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Consumers are influenced by a number of societal, cultural and moral factors, and textiles designers use market research to find out about the wants and needs of their target market. Consumers have rights in law, and you need to know what these are.
Textiles products need to be maintained, and manufacturers use standard symbols to show consumers how to do this. Health and safety are important to textiles designers and manufacturers, as all products must conform to safety standards to ensure they are safe to make and safe to use.
Consumer choice and consumer rights
Designers have to think carefully about the needs and wants of their target market, and investigating what consumers value and desire in a product is called market researchmarket research: Market research is the gathering of data or information concerning consumer opinions about a product or service. Consumer values and choices are influenced by societal, cultural, moral and environmental issues.
Societal, cultural, and moral factors that impact on textile design.
| Societal / cultural / moral factor | Impact |
|---|---|
| Lifestyle and fashion Gender images and peer group pressure. Fashionable celebrities. Brand loyalty | Development of new street fashions, style and colour trends. Development of new marketing strategies |
| Globalisation Availability of cheap labour in developing world. New global market for textile fashions. Increasing awareness of textiles from other cultures. Consumer reaction against 'corporate' trends | Textiles costs driven down in a global marketplace for textiles. Growing demand for traditional and 'ethnic' textiles as well as modern ones |
| Environmental concern Worries about pollution of rivers and beaches from textile processes. Growing support for recycling | Development of new recycled fabrics (eg Polartec, Tencel). Preference for higher-cost traditional fabrics (eg wool) over synthetic ones. Enforcement of laws to protect the environment |
Consumer rights
Consumers, including consumers of textile products, have rights protected by law.
Three key pieces of consumer rights legislation
| Type of legislation | How it protects you | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Trade Descriptions Act | Statements about the product must be true | A 'waterproof' product must not let in the rain |
| Sale of Goods Act | The product must be of satisfactory quality | The product must perform as expected, eg it should not fall apart after being worn only once |
| Consumer Safety Act | Nightwear Safety Regulations protect children between three months and 13 years old from fire hazards | Children's nightwear including threads and decoration must carry a permanent label to show that they meet the flammability [flammability: The extent to which something burns with a flame. ] standard |
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