Consumer Profiles for Fiber, Clay, and Wood Crafts

Abstract

Acquiring in-depth understanding of a target consumer market is an important marketing strategy for businesses to employ in attracting and maintaining cus tomers. The purpose of this research was to generate consumer profiles for fiber, clay, and wood crafts. The profiles were used for hypothesis testing and contrib uted to a data base from which craft producers could draw in making marketing decisions. Fifty-three consumers who had purchased crafts in at least two media during the previous year were interviewed in depth. During interviews, the re spondents ranked three sets of craft stimuli and discussed the reasons for their rankings. Data were analyzed using content analysis and hierarchical cluster anal ysis. Five consumer profiles emerged for fiber crafts; four consumer profiles were developed for both clay and wood. Aesthetics, workmanship, function and use, and strong sensory or affective attachment were themes important to consumers across all media. Other themes were more specific to the particular types of media. Hypotheses are proposed for future research in which domestic consum ers of U.S. regional crafts would be compared with international tourist consum ers and with domestic consumers of international crafts.