International Journal of Sales & Marketing Management Research and Development (IJSMMRD) ISSN(P): 2249-6939; ISSN(E): 2249-8044 Vol. 6, Issue 3, Jun 2016, 49-58 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd
WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS: AWARENESS IN SRI LANKAN MARKET NIROMI SERAM & CHINTHAKA DHRAMAKEERTHI Department of Textile & Clothing Technology, University of Moratuwa, Katubeddha, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka ABSTRACT With the intense market competition and continuous advances in science and technology, the fashion industry has started to come up with unique ‘Wearable Technology’ products with wireless electronic devices that are fully integrated with fabrics and accessories. Though Wearable Technology has developed worldwide as a big potential concept for the fashion industry, it has neither received much attention nor attained good visibility in the Sri Lankan market. Thus the main focus of this study is to assess awareness of Wearable Technology products in the Sri Lankan market. It was planned to do the study in two phases. The main focus of the first phase of the study was to conduct a questionnaire survey to identify and gather a suitable sample to do further in-depth research on awareness. Random
phase two. The target group analysis was conducted in the second phase of the study based on these questionnaires. It was clearly evident that there is a knowledge gap between Sri Lankan consumers and the Wearable Technology market. It was apparent that not only the customer’s personal characteristics but other factors like lack of product experience, low trust level, minimal market influence and high usage of smart phones too were responsible for their reduced awareness. Low customer motivation and insufficient influence from marketers and producers were also
Original Article
sampling techniques were adopted for this study. These results were directly used to prepare the main questionnaires of
highlighted as reasons for the lack of information about Wearable Technology products in the local market. It can be concluded that targeting Generation-Y would be a good marketing move and that the Medical, Entertainment and Sports categories would also provide ample market opportunities. Furthermore, it was clear that instilling awareness and attracting consumers should be accomplished by influencing their decision making process through aggressive marketing activities. This study will provide a foundation for producers to gain an understanding of how they could exploit the potentials of this market niche by coming up with new technological products, which can cater to the Sri Lankan market while also getting a foothold in the global market. KEYWORDS: Wearable Technology, Fashion Industry, Market and Consumer, Sri Lankan Customer, Wearable Technology (WT), Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)
Received: May 20, 2016; Accepted: Jun 03, 2016; Published: Jun 14, 2016; Paper Id.: IJSMMRDJUN201604
INTRODUCTION With the continuous advances in science and technology, the term “Wearable Technology” (WT) has emerged in the market. The concept of ‘Wearable Technology’ is still considered as a new development since it is updating and upgrading continually with the evolution of new technologies. However, the use of wearable devices has been discussed since the late 1990’s (Tehrani & Michael, 2014). Wearable devices were initially used in the
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military field but later expanded not only to medicine and healthcare but also into many other sectors as salable products. 10 years ago scientists and engineers were able to produce a ‘wearable motherboard’ or ‘smart shirt’ which had the ability to provide bio-feedback of monitored information about the wearer (Park & Jayaraman, 2003, as cited in Tehrani & Michael, 2014). According to IHS Electronics & Media Research (IHS Automotive, 2014), the product should have mainly two qualities, viz. be wearable and smart looking, to define it as a WT product. Moreover, it is believed that WT will help people to make their day today activities easier by offering computing featured facilities. There are some WT products that can be worked as independent processing units. Those products must be worn on the user’s body for a period of time and the devices will be able to significantly enhance the performance of the wearer; or the device could be designed to monitor and indicate bio-information about the wearer. Wearable Technology Market and the Consumer People could also reap benefits through the use of wearable technologies in various fields to meet different requirements, which would also be compatible with their busy lifestyles, special needs and comfort. Entrepreneurs and producers have identified those market gaps and opportunities and now they have started to cater to them with new wearable technologies to fulfill consumers’ increasing demand for novelty and technology. According to Taylor Nelson Sofers Marketing Company (2013), 82% of people would like to own WT products for their various requirements whereas only 18% showed a negative attitude towards them. Furthermore, among the people who desire to own WT products, 81% prefer to wear it on their bodies as a fashion device. It seems that this opens the door for the fashion industry to enter the WT market with the most suitable and the most wearable apparel, serving the market through different product categories (Taylor Nelson Sofers Marketing Company, 2013). Wearable Technology and Fashion With the advent of technical garments, smart clothing and techno materials have opened a new era for fashion. People have started to wear technological garments that possess aesthetic appeal too. The fashion industry has started to come up with wireless electronic devices that are fully integrated with the fabrics and accessories. Mobile phones, personal stereos, digital organizers and music players are fully integrated with clothing items and started working as body area networks. Garments with sensors can monitor movements, activities and bio-signals of wearer’s body and respond according to same (Taylor Nelson Sofers Marketing Company, 2013; Quinn, 2002). The revolution in WT has prompted designers, companies and producers to come up with new concepts as well as prototypes for new products. Designers like Issey Miyake, Junya Watanabe, Reikawakubo, Daniel Herman, Ralph Lauren, and Diane von Furstenberg are notable examples of designers who combined their abilities with the new technology (Arthur, 2014; Quinn, 2002). The following products have been identified as the latest eye catching innovations in the WT market (Varga, 2014; Saiidi, 2014).
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Figure 1: Current Developments and Future Trends in WT (Varga, 2014; Saiidi, 2014) These developments have already created a huge market competition among WT products globally. Due to the strong competition every producer will try to give unique products with maximum benefits for consumers and this is bound to increase the market sales of WT products (Saiidi, 2014). It is obvious that the WT concept has a big potential in the fashion industry as is evident from the fact it has already spread worldwide within a short period of time. Though WT has made inroads worldwide, it is not much discussed or visible in the Sri Lankan market. Thus the main focus of the study is to assess the level of awareness concerning WT products in the Sri Lankan market.
METHODOLOGY To achieve the main objective of the study, an in-depth literature review was first carried out on wearable products and fashion trends in the global market. The study was planned to be conducted in two phases. Phase 1- Initial Research The main focus of the first phase of the study was to identify and gather a suitable sample to carry out further indepth research on awareness. Random sampling techniques were adopted for the study. However, to obtain more effective results the survey was conducted in different areas such as Health and fitness, Sport, Entertainment, etc. The survey questionnaire was sent out to the listed persons through online channels. Feedback was received from 115respondents. The analysis of results was carried out taking into account two key aspects; the relevant category (Entertainment, Health and Sport) and the relevant customer segment identifying the limitations and difficulties. These results were then directly used to prepare the main questionnaires of Phase 2. Phase 2 – Target Group The target group analysis was conducted according to data analysis of the previous initial research. The main objective of this research was to understand the attitudes of Sri Lankan customers towards WT. For this reason it was decided to select a sample group that was identified as having a high awareness of WT. The second phase of the study was mainly based on questionnaires. For this research the responses of 100 participants were collected and analyzed.
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DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS Phase 1 of the Study Phase 1 of the data analysis is mainly based on the initial questionnaire which was developed to identify a suitable sample to carry out further research. Age and Gender Variations in the Sample It was evident that the majority of participants belonged to the 19-33 age category, generally known as “Generation-Y�. Out of 115 participants there were 59 from that age group and of them 39 people were aware about WT. The widespread awareness of that age group by itself justifies the reason for selecting this target group of customers for further survey purposes of the study. Though the participants are not actually representative of the current population, it was noted that the awareness about WT is 60.8% among males. 35.6% of the participants are female and their awareness about WT is 51%. Field of Application It was evident that the field of interest also had an influenceon the awareness of WT. A large percentage of people who belong to the above three categories appear to have a high awareness of WT products. These categories of people will be suitable for conducting further researches and interviews for this study. From this random sample evaluation, it was evident that 57.39% people overall were aware about WT, even if some had only come to know about it by word of mouth. People who are working in the medical industry are well aware about these products. They have stated that they are using heart rate monitoring devices and such. Thus they are familiar with new products like wearable heart rate monitors and other wearable health devices.
Figure 2: Variations in Field of Application People who engage in sports activities are also aware of these products. 22% of participants in this category have some experience in using WT products. Most of the participants have installed some apps in their smart phones and use them as WT devices. The awareness of these products among people connected to the fashion industry was 70%. With the emerging trends of wearable electronics, wearable sensors and other WT products in the local and world fashion scene, the concerned industries are making every effort to build up awareness among the consumers and update them about these products.
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Phase 2 of the Study Phase 2 of the data analysis is mainly based on the results of the questionnaire survey that was conducted among people involved in the fashion and apparel, medicine and sports fields to assess their awareness regarding WT. The target group analysis (of the second phase) shows that 64 people out of the 100 who participated belong to the 19-33 age category. Among them 79.6% of the people were aware about WT. When considering consider the gender of the participants in the survey it was clear that the survey sample did not represent the general population because more male participants had taken part in the survey. This can affect the results of the survey because buying behaviors and attitudes towards WT of females could be different differ from that of males. During the first irst phase of the survey though, there were an equal number of participants of both genders. gender It seems reasonable to suppose that if the number of participants/ respondents from each gender category were equal, their respective interest levels towards WT can be compared more accurately. accurately It has been demonstrated by the research that male customers are more aware about WT than females. “Generation-Y” seems to be the most updated category of all, as it ismore active in seeking the novelty of WT in the Sri Lankan market.
Figure 3: Variation of Awareness with the Age of Focused Group Sample Sri Lankan Consumers’ Awareness of Wearable Technology It was noted that 69% of people were aware of this particular product but only nly 22% of them have used and experienced WT products.
Figure 4: 4 Means of Acquiring Awareness about WT www.tjprc.org
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Among the participants of the survey who were aware of these products, nearly half of them (49.3%) had got to know about these through the Internet. The most important fact gleaned through there search was that 23.1% of the respondents became aware of these WT products after actually seeing them for the first time in Sri Lanka. It was noted that willingness to buy these products by people engaged in the sports and medical industries was 100%. Others who were not willing to buy these products mainly mentioned about problems with the facilities and apps on their smart phones as the reason not to go in for these products. It was evident that 54% of participants had never seen WT products in Sri Lanka. It is also probable that they had seen them somewhere but had not recognized them as such. Another 8% of participants had seen these products at fashion outlets; for example, items such as shoes, accessories, and garments with built-in lights, etc. 28% had seen WT products in electronic goods showrooms. They have seen products like smart watches and heart rate monitoring devices etc. 6% and 4% of these people have seen WT products at pharmacies and sports goods showrooms, respectively.
Figure 5: Awareness about Sri Lankan Wearable Technology Market Trust Level towards WT Four options were given to participants to determine their general trust level and attitudes towards WT products. Only 18% of participants belonged to the (fully) “Trust” category. Though there were none who completely distrusted the products, 27% of participants did not have a good impression about the accuracy and durability of these products. Further, many customers mentioned that they had greater trust in the regular medical services than in WT healthcare products.
Figure 6: Sri Lankan Consumers’ Trust Level towards WT Impact Factor (JCC): 5.7836
NAAS Rating: 3.13
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Gap between Wearable Technology and Sri Lankan Consumer It has been clearly recognized that there is a huge gap between Sri Lankan consumers and WT products. They do not have much experience with these products and do not show a good attitude towards these either. During the research a few other reasons too were identified as being responsible for this gap. Willingness and Necessity in Respect of Buying WT It was noted that willingness to buy these products was really high in the Sri Lankan market. Only 4% of the participants stated that they will not buy these products. But the market’s influence on consumer’s buying decision is very low. If the market supplies what they need according to their preferences then the people will buy WT products. There was a high percentage (89%) of customers from the sample who were willing to buy health and medical WT products. Since Wearable health devices are also a major WT category in the current world market, it will be a useful exercise for producers to consider the Sri Lankan customers’ feedback and shopping behavior. 79% of participants have selected fashion and 44% have selected entertainment as their interests. This will also be a good opportunity for producers to cater to the market with new, fashionable and smart WT products. These will be a good replacement for the bulky smart phones as well as being a good product to cater to the tastes of Generation-Y.
Figure 7: Key Reasons for the Gap between WT and Sri Lankan Consumers During the study, it was noticed that many people in the Greater Colombo area go to the gym or public spaces to do exercises. Most of them wear electronic devices with lighting effects for fashion and for amusement. This is a good customer category to cater to for those who wish to market these products in Sri Lanka. The Theoretical Approach to Solve Problems and Get Customer Attention Customers behave rationally most of the time. However, consumers’ Personal, Cultural, Social and Psychological factors do skew their decision making to some extent (Kotler & Armstrong, 2005). To draw Sri Lankan consumers’ attention to these products, producers and marketers need to put in more effort to influence them, includingtheir decision making process. Marketers need to change customers’ attitudes towards these products in a positive way. The Innovation adoption model (Kotler & Armstrong, 2005) offers a good theoretical explanation that can be useful to understand the way customers think and act while they make their purchase decisions about new products like WT items. Steps included in the innovation adoption model may be different from the customer’s general decision making process while shopping for products (Kotler & Armstrong, 2005). At the stage of “Awareness”, customers become aware
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of the new product, but lack information about it. At the “Interest” stage customers seek information about the product. It was clearly evident throughout the research that 47% of participants belonged to the above discussed stages while 31% of them were not aware about WT products. “Evaluation” is the stage at which the customer considers whether trying out the new product makes sense. It helps to make an accurate evaluation if the customer decides to try out the new product briefly to get a better estimate of its value. Only 22% of participants had reached this stage and they were the people who decided to make regular use of this trial approach to satisfy the mselves about using WT products. Consumers at this “Evaluation” stage use the experience gained with the WT product and start using WT on a small scale to improve their estimate of its value. This is known as the “Trial” stage. Only after reaching satisfaction with the previous stage, consumers decide to make full use of WT. This is described as the “Adoption” stage. Pushing forward customers from one stage to the next stage of the adoption process can be achieved through the use of marketing tools and strategies devised by marketers and producers. These will help to influence positively the consumers’ views regarding the products and nudge their decision making in favor of purchasing and using the products.
CONCLUSIONS It was evident throughout the research that there was a gap between Sri Lankan consumers and the WT market. It was clear that not only the customer’s personal attributes such as Age, Gender and Occupation but also such factors as lack of product experience, low trust level, minimal market influence and high usage of smart phones affected their level of awareness. Lack of customer motivation and poor advertising by marketers and producers were also highlighted as reasons for the lack of information about WT in the local market. Furthermore, it was evident that instilling awareness and drawing consumers’ attention would play a big part in influencing the consumers’ decision making process and ensuring the success of marketing activities. The study indicates that while targeting Generation-Y is good for pushing WT products in Sri Lanka, there is much scope for boosting the sales of Medical, Entertainment and Sports categories as well as there are plenty of market opportunities for same. Further studies would be beneficial to analyze these market opportunities which were noted during this study; the theoretical discussion covers areas such as consumer attitudes, consumer buying behavior, decision making process, SWOT analysis and marketing mix elements. Finally, it is hoped this study will serve as a primer for producers who wish understand how they can exploit the potential of WT and come up with new products that can cater to the Sri Lankan market and will also have the potential to attract some global attention. REFERENCES 1.
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