An exploration of the fur industry: the factors which contribute to the success of a fur fashion brand Lu Ruiqi
Individual project proposal
An exploration of the fur industry: the factors which contribute to the success of a fur fashion brand
Lu Ruiqi N0527827 27th April 2014 International Fashion Business Nottingham Trent University
Figure 7: Mink skin
Executive Summary This research project aims to produce a current framework of fur industry and explore to what extent are the economy, social and cultural changes are affecting the fur industry. By defining analytical model at the beginning, the research process follows the structure with a mixed methods to collect both secondary and primary research. An actual case of a fur brand will be studies to access the strategies about how effective they respond to the external change. Then the research will illustrate the potential challenge and give recommendations for building a successful fur fashion brand in recent future.
Introduction Fur is no doubt one of the oldest fabric Finland SAGA Fur, Canada North American for clothing in human history and this Fur and US American Legend (IFTF, 2014). traditional industry has been developing The main sectors within the fur industry internationally with both endorsement are fur farming or trapping, auction, fur and controversy for decades. The anti- processing, design & manufacturing and fur organization People for the Ethical retail & consumer (Figure 2). Treatment of Animals (PETA) (2014) accused that whether the fur came from an animal 15,146 15,663 on a farm or trapped in the wild, the entire 14,053 13,034 13,334 fur industry is cruel because it causes animal suffering. Whereas the International Fur Trade Federation (IFTF) (2014) argued that the fur is a sustainable resource which is more environmental friendly than the petroleum based products such as fake fur. Moreover, Torben Nielsen (2014), the CEO of KOPENHAGEN FUR, said that the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry next to the oil industry but the fur is one of the few green products with good animal 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-20112 011-2012 welfare and minimal environmental impact especially in Europe. From a point of view, Figure 1: Global fur retail sales Source: European Fur Information Centre, 2014 the fur industry is a heritage which “offering multiple benefits in terms of employment and production, therefore we need to act for its enhancement� (EFIC, 2014). However, the fur fashion is undeniable a key element Farmed Fur in the autumn/winter catwalk as a number of high-profiled designers did not shy away from using fur in their latest collection such Retail & Wild Fur Consumer as Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana and Alexander McQueen, etc. (WGSN, 2014). Since the fur sales was plummeting in the 1980s to 90s in the Europe and the US, the industry has seen a revival in the recent decade which even remains increasing throughout the global economic downturn (WGSN, 2013) Design & (Figure 1). In this report, the term fur industry Manufacture refers to the legitimate trade which 80% of its resources come from specialty farms such as mink and fox, and 15% of them Processing come from abundant wild populations (IFTF, 2014). Different with other fashion sector, the furs are mainly sold through auction Figure 2: The Fur Trade houses including Denmark Kopenhagen Fur, Source: Compile from www.truthaboutfur.com
The research question is: How the fur industry is responding to the changes of external environment and how does a fur fashion brand achieve success within these changes?
The research Objectives are: To explore how the fur trade and the fur auction house work. To describe the pattern shift of fur popularity around the world during the recent decades. To undertake a comparative examination of the environmental impact and sustainability of natural fur compared with fake fur To examine the ways of the fur industry respond to the change of consumer behaviour in term of ethical issues. To evaluate the brand strategy of the case study fur fashion brand.
The research Outcomes are: To produce the framework of the fur trade operation and the fur auction house formulation. To produce a lifecycle pattern of the fur popularity and to identify the current and the future position of some important countries or regions To identify the key factors which impact the environment and sustainability of natural fur compared with fake fur. To make recommendations of branding and marketing on ethical issues according to the recent change of consumer behaviour. To identify the key problems of the case study brand strategy and to make recommendations.
Figure 8: Fendi AW 14
Research Methodology
How the fur industry is responding to the changes of external environment and how does a fur fashion brand achieve success within these changes? Fur material
Supplier
Ethical issue
Design & Manuufacture
Retailing & Consumer
Fur brand
Fur popularity
Figure 3 The relevance tree of this project
Literature Review At the early stage of the project, it will search from primary literature sources, secondary literature sources to tertiary literature sources (Figure 4). The relevance tree (Figure 3) gives a guidance to the search process and structure the literature search (Saunders, 2012). The search terms and phrases including: Fur, fur industry, fur fashion brand, fur apparel, natural fur, fake fur, fashion environmental impact, fashion marketing, fashion branding, consumer behaviour, fur farming, fur auction, animal welfare.
Wallace and Wray stated that “the critical literature review should be a constructively critical analysis that develops a clear argument about what the published literature indicates is known and not known about your research question� (Saunders, 2012). To critical analyse the literatures, Saunders (2012) discussed four aspects of critique which are rhetoric, tradition, authority and objectivity. Moreover, the Study Skills Handbook (Cottrell, 2003) provide some considerations of a critical analytical writing (Figure 5).
Primary literature sources Company literature Unpublished research Private correspondence Conference proceedings Blogs Personal websites
secondary literature sources Published books Articles in journals News media Published business, government and international body publications
tertiary literature sources Encyclopaedias Dictionaries Citation indexes Catalogues Web-based portals Databases Journals’ contents pages
Figure 4 Literature Sources Source: Greener, S., 2008. Business Research Methods. Ventus Publishing ApS.
Critical analytical writing Identifies the significance Evaluates strengths and weaknesses Weighs one piece of information against another Makes reasoned judgements Argues a case according to the evidence Shows why something is relevant or suitable Indicates why something will work (best) Identifies whether something is appropriate or suitable Identifies why the timing is of importance Weighs up the importance of component parts Gives reasons for selecting each option Evaluates the relative significance of details Structures information in order of importance Shows the relevance of links between pieces of information Draws conclusions
Figure 5 Critical analytical writing Source: Cottrell, S., 2003. The Study Skills Handbook. London, Palgrave Macmillan.
Research Design The research designed base on the Saunders’s research “onion” (Figure 6). The philosophical stances of this research are realism and interpretivism. The use of fur in fashion industry is a controversial subject. Whether it has positive or negative impacts, it will be interpreted and understood differently, which depends on the particular culture background and social condition. Saunders (2012) suggested that the quantitative analysis of officially secondary research and followed qualitative research methods for identifying perception will be appropriate to “accommodate this realist ontology and interpretivist epistemology”. Therefore, the combination of inductive and deductive approach will be used to design
a multiple methods. The research process is majorly divided into four stages which are defining the analytical frameworks, collecting and analysing secondary data, conducting primary research and interpreting the research materials. The objectives of this research requires a more comprehensive collection of data so that both quantitative and qualitative methods should be analysed and interpreted within each of the single stage which is the concurrent mixed methods research (Saunders, 2012).
Figure 9: IFTF 2013 Campaign - More than a coat
Mixed method complex Mixed methods research, Survey, Case study Cross-
Figure 6: The research "onion" of this research design Compiled from: Saunders, M., 2012. Research methods for business students. Harlow: Pearson
Research Methods
The first stage of research is defining the analytical frameworks which shapes the structure and provides the coherence for the research materials (Fisher, 2007). The structure-Conduct-Performance model (SCP model) is the main framework from the perspective of the whole fur industry while the Stimulus-Response model is used to explore the buyer behaviours from the consumer perspective. The PESTLE analysis brings an outlook of current business environment. The second stage begins on a wide range of secondary data collecting. For certain research project which associates with national and international comparisons, such as the subject of fur industry, secondary research will probably be the main resources (Saunders, 2012). Books and Trade journals which are relevant to the subjects of fur industry, brand strategy and culture provide academic resources for this research. Other secondary data including the figures about fur industry from the official database, the fur and consumer reports from varied organizations, the records of related forum or exhibition events, the up to date news from magazines, newspapers, internet, etc. The third stage of primary research is mainly combined with the survey strategy and the case study strategy. The survey strategy will be used to explore the consumer perception of fur including the questionnaire and structured interview. On the one hand, the questionnaire is designed for the general consumer to collect data about whether they endorse or refuse the fur and the reasons. This data collection technique is conducted with anonymity by self-completion online and on-site, which is supposed to achieve a good response rate. On the other hand, the structured interview is for the people who have consumed the fur products to explore the factors affect their buying process. The survey strategy not only provides quantitative analysis of descriptive and inferential statistics but also produces reasons for some variables (Saunders, 2012). As it not only presents the opinions of ethical fashion but also testify the relations with the pattern shift of fur popularity around the world. For examining the brand strategies of a particular fur fashion brand, the case study strategy could provide a rich understanding of a research topic whilst the triangulate multiple methods are required within one study (Saunders, 2012). This research will conduct a single actual case of a Chinese fur brand which purchases fur materials from international suppliers and produces fur garments to both domestic and international market. The quantitative data such as the sale performance in different regions,
Figure 10: Heliana's 2013 Campaign
the company revenue and the volume of fur garments produced will be analysed to identify how this brand influenced by the change of external environment. The qualitative data will collected by in-depth interviews with staffs from different department to explore how effective are their strategies respond to the change of external environment. However, there are some disadvantages within above research methods. The inadequate number and information from questionnaires and structured interviews may insufficient to explain the phenomenon. A single case study has been chosen because it is more manageable. However, the disadvantage is that the only one case-based result is too small to be claimed and applied generally (Fisher, 2007). The fourth stage comes to the phase of interpreting the research materials. As the analytical framework has been defined at the first stage, both of the quantitative and qualitative data will be organized and grouped by the main issues which has been identified. The deductive approach of adopting analytical framework may not adequate to answer the research questions then the inductive approach could be used to have further analysis as well as a combination of the two approaches (Saunders, 2012).
Ethical Considerations The ethical issues are important throughout every stage of research. At the beginning of the research project, the research methods will be designed comply with the ethical guidelines of Nottingham Trent University. A detailed research plan will be confirmed and signed with ethical clearance. Before undertaking the primary research, the case study company and the interview participants will receive the summarised information of this project with possible advantages and disadvantages. Then the consent forms should be signed to acquire their permissions of taking part.
Limitations The research process will be influenced by experience and knowledge of researcher as there is no completely impersonal and objective research. During the research, there are many factors could affect the quality of findings including time limit, probability sampling of quantitative research and transparency of fur industry information. The nature of these limitations result from the characters of fur industry which based on niche market, particular consumers and sensitive ethical debates.
Critical Path
number Read literature Devise research approach Final report proposal Develop survey Pilot test & revise Administer survey Develop interview administer interview Contact case study company Conduct Case study research Enter data into computer Analyse data
Update literature Complete remaining chapters Revise report Print & bind Final submission
March April May June July 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
List of Illustrations Cover: IFTF 2013 Campaign - More than a coat Figure 1: Global fur retail sales Figure 2: The Fur Trade Figure 3: The relevance tree of this project Figure 4: Literature Sources Figure 5: Critical analytical writing Figure 6: The research "onion" of this research design Figure 7: Mink skin Figure 8: Fendi AW 14 Figure 9: IFTF 2013 Campaign - More than a coat Figure 10: Heliana's 2013 Campaign
Bibliography European Fur Information Centre, 2014. Opinion: Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, MEP of Europeans People Party [online]. Available via: http://www.furinformationcenter.eu/ opinion/rodi-kratsa-tsagaropoulou.aspx [Access: 22 March 2014] Ruth Stokes, 2012. Cruel or eco-friendly: is fur the ultimate sustainable material, 10th April, 2012 [online]. Available via: http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/ clothing/1310041/cruel_or_ecofriendly_is_fur_the_ultimate_sustainable_material.html [Access: 22 March 2014] PETA, 2014. The Fur Industry [online]. Available via: www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-forclothing/fur/ [Access: 22 March 2014] KOPENHAGEN FUR, 2014. News: Our battle against myths, vol. April 2014 [online]. Available via: http://issuu.com/kopenhagenfur/docs/2014.4_kph_fur_news_web?e=2430768/6945357 [Access: 22 March 2014] IFTF, 2014. Our trade: Ethics [online]. Available via: http://www.wearefur.com/our-trade/ ethics [Access: 22 March 2014] WGSN Newsteam. 2014. Asia fur demand see sales up $500m [online]. 6 May 2013. Available via: WGSN [Accessed 22 March 2014] Saunders, M., 1959-, 2012. Research methods for business students. Harlow: Pearson. Fisher, C.M., 2007. Researching and writing a dissertation: a guidebook for business students. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Greener, S., 2008. Business Research Methods. Ventus Publishing ApS.