Effectiveness of selected marketing activities in creating brand equity in the South african clothing market amongst black Generation Y students

Abstract

The global fashion market is an increasingly desirable industry sector for many marketers. The apparel and textile industry, in particular, is one of the largest and most globalised industries worldwide. The fashion industry is experiencing significant change due to clothing retailers transforming into transnational businesses, thereby increasing the availability of clothing fashion brands in more countries worldwide. In South Africa, the fashion retail industry is experiencing a proliferation of international brands, which makes it increasingly challenging for national brands to compete with international brands. Owing to this intensifying competition in the fashion industry, the need for effective differentiation, such as branding, is becoming even more significant. Specifically, effective brand management is required to build and maintain a strong brand. Strategic brand management is a key component of a company's marketing strategy, which focuses on achieving the planned strategic marketing goals such as creating brand identification and establishing strong brand associations with consumers. Owing to the increasingly important role of building strong brands and becoming the preferred brand amongst consumers and capturing consumers' loyalty, fashion marketers and retailers, have to focus on creating brand equity, which involves the development and implementation of various marketing activities. Brand equity refers to a set of either benefits or liabilities linked to the brand, the brand name and brand symbol, which can add to or detract from the value of the product or service provided to the consumer. For the Generation Y cohort, individuals born between 1986 and 2005, branded clothing plays an immense role in their purchasing behaviour. In South Africa, the African portion of the country's Generation Y cohort (referred to as the black Generation Y cohort) amounted to 84 percent in 2014, rendering the cohort an important market segment. Those with a university degree are likely to be of specific interest to marketers given that having a tertiary qualification is generally linked to a higher future earning potential and higher social status in a community. The significant growth of the South African textile, clothing, footwear and leather goods retail industry and the intensifying competition, combined with the significance of the black Generation Y students market, emphasises the need to understand this lucrative market's brand perceptions. The primary objective of this study was to propose and empirically test a model that measures the extent to which selected marketing activities influence clothing brand equity amongst black Generation Y students within the South African context. The sampling frame consisted of a list of the 26 registered South African public HEIs, which included 11 traditional universities, nine comprehensive universities and six universities of technology. From the sampling frame, a non-probability judgement sample of three HEI campuses situated in the Gauteng province was selected. Of these, one is a traditional university, one a university of technology and one a comprehensive university. Thereafter, a single cross-sectional non-probability convenience sample of 750 full-time undergraduate black Generation Y students aged between 18 and 24 was taken. A structured self-administered questionnaire was utilised to gather the required data for this study. The questionnaire includes a scale measuring participants' perceptions of different marketing activities and a scale measuring participants' perceptions of different brand equity dimensions, including brand awareness, perceived quality, brand associations, brand loyalty and overall brand equity. The captured data was analysed using descriptive statistics analysis, correlation analysis and structural equation modelling. As per the structural equation modelling, the proposed model suggests that pricing activities, product activities, store image activities and advertising activities have a direct positive influence on brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality, brand loyalty and overall brand equity of clothing brands. The findings of this study provide insight into which marketing activities are effective in creating brand equity, how these marketing activities are linked to the brand equity dimensions and how they can be manipulated to generate and maintain strong brand equity amongst the black Generation Y market segment in South Africa.