Marketing of locally produced sustainable animal fiber products

Marketing of locally produced sustainable animal fiber products

Summary

During the year covered by this report, wool was obtained from women owned ranches in the three target states, the Simply Abundant Farm in Stanston VA, Ashling Alpacas and Angoras in Rochelle, VA, the Hope Springs Farm in Colbert, GA and the Texas Fiber Mill in Elgin, TX. Each rancher was interviewed about their production methods in order to create definitions of all-natural, sustainable and eco-friendly that would be true for the products from all of the ranches included in the study. The wool, alpaca and mohair purchased from these ranches was processed by Zeilinger Mill into yarn and knitted into crew length socks. Additional wool socks (crew length black socks) were purchased directly from US sock manufacturers following interviews with the product development team to ensure that these socks also met the definitions used in the study, as well as to verify fiber origin. The custom manufactured socks were dyed black at the textile laboratory at Texas State University so that they would match the color and style of the purchased socks. The survey instrument was developed and pretested and the auction session sights in all three states were chosen and subjects recruited for the first auction, which will take place in early 2011.

Objectives/Performance Targets

1. Estimate the value consumers place on apparel products made from locally grown fibers and fibers grown using sustainable production methods.

2. Investigate the effects of labeling on premiums for Southern fiber products.

3. Identify and characterize the attitudes and motivations of market segments of consumers willing to pay premiums for products produced from sustainable, locally grown animal fiber.

4. Develop and communicate pricing, labeling, and marketing strategies to Southern animal fiber producers using sustainable production methods.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Benchmarks:
1) Socks for use in the experiment will be procured through purchases or custom-ordering.

This benchmark has been met. The socks created from purchased wool were of similar style and quality to the socks procured from US sock manufacturers, which meant that difference in style or quality do not need to be considered during analysis.

2) Approval for research with human subjects will be obtained from all three participating universities.

This benchmarks has been met. The Institutional Review Board of all three participating universities approved the study design

3) The survey instrument will be developed and pretested.

This benchmark has been met. Pretesting was conducted the fall with university students and the online survey software, Qualtrics, was programmed to capture participant responses.

4) The auction sites will be selected and the auction session will be coordinated.

This benchmark has been met. The auction sessions will be conducted in early 2011 at XXX in Alexandria (VA), at University of Georgia in Athens (GA) and at Texas State University in San Marcos (TX). The materials for the auctions have been fully developed and are ready for deployment in a few weeks, beginning in Alexandria.

5) A recruiting firm will be selected and hired to recruit participants at each location.

This benchmark has been modified. The quotes from recruiting firms were too high for the level of service they would provide. The student hired for the project developed a recruiting strategy that has already successfully recruited the participants need for the Alexandria session to be held in a few weeks. The same strategy, involving newspaper ads, online ads and flyers will be used at each of the other three locations. Our partners in both Alexandria and Athens have been very helpful in developing recruiting leads and we are confident that the full number of participants will be obtained.

The following benchmarks will be met in 2010.

6) The auctions will be conducted.
7) The data will be analyzed.
8) The results will be used to create marketing materials.
9) The marketing materials will be placed online.
10) The results and marketing strategies will be shared with animal fiber producers, apparel manufacturers and other stakeholders in sustainable fiber supply chain.
11) The results will be used to create peer-reviewed presentations and articles for dissemination in academic forums.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

The interaction with wool producers in each of the states included in the study will provide important insight for the development of marketing guides. Based on these interactions, an additional marketing tool that will be developed is a “story” about how locally produced wool can be turned into a marketable product using US manufacturing facilities like the Zielinger Mill in Michigan. Abstracts based on preliminary analysis of the results are planned to meet an early 2011 deadline for the 5th International Consumer Sciences Research Conference, a biannual meeting that includes researchers interested in the role of sustainability in marketing locally produced products.

Collaborators: