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I. Introduction
The crafts industry and the retail crafts market in Kentucky is thriving. This represents a growing opportunity for increased employment for thousands of Kentuckians who have sufficient native ability and who lack viable alternative employment opportunities in their communities. However, many producers as well as retailers of arts and crafts products are only marginally profitable. A recent analysis of craft retailers in the Appalachian region found that the average profitability of craft specialty stores was significantly lower than for gift shops in general [3]. There is evidence that poor marketing practices are often the problem [8]. This study focuses on some patterns of consumer purchases of Kentucky crafts. Little is known about the consumers of these products, who they are, their preferences and the effectiveness of different promotional strategies currently used by retail shops, craft fairs and other types of retail sellers. In particular, we investigated 1) the use of different information sources by consumers (including advertising), 2) factors which influence the choice of where to shop and 3) buyer characteristics and preferences in the arts and crafts market.
The total value of Kentucky arts and crafts production in 19B5 was estimated to be over 20 million dollars (5). Retail sales may be considerably greater than this amount, taking into consideration the retail mark-up and the fact that non-Kentucky crafts are sold by many retailers. Also, a growing percentage of Kentucky crafts are sold outside of the state. There is á total national crafts market of perhaps $4 to $5 billion, and the industry was estimated to be growing at an annual rate of 20% in the early 80's (7) [11] [15]. Kentucky's share of that market is thus under 1%. Although the overall growth rate has slowed in the last two or three years, there is substantial room and opportunity for increasing the state's participation in this national market. Crafts have been considered a vital part of Kentucky's economic development for some time, and a number of important initiatives have been taken to stimulate this industry and make it more viable. During the administration of John Y. Brown (1979-1983), the Governor and Mrs. Brown were instrumental in promoting events designed to bring media attention to Kentucky's craft industry. The following administration...