Journal of Marketing Management

Buyer Attributes for Targeting the College Student in Boutique Clothing Retailing
Kenneth E. Clow, Henry S. Cole, Stan Williamson

Abstract
This paper focuses on certain shopping attributes and attitudes of college-age students versus non-student adult consumers as they relate to shopping boutique clothing stores. A convenience sample of college students at a public university in the mid-south of the United States, their family members and friends was used to examine respondents’ perspectives on materialism, buying impulsiveness, and local retail loyalty. A majority of all respondents identified price as their top factor for choosing a store to shop for clothing in general. For specialty clothing, college students indicated significant differences on their greater preference for fashions in boutiques, the opinion that boutiques help find the perfect style, and the belief that boutiques have high quality clothes. Materialism and impulsiveness were higher in students, with female respondents showing higher impulsiveness than males. Non-students tended to have more loyalty to local stores, but the difference was not significant. Suggestions for marketing strategies based on these findings are discussed.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jmm.v3n1a2