Comparison of Chinese and Indian consumers' evaluative criteria when selecting denim jeans : A conjoint analysis

Purpose – US apparel firms have been relatively slow exploring Chinese and Indian apparel markets, despite the countries' tremendous growth potentials. To help US apparel firms successfully enter these promising markets, this study aims to compare evaluative attributes that Chinese and Indian consumers utilize when purchasing denim jeans. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected in Shanghai, China and Bangalore, India. Findings – The results of the study confirmed that Chinese and Indian consumers ranked attributes differently. Chinese consumers placed the highest importance on price, followed by fitting, brand country of origin, quality, and design, whereas Indian consumers placed importance on fitting, brand country of origin, design, price, and quality, in descending order. Research limitations/implications – Caution needs to be exercised in generalizing the findings since the data for this study were collected from one city in each country. The study tested the idea that the importance of attributes would be different between Chinese and Indian consumers as their cultures and retail development stages differ. This idea was supported in conjoint analysis. Practical implications – The findings indicate that a regional approach, assuming that all Asian markets are the same, is inappropriate. Thus, US apparel firms need to pay careful attention to differences in each Asian market. Originality/value – China and India have been compared frequently in various ways: growth potential, market size, and population. Surprisingly, however, no study has attempted to compare Chinese and Indian consumers' evaluative criteria for apparel products. This is the first empirical study to show the differences between Chinese and Indian consumers in evaluating apparel products.