Shopping Motives for Mail Catalog Shopping

Abstract

This study examines the role of functional and nonfunctional motives in influencing preferences for catalog shopping by using a mail survey conducted on a national sample of U.S. catalog shoppers. Results provide evidence supporting the influence of nonfunctional as well as functional motives on catalog patronage and indicate the importance of examining a wide variety of motives in retail patronage studies. Functional motives including perceived value, order services, and convenience were the strongest motives influencing catalog shopping for two different product classes. Several motives identified as important for catalog patronage by previous research were not as strong as these motives. In addition, two nonfunctional motives related to company responsiveness and reputation were comparable in strength to several functional motives.