How can you tailor your brand to international markets and mother-daughter audiences? Professors Elodie Gentina, Kun-Huang Huarng, and Mototaka Sakashita of CoBS partner Keio Business School, share practical research on the clothing consumption practices of mothers and their teenage daughters

By CoBS Editor Ana Sofia Bello and Tom Gamble. Related research: A social comparison theory approach to mothers’ and daughters’ clothing coconsumption behaviors: A cross-cultural study in France and Japan, Elodie Gentina, Kun-Huang Huarng, Mototaka Sakashita, Journal of Business Research, Elsevier.

Knowing their markets, who their consumers are and how they behave, are important for those working in the marketing sector. It allows them to tailor their marketing campaigns, product design and even brand their image in different countries. And the further the information drills down into the nitty gritty, the better.

The clothing industry is a good example, with spending on clothes representing an enormous market worldwide. In Japan alone, a 2014 study estimated that consumers spent JPY 9.38 trillion – equivalent to €83.5 billion – in attire. In France, another study, this time in 2015, set the figure at €41.7 billion. Who were the biggest spenders? In Japan, women accounted for 63% of clothes purchasers. Surprisingly, in France, spending in women’s apparel was 36% – lower than for men’s clothing but still representing a sizeable consumer budget.

We might state consumer demand for clothes in terms of need – after all, we need clothing in all sorts of seasons and for all sorts of situations. We can also mention trends in fashion that lead us to want to stay cool, stay young. Or, increasingly, the impact of ethical or sustainable purchasing with conscious consumers buying from brands respecting both the social and environmental impact of their business operations.

Research that triggers intercultural understanding and marketing strategy

In essence, though, these could be termed the satisfying of “surface needs” – and hence the buy. What about the relational and psychological influences that trigger purchasing clothes? This is where research from Professors Elodie Gentina, Kun-Huang Huarng, and Mototaka Sakashita from CoBS partner Keio Business School proves especially useful and insightful.

They explore the mother-daughter relationship in the purchasing act, focusing on women in Japan and France, the findings of which can be used for the wider context of international markets and especially those concerning clothing.  

Download International Marketing: Exploring mother-daughter influencing in retail clothes consumption

In this research pod: Understand the psychology of the mother-daughter relationship in Japan and France, identify country-specific values that lead to consumer behaviours, plan, develop and implement a marketing strategy for your domestic or international market.  

Useful links:

• Link up with Profs. Elodie Gentina, Kun-Huang Huarng, Mototaka Sakashita
• Read the full article behind this research pod: Mothers and daughters in France and Japan: Who influences who when buying clothes? 
• Discover another marketing article: Sustainable Clothing: Why do we buy it – and why not?
• Visit Keio Business School, Keio University, and apply to study in Japan.

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