Potential analysis of thai cloth entrepreneurs toward for influence of competitiveness and integrated marketing communications of online social networking in ASEAN market

Abstract

Thailand is one of the few countries in the world that provides the whole value chain of the textile industry, with over 4,700 local textile producers and 800,000 to one million workers, making this industry the second-most important employment sector. In 2016, the industry’s export revenue was valued at almost USD 7 billion, contributing to over 3% of total exports. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the biggest international market for Thailand clothing export (23%), and expected to become the world's fourth largest market by 2030. However, Thai cloth entrepreneurs are facing major problems that demand attention, including labour costs, new design and product development, and, in particular, online marketing. The Thai fashion and textile industries should define a clear strategic move through integrating textile with fashion with a view “toward sustainable creative industries with strong soft power”. The purpose of this study is to analyse competitiveness of Thai cloth entrepreneurs in relation to online management and integrated marketing communications (IMC) in the ASEAN market. The research instrument involves a descriptive cross-sectional, mixed-method study in Thailand. For quantitative data, 60 cloth entrepreneurs are invited to complete a questionnaire before and after our “online management and IMC” training programme, and a qualitative in-depth interview study is conducted with 10 cloth entrepreneurs. The 2017 survey returned 100% participation with general agreement that a website and Facebook are the most important IMC tools for online marketing in the ASEAN market. Before training, the participants had knowledge and skills regarding the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), online communication and social media tools in intermediate level, while they had less knowledge and skills concerning social media web design and online gallery. After training, the statistics show an increase in entrepreneurs’ level for all knowledge and skills. Furthermore, the findings from in-depth interviews show that, with regard to entrepreneurial competitiveness, in relation to the ability of online management and IMC, there is a requirement for further training and government support. In addition, the 10 cloth entrepreneurs agree that time management and quality of product and service control are very important for online business.