Women of Generous Proportions: An Empirical Study of Full-Figured Brands and the Consumer Bonding Experience

ABSTRACT The paper explores the values owned by local - brands and if these values are sought by - consumers. According to recent studies, - women had difficulty in finding well - fitting fashionable clothing in general, making then unhappy shoppers. The paper aimed to address the problem - determining if: - consumers associate - brands with attributes that differentiate them from competition, consumers connect a brand's owned attribute to consequent values and express a preference for the whose consequent value is most congruent with their own. The ever - changing lifestyle that led to a change in eating patterns resulted to the rise of hefty - sized consumer market called the plus - size - women with body and clothing measurements of 14 and larger. These - consumers who give importance to specific values likely to prefer the with the attribute is its functional or psychosocial benefit. Furthermore, perceive each of the brands as owning an attribute entirely different from the brand's positioning. Perhaps, Moda Plus' position is providing clothes with styles that flatter the full - figured being the value they offer, yet consumer perception dictates that Moda Plus brand owns an entirely different value. The paper presents the uniqueness of the Philippine market in comparison with its foreign counterparts. Existing researches anchored their study on various contexts such as: aesthetics, store image and perception, it somehow failed to explore consumer perception of value and its consistency with positioning. The paper provides relevant insights for - brands about consumer perceptions of value and suggested marketing communication. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.) INTRODUCTION Shopping for clothes has always been a part of an urban woman's lifestyle. The fashion need of women led to the emergence of a special segment that wears a 14 or larger - the Plus Size. Weight loss doesn't happen overnight and for some urban women, they want to look their best every day. Various studies about fashion, apparel and clothing mostly involve the regular sized segment. However, studies missed out on the buying behavior of the female market for clothing & apparel that provide information about a special female segment that was once a niche market. Years ago, women who were 14 and above were overlooked and ignored by fashion brands, which focused more on the slender market. These generously proportioned women settled for wearing oversized, unfashionable and undesirable clothing which made them feel less happy about themselves and inferior to their regular sized counterparts. Clothing brands have since discovered the potential of the rising segment and now attempt to serve the 14 and beyond. Due to the seemingly hefty eating patterns of women, obesity occurred at a faster rate in developing countries than in the developed ones. In Asia, the problem of obesity rose in the wake of economic development and nutrition transition. (Dugee, 2009). Specialty clothing stores entered the Philippine market and catered to the hefty - sized segment to their advantage and addressed the rising markets' ignored needs. These stores tried to provide fashion - forward apparel that is a larger than the clothes worn by the regular size. Yet, stores seem to have overlooked certain factors or attributes that better addressed the needs of this special market. Providing apparel that simply fits (literally) the consumer does not exactly address certain unmet needs. This study aimed to discuss attributes and values owned by specific local brands and determined if these attributes and values are sought by - consumers that result in preference. The research banked on the uniqueness of the local Philippine market. Past researches concentrated on other culturally different markets such as the American Market, Indian & South African female clothing markets and structured their study on different contexts such as role of aesthetics, store image, perception of store and customer loyalty. …