The Influence of Uncertainty on Ratings of Information Importance by Retail Apparel Buyers

The study examined retail apparel buyers' use of information sources when uncertain about specific product characteristics. Sheth's (1973) industrial buyer behavior model was used as the conceptual framework Questionnaires were mailed to 442 retail apparel buyers located in the West South Central region of the United States. A total of 212 usable questionnaires were returned, yielding a 49.5 % response rate. Buyers rated the importance of six information sources (upper management, buying office, another buyer/peer, sales representative, trade publications, competition) when uncertain about five product characteristics (quality, anticipated margin, expected sales, consumer demand, aesthetics). Analysis of variance and Tukey's post hoc comparisons were used for data analysis. When uncertain about the product characteristics-anticipated margin, expected sales, and consumer demand-buyers rated upper management as significantly more important than the other sources. Another buyer /peer was significantly more important to buyers when uncertain about quality and aesthetics. Results support Sheth's (1973) proposition that buyers will conduct the information search process differently based on their expectations.