Consumer Behavior in the Country

Case studies serve as a useful method in obtaining an overview of a certain case by looking closely at the situation. More and more businesses are utilizing this approach to analyze consumers’ behavior because they serve as a crucial factor that influence the rise and fall of many market industries. When done properly, case study research provides the missing puzzle that enables businesses to analyze errors, find a solution, and yield marketable profits. One example of a case study that delves into the importance of consumers’ behavior is the case study in Iran, which aimed to measure the Iranian consumers’ attitude and its effect on their purchasing decision.

This case study, “How Consumers Perceive the Products Made in China: A Case Study of Iran’s Apparel Market”, is a meaningful research focusing in the apparel industry that attempted to gauge how citizens in Iran perceive apparel products that are made in countries not only in Iran but other countries such as Turkey and China. By choosing the right method and developing the right questions, this case study was able to segregate the answers into perspective, allowing the research to produce relevant and applicable outcome.

This research is classified as a case study because it examines not only individuals and their consumer’s behavior of a given country, but it also attempts to provide an understanding of an important phenomenon in the apparel industry. It may not provide a formal generalization of the same situation happening elsewhere, however, it can help in the unraveling some useful knowledge that other research can utilize as a model to start with. As Flyvbjerg puts it, “if knowledge cannot be formally generalized does not mean that it cannot enter into the collective process of knowledge accumulation in a given field or in a society”. In other words, because this case study stresses the importance of the consumers’ relationships between different subjects such as Dimension and Nationalism, other countries engaged in international trade may use this in accumulating knowledge for business innovation.

Consumer behavior is very complex because each consumer has a different mind and attitudes towards purchases, consumption and disposal of product. Besides the price, packaging and brand, among relevant behaviors of the consumers it is significantly affected by the country of origin, which is characterized by their sense of loyalty and patriotism or simply the interest of buying from different places. This particular case presents an unusual situation that requires more in-depth analysis which other industries should pay attention to knowing the impact of international trade in relation to their business industry.