Professional women's catalogue usage: its relationships with involvement, lifestyle and demographic characteristics

Abstract

Catalogue sales have received increasing attention due to their phenomenal growth in the USA. Professional women, because of their need for convenience and their buying power, are an important market for catalogue marketers. This study was designed to identify clothing categories which professional women tend to purchase through catalogues, compare professional women's involvement with professional clothing versus non‐professional clothing in relation to their catalogue usage and determine the variables that predict professional women's heavy catalogue usage for specific clothing categories. Data analyses were based on a mailed survey of a national sample of professional women catalogue shoppers (N=506). These consumers tended to purchase clothing in distinct categories rather than as one product class, and exhibited greater involvement with non‐professional clothing than with professional clothing. Profiles of frequent catalogue users for three clothing categories (street clothing, footwear and clothing for others) were identified, based on their involvement, lifestyle and demographic variables.