Shopping motives of the mail-catalog shopper
Abstract
Mail-catalog shopping is an important growth segment of the retail industry and has been the most generally accepted form of nonstore retailing. Understanding why consumers shop through catalogs will not only lead to a better understanding of mail-catalog shopping but may provide information on other forms of nonstore retailing. The purpose of this study was to examine shopping motives for mail-catalog shopping for clothing and sporting goods products. Two groups of shopping motives, functional and nonfunctional, were compared for both product classes. In addition, different models of motives for predicting mail-catalog shopping were examined for each product class. A representative national sample of mail-catalog consumers was surveyed. The subjects completed a self-administered questionnaire consisting of questions that measured the strength of 14 functional and 17 nonfunctional shopping motives. Using a value-expectancy model, the salience of the shopping motives and the likelihood that these motives would be satisfied through shopping from mail catalogs was assessed. Both univariate and multivariate statistical procedures were employed to answer the research questions. The overall strength of the nonfunctional shopping motives was found to be significantly higher (p $<$.01) than the strength of the nonfunctional shopping motives for mail-catalog purchases. Shopping motives for purchases of clothing from mail-catalogs were significantly higher (p $<$.05) than those for purchases of sporting goods from mail catalogs. The analysis of the motive strengths indicated that convenience may be an important factor in mail-catalog patronage for both products. The individual motives useful for predicting mail-catalog shopping for both products included merchandise quality and image/appeal of the catalogs. For clothing products, three additional motives, being able to shop in the home environment, convenient use of credit cards, and obtaining quick deliveries were also responsible for mail-catalog shopping. These results indicate that some motives which had not been studied in the context of mail-catalog shopping may be more important than motives suggested by previous research on in-home shopping.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Feinberg, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Marketing
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