Analysis
Focus Group
Zara Icons
Brand Awareness
In terms of brand awareness, the responses were consistent with our previous conclusion that Zara has high recall and recognition as most of them named Zara when asked to list the first few fashion brands that comes to mind. As we probed further into how they got to know the brand Zara, the answer was mostly 'Word-of-mouth' or 'chanced upon it at the mall'. Zara’s minimal advertising policy is also evident in this study as none of the respondents could pinpoint any Zara advertisement.
A key finding is that customers experienced difficulty elaborating Zara’s brand mission. The guesses mostly included offering stylish clothes. This could possibly mean that the brand is not associated with quality and affordability on recall basis.
Brand Imagery
The respondents mostly associated Zara with ‘stylish’, ‘quality’ and ‘exclusivity’ and we would test the strength, favourability and uniqueness of these associations in our survey.
There is a tendency to associate Zara with femininity as well. The male respondents find that the designs are overly feminine. On the other hand, females liked that Zara's designs fit and complement their figure. This agrees with our previous finding that females tend to favour Zara over the males.
Brand Feelings
Generally, respondents ‘feel good’ when they don Zara apparels. They feel more ‘confident’, ‘fashionable’ and ‘presentable’. These are positive feelings associated to Zara apparels. As for the shopping experience in Zara, there is a difference in responses. The general feel is that the experience is unimpressive and unfriendly due to the ambience and in-store service. Brand feelings could be an area Zara could look at to build higher customer intimacy.
However, we also noticed that different participants value different aspects in their shopping experience. A further step can be taken in the survey to help us gauge what are the aspects that consumers perceive as important when they purchase apparels.
Brand Performance
Also, when asked about Zara’s performance via 'value-for-money' question, we realized that the respondents' answers varied widely as they used different brands as anchors. To those who compared between luxury brands, Zara is reasonably priced whereas for those who compared to lower-priced brands, Zara is 'overrated'. Quality and design were mentioned in some responses and we see the need to determine how strong these qualities are through the survey.
At this point, we believe that the difference in perceptions about Zara's performance could be due to the purchasing power of the respondents, similar to what we had gathered in the consumer study previously. We would like to see how true this is through the survey.
Brand Judgment
The participants were handed Zara apparels during the focus group. During the interaction with the apparels, most of the respondents felt that the quality of Zara products is decent, in terms of comfort and aesthetics. We see this as a clear strength of Zara as it delivers what it promises in quality. Consumers would perceive Zara's products as good quality goods if they come in touch with Zara's products.
When asked about their brand consideration set for special events, most of the female respondents said Zara would be one of the brands they would consider. On the other hand, most of the male respondents mentioned that they would not consider Zara. This is yet another observation that females have a stronger preference towards Zara as compared to the males. We would like to test this in the survey and see if any insights can be gained about this difference in preference towards Zara between genders.
Brand Resonance
As our respondents do not buy Zara frequently, we positioned the question to measure how loyal they will be to Zara if they were more affluent. The males generally commented that they would not patronize Zara even if they have greater purchasing power. The ladies on the other hand, aspire to purchase Zara with an increase in purchasing power. This is consistent with the insights garnered from Assignment 2a, where our participants showed a desire to purchase Zara should they have more money. Once again, there seem to be a difference in perception towards Zara between gender.
With regard to social causes, only one respondent showed a positive reaction towards Zara embarking on a social mission. Majority were indifferent and mentioned that it would not affect them unless the brand acts unethically in their production process.
Miscellaneous
Influences
Our focus group participants mentioned that they are influenced by media, such as print advertisements and online media. Also, they trust the opinions of people who matter to them, specifically, their partners or family members. Intriguingly, guys usually shop with their girlfriends and are more likely to be swayed by their opinions.
Hence, in the survey we sought to uncover what influences one’s purchasing decisions, in particular comparing the strengths of the mass media against word-of-mouth.
Shopping style
While trying to uncover what consumers value when making purchases for fashion apparels, we discovered that every individual harbored a different shopping style. Some looked out for price and value-for-money, while others desired the latest designs and quality. It was intriguing that one respondent did mention environmental friendliness as one of the factors she considers. Hence, upon further research, we decided to use Sprotles Consumer Style Inventory (CSI) to analyze respondents' shopping styles. This would facilitate segmentation in later research as we are able to add psychographics measures to every segment.
