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Research Proposal

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A Study of Personal Factors Affecting
African Students Buying Behavior in India
A Case Study in DR. Congo with reference
to the Apparel Industry

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

LITERATURE REVIEW

AND
RESEARCH PROPOSAL

KANGUZU MASANDI GAUTI

I0006FBNAPI0215

Prof: Nirmaalya Biswas

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.

Chapter 1
Research Title………………………………………………………………………..4
Background of the study…………………………………………………………….4
Statement of problem………………………………………………………………..5
Research Aim………………………………………………………………………...5
Research Question…………………………………………………………………...5
Research Objectives…………………………………………………………………5
Scope of the study……………………………………………………………………5

II.

Chapter 2
1. Literature Review
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………...6
Customer Perception………………………………………………………………….7
Earning Capacity……………………………………………………………………...8
Buying Behavior……………………………………………………………………….9
2. Conceptual Framework…………………………………………………………….10

III.

Chapter 3
1. Research Proposal
Overview………………………………………………………………………………11
Research Paradigm…………………………………………………………………...11
Research Strategies…………………………………………………………………...12
Research Design………………………………………………………………………12
Unit of Analysis……………………………………………………………………….12
Population and Sample size………………………………………………………….12
Operationalization of constructs…………………………………………………….13
Reliability and Validity………………………………………………………………13
Pretest…………………………………………………………………………………14
Pilot Study…………………………………………………………………………….14
Proposed Data Analysis……………………………………………………………...14
Ethic…………………………………………………………………………………...14
Time Horizon…………………………………………………………………………15
Limitation of the study……………………………………………………………….15
Time Scale…………………………………………………………………………….15
Appendix………………………………………………………………………………16
Reference……………………………………………………………………………..20

I.

CHAPTER ONE
 Research Title

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What effects do the earning capacity and perception of an African student have on his buying
behavior, with reference to the apparel industry? A case study in DR Congo
 Background of the Study
The current demand for fashion clothes in African is of a high esteem as most people now prefer
wearing African wear on Fridays as their custom wear. Most of the working environment even
encourages the wearing of fashion designer wear during Fridays at work to promote the African
tradition in the world (Fessey, 2011). This has prompted the youth in Africa spend huge amount of
money only to get a customized shirt. Congo is the largest French speaking African country in
Africa; this makes it a good market for the apparel industry, the country in 2014, was ranked as
the poorest country in the world; they had the low per capital rate to be low as well, even though
the country’s economic planning department of the country dispute the fact that they are such
poor. This has prompted the apparel industry to sell their product with a low pricing strategy to
allow most people have the resources to purchase the product (Donald et al., 2014),
It is obvious that the buying behavior of an individual depends on the sources of the individual
income, students in general receive their money from the care takers whether a family member or
a sponsor (Ellen, 1992). Despite the rate of poverty in Congo, there is an increasing demand for
design cloths in the country; this is because of the attention most of the youth has placed on
giving priority to anyone wearing African designer wear.
 Statement of problem
The African students now believe that they have to promote their continent due to the past
ideology which pictures Africa to be a continent with no vision, they now value the wearing of
African clothe; this has prompted the apparel industry to target the students in Africa. They set
their prices in such a way that it will comply with the earning capacity of the student

 Research Aim

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The main aim of this study is to find out whether earning capacity and perception of African
student have on the buying behavior of the designer clothes in Dr. Congo.
 Research Question
What effect do the earning capacity and perception of African students have on his buying
behavior of designer clothing in Congo?
 Research Objectives
 To find out the influence of African students earning on their purchasing intention
towards clothes
 To discover whether African students really give credit to the apparel industry and why
they do that
 To make a discovery on the effect of student’s behavior on their purchasing intention
towards African products
 Scope of study
The research will be concentrated within the city of Kinshasa which is the capital of Congo. This
research area was choosing based on the number of students in the country and where the
majority of the students live, also the researcher has lived in Kinshasa for the past 22years which
gives a clear knowledge of the kind of students who live in the city. Data collection of this study
will be of different languages which will include English, French and Lingala to allow easy
understanding of the study

II.

CHAPTER TWO

1. LITEATURE REVIEW
 Introduction

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The reason behind the decision of someone to purchase a product or service comes as a result of
a need which a consumer has and needs to be satisfied. There is a misunderstanding rising from
the perception whether the need of a consumer is created by the available product / service or it
comes through a natural phenomenon which cannot be controlled. According to the theory
proposed by Marslow’s which talks about human needs, he said that every human being has a
need for food and shelter; aside this needs, the environment of which the individual lives in also
create its own needs which will required a demand for the need (Peter, 2014). Even though needs
and wants are mostly created by the condition of the individual, there is no denying fact that the
marketer also influences the buying behavior of consumers.
Marketers have created different choices of the customer’s needs and wants such that they will
have to make a decision where to buy the product or service from. The choice of buying a
product at a particular place will depend on the kind of services provided for the customer; when
the customer is served well at his or her first visit to the shop, there is a high tendency of the
customer coming back to the same place next time for a product
African students have in the mind how the world is moving; this influence their choices of
buying any product. They may choose to buy a product because of the colour or the need they
have for the product; prices are one factor that hinders the buying behavior of a certain product
among the African students. Their parents or care takers will send them money for their daily
expenses, but it is up to them to spend the money on which product they wish to buy
The industry has then made the prices of their product such that the students can get money to
buy the product; the competition on the market gives the bargaining power of the students and
other customers higher because they have more option to choose from and will not want to buy
from a shop that has high prices (Macqueen, 2014). Quality is one factor that cannot be forgotten
when talking about the choice of a product for a student. They will always want to buy the
product that has high quality such that by wearing them, they will look different from what
others wear

 Customer perception

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Customer perception according to Silvia, (2014) refers to the ways in which a particular
customer selects, analyze, interpret and communicate the outcome such that he or she will decide
on whether to purchase the item or not. There are three major processes that take place when an
individual is going through this stimulation period of deciding on a particular product, each stage
plays a major role in the individual’s decision making.

 Exposure stage is when the consumer gets in contact with the product; he or she
will have to check for certain feathers of the product (Hans et al., 2001). During
production, they make sure that certain unique features are added into the product
to attract the customer in buying the product; these features are what the
consumers expect to see in the product before he or she buys the product. The
perception of a consumer can be of different kind. Some consumers buy a product
because their friend or family member has introduced them to the product; others
buy because they really need the product and have no option than to buy the
product.
 Attention is when the manufacturers put some features on the product such that it
will attract the consumers to buy the product (Jon, 2000). Some consumers get
attracted by the colour of the product that is being presented to them; the quality
of the product is one key factor to attract the interest of the consumers.
Consumers will always buy a product after they are sure of the benefits they are
going to get from the product, when they realize that the amount of money they
are spending on the product does not merit the service the product will provide,
they will not buy the product; in other words, when the returns on the product
happens to be more than that of the amount being used to buy the product, then
they decide to buy the product
 Interpretation is known to be the final stage by which a consumer goes through
before taking the decision to buy a product (Guttman et al., 2008). Once the
consumer gets the exposal of the product, there is the need to interpret whatever
that the mind has gathered to come out with a final decision of the product. if after
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all the process, the consumer feels the importance of buying the product, then the
decision of buying the product then comes into reality. But on the other way, if the
consumers do not find the required features expected to be in the product, and see
the value in the product to be less than that of the amount used in buying the
product, then the decision will be taking not to buy the product.
 Earning capacity
While our attention is based on earning capacity, there are three main concepts which must be
understood when analyzing the earning capacity of an individual. Actual earnings are the
earnings that someone really acquires from a particular task; expected earnings are what an
individual is projected to earn from a project or task; earning capacity is what a person or group
of persons earns (Keith, 2009). These three types of earning have value over the lifestyle of
individuals towards their daily activities
The amount of money one makes has influence on their buying behavior, when a person makes a
lot of money, he or she buy certain items that do not really have more importance at that
particular time. According to Loca (2014), people buy other products that are not part of the
primary needs or wants only when they have enough disposable income which do not have a
specified used at that particular time. One the other hand when people do not make enough
money, they do not buy more product which are not part of their primary needs; they may choose
to buy the product if they have no option than to buy it.
An individual with more actual earning is expected to buy more products than that of the one
with more expected earnings (Ludovick, 2000). This is because every human has more projections
in life which they believe they can obtain when they have money at their disposal. When
someone has more actual earnings, it implies that the person has enough cash to buy any product
of his or her choice. Demand for product and service will be high if people have a lot of
disposable income with them; they will want to buy things which will serve the interest of other
purpose different from what is of a pressing need to others

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 Buying behavior
The buying decision is one out of several complex decisions that one has to go through anytime a
consumer makes a decision to purchase a product. There are six processes which influence the
buying behavior of consumers to a product; the first on is:
Problem / need recognition is the first stage of buying decision. Before a decision is taking to
buy a product, there is always a need, when there is no need, there will certainly not be a buyer.
Once the need for a product or service is created, then the consumer decides to get the solution.
Individual needs can be internal stimuli where the individual is either hungry or thirsty;
functional needs are needs which is required to add value to an existing product or object; social
needs are what an individual need to become recognized in the society (Marjorie, 2012).
Information search: after the required need is obtained, the consumer then tries to get
information on how to get a solution to the need (Paul, 2012). The magnitude of the information
will depend on the type of problem at hand; the consumer may have internal information about
the product either through the consumer’s previous experience on the product; external
information can also be gathered about the product where the consumer will ask friends or
family about the product before purchasing the product
Alternative evaluation: once the required information is obtained about the product or service,
the customer will then make an evaluation on the different alternatives available on the market
and select the one which will best solve his or her need (Omar, 1990).
Purchase decision: after the consumer is done with the evaluation process to know which
product best suit the required need, there will now be feather analysis on which particular
product best fit the need, then the decision to buy the product finally comes into the picture
(Richard, 2014).
Post-purchase behavior is when after the consumer buys the product and uses it for the required
purpose, then there is the need to check whether the need has been met or not (Laird, 2014. Once
the consumer realize that the need is not met, he or she will decide on another alternative

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2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Earnings capacity

Customer perception

Buying Behavior

Actual earnings

For one to decide on which clothe to wear is dependent on the cultural factors of the people; the
students will always be influence by the amount of money they receive from their parent or care
takers. Congo has the world most natural resources where the youth which most of them doubled
as students use the presence of the natural resources to generate other income to their personal
use. This has made the youth develop the habit of spending money on designer this which will
attract the ladies within and outside the country. Most of the African country has now adopted
the system of wearing African material which is intend to promote the African continent and the
people within the continent
From the previous analysis made in the literature review, it is known that the apparel industry
should not only base the strength on giving low pricing materials, but also place much emphasis
on the quality of the product which is being sold to the consumers. People will prefer buying a
product that will last for a longer time at a higher price than to buy a product that will be of a low
price but will not last for long
III.
1. RESEARCH PROPOSAL
 Overview

CHAPTER THREE

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This section of the study will depict the paradigm for the research which is selected and it will
also place emphasis the kind of method that will be used in colleting the data for the study, how
the data will be analyzed and finally arrive at a conclusion on the final study. A research is
systematic approach by which data is obtained through the means of recording, analyzing and
interpretation of the findings to take a decision (Zikmund, 2014)
 Research Paradigm
This section of the research will be to get detailed information about the kind of methodologies
that will be used for the study; this will further help us to get answers to the research questions
that has been asked in the first schedule of this study; the research is done to figure out how the
earning capacity of African students influence their buying behavior towards design cloths in Dr.
Congo. The approach for the study will be case study method; the positivist paradigm will be
used for this study even though there are three main types of research paradigms, which includes;
interpretive, positivist and critical paradigm
Research paradigm is in two different dimensions, which are the deductive and inductive
approach of a theory; the difference between the two methods are that inductive approach is
when the researcher use the data gathered to come up with a new theory, while the deductive
approach is when there is an existing theory and the researcher deduce a theory from the existing
one. We will use the deductive approach for testing of hypothesis in this research

Source: Larner, 2009

 Research Strategies
The research is going to be a case study due to the situation at hand which allows the researcher
to derive information from different sources, the idea of doing a case study is because the work
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will be based on deductive and positivist approach where questionnaires will be design for that
purpose (Creswell, 2008). Primary data will be collected with the use of questionnaire to get
response to African students specifically from Congo.
Since our aim is get students who use design cloths, we will approach some other African
students, who are not from Congo, but wear such cloths to understand the general view of all
Africans on the purchasing intention of the designer clothes; this will help us analyze whether
there is a difference why Congolese buy the cloths to that of the other African countries
 Research design
Research design looks at the system of collecting data, and how this data will be relevant to the
case; this is the systematic way by which the stipulated objectives of particular study are
achieved (Easterby, 2004). The researcher will use exploitation research to gather information
about the problem at hand to get the best solution
 Unit of analysis
The main target group for this study is the students from Congo who wears designer clothes. The
research will be on an analysis on the view of Congolese students who lives in India and also
those who live back home in Congo
 Population and sample size
The targeted population for this study is all the African students in India and other parts of the
world. Out of this population, (200) questionnaire will be giving to African students who have
interest in wearing designer clothes; this is to ensure reliability and validity from the part of the
research. The system of taking the data will be random sampling method, while every person has
equal chances of being selected to participate in the process

 Operationalization of constructs

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The system of collecting data on this study will be the use of questionnaire. The researcher will
adopt the system of using quantitative data to eliminate the further errors with the help of a
statistical method. The research will be basically on the use of primary data where there will not
any secondary data required for the study. There will be three main divisions in the questionnaire
where the first part will be asking the respondent about their identity and some little information
about where they come from. The second part will be asking questions like whether the
respondent has interest in wearing designer clothes and the means of acquiring them. The third
part of the questionnaire will be asking base on the perception of every individual upon using
such clothes
The questionnaires will be distributed by the researcher to the required respondent, where the
respondent will fill in their individual views about all the questions asked and hand over the
paper to the researcher. Some respondent who will not have time to fill instantly will be giving
the node to take the sheets home for some 5 days to fill and later the researcher will go to them
and collect the questionnaire
 Reliability and validity
In other to ensure that this work is solid and genie, there is the need to ensure reliability and
validity of the data collected. There will be a system for insuring validity by means of looking at
the process of colleting the data, and the various techniques which was used in gathering the data
for the study (John et al., 2009). The researcher will come up with proper interpretation of the
data that has been gathered to determine whether the data really comply with the required data
for the study. Reliability will be tested by testing the same data for a continues period of time if
the same result comes out, then it proves that the data can be reliable for the study

 Pretest
Pretest is done to determine the accuracy of the type of questions asked in the questionnaire. It
will help the researcher know which questions are of relevant to the study, and which once are
irrelevant to the case at hand (Joppe, 2006). This process will help the researcher to get rid of

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some of the questions that has no importance to the case and also put in some of the relevant
question that was in included at the first design of the questionnaire. In other to make the
question simple and understanding to the respondents, 20 questions were initially asked, after the
pretest, 3 of the questions were taking out as irrelevant
 Pilot study
The questionnaires that were design was giving to the respondent to fill, there were no money
paid to the respondent before they filled the questionnaire
 Proposed Data Analysis
After the data is collected from the respondent with the use of the questionnaire, the researcher
will use the available data to measure the phenomenon and information will be giving with
respect to the designer clothes buying among African students. The data will be primary data,
which are quantitative in nature, this will give information about how the researcher will test
hypothesis with the giving problem to come out with a conclusion on whether the claim should
be accepted or rejected
 Ethic
The view of the respondent will be considered at the first stage to allow free participation of the
study. There will be a verbal communication between the researcher and the respondent to allow
easy and free answering of questions to the problem at hand. This will allow the data to get more
accurate results, the research shall be ethical in collecting the data; there shall not be any
ambiguous questions which will be very personal to the respondent. All questions will be of
relevant to the situation and respondent will be allowed to give answers without any influence by
the researcher

 Time Horizon

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The research will not take a longer period of time to take place. There will be a short period of
time to complete the study. The research will be a case study on the influence of earnings
capacity of African students on their buying behavior towards designer clothes

 Limitations of the study
Almost every country has an apparel industry were different designer clothes are being made,
and being purchase by different people in the country. But I chose to target on the students who
buy such clothes because of the idea of giving way for future researches to target other category
of people. There was time constraint on the part of the researcher because of the limited period
required to complete the study. Getting the required student to give their response was a major
problem faced during the time of conducting the research
 Time scale
The Gantt chat below depicts the time period for undertaking the study, it gives indication of
when each particular event happened and also the exact period that the research stated and when
it come into a conclusion

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Intended outcome of the study
The reason behind this study is for the researcher to determine the influence that the earnings
capacity has on the purchasing behavior of African students towards the apparel industry. It
intend to find out how the behavior towards their earning will determine their way of buying
product, and whether they really have value for buying product from the apparel industry or they
do not find it necessary to buy product from the industry

MindMap

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