According to the NPD poll, "value" is the main purchase influencer when it comes to this year's back-to-school season, followed by "required by school", "child wanted it", "replacement item", and "fashionable and trendy."
"The quest for 'value' remains very high on the reason-to-purchase list, due to the increase in fuel prices and the impact it has on the mid-to-lower income brackets," said Cohen.
NPD collected information for the back-to-school spending poll between July 28 through August 11, 2005 using NPD's online consumer panel. Approximately 26,941 females and 8,272 males participated in this poll.
Since 1967, The NPD Group has provided reliable and comprehensive sales and marketing information for a wide range of industries. Today more than 1,300 manufacturers and retailers rely on NPD to help them better understand their customers, product categories, distribution channels and competition in order to help guide their business and positively impact sales and revenues.
The NPD Group provides global sales and marketing information that helps our clients make more informed, fact-based decisions in order to optimize their businesses. Many of the world's most successful companies rely on us for insight on what is selling, where and why so that they can understand and leverage the latest trends.