Consumer buying behavior and the role of Dutch tailors

This is Marcus (BA Arts, Culture and Media), Kate (BA International Relations) and Ornella (BA International Relations), part of the career minor at the faculty of arts. During the course of the practical assignment we had one question in mind that would drive our efforts to provide a strategic document to the members of the BMA Noord. The research question, ‘What role can Dutch tailors and seamstresses play in changing the attitudes and manner that consumers buy and view clothes?’ The BMA Noord is a sustainable fashion association seeking to share knowledge of tailoring and promoting entrepreneurship for professional tailors in the Netherlands. We provided a strategic document that we believe will help members of the BMA Noord better understand their role as an entrepreneur/tailor working to provide Dutch consumers with unique sustainable clothing, subsequently decreasing the culture of mass consumerism and exploitation of resources.

In our strategic document we conducted in depth market analysis in order to understand the functioning of the market. This section consisted of a competitor analysis, an evaluation of internal and external target groups and consideration of communication objectives that we believe would be useful for the members of the BMA Noord. Additionally, we noticed that there was not a clear understanding of what the BMA Noord represented. So we decided to create a mission and vision for the association.

Essentially, the strategic document can be used as a set of tools for Dutch entrepreneurs in the fashion industry to understand the market and what role they can play in that market to potentially be successful tailors.