Factors Influencing Clothing Interest and Purchase Intention: a study of Consumers in Generation y from Malaysia and Singapore

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Introduction 
Clothing is an essential item in every individual’s life as it is considered the second 
skin of the body. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs (Maslow 1987), clothes fall into 
the category of physiological needs and fulfill the fundamental need of protection for all 
individuals. However, clothing has taken on an additional function in this modern world. Not 
only it serves as a basic human need, it also symbolizes an individual. People use clothes to 
express and differentiate themselves from others. Clothes have become a communication 
medium used to convey who the person is. They are visual items representing a person’s 
identity and personality-gender, age, race, occupation, social and financial status, fashion 
tastes, color preferences, time orientation, liking, pride, attitudes, degree of maturity, self-
confidence, and self-esteem (Rosenfeld and Plax 1977). There are other significant roles 
played by clothing. Clothes have also shown to be associated with the identity of the country, 
religious beliefs, political events, and historical eras. 
Companies & Markets (2015), one of the world's largest databases for market 
research, reported that the global apparel industry continuously shows promising growth with 
approximately 1.2 trillion dollars of sales. This industry is supported by about 60 to 75 
million workforce throughout the world in the footwear, textile, sportswear, and clothing 
sectors. It was further reported that China, Bangladesh, and India are ranked as the top 
garment producing countries while European countries, United States, and Japan are the main 
garment importing countries. Moreover, South East Asia countries like Malaysia, Singapore, 
Indonesia, and Thailand benefited from this growing industry whereby more and more 
clothing retail outlets from various international brands (e.g. H&M, Uniqlo, Topshop, 
Victoria Secret, and GAP) have shown their significant presence in these countries. The 
internationalization of clothing industry has created a huge impact on consumers’ interest and 
buying behavior with respect to their clothing (Subhani, Hasan, and Osman 2011). 
Among consumers of different age groups, it has been found that Generation Y 
consumers play an important role in the consumption of fashion products (Tee, Gharleghi, 
and Chan 2013). People of Generation Y were born between 1977 and 1994 (Paul 2001) and 
they were between 21 and 38 years old as of 2015. They generally display a higher degree of 
acceptance and tolerance of differences in cultures, lifestyles, and behaviors (Promar 
International 2001; Tee et al. 2013). Tee et al. (2013) further argued that Generation Y 
consumers have more disposable income to spend, and this makes them a target market of 

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many uprising international brands such as Uniqlo, Levis, Cotton On, H&M, Monki, 
Topshop, GAP, and Fred & Perry, to name a few. This fact is well supported by the study by
Khan et al. (2016) whereby most Generation Y Malaysian consumers spent their time in the 
shopping mall during weekends, public holidays, and even during weekdays (Euro monitor 
International 2013). Furthermore, Generation Y consumers have established themselves in 
the urban areas. They are young working adults graduated from colleges and universities 
located in the metropolitan areas. They have acquainted with the urban lifestyle and become 
the right target market for many fashion retailers (Kim, Knight, and Pelton 2009).
Generation Y consumers may be a lucrative market for clothing retailers, especially 
the branded ones, but research studies on their interest and buying intention of clothing are 
scant. Kumar, Kim, and Pelton (2009) have suggested that more studies are needed to 
determine the significant factors in relation to clothing interest and purchase intention. 
Although Kumar et al.’s (2009) study found that the need for uniqueness and self-concept 
have a significant positive relationship with clothing interest, studies on clothing interest that 
considers the impact from the marketing aspects such as brand image and word of mouth are 
still scarce and have little empirical evidence. Furthermore, Tsiotsou (2006) has argued that 
the quality of clothing plays an important role in influencing individual’s clothing interest. 
Yet this factor has not been given much needed attention. Therefore, this research aims to 
examine whether these factors—need for uniqueness, self-concept, brand image, word of 
mouth, and perceived quality—significantly influence clothing interest among the consumers 
of Generation Y in Malaysia. 
This research study also aims to investigate the relationships among clothing interest, 
price conscious, and purchase intention of clothing. Studies have found a positive relationship 
between consumers’ interest of clothing and their intention to purchase (Kumar et al. 2009; 
Vikkraman and Sumathi 2012). Other studies found that the level of price consciousness 
among the consumers will influence their purchase decision (Gauzente and Roy 2012; 
Jayasingh and Eze 2012). These research findings indicate a possible interaction effect of 
price consciousness on the relationship between clothing interest and purchase intention. 
Consumers who are highly conscious about price may not purchase the clothes that they are 
interested in buying if the price is too expensive. In other words, price consciousness may 
moderate the relationship between clothing interest and purchase intention. However, a 
review of the literature indicates that studies examining such a moderated relationship are 

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virtually none. As a result, there is a need to address this research gap in pertaining to 
purchase intention of clothing. 
Based on the research deficiency identified above, this study attempts to achieve the 
following objectives: 
1) 
To examine whether need for uniqueness, self-concept, brand image, word of mouth, 
and perceived quality are significant predictors of clothing interest among the 
Generation Y consumers in Malaysia. 
2) 
To determine the moderating effect of price consciousness on the relationship 
between their clothing interest and purchase intention. 
The following section presents a review on the factors influencing clothing interest 
and the development of hypotheses. 

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