This paper presents a short case study of the introduction of a new automobile in a small town. It analyses the characteristics and the role of innovators in the diffusion process. The analyses have shown that innovators with opinion leadership qualities have influenced the people whom they have contacted. This influence, however, is modified in turn by the opinion leadership characteristics of these individuals. Analyses have indicated that communicating with innovators directly and cultivating their opinion leadership function is likely to be more effective advertising policy than somewhat aimless mass communication.
ICI Fibres' products are sold to a variety of industries, but this paper is concerned only with the apparel textile trade. The position of ICI in this trade is shown in a highly simplified diagram of the main stages in the textile pipeline from fibre spinning to the final purchase of clothing by the consumer.
Improved knowledge of the characteristics of consumer change agents, opinion leaders and innovators, can provide the fashion marketer with an informed basis for tactical and strategic decision-making. The research project reported in this article focuses upon an empirical determination of the characteristics of innovators and opinion leaders in the fashion diffusion process.
Several qualitative and quantitative approaches of the consumers have been developed. We shall give some examples of the feminine market, because it is more influenced by the fashion than the masculine and the children markets, which have also been studied in detail.
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the investigation made on the specific problems the creatives and executives of promotional strategy have met for several years in the woman's ready-to-wear market. The operation "Style and Way of Living" was conceived in 1971 and undertaken at the beginning of 1972 by Rhone-Poulenc Textile. It was an attempt to make the situation sounder and it can be taken as an example of what could be done in an upward coordination. The conception, the setting up of an experimental step, finally the ceasing of the operation which intended to bring an evolution of the states of mind are quite significant.
Over the last 18 months, empirical studies have been conducted by Scantest Research Limited using a research technique called Scantest. This technique attempts to predict, from consumer opinions, rank order sales and absolute percentage sales for individual product items within a given range. Most of the research undertaken has related to patterned carpets; it is the purpose of this paper to outline the research technique and to describe how Scantest has been used to predict the performance of individual carpet designs differentiated by pattern and/or colour, and to detail the results achieved so far.
It is only comparatively recently that U.K. menswear retailers have begun to implement modern management techniques and information systems. However, those systems that do exist lack any foundation in an understanding of the market processes involved. This paper presents the results of a project into the possibilities for rapid-access computer-based information systems for use in marketing planning and sales forecasting. The systems which are proposed integrate the results of continuous market research and previous sales trends, utilising the diffusion of innovations as the underlying theoretical model. The paper is based on discussions with a substantial number of managers, and an analysis of 200+ sales patterns relating to men's suits. A suite of computer programs has been designed not only to handle the basic "house-keeping" of sales statistics, but also to aggregate these into fashion cycles. It would appear that such statistics are amenable to standard forecasting methods.
We can speak of this emancipation when the end-user is more demanding in his or her purchases. When people buy much more in relation to their actual needs.
This paper is based on the preliminary findings from a survey of 500 male suit purchasers (together with a qualitative investigation of 100 of the respondents' wives) . The survey was designed to elicit information on aspects of consumer behaviour relating to the diffusion of innovations in the menswear market, and,in particular, information on such dimensions as visual and interpersonal influence, opinion leadership, innovativeness etc. Extensive use was made of style drawings in an attempt both to build up a picture of consumer perception of current "fashion", and to establish a scale for measuring innovativeness in fashion. A further objective was to suggest viable market research techniques for use in fashion trend detection. This and other management implications are discussed in the complementary paper "Management Information Systems for the Retail Menswear Industry". As with the results discussed in that paper, this survey also formed part of a three year programme of research sponsored by the Social Science Research Council.
As consultants, we have been usually involved in reducing uncertainty associated with marketing decisions in large international companies. It means in general implementing simulation models based on more or less complex internal information systems. When we have to deal with fashion goods, uncertainty is even much larger. However, paradoxically, simple information systems may be designed, provided full cooperation of various services in the company is obtainable (which is easier to achieve in a medium-size company). To prove how a simple information system can be efficient even on an agitated market, we shall deliberately analyse the simplest of our experiences in the field of the manufacturing or distributing clothing.
Limited research was conducted specifically for the purposes of this paper to investigate the Gatsby phenomenon, with particular emphasis upon the facets of the problem discussed above. Budgetary constraints prevented our conducting an elaborate or sophisticated study. Nonetheless the research has provided some fairly clear answers to some of the more specific questions posed about Gatsby, and has provided guidelines as to the ways in which one might examine the usefulness of such a vehicle in the future.
This paper is based on experience and experiments over a number of years in a small chain of shoe shops, all concentrating on women's and men's fashion shoes. The paper tries to make an assessment of the factors that are influenced by fashion in the retailing of shoes and the effects that these fashion elements have upon the approach that can successfully be taken by a shoe retailer.