Abstract

This dissertation is an attempt to explore the perceptions of UK fashion clothing

brands amongst Russian consumers. As a result of the review of academic literature
regarding the consumption of goods of foreign origin it was established that 3
attributes: brand, the country of origin and quality were particularly important in terms
of their impact on the decision behaviour of consumers (Ettenson, 1993; Strutton et
al, 1995; Piron, 2000; Karpova et al, 2007).

The sample of the study was drawn from the university students studying in one of
the state universities of St. Petersburg (N=20). An on-line questionnaire was used as
a primary data collection tool.
It has been said that fashion conscious groups of consumers constitutes a
potentially lucrative market for fashion clothing retailers and marketers (Tatzel,
1982). This group has been characterised as individuals who are motivated, place
great value on clothing shopping , less price conscious, and have skills in clothing
shopping which incorporate “knowledge of stores, ability to judge value in
merchandise, knowledge of what is in fashion, and … knowledge of self in respect to
what to wear…” (Tatzel, 1982: 90). Therefore, fashion conscious consumers who
agreed with the statement “Fashion clothing is a significant part of my life” were
segmented out of the total sample and analysed separately on the premise that this
group may be the most interesting for marketers and retailers.

The results showed that, the concept of the country of origin (COO) was a relatively
unimportant attribute. However, this criterion was ranked higher by the “fashion
conscious” consumers. Six UK fashion brands were included in the study; of these,
Topshop, Burberry, and Marks & Spencer were the most recognised as British
brands. However, only three brands such as Next, Topshop and Peacock’s shared
popularity in terms of purchases, where only the first two brands were purchased by
“fashion conscious” consumers. Comparison of other countries’ exporters of clothing
in the Russian market showed that UK fashion clothing lagged behind the other
European countries in terms of perceived quality. However, British apparel scored
more favourably against clothing of Russian and Chinese origin.
In conclusion, the results of this study support the previous findings (Karpova et al,
2007) that Russian consumers place a great importance on quality of product. In
relation to fashion clothing this included: style/design with accordance to fashion,
quality of stitching and a high regard for the natural fibres in the fabric. This study
has demonstrated that the importance of attributes such as Brand and the COO with
its two facets (the COM and the COD) were relatively insignificant in the overall
sample. In terms of perceived quality, the results showed that UK fashion brands lag
behind other European countries. However, the UK brands scored more favourably
against clothing of Russian and Chinese origin. These results have rather a
descriptive nature and the aims of comparative analysis have been confined to
ranking different countries without analysing their point of reference amongst the
respondents.
Finally, unlike in the research on product attributes related to technology (Ettenson,
1993; Strutton, 1995) Russian consumers’ views on the COO as an important factor
in purchasing decision were not supported on this occasion.