Analysis of The Influence of Product Design, Product Quality and Competitive Prices on Purchasing Decisions Through Brand Image (Study on Pekanbaru Sleepwalking Customers)

ABSTRACT


INTRODUCTION
Along with the development of life stylepop culture, namely young people starting from high school teenagers and also students, one of the dominant developments seen in their life style is the way they dress or fashion.They start to pay attention to the latest appearance and clothing trends.This cannot be separated from the influence of social media which is growing rapidly.Most of them are starting to be influenced by the way influencers and artists they follow on social media dress.
This has led to the emergence of youth-style clothing shops and distros, and it is known that there are many clothing shops spread across Pekanbaru City and one of them Source: Sleepwalking Pekanbaru, 2022 Based on the table above, it is known that there has been a decline in sales figures for Sleepwalking Pekanbaru in 2020 and also in 2021.This indicates that customer purchasing decisions have decreased.
Based on the results of observations made, it is known that the number of busy visitors at Sleepwalking Pekanbaru is only on weekends and between midday and evening (13.00 WIB-21.00WIB).Meanwhile, at other times, the number of visits tends to be lower, this illustrates low customer purchasing decisions due to the decreasing sales figures for Sleepwalking Pekanbaru.Next, we also look at the market segments for Sleepwalking Pekanbaru products, namely: Based on the motivation assessment questionnaire above, it shows that the level of brand image at the Pekanbaru Sleepwalking Store is still low, this can be seen from the answers of many respondents who answered "Disagree".
The next factor is product design which is the totality of features that influence how a product looks, feels and functions for consumers.Design offers three things, namely function, aesthetics and attractiveness [9].The following is an example of a product design.Based on the image above, it shows that the t-shirt product design from Sleepwalking looks minimalist and simple, the combination of image color and basic clothing color also only combines 2 colors, namely black and white.Minimalist product design with small image sizes is a characteristic of Sleepwalking Pekanbaru product design.
Observations were carried out on July 6 2022 by distributing a pre-research questionnaire containing 3 statements about product design which were distributed to 25 consumers of Pekanbaru Sleepwalking Shop.
Based on the motivation assessment questionnaire above, it shows that the level of product design at the Pekanbaru Sleepwalking Store is still low, this can be seen from the answers of respondents who mostly answered "Disagree".
The next factor is the quality of the product which is the advantages possessed by the product [5].Quality consists of a number of product features that fulfill customer desires thereby providing satisfaction with product use [12].
Based on an interview with the manager of Sleepwalking Pekanbaru, he stated that the clothing products sold are clothing made from good quality materials and also images or clothing motifs using good screen-printing techniques so that they are guaranteed not to peel off easily or the color of the clothing is guaranteed not to fade quickly.
Observations were carried out on July 6 2022 by distributing a pre-research questionnaire containing 5 statements about product quality which were distributed to 25 consumers of the Pekanbaru Sleepwalking Shop.
Based on the motivation assessment questionnaire above, it shows that the level of product quality at the Sleepwalking Pekanbaru Store is still low, this can be seen from the answers of respondents who mostly answered "Disagree".
The next factor is competitive prices, namely prices that are able to compete with competitors.Price is something that consumers pay attention to when making a purchase.Some consumers even identify price with value.Consumers' assessment of the price of a product greatly influences their buying interest in that product, therefore setting an appropriate and competitive price for a product needs to receive great attention from the company [13].
The following is data comparing product prices at the Pekanbaru Sleepwalking Shop with competitor products, in this case the Warnhosz Pekanbaru brand, which is located at Jalan Selindit No. 9, Sukajadi, Pekanbaru.Source: Processed Data, 2023 Based on the price comparison data above, it shows that the price of Sleepwalking Pekanbaru products is more expensive than the price of similar products from competing brands.This is thought to influence consumer purchasing decisions.

Marketing
The essence of marketing is identifying and fulfilling consumer needs and desires.According to [9] marketing is something that is done to fulfill every consumer's needs and desires in a way that benefits all parties.
Another definition put forward by the America Marketing Association (AMA) quoted in the book [9] states: "Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large".What can be interpreted as marketing is a company's activities and processes, to create, communicate, deliver and offer exchanges that provide value to consumers, clients, colleagues and the wider community.

Marketing Management
To carry out good marketing, companies need to make arrangements in their marketing process so that the goals a company wants to achieve can be achieved.In this case, the regulatory process required by the company is marketing management.According to [9], marketing management is the art and science of selecting target markets, obtaining, retaining and increasing the number of customers by creating, delivering and communicating superior customer value.

Product Design
According to [9] product design is the totality of features that influence how a product looks, feels and functions for consumers.The design offers three, namely function, aesthetic appeal.
Define that product design is the totality of features that influence the appearance, feel and function of a product based on customer needs [8].Product design seeks to increase sales through product improvements or developing current products [3].Product design is the development of products (goods) designed to meet consumer satisfaction [2].
According to Kotler & Keller (2016) product design indicators are as follows: a. Product Color b.Product striping c.Product Form

Product quality
Product quality is the overall characteristics and characteristics of a product or service in terms of its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs [9].
Product quality is the advantage that the product has [5].Quality consists of a number of product features that fulfill customer desires thereby providing satisfaction with product use [12].Quality reflects all dimensions of product offerings that produce benefits for customers [16].
If a company wants to maintain its competitive advantage, it needs to pay attention to product quality indicators.The product quality indicators are: [10] 1. Performance 2. Conformity to specifications 3. Feature 4. Aesthetics 5. Quality impression

Competitive Prices
Price is one element of the marketing mix that generates revenue, other elements generate costs [11].Price is the only element of the marketing mix that provides income or income for the company [16].
Competitive prices are prices that are able to compete with competitors.Price is something that consumers pay attention to when making a purchase [16].Some consumers even identify price with value.Consumers' assessment of the price of a product greatly influences their buying interest in that product, therefore setting an appropriate and competitive price for a product needs to receive great attention from the company.
Competitive price indicators are: [11] 1. Price Affordability 2. Price match with product quality 3. Matching price with benefits 4. Prices according to ability or price competitiveness

Brand Image
Brand image is the consumer's perception of the brand of a product which is formed from information obtained by consumers through experience using the product.According to [8], brand image is a consumer's response to a brand which is based on the good and bad qualities of the brand that consumers remember.Brand image is a belief formed in the minds of consumers about the product object that they have experienced.
Brand image is the perception and belief held by consumers, as reflected in the associations that occur in consumers' memories [11].A strong brand image can provide major advantages for banks, one of which can create competitive advantages.Brand image is a consumer's perception of the brand of a product which is formed from information obtained by consumers through experience using the product.Based on this understanding, it shows that a brand will be strong if it is based on experience and has a lot of information.
Explains that brand image indicators consist of three parts, namely [15]: 1) Maker Image 2) User Image 3) Product Image

Buying decision
The purchasing decision process is a consumer behavior to determine a decision development process in purchasing a product [9].Consumer decision making is a goaldirected problem solving process.Purchasing decisions are a person's attitude to buy or use a product in the form of goods or services that they believe will satisfy them and their willingness to bear the risks that may arise [14].
Purchasing decisions can be defined as a process in which consumers evaluate various alternative choices and choose one or more of the required alternatives based on certain considerations.Purchasing decisions made by consumers describe the level of influence of marketing efforts on a product, so marketers must know consumer behavior in determining purchasing decisions [1]. Purchasing

METHODS
The research location is Pekanbaru City, Riau.The population in this research is Sleepwalking consumers in Pekanbaru.
The method used is Probability Sampling, namely a sampling technique in which each member of the population has the same chance of being selected as the sample.With the same chance of being selected as the sample.
The number of samples taken in the research was taken according to the opinion of [6], namely the number of indicators multiplied by 5 to 10.The number of indicators in this study was 20 x 5 = 100 respondents.The types and sources of data used in this research are primary data and secondary data.In this research the author used data collection methods through: kquestionnaire, documentation, literature study.The data analysis tool used for hypothesis testing is path analysis with the Partial Least Square (PLS) approach using the SmartPLS ver 3.0 M3 software application.PLS is a reliable tool for testing prediction models because it has advantages over LISREL, AMOS and OLS, namely that it is not based on various assumptions, can be used to predict models with a weak theoretical basis, can be used on data that has problems with classical assumptions (such as data that does not normally distributed, multicollinearity problems and autocorrelation problems), can be used for small sample sizes and can be used for formative and reflective constructs [7].

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This research began by distributing a questionnaire in the form of a list of questions to consumers at Sleepwalking Pekanbaru.

Validity test
Validity testing is testing the linkage or relationship between question items in one variable.The validity test is used to measure whether the questionnaire is valid or not.A questionnaire is said to be valid if the statement items are able to reveal something that the questionnaire wants to measure.
The test results show the following information: Based on Table 4 above, it can be seen that each statement item is valid.This can be identified if the correlation value is greater than r table then the data is valid.In this way, the statement items used are declared valid and can be used.

Reliability Test
The reliability test is carried out by calculating the Cronbach's Alpha value of each instrument in a variable.The value for determining the reliability of an instrument is Cronbach's Alpha value > 0.60.The results of reliability testing are shown in the table below: Based on Table 5 above, it shows that the Cronbach alpha coefficient value for all variables (variables x and y) has a value > 0.60.So all variable statements are valid and reliable and all statement items on all variables can be used for measurement in the context of data collection.

Evaluation Results of Measurement Models (Outer Model and Inner Model)
Measurement model testing is used to validate the research model that is built.The two main parameters that were developed were construct validity testing (convergent and discriminant validity) and construct internal consistency (reliability) testing.The measurement model for this research can be seen in the following picture:  Based on Figure 4, the Inner Model above is the result of testing using the bootstrapping method from SEM PLS analysis.In PLS, testing each relationship is carried out using simulation with the bootstrapping method on the sample.This test aims to minimize the problem of nonnormality of research data.This test is also intended to obtain test results for each hypothesis.

Convergent Validity Test
The validity test aims to determine the validity of each relationship between the indicator and the construct or latent variable.The validity test of the measurement model with reflexive indicators is assessed based on the correlation between item scores or component scores estimated by the smartPLS program.The following is a picture of the smartPLS model calculation results, then look at the factor loading values of the indicators for each variable.
Based on the data presented in Table 11 and Table 12 above, it can be seen that of the five hypotheses proposed in this research, all of them can be accepted because each effect shown has a P-Values < 0.05.So it can be stated that the independent and dependent variables have a significant influence.

CONCLUSION
Based on the results of data analysis and discussion in the previous chapter, it can be concluded that product design has a positive and significant effect on brand image.This shows that the higher the product design, the higher the brand image, and conversely, the lower the product design, the lower the brand image.Product quality has a positive and significant effect on brand image.This shows that the higher the product quality, the higher the brand image, and conversely, the lower the product quality, the lower the brand image.Competitive prices have a positive and significant effect on brand image.This shows that the higher the competitive price, the higher the brand image, and conversely, the lower the competitive price, the lower the brand image.Product design has a positive and significant effect on purchasing decisions.This shows that the higher the product design, the higher the purchasing decision, and conversely, the lower the product design, the lower the purchasing decision.Product quality has a positive and significant effect on purchasing decisions.This shows that the higher the product quality, the higher the purchasing decision will be, and conversely, the lower the product quality, the lower the purchasing decision will also be.Competitive prices have a positive and significant effect on purchasing decisions.This shows that the higher the competitive price, the higher the purchasing decision, and conversely, the lower the competitive price, the lower the purchasing decision.Brand image has a positive and significant effect on purchasing decisions.This shows that the higher the brand image, the higher the purchasing decision will be, and conversely, the lower the brand image, the lower the purchasing decision will also be.Product design has a positive and significant effect on purchasing decisions through brand image.This shows that the higher the product design, the higher the brand image will be, and will influence or have an impact on increasing purchasing decisions.Product quality has a positive and significant effect on purchasing decisions through brand image.This shows that the higher the quality of the product, the higher the brand image will be, and will influence or have an impact on increasing purchasing decisions.Competitive prices have a positive and significant effect on purchasing decisions through brand image.This shows that the higher the competitive price, the higher the brand image will be, and will influence or have an impact on increasing purchasing decisions.

Table 2 . Pekanbaru Sleepwalking Market
Observations were carried out on July 6 2022 by distributing a pre-research questionnaire containing 3 statements about brand image which were distributed to 25 consumers of Pekanbaru Sleepwalking Shop.
Source: Research Data, 2023One of the brand images can be seen from the Sleepwalking Pekanbaru logo.Below is a look at the Sleepwalking Pekanbaru logo. Figure 1 Pekanbaru Sleepwalking Logo Source: Sleepwalking Pekanbaru, 2022  196 Vol. 2, No. 01, March 2024: pp.194-206