Research proposal part 2. (1600 words)

Overview

Catering and dress-code, in most cases, takes the center stage in women’s hearts. However, this may not be the case to all women as some of them tend to deviate from this general perception. This thesis looks at the attitude and perception of these lady consumers towards clothes and catering in both Dubai and Sharjah. Furthermore, the thesis believes that it is appropriate to have the view of these ladies from these regions when it comes to dressing and catering matters. Following the literature and research conduction, this research will come up with the attitude of the women in Dubai and Sharjah towards clothing and catering and the reasons behind the attitude. The main purpose is to investigate into consumer’s attitude towards clothes and catering in Dubai and Sharjah by ladies.

Research question

· What is the lady-consumers attitude towards clothing and catering market in Dubai and Sharjah?

Research aim and objectives

Aim

· To investigate the attitude of lady consumers towards the clothing and catering market in Dubai and Sharjah.

Objectives

· Research on the lady consumer attitudes towards clothing and catering market in Dubai and Sharjah.

· Identify the reasons behind this attitude

· Research on how the clothing and catering industry should approach this issue.

Strategy

· In order to achieve the above objectives of this research, literature reviews will be conducted coupled up with more detailed information and reports from other reliable sources.

Impact of the dissertation

This is a topic that has been under research for quite a while and exploring it deeper will bring out more information on the perception of Dubai and Sharjah ladies concerning catering and clothing.

This dissertation will be very important to the catering and clothing industries in both Dubai and

Sharjah because they will be able to gauge where their consumers lie. This will enable the companies to come up with the best and informed decisions on how to handle the issues that come up as a result of the consumer effect.

Literature review

Several studies have supported the idea that the fashion industry is more focused on female consumers than male consumers. It has been widely proved that women are the ones who are vastly involved in fashion and clothing as compared to men’s rates (Browne & Kaldenberg, 1997). Another research by chigger and Flynn showed that women are more into cloth shopping than men because they find shopping more desirable and pleasurable as compared to men. Women tend to have a positive attitude towards the social connection that is brought about by the buying routine. Generally, women consider shopping for clothes a leisure activity. Women spend twice the time at the cloth line than men (Karuvilla, 2009). Women give more attention to their bodies as a way of expressing themselves. Women consider themselves to be more creative and innovative when it comes to fashion as compared to men.

The fashion industry has been booming in Dubai. It contributes about 30 percent of its gross Domestic Product. This makes Dubai fashion market one of the world’s biggest market. This growth and success can be attributed to e-commerce and online retailing. According to the research conducted in 2012 UAE leads when it comes to the sales of e-commerce both in North Africa region and the Middle East, fashion makes 43 percent of these sales (The Business Mart, 2020). In 2018, according to the report by the Dubai Chamber of commerce, the clothing sales matched up to $12.3 billion. This was a 4.8 percent increase from the previous years. This research also showed that menswear is the leading in demand compared to any other clothing. Menswear accounted for 53 percent, womenswear accounted for 34 percent while 7 percent was for the children. This shows the general attitude of women towards clothing in UAE, which comprises of both Dubai and Sharjah. In as much as the studies show a shift in the clothing preference, still, women have maintained their positive attitude towards clothing.

Both in Dubai and Sharjah, women have shown positive responses towards the catering industry though men have also started showing their interest in the industry. Catering has been an interesting industry in both Dubai and Sharjah. It has been introduced into airlines where the passengers are served with quality meals while on the flight. This has been made possible by the EKFC (Emirates Kitchen Flight catering) in conjunction with the DCA (Dubai Civil Aviation) and the EG (Emirates Group) (Research Gate, 2020). Women have shown their positive response towards this industry because it’s their nature to cook and they consider themselves creative and able to cook. Women also find cooking pleasurable.

Findings

Women both in Dubai and in Sharjah have a positive attitude towards catering and clothing. Though this has been changing over the years as men have also been showing interest in the two industries, women still hold the upper hand. The positive response of these women towards catering and clothing has been attributed by various reasons;

1. Women consider catering and cloth shopping as a pleasure and leisure activity.

2. As nature, women are always concerned about their female nature and the way to express is by clothes and cooking.

3. Women consider themselves able, creative and innovative when it comes to the fashion industry and catering.

Theoretical framework for the Dissertation

Researchers describe that age and income is the major factor which impact consumer to purchase fashion clothing (Eze & O. Bello, 2016). Researchers also investigate income of the consumer is one of the factor which influence consumers (Hamza Salim, 2018). The other study examined that group influence, status and personal preference will affect the buyer (Obeidat & Young, 2016). The dissertation will include consumer behavior theories such as “Reasoned action theory”, “Hawkins stern impulse buying”.

The theory is applied in the countries such as Dubai as well as Sharjah, it is because the estimation revealed that in Dubai and Sharjah attitudes of the consumer is dynamic and changes through several reason (Obeidat & Young, 2016). The gaps in literature are that the study focus on only limited factors which change consumer behavior.

This conclusion reflects some of the basic tenets of occupational choice theory. For example, the Person–Environment Correspondence Theory proposes that, in career choice, an individual's values are the initial factors used in selecting an occupation from several alternatives (Dawis 2002). As articulated by the interpretation of students' experiences (Hodges and Karpova 2009) and revealed in the theme ‘Getting into Fashion’, the choice of the fashion major reflects a strong desire on the part of the students to do something they love for the rest of their lives. For them, the major is a reflection of their choice of occupation and vice versa. The major will allow them to pursue their passion and therefore they associate a future that holds a high level of job satisfaction with the fashion major. That is, their interest in the subject matter reflects a hope to take their love of fashion beyond an interest and turn it into a career.

Conclusion

This dissertation rolled out the main aim of the investigation to be the attitude of women in Dubai and Sharjah towards catering and clothing. The catering and clothing industries can use the above information to make informed decisions about the market trends and needs of consumers. For instance, men have become better cloth consumers in Dubai than women. The cloth industry can adjust appropriately to act accordingly. The following significant themes arose;

· Lady consumers in Dubai and Sharjah have a positive attitude towards catering and clothing.

· The fashion and catering industry unlike the previous years, has also aroused the interest of men who have also found it fascinating.

· Catering has been introduced into flights where passengers are offered quality foods while in flight.

This research may not be conclusive enough and there may be a need to conduct more detailed research concerning the same theme.

References