The Purchasers vs. Non-Purchasers of Performance Infants' Wear: Shopping Behavior, Shopper Characteristics, and Reasons for Purchase/Non-Purchase

기능성 섬유 유아복 구매자와 비구매자간의 구매 행동 및 구매 특성 비교

The heightened consumers' interest in health and well-being gave rise to the needs for performance infants' wear, which are made with environmentally-friendly and healthy functional materials. This study intends to compare purchasers and non-purchasers of performance infants' wear in terms of their shopping behavior, shopper and infants' characteristics, and reasons for purchasing or not purchasing performance infants' wear. A total of 241 questionnaires were collected from women with infants less than 4 years old, who are living in the Seoul metropolitan area. Using SPSS 10.0, chi-square, paired t-test, and descriptive statistics were calculated to analyze the data. The results of the study were as follows: First, the purchasers of performance infants' wear shopped more often at department stores and were more likely to buy comparatively high-price products than non-purchasers. Second, for performance infants' wear, non-purchasers considered laundry/care methods and fiber contents more, while purchasers considered colors, design, price, and performance of the products less than for infants' wear in general. Third, in terms of demographic characteristics, significant differences were found for the number of children and the child's birth order. Fourth, the primary reason for buying performance infants' wear was 'health'. The primary reason for not buying was 'too high price' and 'lack of information'. The 'high price compared to its performance' and 'lack of color choice' were among the purchasers complaints about performance infants' wear.