Impact of reference groups on the teenagers' buying process of clothing in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The main objective of our research was to suggest recommendations for Czech producers of clothing for brand building and marketing communication strategies with Czech consumers in age group 13 to 19 years, therefore, our goal was to analyze consumer behavior of Czech youth when buying and using clothing and to analyze factors influencing their behavior, with the emphasis on reference groups and these results are presented in this paper. The target group (consumers 13–19 years old) was selected because it’s often been neglected in recent marketing researches. The research consisted of primarily qualitative research (n = 96) in the form of in-depth interviews and pilot quantitative research (n = 200) in a form of online survey. The data collection was conducted in time period March 17–April 22, 2011. On the basis of data analysis, authors suggested general recommendations for improving marketing communication strategy of fashion producers in the Czech Republic. The results hint differences in the buying behavior of clothing between respondents in the age 13–15 and 16–19 years. The group of 13–15 years old teenagers doesn’t consider clothing brands as a very important criterion when choosing particular piece of clothing, while for the older group brands matter. The 16–19 year old ones are significantly more influenced by their friends and opinion leaders, while the for the younger group this influence comes not from their peers, but mostly parents.