Paper Title
Factors Affectingapparel Buying Among Malaysian Females

Abstract
Malaysia�s vibrant and dynamic retail industry has influenced the styles of its diversity consumer markets. The distinctive ethnic background has resulted in different behaviors, preferences, and attitudes in the behavior of consumers. Age plays an important role when making good judgments and decisions. The unique ethnic diversity background has made Malaysia a competitive market place and marketers need to understand the diversity of the Malaysian consumers if they intend to market their offerings successfully. The purpose of this study was to explore how demographic factors such as ethnic and age effect on Malaysian female consumers in apparel buying. Out of the 200 distributed questionnaires, 133 were returned. The final sample size consisted of 113 responses. The Malay ethnic group was found significantly different on both size and comfort attributes when compared to the Chinese and the Indian: (size: F = 6.40, df = 2, p < .01; comfort: F =6.21, df = 2, p <.01). The importance of apparel attributes was found to be significantly different by age groups: (size: F = 9.15, df = 1, p < .01; comfort: F = 16.46, df = 1, p < .01; color: F = 9.48, df = 1, p < .01; appropriateness: F = 13.56, df = 1, p < .01; quality: F = 12.22, df = 1, p < .01; fiber: F = 7.22, df = 1, p < .01). The age groups of Malaysian female consumers identified the importance of intrinsic rather than extrinsic factors on apparel attributes. Information sources usage related to apparel buying was significantly different by ethnic groups (F = 3.77, df = 2, p < .01). The Malay ethnic group was significantly different with the Chinese and the Indian on store promotions used as information sources for buying apparel. The major contribution of the paper lies in its insights about apparel buying in Malaysia, an emerging consumer market for apparel products. The results of this study managed to confirm that demographic factors contribute towards consumer�s apparel buying and this result was observed in the previous study. To attract different ethnic and age groups of consumers, retailers should not ignore the importance of apparel attributes as well as promotional strategies that will cater to each ethnic and age group�s expectations. Index Terms- apparel buying, demographic, Malaysian females, consumers