This article purposes to explain the factors that impact the purchasing decision toward the fashion brand of the store, both local and international. The important factors are a behavior of information seeking and brand perception. The impression about the fashion brand of the store is depending on the pattern of information seeking, and in turn, it leads to purchasing decision. There are two types of information seeker based on the intensity of information seeking : (1) heavy information seeker, and (2) light information seeker; and there three types of information seeker based on the form of communication: (1) conventional mass communication, (2) face to face communication, and (3) computer-mediated communication. The article is intended also to explore the impact of the information-seeking behavior on purchasing decision and other moderating and intervening variables might influence those relations. As a case for the local brand is the Executive and for the international brand is Uniqlo.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted for the research. The population is millennials in two big cities, Jakarta and Yogyakarta whom their ages range 15 until 35 years old. The selection of this range of age was adjusted to the Uniqlo and The Executive target market. Data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to 291 students in senior high school and higher education as a millennial representation. For cases in this research were the students of (1) University of Al Azhar, SMA Tarakanita, Jakarta, and Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta, and SMA BOPKRI I Yogyakarta. Data were analyzed by explanatory quantitative statistic by using descriptive, mean comparison, and multiple correlation, regression, and non-parametric analysis.
The research shows that (1) the millennials are almost categorized as light information seekers for fashion issues. Fashion is the third-highest information seeking by students. It is one step higher than information about social, economic and politics. Particularly in fashion, the media used by students are a combination of internet-based media and directly visit the store. Even though they use various media to seek information, they emphasize only on few aspects of fashion; (2) the information-seeking behavior varies in different individual characteristics. Age, status, original place, and religion are influencing factors for information-seeking behavior; (3) the information-seeking behavior impacts their perception on the brand. However, the impact is various on different individual characteristics and different type of brands. For local brands, the perception is influenced not by information seeking but the individual characteristics. It is different from perception on an international brand which is influenced not only by information-seeking behavior but also by individual characteristics. In conclusion, for the millennials, face to face communication remains as most influential form of communication to construct perception on fashion; (4) the perception of the brand affects purchasing decision, but it is moderated by the characters of the individual.
In conclusion, the role of media is not to drive the millennial to purchase the brand, but firstly to create brand perception. This perception impacts the decision to purchase. The individual characters influence all the steps of the buying behavior.