This includes personalised experience, customer relationship management, order tracking and data security. Platform Design: Platform design is another critical virtue that can affect the purchase decision. The aspects of design in this context addresses the factors like ease of function, appeal, information availability. BibliographyBibliography 20

Perceived luxury: Apart from all these critical virtues, the empirical findings have also highlighted the perceived luxury as a critical influencing aspect that considers factors like materialism and uniqueness. Based on the identification of the above research variables and the overall interconnection of these variables in the current research context, the overall research framework can be evaluated as follows: BibliographyBibliography 21

Figure 6: Research Framework (Source: Created by author) H H H H H H E - m a r k e ti n g F a c t o r s ( I n d e p e n d e n t V a r i a b l e s ) Product Marketing Product range Brand range Product review Customer needs Product warranties Price Marketing Price range Discount & Offer Promotional Marketing Channel versatility Market reach Perceived expectations Customer Enagement Personalised experience Order tracking Data security Platform Design Ease of function Appeal Information availability Perceived Luxury Materialism Uniqueness Variable) Purchase Decision (Dependent Variable) frequency Purchase frequency products Perceived prefernce of products brands Perceived preference of brands

2.5.2 Research Hypotheses H1: Product marketing has significant influence on purchase decision in the luxury fashion e-market in India H2: Price marketing has significant influence on purchase decision in the luxury fashion e-market in India H3: Promotional marketing has significant influence on purchase decision in the luxury fashion e-market in India H4: Customer engagement has significant influence on purchase decision in the luxury fashion e-market in India H5: Platform design has significant influence on purchase decision in the luxury fashion e-market in India H6: Perceived luxury has significant influence on purchase decision in the luxury fashion e-market in India 2.6 Conclusion Therefore, with the critical study over the key literature in this domain a major knowledge gap is identified in this chapter. This indicates the lack of research investigations regarding purchase decision context in the luxury fashion e-market in India. Further, based on the key empirical findings in this chapter, the key research variables (purchase decision, product marketing, price marketing, promotional marketing, customer engagement, platform design and perceived luxury) and the overall research framework is evaluated for the research (along with the research hypotheses). The focus of the next chapter would be to develop a holistic

structure for the overall research methodology to be followed based on these variables and the research framework.

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Appendices Appendix 1: Survey Question Survey Questionnaire: 1. What is your age? a. 18-30 yrs b. 31-40 yrs c. 41-50 yrs d. 51-60 yrs e. >60 yrs 2. What is your gender? a. Male b. Female c. Other 3. What is your frequency of online purchase of Luxury fashion products (per week)? a. Once a week b. Twice a week c. Thrice a week 4. Do you prefer the same kinds of luxury products to buy online more than physical means? a. Yes b. No 5. Do you prefer engaging with the same luxury fashion brands online than physical stores or other physical means of purchasing? a. Yes b. No 6. Online channels are better for a wide price range of products (providing a wide price range of products, searching product discounts). a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Not sure d. Agree e. Strongly agree 7. Online channels are better for searching product discounts & offers a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Not sure d. Agree e. Strongly agree

8. Online channels avail the same products with cheaper price range. a. Never b. Rarely c. Occasionally d. Often e. Always 9. Online channels provide a wide range of brand choices. a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Not sure d. Agree e. Strongly agree 10. Online channels provide a wide range of product choices. a. Never b. Rarely c. Occasionally d. Often e. Always 11. With online channels the available reviews and ratings provide a good means to help in purchase decision making. a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Not sure d. Agree e. Strongly agree 12. Online channels avail products that better meet customer needs. a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Not sure d. Agree e. Strongly agree 13. Product warranties are available through these channels. a. Never b. Rarely c. Occasionally d. Often e. Always 14. There is a wide range of channels available online through which products can be availed like social media, company websites, marketplaces and e-commerce sites. a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Not sure d. Agree e. Strongly agree

15. Online product and brand promotions easily reach customers. a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Not sure d. Agree e. Strongly agree 16. Through online promotions customers are easily availed with desired products. a. Never b. Rarely c. Occasionally d. Often e. Always 17. Through online channels better personalised recommendations of brands and products are availed. a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Not sure d. Agree e. Strongly agree 18. Online channels provide better customer relationship management regarding post- purchase and feedback processes. a. Never b. Rarely c. Occasionally d. Often e. Always 19. Online channels are good options regarding the order tracking and monitoring services. a. Never b. Rarely c. Occasionally d. Often e. Always 20. Data security, privacy and confidentiality is a major concern while purchasing through online channels. a. Strongly disagree b. Disagree c. Not sure d. Agree e. Strongly agree 21. The sites, media and portals of luxury fashion e-marketing are designed to easily understand the functions. a. Never b. Rarely

c. Occasionally d. Often e. Always 22. The sites, media and portals of luxury fashion e-marketing are designed to attract consumers with its appearance. a. Never b. Rarely c. Occasionally d. Often e. Always 23. The sites, media and portals of luxury fashion e-marketing are designed with all complete and useful information. a. Never b. Rarely c. Occasionally d. Often e. Always 24. The e-marketing platforms provide products and brands of high social stature that can be considered truly luxury. a. Never b. Rarely c. Occasionally d. Often e. Always 25. The e-marketing platforms avails access to unique enough products and brands that can be considered truly luxury. a. Never b. Rarely c. Occasionally d. Often e. Always