The Image of Bangkok as a Fashion City

Abstract

There are two main purposes of this study. The first purpose was to investigate the perception of and exposure to the project “Bangkok: The Fashion City”, study the image of the project “Bangkok: The Fashion City” by comparing it to the image of Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore as a fashion hub. And the second purpose was to segment consumers on the basis of their opinions toward Bangkok as Asia’s fashion hub in an effort to understand the characteristics of consumers in Thailand and abroad and study the characteristics of consumers in Thailand and abroad by considering their opinions toward establishing Bangkok to be Asia’s fashion hub. The participants were selected from those living in 7 capital cities in the following countries: Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China and Singapore. The sampling technique employed was quota sampling by sex and age. To make comparisons between the images perceived by people from Thailand, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, a paired t-test and a correspondence analysis were used. In addition, nonhierarchical cluster analysis was conducted to classify the consumer opinions toward Thailand’s fashion industry. Regression analysis and discriminant analysis were used to find factors affecting consumer views on Thailand’s fashion industry. For the findings, we found out that foreigners were not informed of the happenings in the country’s fashion business. Most of the respondents were exposed to this subject via television while those from Malaysia and Singapore obtained the information via magazines and newspapers. Most respondents agreed that Japan was best suited to serve as a fashion hub in the region, with Hong Kong and Singapore ranked second and third, respectively. Thailand was ranked fourth in this regard. It was found that not only Thais but also Malaysians suggested Thailand be the regional fashion hub. Most consumers agreed to the fact that Japan gained prominence in all aspects of the industry, particularly the quality of the products, compared to Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore and China. They also found Thailand was prominent in the product’s uniqueness and low prices. According to the findings, consumers could be divided into 3 groups on the basis of their opinions toward Thailand’s fashion industry. The first group, mostly consisting of respondents from Hong Kong and China, did not agree Thailand should be an ideal fashion hub in Asia. The second group, mostly consisting of respondents from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, believed Thailand was suited to assume this role in this region. The third group, mostly consisting of respondents from Japan and Singapore, found Thailand moderately suited to be a fashion hub in the region.

Key word: Correspondence analysis; Multiple discriminant analysis; Nonhierarchical cluster analysis; Multiple regression analysis; Paired t-test; The image of Bangkok as a fashion city