During my fourteenth birthday, I received a gift marking my entrance to womanhood – a Nine West black leather purse. Prior to that point in my life, I never imagined carrying a purse with me to any event. By the end of my undergraduate studies, I had acquired over 20 purses, all different colors and textures, always neatly stacked on my bookshelf. Just watching my collection of handbags gave me deep satisfaction and I always looked for opportunities to increase this collection. Some were low end brands bought at Target, while others were slightly higher end like Liz Claiborne and BCBG. Occasionally, I would run into students who would carry purses that would cost me my entire foot – LV, Coach, or Channel. I always wondered if these purses were real or knockoffs. Could students really afford such high end purses without any financial stability? Why would they prefer a designer purse over a Nine West purse? Is the image portrayed by carrying these expensive purses really worth the money?
Once I graduated from college and had a steady source of income, I ventured out of my normal shopping habits of buying value merchandize to buying brand name clothes and accessories. During my one month stay in South Korea, I came across several street vendors selling knockoff handbags. At first, I was hesitant to buy the knockoff purses as they felt cheap and were covered with logos of the brand they were supposed to mimic. To me, theses handbags screamed out the name of the high end designer in order to grab attention of the passing by customers. I inferred that the users of such handbags would carry such an item to falsely enhance their overall image in an ill-suited fashion. I also assumed that the users of knockoff brands would probably carry these purses in settings that wouldn't fit the arena of those consumers who carry the real thing. However, the myriads of vendors selling these handbags successfully tempted me to buy one of these fake purses. After much negotiation using sign languages and broken Korean, I ended up with a fake LV cylindrical shaped purse. I used it once back in the U.S and realized the LV logo had not been correctly mimicked, ending any further use of it. Within the next week, I went to Macy's store to buy a much needed pair of shoes, and somehow returned with a high end Coach purse with the C symbol all over it. The feeling invoked from using this purse consisted of pride, joy, increased self-esteem, resulting in a more positive self image. How could a single purse invoke such feelings in me? I am new in this arena and hope to explore it further.
There are several questions that cross my mind when I think of the handbag industry and the different types of personas who make up the consumer market segment. In general, what is the psychological factor behind a woman's decision of buying a type of purse and how does availability of knockoff brand purses change her decision? Why do some women not care about brand name handbags while others do? Are there women who use designer handbags exclusively? What prevents them from switching over to using low end purses that have equally good quality? Will consumers willingly buy knockoffs designer purses if others couldn't tell the difference between the two? Will females who have brand loyalty stick to paying exuberant amount of money for the real thing even when they can get a cheaper version? How much importance does she give to the type of purse she carries and on what occasions does she use the high end handbags?
I found an article in the London newspaper with research data showing that on average women own around 17 handbags at a time. One in five women says that handbags are the most important item in their wardrobe. Also, half of the research participant admitted getting jealous of watching other women carry handbags that they wanted themselves [3]. Another article implied counterfeit market for designer handbags are on the rise, especially in New York. You can easily find counterfeit products on Fifth Avenue sidewalks [1]. For women who want the real thing but can't afford it, there is the option of renting the real designer bag online from websites like FromBagsToRiches.com and BagBorrowOrSteal.com. The chairman of FBTR believes that it is not about ownership of the bags but the experience women get from carrying designer bags. "Women feel empowered" from carrying such bags [2]. This empowerment may stem from women's desire to replicate the celebrity culture.
It will be interesting to research the different persona type making the female customer segment of the handbag industry. I am looking forward to gaining deeper understanding of the forces driving females to buy low-end, knock-off, or designer handbags.
References:
1. ERIC, D. (2004, November 23). The Handbag? Total Knockoff. The Price Tag? All Too Real. New York Times, p. 1. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.
2. Maria, P. (n.d). Can't afford that high-end handbag?. USA Today, Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database
3. "A lifetime of handbags? That's [pounds sterling]4,000." Daily Mail [London, England] 27 Feb. 2010: 3. InfoTrac Newspapers. Web. 2 Mar. 2010
Khushboo - This sounds like a creative and interesting topic. We'll have to think about ways to find a good academic article - I am thinking something with consumer behavior focused on buying branded versus knock-off goods must exist somewhere. See if you can find something and then let me know if you need help there. In order to develop those personas, it may help you to do some of your own primary research, if you are up to it. Let me know if you want to talk about this a bit more. Oh, you may also need to expand beyond handbags, although that is the most obvious product for knock-off goods.
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