Interview Transcription

Name: Kevin Fang Age: 23

Gender: Male

Nationality: Chinese

Chris: Hi, Kevin. I would like to ask you about your purchasing behaviour on clothes. It would talk about 30 minutes. How often do you buy clothes?

Kevin: In China, normally I buy clothes 4 times a year (for each season). In England, maybe 3 times a year, I will buy clothes if there are discounts.

Chris: So you buy clothes less frequently in the UK.

Kevin: Yes.

Chris: Why?

Kevin: Because in China, I had a girlfriend who likes shopping. I was the company.

Chris: How much do you spend on clothing each month? In case of China and also the UK?

Kevin: In China, around 20 to 30 pounds each time. Summer clothes are cheaper than winter clothes, so in winter, it would be like 40 to 50 pounds. In England, since clothes are more expensive than those in China, so normally I spent 30 pounds more or less each time when I went shopping.

medium-priced or low-priced?

Kevin: Medium-priced. I don’t buy very cheap clothes. I prefer higher quality, good taste, so these clothes are more expensive.

Chris: What about the kinds of clothes you buy? Sports apparel, casual wear, formal wear or others?

Kevin: The first two. I buy casual wear more frequently than sports apparels. Sports apparels are just for doing some exercises, and I won’t wear sports apparels on streets. But I buy trainers.

Chris: You really seldom buy formal wear.

Kevin: There are not many chances for me to wear. I have one, just one.

Chris: What is it about particular clothes that make you buy them?

Kevin: I prefer quality as I said, and good taste…I prefer some grand clothes…I like Jack and Jones, and Levi’s. For shoes, I like adidas and Reeboks.

Chris: You have mentioned something about price before, so do you think price is one of your considerations?

Kevin: Yes of course. My girlfriend likes to go to some markets where she can find many cheap clothes. Some of them are on discount and some of them are out of season, she is pursuing that kind of clothes.

Kevin: I like buying shoes in a very good ground. I don’t like bargain with the prices. Some clothes have the absolute prices.

Chris: So when you went to the market with your girlfriend, did you buy them? Because normally we need to bargain in the market.

Kevin: If you go to some small shops, these clothes do not have ground, you can bargain with the shop assistants. But in some shopping malls, some clothes have ground, you cannot bargain with them. Because they are of fixed prices and the quality is good.

Chris: Which one do you prefer? Shops or Market?

Kevin: Shops.

Chris: What about brand?

Kevin: Yea, Jack and Jones.

Chris: What about country of origin?

Kevin: Um…I’m not sure which countries these clothes come from because some are made in China, maybe the designers are from other countries. Most of them I think they are from Europe.

Chris: So you have no special preferences?

Kevin: No.

Chris: If I divide the question into 2, maybe do you have any preference for the country of manufacture?

Kevin: As I said, most of them are made in China.

Chris: What about the country of design?

Kevin: Europe.

Chris: Do you have special preferences for the clothes made in Europe?

Kevin: Actually, we can’t find the clothes made in Europe, but in China.

Chris: What about advertising?

Kevin: Advertising is important. Sometimes, I go shopping for clothes just up to the advertising…and maybe there are reputations.

Chris: Do you have any advertisement series come to your mind?

Kevin: Levi’s…their advertisement for jeans is very impressive…so are the one from Jack and Jones.

Chris: What is the advertisement about? For Levi’s, why can it make you so memorable?

Kevin: Because people who wear the clothes look very nice, look very handsome with the clothes.

Chris: You mentioned some people appearing in this advertisement. Are these people celebrities?

Kevin: No, just models. Some of them are Chinese and some of them are foreigners.

Chris: If some advertisements feature the celebrities, would it have an impact on you to buy the clothes?

Kevin: Yes, it will, but the prices for these kinds of clothes are high, I can’t afford it.

Chris: In what way do you usually learn about clothing brands?

Kevin: TV, advertisements in the shopping mall, on the streets, they put posters in the public areas.

Chris: What about peer influence? Do you know some brands from your friends?

Kevin: Yes, of course.

Chris: Do you talk about buying clothes with your friends frequently?

Kevin: No, not frequently.

Chris: But you maybe affected by them. How can they affect you?

Kevin: Maybe they buy very nice clothes, and from my mind, from my perspective, they are nice to put them on, so maybe next time I go shopping, I will consider them.

Chris: How do you judge the quality of clothes?

Kevin: It depends. For summer clothes, I only wear them for one to two year. For winter clothes, it may be longer. So it needs to keep the quality for that period.

Chris: So if it’s durable, then it’s of high quality.

Kevin: As long as it can, you know, keep the quality until out-of-date, I think their quality is good.

Chris: Any others to judge the quality?

Kevin: Colour…the feeling…whether or not it becomes fade after washing it.

Chris: So you judge the quality in terms of durability, by the colour, by the feeling of texture and whether it will fade or not. Would country of origin affect your perceptions towards clothes quality?

Kevin: As I said most of them are made in China, some brands have their own manufacturing (plants) in China, these clothes are from very good brands and they quality is conceivable.

Chris: Do you have some ideas that which countries’ clothes you think they are of highest or lowest quality?

Kevin: Korea (for E-land), and Demank (Jack and Jones).

Chris: So you think these two countries produce the highest quality clothes?

Kevin: I consider brands more than the countries. I never compare which clothes come from which countries.

Chris: What about lowest quality?

Chris: Why do you have such feelings?

Kevin: I think quality goes high as prices go high.

Chris: You mean China usually sells cheap clothes?

Kevin: Yea, maybe cheaper than from other countries.

Chris: So you believe quality goes with prices?

Kevin: Actually for young people, we may buy some sport apparels like LiNing, but for casual wear, we prefer clothes from other countries.

Chris: So you mean maybe China has some famous brands in sport apparels, but it doesn’t have any brands in casual wear category.

Kevin: No, not many.

Chris: Do you regularly buy the same brand of clothes?

Kevin: Every time I go shopping, I will go to those places…not E-land, I only bought E-land once… I also buy clothes from Kuhle, it just likes Jack and Jones, famous among young people.

Chris: So because of the quality and the appearance, you go to that shop again to buy clothes?

Kevin: Ah, I think quality is not a problem for these brands, the appearance is more important…the quality, of course, it’s high

Kevin: No.

Chris: Why not?

Kevin: I think every one has their own place, if I recommend my preference to him or her, maybe they will ignore it, maybe they will keep in mind, I don’t know.

Chris: Can you describe the image of your favorite brand?

Kevin: I prefer very simple image. For T-shirt, I prefer very colorful image. For shirts, I prefer some simple image, like grid shirts. For jeans, I prefer blue jeans.

Chris: So you mentioned something about colour and simplicity, how does such image come from?

Kevin: I think its appearance. After I put it on, if it is fit to me, I will buy it.

Chris: Does such image come from advertising and packaging?

Kevin: Yea, advertising is the first impression and packaging is on-the-spot influence.

Chris: Do you shop online for clothes?

Kevin: No, but I know many people do. To be honest, I am a little bit fat and if I put on it, I can see how it looks like. I know many girls do that. Maybe girls can find more suitable size than guys do. So, I never buy clothes online. The clothes online are cheap, like the clothes from the markets. If you can’t find in the market or in the shops, you can buy it online.

Chris: So, it maybe the advantage of buying clothes online.

Kevin: Yea, that’s the main advantage. You can find some clothes which you can’t buy in the shops or markets, maybe they are there.

Chris: What are the bad things of buying clothes online?

Kevin: As I said, the size may not fit and the quality as well…

Chris: What would you do if you are satisfied or dissatisfied about the clothes you purchased?

Kevin: If I am satisfied with the clothes I bought, I will wear it very regularly, at least once a week. But if I’m not satisfied with it, of course I will wear it, but less frequently, maybe take it as my pajamas.

Chris: If you are satisfied, would you go to the same shops to have a look again?

Kevin: Maybe I will go there next season when I go shopping. As long as l finish shopping, I will not go to the see any clothes within a short interval, maybe after one or two month, I will go there again to see some new clothes…new arrival…But I will not go to the same shops very frequently, just after finish shopping.

Chris: If the shops do offer you some loyalty cards, would you apply for it?

Kevin: Yea, I have one from Kuhle and one from Jack and Jones. Normally, if I buy clothes more than 40 or 50 pounds once, they will give me a VIP card. So next time I go to these shops to buy clothes, they will give me 5 to 10 percent discount or some credits. I can get some gifts from the accumulated credits,

like some accessories, belts, glasses, sunglasses, wallet, something like that.

Chris: That’s all for the interview. Thanks very much. I would like you to help me finish a sentence starting with ‘Brand is’.

Chris: So you said ‘Brand is just like the name of people. It may not the spirit of the clothes, but it represents the taste and quality of them.