Understanding The Effects Of Tactile Marketing On Preferences: A Case Study Of Alligator Hide

This project is an extension of the main project which investigated consumer preferences for alligator leather versus cow leather. Its focus is on novel markets, namely the small crafting market, as a potential source of demand for alligator hide leather. The Discrete Choice Experiment was designed to elicit preferences for different types of leathers in kits to create small items including keychains, earrings, and luggage tags. One important limitation of the study is it did not provide respondents with the opportunity to physically interact with the items. The main purpose of this specific UROP-funded project is to extend the existing research design to test how tactile/sensory experience affects preferences. Models are run by Juyoung Yoo, with the manuscript below prepared by Daniel Harris, who also participated in most of the events where data collection occurred. The original grant proposed collecting 200 responses. Despite going to 11 events, presently we have only been able to collect 120 usable responses for analysis. We are scheduled to go to the Louisiana Outdoor Expo at Lamar Dixon in Gonzales, Louisiana. This event occurs from March 15th – 17th, 2024 and will be attended by several thousand people, so we feel confident that by its end, we will have collected 200 responses. Regardless, the results presented below based on 120 tell a compelling story. Preferences for cowhide and alligator hide leather products change with tactile experience. This suggests that demand for unfamiliar materials in novel markets may be improved by allowing a tactile experience. It is expected that the results of this analysis will be similar once the final round of responses are collected in March.