A Guide for International Fast Fashion Brands to “Save Themselves”in China

Contents Introduction. 2 Research Questions. 4 Literature Review.. 4 Challenges Facing International Fast Fashion Brands in China. 6 Research Methodology. 9 Research Philosophy. 9 Positivism.. 11 Interpretivism.. 11 Identification of Research Paradigm.. 12 Research Approach. 13 Research Strategy. 13 Data Collection. 14 Sampling Technique. 15 Data Analysis Method. 16 Ethical Consideration. 17 Reflexivity and Research Quality Issue. 18 4. Results and Empirical Analysis. 19 4.1 Demographical Characteristics of Respondents. 19 Figure 1: Gender distribution of the participants to the survey. 20 Figure 2: Age distribution of the respondents. 21 Figure 3: Profession of respondents to the survey. 22 Figure 4: Monthly Spending on Fashion Clothing Products. 23 4.2 Consumers’ Awareness of Fast fashion Brands. 24 Figure 5: Respondents’ knowledge about fast fashion clothing. 24 Figure 6: Respondents’ purchase frequency of fast fashion products. 26 Figure 7: Brand awareness of respondents towards the selected fast fashion brands. 27 Figure 8: Consumers’ preference in fast fashion brands. 28 Figure 9: Purchase or access channel for Gen Z consumers to receive fast fashion products  29 Figure 10: The perceived attributes of fast fashion. 30 Figure 11: Purchase frequency of fast fashion products. 31 Figure 12: Consumers’ Understanding of the differences of fast fashion and traditional fashion  32 Figure 13: The perceived price level of fast fashion. 33 Discussion and Summary. 34 Conclusion. 37 Reference List 38 A Guide for International Fast Fashion Brands to “Save Themselves” in China Introduction China, the second biggest economy in the world, makes for one of the most lucrative markets for producing and consuming fast fashion brands of clothing and other fashion apparel. Its population of over 1.3 billion people, coupled with the availability of low-wage workers, makes it one of the most attractive markets and ideal destinations for the manufacture of fast fashion brands, respectively. Fast fashion brands refer to the cheap or affordable clothing designs developed from the observed fashion trends on runway shows by fashion entities for profit maximization. These fashion brands are also characteristic of equally affordable production, designing, and manufacturing procedures associated with widespread manipulation of labor laws and disregard for environmental conservation toward meeting the growing consumer demand for trending fashion. According to Simpson (2020), China was the global leader in the production of fast fashion brands in 2019. Both domestic and international fashion entities such as Zara, H&M Group, Forever 21, and UNIQLO are major contributors to the country’s leading trend in fast fashion brands (Simpson, 2020). However, international fast fashion brands are currently facing different challenges affecting their competitiveness in the lucrative Chinese market. For instance, H&M Group closed approximately 60 stores across China due to the Xinjiang cotton controversy in 2021 (Goodman, 2021). The Xinjiang cott...