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INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The development of the craft industry is a key strategy of the South African (SA) government for sustainable development and the creation of employment opportunities (Department of Labour, 2011:7). The industry also contributes to economic growth and environmental stewardship (United Nations (UN), 2010:65; UN, 2008:3), as evidenced by government initiatives, research, projects and entities that have been initiated in support of the industry such as the Cultural Industries Growth Strategy (Department of Arts, Culture, Science & Technology, 1998) the Sector Development Strategy (Department of Trade & Industry (DTI), 2005), Gauteng Creative Industries: Craft sector (Department of Sports, Arts, Recreation & Culture, 2007) and Gauteng Craft Development strategy (Department of Sports, Arts, Recreation & Culture, 2007) as well as the development of the Kwazulu- Natal Integrated Craft Hub (Department of Economic Development, 2009).
The industry has grown in importance in South Africa (SA) as seen by the formation of the Cape Craft and Design Institute (CCDI) in the Western Province, the Gauteng Craft and Design Centre in Gauteng province and the North West Craft Design Centre which are proof of government recognition of the importance of this industry to the SA economy. The Department of Trade and Industry has also launched the Craft Enterprise Support Fund with the aim of assisting craft organisations to overcome their lack of access to raw materials (DTI, 2010:160).
Craft products include a wide range of products such as home furnishings, jewellery, fashion and fashion accessories, novelties and gifts, including corporate gifts, garden and outdoor products, curios and collectibles, one-of-a-kind high-value individually made products, and indigenous artefacts, which are culturally derived products (Department of Labour, 2011:7; DTI, 2005:11). Rogerson (2010:117) posits that craft products must be 80 percent handmade from different materials, which may include clay, natural fibres, beads, recyclable materials and textiles. Owing to the diversified nature of the craft industry, there is no universally accepted definition of crafts. In SA, a craft product is defined as “the creation and production of a broad range of utilitarian and decorative items produced on a small scale, with hand processes being the significant part of the value-added content. The production of goods uses a range of natural and synthetic materials (Department of Arts, Culture, Science & Technology, 1997:7).
Crafts are also known as handicraft or artisanal products. Artisanal products are defined as “those produced by artisans, either completely by hand, or with the help of hand tools or even mechanical means, as long as the direct manual contribution of the artisan remains the most substantial component of the finished product. These are produced using raw materials from sustainable resources. The special nature of artisanal products derives from their distinctive features, which can be utilitarian, aesthetic, creative, culturally attached, decorative, functional, religiously and socially symbolic and significant” (UNESCO,1997:6). Both definitions emphasise the importance of the hand component during the production of craft products and are useful in providing an understanding of what a craft product entails.
According to Obiri (2002:66) and Torres (2002:230), craft products were first created during the pre-industrialisation period for social, religious, spiritual and ritualistic purposes, thus creating a distance between the crafts and the market since goods were not meant for exchange. Craft producers are driven by their desire to satisfy their artistic sensibilities, yet they find themselves in a situation where they have to balance their artistic vision and market demand. Some craft producers are more driven by the former, which implies that they fail to meet market demands since some of their artistic visions do not reflect what craft retailers and end consumers want (Obiri, 2002:66; Torres, 2002:230). As a result, some craft producers create products with no economic benefit derived from these products.
For craft producers to derive an economic benefit, they need to gain an understanding of the markets (Hay, 2008:13, 31). There is an increasing demand for craft products globally, especially for home accessories and décor, gifts and products for garden and outdoor living which are simultaneously used for decorative and functional purposes (USAID, 2006:54). The rise in consumers‟ disposable incomes and the tendency to accessorise and re-style homes with unique articles are the major driving factors of the surge in demand for crafts and decorative products (Frost & Sullivan, 2005:15). In SA, recent decades have seen the opening of many homeware stores such as PepHome, @Home, @Home living space, and Mr Price Home as well as Woolworths Artistic Collection department, which operates from inside the Woolworths branches. All these retailers sell handcrafted products, which create opportunities for craft producers targeting craft retailers.
However, craft producers face numerous marketing-related challenges in SA. They lack understanding of what the market needs, which leads to an inability to formulate appropriate and competitive product and marketing strategies (Grobler, 2005: 43, 67). Craft producers often sell similar products that do not address market demands and they have difficulty in accessing the markets (Makhitha & Bresler, 2011:250; Hay, 2008:13; Department of Sports, Arts, Recreation & Culture, 2007:10). Craft producers also lack skills in product design, distribution and organisation management (DTI, 2005:85) and possess limited knowledge of the lifestyles and product preferences of their potential customers and the promotional strategies needed to target them (Littrell & Miller, 2001:68).
As stated in Urban-Econ Tourism (2010:3, 53), craft producers copy each other‟s product designs and products which lack innovativeness and uniqueness. Because they are not informed about the market and are unable to produce the quality and quantity it demands, they cannot access the retail market. In addition to these challenges, large retailers have market power that allows them to return any unsold goods during a certain period, which discourages some craft producers from selling to craft retailers; instead they opt to sell through flea markets and certain retail chains (Rogerson, 2000:706). Craft retailers are also known to exploit craft producers (Urban-Econ Tourism, 2010:54). These challenges widen the gap between craft producers and craft retailers, making it difficult for the craft producers to sell their products through craft retailers. The developments in the craft industry, as highlighted in this section, have resulted in the commercialisation of the products, which means that craft producers have to create marketable products that meet the needs of the market (Hay, 2008:31). The next section focuses on the problem statement.
TABLE OF CONTENTS :
- CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
- 1.1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
- 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
- 1.3 PURPOSE STATEMENT
- 1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
- 1.4.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
- 1.4.2 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
- 1.5 ACADEMIC VALUE AND CONTRIBUTION OF THE PROPOSED STUDY
- 1.6 DELIMITATIONS
- 1.7 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS
- 1.8 LITERATURE
- 1.8.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE CRAFT INDUSTRY IN SOUTH AFRICA
- 1.8.2 BUSINESS TO BUSINESS (B2B) MARKETING CONTEXT
- 1.8.3 RETAIL BUYER BEHAVIOUR
- 1.9 B2B MARKETING STRATEGY
- 1.9.1 MARKET SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING
- 1.9.2 ELEMENTS OF THE MARKETING MIX
- 1.10 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
- 1.10.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE INQUIRY STRATEGY AND BROAD RESEARCH DESIGN
- 1.10.2 SAMPLING PLAN
- 1.10.3 DATA COLLECTION AND DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT
- 1.10.4 DATA ANALYSIS
- 1.11 CHAPTER OUTLINE
- 1.12 SUMMARY
- CHAPTER 2: THE CRAFT INDUSTRY
- 2.1 INTRODUCTION
- 2.2 THE CRAFT INDUSTRY AS A SUB-SECTOR OF THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
- 2.3 THE GLOBAL CRAFT INDUSTRY
- 2.4 THE SA CRAFT INDUSTRY
- 2.4.1 THE CRAFT INDUSTRY VALUE CHAIN
- 2.4.2 MAJOR CRAFT PRODUCTS IN SA
- 2.4.3 CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION IN THE SA CRAFT
- 2.4.4 CATEGORIES OF CRAFT PRODUCERS IN SA
- 2.4.5 GOVERNMENTAL SUPPORT AVAILABLE TO CRAFT PRODUCERS IN SA
- 2.4.6 TRENDS AND CHALENGES FACING CRAFT PRODUCERS IN SA
- 2.5 SUMMARY
- CHAPTER 3: RETAIL BUYER BEHAVIOUR
- 3.1 INTRODUCTION
- 3.2 CRAFT INDUSTRY AND ORGANISATIONAL BUYER BEHAVIOUR
- 3.3 ORGANISATIONAL BUYER BEHAVIOUR MODELS
- 3.3.1 THE ROBINSON, FARIS AND WIND MODEL – THE BUY GRID MODEL (1967)
- 3.3.2 THE WEBSTER AND WIND MODEL (1972)
- 3.3.3 THE SHETH MODEL (1981)
- 3.3.4 THE DE BOER, LABRO AND MORLACCHI MODEL (2001)
- 3.3.5 THE WEELE RETAIL BUYING PROCESS (2002)
- 3.3.6 LUO, WU, ROSENBURG AND BARNES MODEL (2009)
- 3.4 SUPPLIER SELECTION
- 3.4.1 SUPPLIER SELECTION CRITERIA
- 3.4.2 SUPPLIER SELECTION STRATEGIES
- 3.5 INFORMATION SOURCES
- 3.6 SUMMARY
- CHAPTER 4: MARKETING STRATEGIES OF CRAFT PRODUCERS IN A BUSINESS TO BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
- 4.1 INTRODUCTION
- 4.2 MARKETING STRATEGY
- 4.3 CONDUCTING ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING IN THE CRAFT INDUSTRY
- 4.4 SEGMENTING CRAFT RETAILERS
- 4.4.1 THE MACRO SEGMENTATION BASES
- 4.4.2 THE MICRO SEGMENTATION BASES
- 4.4.3 TARGET MARKETING AND POSITIONING
- 4.5 ELEMENTS OF THE CRAFT MARKETING MIX
- 4.5.1 CRAFT PRODUCT DECISIONS
- 4.5.2 B2B MARKETING COMMUNICATION
- 4.5.3 PRICING CRAFT PRODUCTS
- 4.5.4 DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS OF CRAFT PRODUCTS
- 4.6 BUYER-SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS
- 4.7 SUMMARY
- CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- 5.1 INTRODUCTION
- 5.2 PROBLEM AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
- 5.3 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
- 5.3.1 HYPOTHESIS
- 5.3.2 HYPOTHESIS
- 5.3.3 HYPOTHESIS
- 5.3.4 HYPOTHESIS
- 5.3.5 HYPOTHESIS
- 5.3.6 HYPOTHESIS
- 5.4 THE RESEARCH DESIGN
- 5.5 DEVELOPMENT OF A SAMPLING PLAN
- 5.5.1 SAMPLING POPULATION
- 5.5.2 SAMPLING FRAME
- 5.5.3 SAMPLING METHOD
- 5.5.4 THE SAMPLING SIZE
- 5.6 DATA COLLECTION PLAN
- 5.6.1 QUANTITATIVE METHOD: SURVEY
- 5.7 DESIGN OF THE DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT
- 5.7.1 DEVELOPING THE QUESTIONNAIRE
- 5.7.2 QUESTIONNAIRE LAYOUT AND QUESTION TYPES
- 5.7.3 SECTIONS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
- 5.7.4 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF QUESTIONNAIRE
- 5.7.5 PRE-TESTING THE QUESTIONNAIRE
- 5.8 DATA PROCESSING
- 5.8.1 DATA PREPARATION
- 5.9 SUMMARY
- CHAPTER 6: RESEARCH RESULTS AND FINDINGS
- 6.1 INTRODUCTION
- 6.2 RESPONSE RATE
- 6.3 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
- 6.4 DESCRIPTIVE DATA
- 6.4.1 TYPES OF CRAFT RETAILERS
- 6.4.2 RESPONDENTS POSITION WITHIN THE CRAFT RETAILER
- 6.4.3 YEARS OF BUYING EXPERIENCE
- 6.4.4 BUYING CRAFT PRODUCTS
- 6.4.5 YEARS OF ORGANISATION OPERATION
- 6.4.6 STAGES IN THE BUYING PROCESS
- 6.4.7 SUPPLIER SELECTION CRITERIA
- 6.4.8 SOURCES OF INFORMATION USED BY CRAFT RETAILERS
- 6.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESES RESULTS
- 6.5.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
- 6.5.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
- 6.5.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
- 6.5.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
- 6.5.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
- 6.6 SUMMARY
- CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
- 7.1 INTRODUCTION
- 7.2 MAIN FINDINGS RELATING TO THE BUYING PROCESS
- 7.2.1 CONCLUSIONS OF AND IMPLICATIONS REGARDING THE MAIN FINDINGS OF THE STAGES IN THE BUYING PROCESS
- 7.3 MAIN FINDINGS RELATING TO SUPPLIER SELECTION CRITERIA
- 7.3.1 CONCLUSIONS OF AND IMPLICATIONS REGARDING THE MAIN FINDINGS OF SUPPLIER SELECTION CRITERIA
- 7.4 MAIN FINDINGS RELATING TO INFORMATION SOURCES
- 7.4.1 CONCLUSIONS OF AND IMPLICATIONS REGARDING THE MAIN FINDINGS OF INFORMATION SOURCES
- 7.5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CRAFT PRODUCERS MARKETING STRATEGY FORMULATIONS
- 7.5.1 ENVRIONMENTAL SCANNING
- 7.5.2 TARGET MARKETING AND POSITIONING
- 7.5.3 CRAFT PRODUCT STRATEGY
- 7.5.4 CRAFT PRODUCER COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
- 7.5.5 CRAFT PRODUCER PRICING STRATEGY
- 7.5.6 CRAFT PRODUCERS DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
- 7.5.7 CRAFT PRODUCER AND BUYER-SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS
- 7.6 LIMITATIONS
- 7.6.1 LITERATURE LIMITATIONS
- 7.6.2 EMPRIRICAL LIMITATIONS
- 7.7 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
- 7.8 ACADEMIC CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDY
- 7.9 EVALUATION OF THE OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESES SET VS THE RESEARCH RESULTS
- 7.1 SUMMARY
- LIST OF REFERENCES
