| Rapid change in fashion and style, rise in imports, and ongoing reforms in the world market have rendered information about prices, quality, country of origin, and consumer profiles critical for designing effective marketing strategies. The general objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of consumer demand for cotton apparel in the United States. Better understanding of the domestic demand for cotton apparel could help improve the competitiveness of the U.S. apparel industry.;This study used a two-step estimation procedure that involved a decision and a censored demand system models for nine categories of apparel. The results of the decision model indicated that garments' own prices, age, female employment, gender, regions, and presence of children greatly influence purchase decisions.;The unconditional marginal values and elasticity estimates were derived from their respective conditional and probability values. Probabilities of purchasing male shirts, skirts, and dresses were positive and own-price inelastic. Meanwhile probabilities of purchasing female jeans, male jeans, male shorts, male slacks, female slacks, and female shorts were negative and own-price elastic. The probability of purchasing one garment, generally, did not respond to price changes of another garment.;Male shirts, male shorts, female slacks, skirts, and dresses were necessary goods, while female jeans, male jeans, male slacks, and female shorts were luxury goods. Demands for male shirts, female jeans, male jeans, skirts, and dresses were price-inelastic and demands for male shorts, male slacks, female slacks, and female shorts were price-elastic. Inelastic cross-price elasticities indicated that the effects of pricing policies would be limited to the targeted products.;Higher expenditure shares were generally associated with higher levels of cotton blends. The extent to which expenditure share increased, due to higher cotton blends, varied with respect to garments. The results further suggested that marketing strategies solely focused on product origins might not increase market share for domestically produced apparel.;The study identified sources of demand growth based on the age, race, and gender of the buyer. The unconditional marginal demographic effects indicated that marketing strategies that target middle-age consumers, women, and African-American households might be effective. |
