Consumer Attitude Towards Made-in-Nigeria Products (a Study of Aba-made Leather Works)

Consumer Attitude Towards Made-in-Nigeria Products (a Study of Aba-made Leather Works)

Chapter One

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This research therefore aims to;

Identifying the factors that are responsible for the low patronage of Made in Nigeria leather
Identifying the factors militating against the growth of the local leather
Identify the factors that influence consumer response to Made in Nigerianleather
Proffer solutions on how to solve the problems militating against Made in Nigeria leather

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

INTRODUCTION

This chapter is aimed at identifying, reviewing, analyzing and appraising previous studies, works, theories, opinions and comments that have some significance to the study.

THE CONCEPT OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Ifezue (1997) opined that product-buying motives may be defined as all impulses, desires and consideration of the consumer which induces the purchase of goods and services.

So, rather than creating or producing products and later hard-selling them to consumer, the marketer must first find out what the consumer needs or wants. The knowledge of who the consumer is, helps the marketer in finding out why, what, when and how consumers buy and the array of factors which influence them. We see from all these view points that the objective of consumer orientation is the delivery of consumer satisfaction. That is why a renowned marketing scholar, Philip Kotler, advocates, “looking at business with the eye of the consumer”. The societal and environmental concept preached that every businessman or organization owes an obligation to the society it operates. The concept calls upon marketers to balance company’s profits, consumer wants satisfaction with society interests.

A quick look at the various concepts discussed, one can easily conclude that the concept mostly practiced by Nigeria markets is the selling concept. Most of them believe that consumers if left alone will not buy enough of their company’s products, they therefore advertise and promote products just to dispose off company’s goods without giving consideration to what the consumer actually needs.

The term “Consumer behaviour” has been viewed from many vantage points by various authors. A consensus seems to be a mirage. The study of consumer behaviour as “those acts of individuals directly involved in obtaining and using economic goods and services, including the decision process that precede and determine those acts”. This definition throws light to the subject matter, but does not give fuller meaning of the subject. However, Achumba (1996) respectively seem to have wider acceptance.

Achumba (1996) defined consumer behaviour as, “the activities people engage in actual or potential use of market items whether products, services, information or ideas”. William (1982) defined consumer behaviour as, “all purchases related activities, thoughts and influences that occur before, during and after the purchase itself as performed by buyers and consumers of products and services and those who influence the purchase”. The above definition embraces others and went further to include influences on the consumers.

The forces that influence the consumer are grouped into two: namely, psychological and environmental forces. The psychological forces consist of attitude, learning, perception, personality and self-concept. On the other hand, the environmental forces influencing the consumers comprise culture family, social class, group influence, economic; otherwise. Circumstances, socialization, education, promotional communication and price relationship.

Actually the study of consumer behaviour is concerned with the questions why do consumer behave the way they do? How does consumer learn about new products? How can consumer’s impressions and opinions be modified?

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION:

This is a framework which specifies the method and procedures employed in carrying out the research. It specifies the sources of data, procedures for data collection, sample size determination, sampling procedure as well as method or technique employed in the analysis of the data.

SCOPE OF RESEARCH AND AREA OF COVERAGE

The research is conducted within Aba metropolis to cover consumers of made-in Nigeria leathers only. Relevant data needed for the

research were collected from a selected sample of consumers using selected data collection instruments.

SOURCE OF DATA

Data needed for the research were collected from two sources; primary and Secondary sources.

CHAPTER FOUR

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

INTRODUCTION

This study was designed to determine consumer response made-in- Nigeria leather. Consumer questionnaire were constructed and administered, out of 385 Questionnaires distributed to resident in different parts of Aba metropolis, a total of 364 were returned.

To properly analyze consumer response to made-in Nigeria leather, comparative analysis was conducted to properly identify consumer response to made-in-Nigeria leather putting into consideration its competition with foreign leathers.

The data derived in the Questionnaire were presented in the tabular form. To properly analyze the tabulated data, cross tabulation was used to enable the researcher identify data, cross tabulation was used to enable the researcher identify the relationship between the variables. This is to further help in testing the hypothesis to determine whether a relationship really exist or not, in the tabulated data.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS ,RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS.

Having sourced the relevant data for this study using questionnaires, analyzing them and further using them to test the hypothesis formulated. The following major findings were made and summarized as follows:-

There is a significant difference between the quality of made in Nigeria leathers and that of foreign leather. Most of the consumer respondents 72.5% of them perceived a significant difference in their quality .Most of them rating made in Nigeria leatheras being relatively lower in quality
There is a significant difference between the price of made in Nigeria leatherand that of foreign leather Most of them 78% of them perceive a significant difference in their prices. Majority of these respondents rating the prices as being relatively lower.
There is a significant difference between the colour and design of Made in Nigeria leatherand that of foreign leather .204(55.5%) rated the colour and design of made in Nigeria leathers as being better than that of foreign leathers, 98(26.9%) rated it as being the same while 64(17.6%) rated the colour and design of foreign leathers as being better than that of Made in Nigeria leather.
Current fashion style influenced consumer ‘s purchase of made in Nigeria leather 262(72%) of the respondents claimed that the current fashionstyles encouraged their purchase o f made in Nigeria .62(17%) of the respondents said it did not influence the purchase while 40(11%) claimed that current fashion style discouraged their purchase of made in Nigeria leather.
Consumer‘s perception of the relative quality of made in Nigeria leatherinfluenced their purchase of made in Nigeria leather. 30(8.2%) of the respondents that rated the quality of made in Nigeria leathers as being relatively higher claimed this perception influenced their purchase .Of the 234 respondents who rated it as being relatively lower, 34 (14.5%) said it did not affect their purchase of Made in Nigeria leather Of the 100 respondents that rated it as being of the same quality, 80(20%) claimed it did not affect purchase in any way.
Consumers’ perception of the relative price of made in Nigeria leatherinfluenced their purchase of made in Nigeria leather 15(20%) of the respondents that rated the price of made in Nigeria as being relatively higher claimed it did not affect their purchase of made in Nigeria leathers while 57(79.2%) of the respondents that rated the price as being higher claimed it affected their purchase .Of the 212(94.4%) claimed that rated the price as being relatively lower, 200(94.4%) claimed it did not affect purchase in any way. Of the 64 respondents that rated it as being better than foreign leathers 46(76.5%) claimed it did not affect purchase in any way while 15(23.5%) claimed it discouraged purchase of made in Nigeria leathers.
Quality ,price ,colour,design and style were the four common factors that consumers considered in their purchase of made in Nigeria leather 145(39.8%) of the respondents said that they considered colour and design most important factor in their purchase of leather materials.91(25.9%) said they considered colour and design most important factor while 50(15.9%) said the current fashion style was their major consideration while purchasing leather materials.
Quality was the most inducing factor in the purchase of foreign leathers while it recorded the least inducing factor in the purchase of made in Nigerialeather Most of the respondents claimed that the colour, design and style of made in Nigeria leather was the most inducing factor in their purchase of made in Nigeria leathers.
According to the literature review findings, foreign and local leathermaterials use the same basic raw materials cotton in their leather. However in the spinning of cotton to produce yarn a high technology is required to produce high quality cotton. The difference now lies in the fact that most Nigerian leather do not employ this high technology in their production thus producing lower quality cotton material.
Most Nigerian leather firms still adopt out dated less efficient technologies in their production while foreign leather firms employ very recent mordern sophiscated technologies.
This has invariably created a huge difference in the leather materials produced by local and foreign firms in terms of quality.
Based on the following findings ,the following conclusions could be drawn.

CONCLUSIONS:

1. The quality of made in Nigeria leatheris lower than that of foreign leather
2. The colour and design of made in Nigeria leathercould be said to compete favourably with that of foreign leather
3. The current fashion style that promotes and encourages traditional African style influenced the purchase of made in Nigeria leather
4. Consumers perceived the quality of made in Nigerian leathers as being relatively lower and this discouraged their purchase of made in Nigeria leather to a large

Recommendations

In addition to the empirical findings but based on the analyses of the critical focus areas, detailed recommendations should be made on the following:

Local Market Environment and Governmental Policies: Smuggling seems to be a major set back in this area. The government should implement imports of African prints initiated by the Federal Government on September 1st 2002.

A temporary task force should be set up to monitor imports and smuggling activities and arrange seizures. Periodic assessments should be made to assess the progress made in implementing the
Thus the first move to stabilize the home market is by protecting it from damaging impact of smuggling. The need for protecting the home market cannot be over emphasizedas:

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