Abstract:
"
Sri Lanka is a country with a long history of sustainable fashion. The fashion industry in Sri
Lanka has developed to be a key sector with new developments shaping the current and
future trends. However, several factors and external influences such as the COVID-19
pandemic have caused a paradigm shift in the fashion retail sector and other business
sectors in Sri Lanka. To rise above these challenges, several fashion brands in different
countries including Sri Lanka, have adopted marketing promotions strategies to influence
brand choices and maintain the brand loyalty of their consumers.
Although the marketing promotions adopted were aimed towards better satisfaction of the
target consumers’ needs, the effects of these promotional tools on consumer behaviour
remain uncertain. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the impact of marketing promotions
on fashion buying in relation to local fashion brands in Sri Lanka during the COVID-19
pandemic. For the purpose of the study, four factors influencing consumers' buying
behaviour were identified based on analysis of theoretical frameworks and empirical
findings. A structured survey questionnaire was constructed and distributed among the
participants based on the four factors with potential influence on consumers’ buying
behaviour in relation to local fashion brands in Sri Lanka.
Even though the study findings showed that the respondents are generally neutral with
respect to the identified factors in relation to local fashion brands, analysis of the
hypotheses revealed that there is a significant correlation between direct marketing and
sales promotion with consumers’ buying behaviour with respect to local fashion brands in
Sri Lanka, as also affirmed in the local and international studies.
"
