• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.33 no.10
• /
• pp.1590-1600
• /
• 2009

This study investigates the fashion lifestyles and the effect on clothing purchase behavior by female consumers living in Mumbai India. Data were collected from 129 Indian women in their teens to thirties living in Mumbai and were analyzed by factor analysis, cluster analysis, one-way ANOVA, Duncan test, ${\chi}^2$-test, frequency analysis using SPSS 12.0. The results of this study are as follows. Five factors of fashion lifestyle are identified: fashion consciousness, price orientation, advertisement/brand orientation, being aware of others, and tradition orientation. Female consumers were classified into four groups based on fashion lifestyle factors: display/brand oriented group, active profit seeking group, fashion oriented group, and a tradition oriented group. There were significant differences among the fashion lifestyle groups on five criteria (latest fashion, price, commonality with existing clothing, size, and the distance to the store) out of the 13 criteria. The display/brand oriented group showed high scores on the latest fashion and size. The active profit-seeking group generally showed high scores on all five factors. The fashion oriented group showed high scores on latest fashion and commonality with existing clothing when buying clothes. Finally, the tradition oriented group showed high scores only on the distance to the shop, while they (the tradition oriented group) showed low scores on the other criteria. The examination on the actual conditions of clothing purchase among fashion lifestyle groups showed that only the monthly expenditure for clothing is significantly different. The display/brand oriented group and active profit seeking group spent more on clothing than the other two groups.