Informing craft producers in South Africa

Abstract

Craft producers struggle to access the retail market because of their inability to communicateeffectively. Understanding craft retailers’ buying behaviour, particularly with regard to thecommunication channels used, could potentially assist craft producers to create better awarenessof their crafts. The purpose of this article is to investigate the communication channels used byformal craft retailers when searching for craft suppliers and craft products. A survey of formal craft retailers resulted in a total of 233 useable questionnaires. Principalcomponent factor analysis was used to identify the various types of communication channelswhile ANOVA analysis was applied to test the hypothesis. The results indicated that craft retailers differ in their use of certain communication channels and that they tend to use particular channels more often than others. The factor analysisidentified three types of communication channels: internal and personal, promotional, and printadvertising. The results further indicated that craft retailers consult internal and personal channelsmore frequently than promotional channels and print advertising. The results also revealed thatdifferent types of craft retailers differ in their preference of promotional channels, whereas no suchdifferences could be found in the way these craft retailers used internal and personal channels orprint advertising. The results presented in this article provide useful insights – especially to informal craft producers– on how to improve their visibility and product availability by communicating more effectively withformal craft retailers.