Consumers of Clothing from Alternative Trading Organizations: Societal Attitudes and Purchase Evaluative Criteria

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Abstract
Consumers of ethnic clothing from alternative trading organizations (ATOs) were compared with non-purchasers on their values and attitudes. Additionally, a more detailed analysis was undertaken to identify the evaluative criteria used by ethnic clothing consumers as they make decisions to buy from ATOs. Clothing Purchasers (n = 192), Other Product Purchasers (n = 100), and Non-Purchasers (n = 84) from the mailing list of Pueblo to People (PTP), an ATO that imports handcrafted products from Latin America, completed a self-administered mail questionnaire. Multiple discriminant analysis identified that the variable most differentiating the three groups was quality. Compared with Non-Purchasers and Other Purchasers, Clothing Purchasers described Pueblo to People's clothing as being higher quality. Additionally, Clothing Purchasers had stronger belief in the work performed by ATOs, were more concerned about Latin American people, had traveled more extensively in Latin America, and were more highly educated than Non-Purchasers and Other Purchasers. Recommendations were made on strategies that ATOs might use to increase sales. Finally, many research topics, aimed toward thoroughly examining the alternative trading marketing system, were proposed.