Assessing the potential of a niche market for wool products in South Africa

Abstract

Ethical consumerism has been on the rise since the early 1900s; thus, increasing discerning consumers. Consumers place greater importance on intangible attributes such as the origin and societal and environmental impacts of the products. Studies focus on agricultural niche marketing in the South African and sub-Saharan context, but none focus on niche markets within the South African sheep wool industry. In this study, we investigated the niche market for local, handmade and socially responsible wool products in South Africa. Our methodology included interviews, a choice-based conjoint analysis and a multinomial logit model. The results revealed that South African high-income consumers preferred locally produced wool products over imported wool products. This was followed by consumers' preferring handmade over machine-made products as well as socially responsible wool products over those that provided no information on social responsibility. The existence of a niche market in South Africa was demonstrated when consumers preferred ethical wool products. We defined consumers' demographic and psychographic factors for a niche market. The findings can assist the South African wool industry and small-scale woolgrowers to identify niche markets for wool products by considering intangible attributes.