Brand is a powerful tool to attract more consumers to buy particular products. In a developed country like uk, clothing industry is one of the major industries that substantially contribute to the economy. As consumer’s decision making plays a big role in any market, it is vital to study how consumers make their choices when purchasing clothes to evaluate the impact of any particular brand in the market, especially due to the availability of various existing varieties and tough competition among different brands. Not all consumers are loyal to a single brand and many often switch between different brands possibly due to different marketing techniques and promotional offers used by competing brands. This poses economic risk to certain brands and even to the nations that represent these brands.

Therefore, it is in the best interest of the producers of these clothes to study the consumer behaviour and their preferences towards various promotional offers and discounts an effective market research in this regard may include questions that enquire the consumers about the promotional schemes that attracted them, the advertising media through which they can most likely be reached, their interests in knowing more about the brand. As far as the uk clothing industry is concerned, there is a fashion for own brand development, determined markets, tough competitive activities, a polarized marketplace, short life cycle products, as well as fluctuating consumer requirements marciniak and bruce, 2004 siddiqui et al. As per moore 1995 , textile retailers tend to be inclined to create product differentiation in which they can distinguish themselves from their potential competitors in terms of product character like design and price. Even though the uk is overwhelmed with fashion brands, the market is characterized by products with small differentiation birtwhistle and freathy, 1998 moore, 1995. To analyse and discuss the effect of brand image on the consumer’s on their purchasing decisions in the uk clothing industry.

The aim of the research will be achieved by studying and discussing the below given objectives which are important aspects of this research effort. To identify the impact of branding as an element in consumers purchasing decision. Through qualitative research, test the above factors of brand as an important element in consumer purchasing decision. This research is divided into 6 main chapters chapter 1 introduction: this chapter consists of background of the clothing industry, aims and objectives and structure of the research. Chapter 2 literature review: this chapter will explain consumer behaviour towards brands and perspective of clothing industry in uk. Chapter 3 research methodology: this chapter includes the research approach, aims and objectives of the research.

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Chapter 4 data collection: this chapter includes data collection which will be used for analysis and to reach objective of this research by conducting the interviews. Chapter 5 data analysis: this chapter consists of analysis and results of the findings from the interviews and other sources. Chapter 6 conclusions and recommendations: this chapter draws the conclusions and key findings from various chapters and provides important recommendations. Consumer behaviour refers to the activities in which people acquire, consume and dispose products and services blackwell et al. In this chapter, the literatures regarding the roles of brand and brand equity are to be reviewed so as to provide a theoretical framework for the analysis.

Branding helps in knowing the features or characteristics of branding and its effects. Keller, k 1998 , according to american marketing association brand refers to ‘a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors. According to murphy 1998 in addition to a specific brand name, a brand is also composed of products, packaging, promotion, advertising, as well as its overall presentation.

Branding thus is a means to distinguish one product from another and these differences may be functional, rational, or tangible – related to product performance of the brand’ keller and kotler, 2006. According to aaker 1991 , kapferer 2004 and keller 2003 , building strong brands is one of the most important goals of product and brand management. Therefore, the stated goal of strategic brand management is to build brands that last for decades and can be leveraged in different product categories and markets aaker 1996. To understand how branding effects the purchasing decision of consumers, many theories emerged in which according to aaker 1991 has framed a model called brand equity model and keller 1993 has identified a model called the customer based brand equity model. Both the frameworks have profoundly focused on how consumers recognize and appraise brands by studying certain information structures keller, 1993 aaker, 1991, 1997.

Brand equity as a set of assets and liabilities associated with a brand, including its name and symbol, which could impose beneficial or detrimental effects on the values arising from the products or services aaker, 1991 yasin et al. According to keller and kotler 2006 , brand equity is a significant subtle asset that has psychosomatic and economic value to a firm. Brand equity is therefore reoffered to as consumer based brand equity and defined as the value consumers associate with a brand, as reflected in the dimensions of brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality and brand loyalty aaker, 1991. As per aaker 1991 , brand awareness is defined as the ability of a potential buyer to recognize or recall that a brand is a member of a certain product category. Since a very long time establishing brand image and awareness are the key factors for brand management aaker, 1991. Brand awareness refers to the strength of the brand, how easy and quick it is for the consumers to remember the brand. The potential consumers should be aware of a product so that it can become one of the buying choices keller,1993.

2001 , this is due to the fact that the product wants to enter the awareness set before it comes to the consideration set. Boost in the brand awareness is conductive to a higher possibility of entering the later set nedungadi, 1990. It could probably explain why consumers tend to purchase a familiar brand rather than an unfamiliar one hoyer, 1990 macdonald and sharp, 20. 2007 , in this fashion, brands with high level of awareness would be more possible to be purchased. According to aaker 1991 , keller 1998 and yasin 2007 this is defined as the consumer’s observation of the overall quality or superiority of a product or service. Perceived quality is defined as the consumer’s perception of the overall quality or superiority of a product or service with respect to its intended purpose relative to alternatives aaker,1991. According to aaker 1991 , perceived quality is not just another brand association but an association that is elevated to the status of a separate dimension of brand equity.

2004 it is found that perceived quality is of utmost importance in determining brand loyalty as well as repeat purchase. Sherman 1992 cited that it is becoming more difficult to gain satisfactory level of perceived quality owing to the information that fast and continuous product development has already build up consumers’ expectations on product quality. Since it is a kind of intangible, overall sense towards a brand, it is subjective in nature and thus the information of actual exhaustive product qualifications could have little connection with the perceived quality sherman, 1992. Brand loyalty is one of the core components of brand equity and also positively and directly affected by brand equity atilgan et al. Whereas aaker 1991 treated brand loyalty as a behavioural dimension, yoo and donthu 2001 said that it is conceptualized as an attitudinal dimension and define it as the tendency to be loyal to a focal brand, which is demonstrated by the intention to buy the brand as a primary choice. According to keller 1998 , practice that repeats buying is one of the indicators for brand loyalty. Guest 1964 defined brand loyalty as a behaviour and a measured degree of preference consistency and purchasing behaviour.

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