Market Research

[hustlenflo22]

For a project at work, a friend and I have decided to do a market research project on tees. As I know you guys are a great source of valuable opinions, I ask that you comment (intelligently) on the following:

1. What are your opinions on eco-friendly tees?
2. How many of you actually own an organic / ecologically friendly tee?
3. What do you find a reasonable price for an eco-friendly tee? (please provide an actual amount / price range where possible)

All of your responses are a great help, feel free to comment generally

 

[xchen]

1. Eco-friendly tees are OK to me, but I would not be willing to pay a higher price for them. Quality can not be sacrificed for eco-friendliness as far as I am concerned.
2. I owned an AA organic tee at one point, but because I liked the color of it, not because of environmental reasons.
3. I'd be willing to spend no more than $15, but if it was a brand I felt was worth additional premium I'd go maybe as high as $35.

 

[keykoo]

1. There is no added value. I would only get an eco friendly tee if it was the same price as one I wanted and everything was exactly the same.
2. Nope
3. Same price as normal tees

 

[breakz]

Originally Posted by keykoo

1. There is no added value. I would only get an eco friendly tee if it was the same price as one I wanted and everything was exactly the same.
2. Nope
3. Same price as normal tees

Same answers for me.

 

[chronoaug]

1. I'm not that interested in buying a shirt because it's eco friendly. It's simply an added bonus.
2. Yes. Michael J Krell stuff is organic and i'd say eco-friendly. His bamboo and his cotton ones.
3. I'd pay $5-85 for a tee depending on the brand, construction, fit, and design. Being eco friendly wouldn't make me pay more though

 

[izlat]

Here are some answers:

1. Love them. Seem to be getting holes in them after a while, so I guess they don't hold up as well. Luckily, most of the time I go for the "F!@# if I care" look so no problem for me.

2. Obviously, I have some

3. Can't say I've paid under $30 for one, and top spent was probably $100 - give or take. A T would have to be something really special for me to pay say $150, and even then I'm not too sure I'd get it

Good luck with the project

 

[dusty]

Originally Posted by keykoo

1. There is no added value. I would only get an eco friendly tee if it was the same price as one I wanted and everything was exactly the same.
2. Nope
3. Same price as normal tees

+1

 

[Doctor Quack]

1. As a general concept, I'm not sure how I feel about eco-friendly and/or organic Ts. Supposedly they're better for the environment, but I'm curious what sort of concessions companies, organizations, groups, etc. make in order to produce their products without pesticides or chemicals or synthetic dyes. Do cotton-growers need to plant more cotton (thus using and clearing more land) in order to insulate themselves from less bountiful pesticide-free plantings? Do they use more invasive plant species that have greater resistant to disease but require more attention and resources? Do their processes merely shift the environmental damage from one sector of production to another (or cause other problems not directly associate with the environment)? Other sorts of concerns should apply. So, I'm unsure whether I can believe eco-friendly Ts indeed benefit the environment or whether the designation merely serves as a (misguided?) marketing gimmick.
2. I don't think I own any eco-friendly/organic/etc. Ts
3. If the environmental benefits were actually there, I could understand paying a slight premium (say $20 retail), but I couldn't justify paying twice the amount (or more) of the "typical" basic T-shirt for another simply because of its dubious environmental benefits, especially if it were also of inferior quality or construction.

 

[Arethusa]

1. I'd buy them.
2. I don't own any. I do, however, own some fair trade stuff, including a pair of fair trade chuckalikes.
3. I'd be willing to pay a $5 premium. I'm not willing to put up with Edun tshirt prices, but I'm not in the market where I'd pay near-Edun tshirt prices for conventionally grown, slave labor assembled designer tshirts, either.

Basically, I care about about this stuff. I would prefer all of my clothes (and all of my food) be produced organically. But I probably care about fair labor practices first, and I generally find it silly to do one and completely ignore the other. I'll readily admit that a lot of stuff I own probably ignores both.

I am willing to pay more for this. I bought a pair of fair trade chuckalikes for $50 when I could have bought chucks produced by Indonesian slave labor for $30. Really, chucks are ****** shoes, and if it had been a pair of fair trade chuckalikes with an actual insole and padding inside, I would have gladly paid more (and I have; I recently bought a pair of Blackspots to replace them now that they're completely falling apart, even though I can't stand Adbuster's hypocritical silliness). But there is a limit to how much more I am willing to pay (I'm a student and I really don't have much money), and my general willingness to pay for tshirts really stops at AA wholesale. So while I'd pay more, I can't afford vanity market gouging that usually comes with this stuff. And I won't buy stuff that's poorly made or cut, which I guess makes me a self absorbed consumer. Welcome to the herd.

Generally, I think there's a way to do this well, and most companies don't. But, ultimately, this is really something the market is inherently incapable of dealing with and requires regulation.

 

[cldpsu]

arthusa, I remember you referencing anthropology once and now standing up for fair labor. What do you study?

 

[Arethusa]

Political anthropology and Middle Eastern studies, or at least that's the idea once I transfer (delayed until the spring; long story).

 

[cldpsu]

That's cool. I just graduated with a B.A. in anthropology, geared more toward cultural. I did an internship last summer organizing migrant workers in Phoenix, AZ. Construction workers and airport TSA to be exact.

 

[Spintherism]

I'd probably be willing to pay an extra 5-10% for a vague notion of eco-friendliness, or 25-30% for a very credible eco-friendliness. It's hard to give a specific price because that would vary hugely with fit and quality. I agree with Arethusa though that fair wages and good working conditions are more important (and probably do more to benefit the environment in the long run). And don't forget location either. It's better to use locally produced inorganic cotton than organic cotton shipped in from the other side of the world.

Originally Posted by cldpsu

That's cool. I just graduated with a B.A. in anthropology, geared more toward cultural. I did an internship last summer organizing migrant workers in Phoenix, AZ. Construction workers and airport TSA to be exact.
+1 on the anthropology. It's a good excuse to waste time lurking on vaguely cultural fora such as this one. (Buying **** isn't irresponsible budgeting, it's a necessary part of the participant-observer experience.)

 

[hustlenflo22]

Responses have all been very helpful, looking to get a lot more though--
Please continue to respond to the original questions

 

[batorizer]

i'm with dr quack on this one. I have a hard time buying into this whole eco-madness garbage in the first place (ethanol, what a horrible idea). I'd rather make sure the workers are getting fair wages. so...

1. gimmick
2. no
3. same or less than a regular t