Marjorie Wall

Consumer attitudes toward Canadian-made versus imported products

A survey of 635 Canadian men and women revealed that overall attitudes toward Canadian-made products were positive, especially among women. Cynicism existed among men and among persons who were older, had higher educations, higher incomes and higher status occupations. For clothing and footwear products Canadian-made rated high, but Japanese-made rated higher for automobiles and home entertainment equipment, while European wines were rated ahead of Canadian wines. The last purchase in each product category studied was frequently Canadian-made. Consumers favored purchasing Canadian-made products in the future except for home entertainment equipment. Implications for Canadian industry, marketing and government policy are drawn.

Impact of country-of-origin cues on consumer judgments in multi-cue situations: a covariance analysis

The effect of country-of-origin labelling on consumers’ assessments of product quality, risk to purchase, perceived value and likelihood of purchasing was tested experimentally in a multi-product, multi-cue setting. Country-of-origin information was found to be more important in affecting product quality assessments than were price and brand information. Price was important in value assessment while brand was significant in a few product specific cases. Age, education, sex, and perceptions of ability to judge products were variously related to consumers’ ratings of quality, risk, value and likelihood of purchase especially when the product was more complex and difficult to judge. However, much of the variation in consumer judgments was not accounted for by the variables employed in this study, suggesting that future research should include more detailed studies of information processing whereby intrinsic and extrinsic product cues and a wide range of consumer characteristics are taken into consideration.

Who controls the purse strings: A study of consumers' and retail buyers' reactions in an America's FTA environment

Abstract Comparisons were made of the perceptions of Canadian retail buyers and consumers concerning the products, the countries and the people of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina and Chile to examine the differences in perceptions that might affect the buying behaviors of both groups. There was very close congruence of buyers and consumers in the images held of the countries and their products. Major differences were found for both groups in their views of developing and developed countries. A modeling approach revealed basic similarity of structure of relationships among beliefs sets and also some differences, which may affect the congruence of buying practices of retail buyers and their customers.

Information Seeking by Fashion Opinion Leaders and Followers

A self-designating scale was included in a mailed questionnaire to identify fashion opinion leaders, followers, and indeterminates among female undergraduates. The number, fre quency, type, and variety of fashion information sources used by leaders and followers in the awareness, comprehension, and legitimation stages of the fashion adoption process were studied. The demographic characteristics of the respondents were also examined. Both the leaders and followers used all of the twenty-one sources studied. However, the leaders consulted a greater number of sources more frequently than did the followers. Both the leaders and followers recalled marketer-dominated sources as creating awareness of new clothing styles. However, the most important sources in the comprehension stage were marketer-dominated sources for the leaders and consumer-dominated sources for the fol lowers. Leaders and followers could not be differentiated by demographic characteristics.

A Study of the Spectral Distributions of Sun-Sky and Xenon-Arc Radiation in Relation to the Degradation of Some Textile Yarns . Part I : Yarn Degradation

The effects of xenon-arc radiation, using an Atlas Weather-Ometer and a clear glass pyrex filter system, on the breaking strength, extension-to-break, and the energy-to-break for several nylon, polyester, and polyester/cotton yarns were compared to these of outdoor exposure behind window glass. Both types of exposure resulted in similar, related rates of loss for these properties for all yarns. Lamp age in the Weather-Ometer intluenced degradation rates in some cases. All nylon yarns degraded slowly during Weather-Ometer exposure and rapidly outdoors behind window-glass, in com parison to polyester, while the polyester/cotton yarns degraded at similar rates in both locations. Yarn-denier variation and the presence of an optical, brightener had no detectable effect on degradation rates. Sensitization by anatase in nylon and polyester yarns occurred during outdoor exposure, but not during Weather-Ometer exposure.

A Study of the Spectral Distributions of Sun-Sky and Xenon-Arc Radiation in Relation to the Degradation of Some Textile Yarns Part II : Spectral Distribution Studies

The spectral distributions of xenon-arc radiation using several filter systems were compared to August sun-sky radiation measured behind window glass. By locating the main bond-dissociation energies of polyester and nylon at their equivalent photon energies on the spectral distribution curves it was possible to explain the discrepancies in degradation rates, reported in Part I of this work, which occurred between the xenon-arc and outdoor exposures. These differences in spectra may also account for degradation sensitization by anatase during the outdoor exposures.

Free Trade Between Canada and the United States: Implications for Clothing and Textiles

The clothing and textile industries in the United States and Canada are likely to be affected significantly by the proposed free trade agreement now being considered by the two countries. This paper provides a comparison of the clothing and textile industries in the two nations as well as data on trade in this sector between the two. Potential implications of free trade in clothing and textiles are presented from the perspectives of manufacturers, retailers, policy makers, and consumers.

Profiling Consumer Communication of Complaints About Clothing Performance

Consumer propensity to communicate complaints about clothing performance to the retailer was investigated in relation to a variety of consumer characteristics including demographics; activities, interests, and opinions (AIOs); textile product knowledge; and product experience. Data were obtained from questionnaires completed by 543 women over 18 years of age residing in the Colum bus, Ohio, area. Data were analyzed using factor analysis, stepwise multiple regression analysis, multiple discriminant analysis and correlations. Communicators and noncommunicators of complaints about clothing performance differed in their personal characteristics. Noncommunicators disliked taking complaint action, were shy and lacking self confidence, lacked knowledge of textile selection and care, and were willing to overlook defects. In addition, communicators had higher incomes than noncommunicators. Thus the research gave additional support to the premise that many consumers do not complain to the retailer when products fail to perform satisfactorily.