Abstract:

Purpose- The Garment industry plays a vital role in the Bangladeshi economy and contributes to its export earnings. The present study has focused on primary factors of buying behavior of undergraduate students between the age group of 18-24 during the purchase of their cotton apparel. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to undertake the cotton cloth buying behavior among university students and investigate the independent predictors for their preference for such cloth. Methodology- For identifying the independent factors, primary data was collected from 200 consumers through questionnaires across various departments of Chittagong University of Science and Technology, Chattogram, Bangladesh. The random sampling method was used for selecting the respondent. The University students who are in the age group of 18 to 24 have been selected for surveying. It is a cross-sectional study conducted among 200 students in which 65% are male and 35% are female participants. The data have been organized into four sections: clothing selection, understanding cotton, fiber composition in apparel, and marketing influences. The participants were asked to rate their responses in terms of agreement or disagreement as follows: strongly agree – 5, agree – 4, neutral – 3, disagree – 2, and strongly disagree – 1. The data has been analyzed with the help of statistical tools like percentage analysis, Z test, and Chi-square analysis. Findings- At a 5% level of significance, it is seen that price (4.31) is the most important factor for the purchasing behavior of cotton cloths, followed by comfort (4.22) of the cotton fabric, type of fiber (4.10), manufacturers’ websites (3.89), manufacturers’ Facebook (3.84), fiber Awareness (3.71), Brand names (3.70), Prefer of cotton cloth(3.64), and Magazine advertisements (3.54) are important factors on consumers purchasing behavior but Television advertisements (3.36), Radio advertisements (3.32), Durability (3.31), Internet advertisements (3.20), Influences of friends wear (3.10), and Facebook and Twitter (2.83) are less important factors. Conclusion- This study has focused on the knowledge regarding cotton cloth, habits, and buying behavior among University students. It is observed that male and female consumers have no significant difference regarding fiber awareness, brand names, price, comfort, affordable, versatility, internet advertisement, magazine advertisement, Facebook and Twitter advertisement, and manufacturers' websites, etc. during purchasing of cotton cloth but there is a significant relationship between male and female consumers about the type of fiber, and friends wear.

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