Copyright by Ekaterina Mikhailovna Konovalova 2010

The Report Committee for Ekaterina Mikhailovna Konovalova Certifies that this is the approved version of the following report:

Testing consumer preferences for men's clothing (on the example of

Skidmark underwear)

APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE:

Supervisor: Gary Wilcox

Kapil Jain

Testing consumer preferences for men's clothing (on the example of Skidmark underwear)

by

Ekaterina Mikhailovna Konovalova, B.A., M.A.

Report Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

The University of Texas at Austin May 2010

Abstract

Testing consumer preferences for men's clothing (on the example of Skidmark underwear)

Ekaterina Mikhailovna Konovalova, M.A. The University of Texas at Austin, 2010

Supervisor: Gary Wilcox

This paper examines consumer preferences regarding men’s underwear and aimed to assist the owner of the Skidmark brand with recommendations how to improve existing product and to extend product portfolio. Primary and secondary data was used in this study to overview the industry and to identify market trends and consumers preferences. Two data collection activities are discussed, ten one-on-one interviews and one focus group which revealed consumer’s reactions and feedback regarding Skidmark exciting and proposed products. Recommendations for production, price and promotion are given; limitations of the study discussed.

iv Table of Contents

List of Exhibits...... vii

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 1

Chapter 1 Product Overview and Rationale for the Study ...... 2

Chapter 2 Background and Industrial Data...... 4 E-Commerce Competitive Review ...... 10

Chapter 3 Research Method, Design, and Proposed Analysis...... 17

Chapter 4 Findings...... 19 Implications...... 28

Chapter 5 Conclusion, Recommendations and Limitations...... 33 Limitations ...... 34

Appendix A 37

Appendix B 38

Appendix C 41

Appendix D 42

Bibliography 99

Vita 101

v

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1: The most popular US brands of male underwear and percentage of men who bought at least one pair within 12 months in 2008 ...... 5 Exhibit 2: Percent of Purchase Occurrences of Non Hanes, Fruit and Loom or Jockey underwear among US males, Mintel (Dec. 2008) ...... 6 Exhibit 3: Percent of Total Purchase Occurrences in Specialty Stores/ Internet/ Direct Mail or Other...... 7 Exhibit 4: Where men's underwear purchased, by gender, September 2008, source Mintel, base: 1,422 adults aged 18+ with internet access who bought men's underwear in the past 12 months ...... 7 Exhibit 5: Number of men’s underwear items purchased, by age, April 2007-June 2008...... 8 Exhibit 6: Number of pairs of men's underwear purchased, by age, September 2008 ...... 8 Exhibit 7: Reasons to purchase male underwear by gender ...... 9

Exhibit 8: Monthly visits in the U.S. for the last twelve months of www.hanes.com ...... 10 Exhibit 9: U.S. online demographics, www.hanes.com ...... 11

Exhibit 10: Monthly visits in the U.S. for the last twelve months of www.jockey.com ...... 12 Exhibit 11: U.S. online demographics, www.jockey.com...... 12

Exhibit 12: Monthly visitors in the U.S. for the last 12months of www.fruit.com ...... 13 Exhibit 13: U.S. online demographics, www. fruit.com...... 13 Exhibit 14: Monthly visitors in the U.S. for the last twelve months of www.spencersonline.com ...... 14 Exhibit 15: U.S. online demographics, www. spencersonline.com...... 15 Exhibit 16: Monthly visitors in the U.S. for the last twelve months of www.aussiebum.com ...... 16 Exhibit 17: U.S. online demographics, www.aussiebum.com...... 16 Exhibit 18: Skidmark Ego-Booster, long yellow measure tape...... 19 Exhibit 19: Skidmark Ego-Booster, plain ruler design...... 19 Exhibit 20: Current Skidmark boxer briefs...... 20

vi Introduction

The following paper examines consumer preferences for men's clothing on the

example of Skidmark underwear. Chapter one has a background information about the

product and rationale to conduct this study. Chapter two contains marketing data about

consumer shopping habits, brand preferences, frequency of male underwear purchases

and reasons to buy. In addition, this chapter includes an e-commerce competitive review

for the major underwear brands in the U.S. such as Hanes, Fruit in the Loom, and Jockey,

a popular brand in American gay community Aussiebum, and an overview of the website

and online demographics of one of the largest novelty chain of stores, Spencer’s.

Chapter three talks about design and methodology of the study. Chapter four

reflects the findings from the interviews and focus group supported by the quotes of the

participants. Chapter five provides recommendations for production, positioning, price,

and promotion strategies for Skidmark underwear. In addition, limitations and implications for the future research are discussed in this chapter.

1 Chapter 1 - Product Overview and Rationale for the Study

For many years people have lived with stains in their underwear that even the best detergent is unable to remove. It is especially relevant to the male underwear products

since female consumer market has a plethora of hygienic products preventing women’s underwear from stains. According to the laundry habits survey by Coin Laundry

Association (2005), 70 percent of respondents who said they were solely responsible for the household laundry chore were women and only eight percent said they shared the job

equally. In addition, multiple studies identified that women have better hygiene habits

than man including bathing (Cohen-Mansfield and Jensen, 2005), washing hands (Harris

Interactive, 2005), and mouth care habits (Almas et al., 2003). Men tend to pay less

attention to routine house chores including laundry and inevitably have conflicting perspectives with the opposite sex. As Stephen Fried expressed men’s psychology in his

“Husbandry” book, “What I would never tell her, of course, is that while I really don’t remember that I shouldn’t let my socks decorate the floor, I also don’t really care. Sure, I care that matters to her. But to be perfectly frank, I doubt I’m going to really care myself or even understand why it matters to her. When it comes to socks or dishes, Diane knows

I prefer a good, messy pileup and, after a week (or month) or so, a really good cleaning.

For situations where bacteria and decay aren’t involved, well, what’s wrong with tidying up once a year?” (Fried, 2007, p. 3).

Nevertheless, these hygiene habits often result in embarrassment than men experience when their intimate partners discover stains on underwear. Skidmark was designed to solve this delicate problem for men and disguise stains on underwear lining. 2 Currently, there is only one boxer briefs design available on the market with size range from S (Small) to XXL (Double Extra Large) for adult males and S (Small) to L (Large) for boys. Skidmark company plans to expand product portfolio and will need to define consumer preferences of male underwear, as well as to determine what factors affect purchase decisions, what distribution channels preferred by Skidmark target audience, who makes the actual purchase, how often men buy underwear and what are the most important characteristics of the underwear for Skidmark consumers. In addition,

Skidmark plans to launch one new design of boxer briefs for adult men. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to test the reaction of Skidmark target audience on proposed designs, collect feedback regarding designs and methods of promotion and recommend the most popular design for production, price, and future promotion methods.

3 Chapter 2 - Background and Industrial Data

Men’s underwear is a very stable, $5billion industry (Mintel, 2008). Thus, sales

for the men’s underwear category grew from $4.2 billion in 2003 to an estimated $4.9

billion in 2008, yet when inflation is taken into account, category sales declined by 2%.

Based on the data from U.S. Census Bureau's Economic Censuses, Annual Retail Trade

Surveys, Monthly Retail Trade Surveys, and the Annual Revision of Monthly Retail and

Food Services Sales; Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Consumer Expenditure Survey,

Mintel forecasts sales at current prices to grow from nearly $4.9 billion to nearly $5.5

billion, a 3% decline at inflation-adjusted prices. Reasons for stagnant sales include: A

flood of inexpensive private label products from China and Americans wearing their

underwear longer, purchasing it less often, and buying less-expensive options at discount

retailers. Among buyers, about 10% of respondents purchase designer brands, and only

about one in four always look for the “cheapest kind (I) can find,” suggesting that a

meaningful percentage of Americans are still willing to pay for premium brands (Mintel,

2008).

Alan Greenspan, an American economist and ex-Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States, used men's underwear index as a Bellwether for the economy, taking

its decline as a sign of weakness in the market (Mui, 2009). Although that industry is

currently showing weakness, there is an evident growth in the Boxer and Boxer-Brief

categories of the market. According to Mintel, boxers and boxer-brief sales have been up

17.5% and 16.8%, from 2006-2008 respectively. These to categories combined make up over 40% of the total male underwear industry (Mintel, 2008). 4 As with most mature industries, there are clear industry leaders. According to

Mintel’s 2008 survey of 1,402 men with internet access who have purchased underwear

over the last 12 months, 55%, 47% and 21% had purchased at least one pair of Hanes,

Fruit of the Loom and Jockey, respectively. These were the top three brands purchased by all men of all ages.

Most other brands are purchased on a much smaller scale. For example, while

55% of all men surveyed had purchased at least one pair of Hanes underwear on average, all other 20 known or unknown brands had an average purchase occurrence of only 5%.

The spread of the most popular brands and percent of men who bought them is presented in Exhibit 1.

Exhibit 1 – The most popular US brands of male underwear and percentage of men who bought at least one pair within 12 months in 2008

While this is a full order of magnitude smaller than the big brand names, there is a niche for novelty underwear that can appeal to esthetic needs or solve any kinds of intimate problems. Thus, according to the concept of the long tail (Anderson, 2006), a retail company can choose a niche strategy of selling a large number of unique items in 5 relatively small quantities – usually in addition to selling fewer popular items in large

quantities.

According to the Mintel’s data, while there was no clear presence of any outlier

race demographic that tended to purchase non-Hanes/Fruit of the Loom/Jockey

underwear, there was an interesting trend in the age distribution of men surveyed (see

Exhibit 2). Men between the ages of 18-44 showed a higher tendency to purchase non-

Hanes/Fruit of the Loom/Jockey underwear. Men between the ages of 25-34 showed a

very high tendency to purchase these products. While 46% of all purchase occurrences

noted by surveyors belonged to non-Hanes/Fruit of the Loom/Jockey underwear, this

number was almost 60% for men ages 24-34. While Hanes, Fruit of the Loom and Jockey

account for the lion’s share of the market, the total potential market size for novelty

underwear is around $1.2Billion. Although a majority of Americans tend to view men’s

underwear as commodities, about 10% of buyers purchase designer brands, and about

three of four surveyed people do not always purchase the least-expensive alternatives.

This suggests that there is still a market for more premium products.

Exhibit 2 – Percent of Purchase Occurrences of Non Hanes, Fruit and Loom or Jockey underwear among US males, Mintel (Dec. 2008)

6 In addition, according to this survey, the majority of American men shop at the department stores and less than 25% across all age groups buy underwear online, by catalogue or go to the specialty store (see Exhibit 3) and only 7% of men buy underwear online (See Exhibit 4).

Exhibit 3 – Percent of Total Purchase Occurrences in Specialty Stores/ Internet/ Direct Mail or Other.

All Male Female Channel % % % Mass merchant, such as Wal-Mart or Target 70 64 78 Department store, such as Macy's, 35 38 31 Dillard’s, Nordstrom or Bloomingdales Specialty clothing store, such as Gap or Old 14 15 12 Navy Factory outlet 9 10 7 Dollar Store 7 6 7 Internet 6 7 4 Direct mail 2 3 1 Other 7 7 7

Exhibit 4 - Where men's underwear purchased, by gender, September 2008, source Mintel, base: 1,422 adults aged 18+ with internet access who bought men's underwear in the past 12 months

7 Examining average purchasing frequency of purchase underwear, Mintel,

collaboratively with Experian Simmons NCS/NHCS surveyed 4,561 males aged 18+ who

have purchased underwear items in the past 12 months (in April 2007-June 2008). The participants’ pool was representative enough to project the results of the study to the US population. The majority of the participants indicated that they purchased more than four

pairs of underwear in the last twelve months with the highest percentage among older

population (see Exhibit 5).

All 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Number of items % % % % % % % 4 or more 66 54 56 69 70 69 71 2-3 27 33 32 26 22 27 23 1 8 13 13 5 8 4 6 Average # of underwear items 3.4 3.1 3.1 3.5 3.4 3.5 3.5 bought in the last 12 months

Exhibit 5 - Number of men’s underwear items purchased, by age, April 2007-June 2008 (4,561 males aged 18+, Source: Mintel/Experian Simmons NCS/NHCS: Spring 2008 Adult Full Year—POP)

Another Mintel’s study with 1,422 adults aged 18+ with internet access who

bought men's underwear in the past 12 months revealed that the most popular types of

underwear among young men (18-24 y.o.) are undershirts, briefs and boxers. The next age group (men between 25-34 y.o.) buy more undershirts, boxers, and boxer briefs than

any other type of underwear (Exhibit 6).

All 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Mean # of pairs bought Mean Mean Mean Mean Mean Mean Mean Undershirts 4.8 5.6 5.5 4.3 4.8 4.5 3.9 Briefs 4.1 1.8 3 3.8 4.7 6 5.2 Boxers 4 5 5.4 4.1 3.8 2.7 5 Boxer-briefs 2.7 3.4 4 3.3 2.2 1.4 1 Thermal underwear 0.7 0.6 1 0.8 1 0.5 0.3

8 Exhibit 6 - Number of pairs of men's underwear purchased, by age, September 2008 (1,422 adults aged 18+ with internet access who bought men's underwear in the past 12 months, Source: Mintel)

The same study unveiled a several common reasons why American men and women buy male underwear nowadays. Only 13% of all participants buy underwear as a gift (185 people out of 1,422) and 6% of them are men and 23% are women. This study

suggests that only few men inclined to buy underwear on impulse. Another interesting

implication from this study is that about 10% of females out of 811 participants confessed that they purchase male underwear fro themselves (Exhibit 7).

All Male Female Reasons to purchase % % % For myself 57 92 10 Shopping for a spouse, partner or son 39 7 83 They were on sale so you stocked up 25 27 22 As a gift for someone 13 6 23 As an impulse, you saw something you liked and 9 11 8 bought it Other 1 2 1

Exhibit 7– reasons to purchase male underwear by gender (base: 1,422 adults aged 18+ with internet access who bought men's underwear in the past 12 months, study Number of pairs of male underwear purchased, by age, September 2008, Source: Mintel)

This industry overview helps to define a potential niche and market size for new underwear products by Skidmark as well as can be helpful defining its differentiation strategy.

9 E-commerce Competitive Review

As was mentioned earlier, Hanes, Fruit in the Loom, and Jockey are the leaders in

the US market of male underwear. Hanes.com offers a lot of deals under $10 per pack of

three, four and even five pieces of underwear. Website offers a free delivery for a

purchase of $50 and higher.

According to Quantcast, one of the largest tracking websites, hanes.com is a top

10,000 site that reaches over 295K U.S. monthly people. The site appeals to a largely

female, skewing older audience. The typical visitor visits sierratradingpost.com and

shops at boscovs.com. A diagram of monthly U.S. visitors for the last twelve months

represented in Exhibit 8 and U.S. demographics of online visitors outlined in Exhibit 9.

Exhibit 8 - Monthly visits in the U.S. for the last twelve months of www.hanes.com

10

Exhibit 9 – U.S. online demographics, www.hanes.com

Jockey is another big player on the male underwear market. Thus, www.jockey.com partnered with Amazon.com and offers free shipping for the orders at

$75 and more. This site reaches over 121K U.S. monthly people according to Quantcast.

The site is popular among a more affluent, slightly more male than female audience. The typical visitor wears Hanes, visits sierratradingpost.com, and shops at Cost Plus.

Information about U.S. visitors for the last twelve months and U.S. demographics of online visitors is presented in Exhibits 10 and 11.

11 Exhibit 10 - Monthly visits in the U.S. for the last twelve months of www.jockey.com

Exhibit 11 – U.S. online demographics, www.jockey.com

Fruit of the Loom website (www.fruit.com) has a description and pictures of the

merchandize but does not provide any price information or purchasing options. Quantcast suggests that this site reaches approximately 37,510 U.S. monthly people. The site

12 attracts a slightly female slanted audience. The typical visitor shops at Office Depot.

Website U.S. monthly visitors and online demographics are reflected in Exhibits 12 and

13.

Exhibit 12 - Monthly visitors in the U.S. for the last twelve months of www.fruit.com

Exhibit 13 – U.S. online demographics, www. fruit.com

13 In addition, one of the largest retailers of the novelty items, Spencer’s, has a large

selection of apparel and intimate products that can be purchased online. Quancast

suggests that www. spencersonline.com reaches a fairly high number of visitors - over

478K U.S. monthly people. The site attracts a teen and young adult, somewhat female

audience. It can be explained that young people might be more comfortable browsing and

making purchases online versus going to the actual store and buy intimate products. The typical visitor shops at Hot Topic and visits eastbay.com. The statistics of the U.S. monthly visitors and demographics represented in Exhibits 14 and 15.

Exhibit 14 - Monthly visitors in the U.S. for the last twelve months of www.spencersonline.com

14

Exhibit 15 – U.S. online demographics, www. spencersonline.com

Lastly, an Australian company Aussiebum (www.aussiebum.com) operates globally and sells trendy underwear mostly online. This brand is well-known among gay community and is considered as prestigious. One of bisexual interviewees for this study referred to this brand as “they have a lot of variety, I think. And they cater to a larger client base. And Aussiebum… when I think of male underwear and something that’s respected as a brand, Aussiebum is one… And people don’t mind wearing it, because it’s respected. It draws attention and other people like that brand” (Caucasian male, 21 y.o., personal communication, November 2, 2009.)

According to Quantcast, Aussiebum website reaches approximately 14,362 U.S. monthly people. The site attracts a heavily male audience. Monthly visitors and online demographics are presented in Exhibits 16 and 17.

15

Exhibit 16 - Monthly visitors in the U.S. for the last twelve months of www.aussiebum.com

Exhibit 17 – U.S. online demographics, www.aussiebum.com

Industry overview, market data and trends, and competitive review will be taken

into consideration in the recommendations section of this report, tied with interviewees’

recommendations for Skidmark promotion strategies. 16 Chapter 3 - Research Method, Design, and Proposed Analysis

To obtain first-hand information from the end consumer of Skidmark products,

two methods of data collection were used in the study: a focus group session and a set of

one-one-one interviews with male subjects between 21 and 35 years old. According to

the Skidmark company’s data, a typical Skidmark consumer is non-married white man in

middle twenties - early thirties with at least some degree of college education. Therefore,

in a recruitment process, a preference was given to non-married Caucasian males

between 21 and 35 years old pursuing college education or a college graduate. However,

30% of married men and non-white participants were included in the study to bring

insights and fresh perspective in a conversation.

Snowball sampling technique (Marshall, 1996) was used in recruitment of the participants for this study. Participants were recruited through personal network of the

investigator, including student population. However, there was no correlation between

students’ enrollment in classes, their majors and participation in the study. Participants

received an email from investigator with an invitation to participate in the study.

No monetary incentives or course credits were offered for participation. There

was no expectation that some of the potential participants are likely to be more fluent in a

language other than English. Therefore, all paperwork and conversations were carried out

in English language. Participation in the focus group and interviews was strictly

voluntary; all meetings were scheduled based on participants’ availability between

October 30 and November 15, 2009.

17 The total number of interviewees was eleven, focus group participants – six.

There were three multiracial participants, two African-American, and one Asian. In terms of sexual orientation, one homosexual man participated in a focus group and one bisexual man was interviewed one-on-one.

In the process of transcribing the data, one interview had to be discarded due to the low quality of the recording. The length of each interview varied from 20 to 51 minutes, with an average duration of half-an-hour; focus group – 35 minutes.

This study was submitted to an expedited IRB review and was approved by IRB on November (see appendix A,B, and F – IRB proposal, Participant Consent Form and

Letter of Approval).

18 Chapter 4 - Findings

The majority of men loved Ego Booster idea – they found it “a great idea,”

“funny,” “cool,” “awesome,” “hilarious,” and “the most eye-popping catchy designs” among novelty underwear. The most favorite design was the one with the long yellow measure tape (Exhibit 18).

Exhibit 18 – Skidmark Ego-Booster, long yellow measure tape design

Second choice was the plain black and white design with a long cartoon-looking ruler on it (Exhibit 19)

Exhibit 19 - Skidmark Ego-Booster,19 plain ruler design The existing Skidmark underwear (see Exhibit 20) evoked controversial reactions.

Exhibit 20 – Current Skidmark boxer briefs

Some people liked it, some did not. No one participant said that he would buy it

for himself. Three men said that they would wear it if they would receive it as a gift. For example, a few lines from the conversation with Asian-American straight man, 21 y.o.,

Communications student:

Would you like to have a Skidmark underwear for yourself the way it is? I wouldn’t mind, just because I don’t have too much preference.

Would you be, for example, embarrassed or proud when you dance or when people can see a band with the word Skidmar? What would be your reaction? I’ll be fine with it. I don’t think people will think too much about it.

However, not everyone expressed so much indifference when discussed the “anti-

soil” section. The most common response when men were shown an existing sample of

Skidmark underwear was: 20

That’s a good deal!.. That is so funny. That’s hilarious. Cool!.. The name is catch, for sure. I wouldn’t really wear it personally because I don’t want people know that I am wearing an anti-stain section. Usually it would be like I’d figure out how to clean myself up. But it is a novelty, novelty underwear, you know. I don’t know how women would feel about this if I would take off my cloths and I was wearing that, you know. (Caucasian straight man, 35 y.o., surgeon)

Men loved the idea of solving a problem with stains, liked the quality of the

Skidmark boxer briefs, but did not like the fact that the skidmark solution was so candidly printed on this underwear: “They (Skidmark boxer briefs) look like they are well-constructed. I think if it didn’t advertise that in fact it was Skidmark, I might wear them. It’s a good look” (Caucasian straight man, 28 y.o., college instructor). Some participants appreciated another design aspect: “Look at the surging – it’s great!..

Actually, it looked like it is inside-out because of the seems” (half white-half Hispanic, married, straight, computer programmer, 33 y.o., bachelor degree ). Participants believed that the idea of camouflaging stains the way it currently portrayed on the Skidmark underwear is too blatant:

Men’s underwear tends to be comical, but not so much in the face as others. I don’t think it would sell very well in men’s underwear store because men who go to these stores, if they are looking for something comical, it is usually in the pattern or it something on it that makes it funny – not so much writing. I think maybe this could be done – this anti- soil section. The first question that I had “Is that gonna be on there?” Because I wouldn’t want that there. Do you know what I mean? I think I have entirely different interpretation of this product if those words weren’t there, because that’s pretty obvious with the brand name Skidmark – you are gonna get your whity-tidies but it’s not gonna show, they are still sexy and Skidmark is funny. It could be marketed in that way. I just don’t think that this anti-soil section really needs to be there, because it’s pretty obvious, it’s in the brand name (Caucasian bisexual man, 21 y.o., a student).

21 Well, it’s not bad. It’s not exactly the most esthetically pleasing but it’s not something that I wouldn’t wear, but I think Skidmark across the top…I think it has like a joke to it that is kinda of cool. So, that’s all right, cause it’s kinda of depends on your sense of humor if you would like it or not. It’s not bad. I’d wear it. The Skidmark part – I don’t know about it…The actual “stain-resistant” part is questionable... (half white-half Hispanic, married, straight, computer programmer, 33 y.o., bachelor degree ).

Another concern was about the length of Skidmark boxer briefs:

I don’t really like how long it is. And the awkward black section What is awkward about it? I don’t know. It feels weird, it looks weird Just the black section looks weird…What would be better? Solid (Asian-American straight man, 21 y.o., Communications student)

Eventually, all participants suggested either to reduce or get rid of words “anti- soil” section in the existing Skidmark design:

Not repeat wording in that area. Maybe, just put it one time…repeating the words in this area makes me not to pay attention to what it saying. I’d probably pay more attention and actually put it somewhere where it’s more legible. Instead of repeating these words vertically, just put it one time horizontally because it is easier to read. And it’s just right there. Maybe put it right in the middle.” (half white-half Hispanic, married, straight, computer programmer, 33 y.o., bachelor degree ).

When the participants were asked how this underwear can be improved, they suggested the following ideas:

Maybe to have the same concept but have yellow or purple, or maybe color red on green, or blue on orange. They look like less serious, I guess. More like a joke. Right now it looks like serious slash joke. I don’t know whether you suppose to laugh at them or suppose to…you know… (Caucasian straight man, 29 y.o., Communications graduate student)

You can put a graphic of pieces of food or a little yellow sludge…You can put the words in this area (white) with words “this area is not so stain- resistant,” “soil-resistant area” is not so soil-resistant area. I think it could be probably sold more in a joke-type store. (half white-half Hispanic, married, straight, computer programmer, 33 y.o., bachelor degree ).

22 Well, I guess I like the idea that the text is all over the package. Some of the seam work might be irritating. So I don’t know whether the fit would be good, but... Seems like the text, the brand on the waistband. The waistband seems to be thick, maybe too thick. The actual brand marks are raised which is gonna be more abrasive and might actually catch on jeans and staff like that. So, that’s a consideration. The idea of having a black section that goes straight up my butt seems kind of inappropriate… A black ass-crack… (Caucasian straight man, 29 y.o., MBA student).

Addressing the question how much the participants are willing to pay for an existing sample, price ranged from $3 to $15, with the most frequent suggestion to pay

$8.When men were asked who would buy the existing Skidmark boxer briefs, the responses were either a family member or a friend who knows the recipient of this underwear very well:

Some kind of a friend who can buy it for you a novelty, like a joke. Somebody that knows you well. Maybe, like a family member… Like your mom buys it for you and embarrasses you in front of your family (half white-half Hispanic, married, straight, computer programmer, 33 y.o., bachelor degree ).

I think it is a gift. I look at it and it’s comedy. I guess it is function too but the name is the catchy part of it. Cause everyone knows what the Skidmark is and anti-stain section is pretty funny (Caucasian straight man, 35 y.o., surgeon)

I don’t know who would buy those necessary. But to me it is kinda of like a gag. For someone who buy them for themselves maybe be a redneck type of humor, who enjoy staff like that. But I see it like over the hill joke type, like you can’t control your bowl-movements. It would be a nice kind of underwear to maintain you’re cool. (Caucasian straight man, 29 y.o., Communications graduate student)

(a guy) buys it for himself, unless somebody wants to say something… Do you see it like a joke from your male friends? Maybe. Especially roommates. Probably college age. Maybe 18 to 30-ish (Asian-American straight man, 21 y.o., undergraduate student)

23 Ego Booster idea, the designs with some kind of a measurement device, in contrast, received a very positive feedback in general:

Oh my God! That is one for sure! This is gonna sell (about yellow tape measure long design). This is catchy and I think gift would be primarily from women to their significant others. But for sure, this would be the most … That’s the most eye-popping catchy, you gonna get people who look at it as a novelty, people will be proud that their significant others well endowed. I think this is very industrial with a tape measure, a lot of working-class guys use it. You have the smaller and larger…That’s hilarious! You will sell only this one (with long yellow tape measure) – there is no one who is gonna buy the shorter (about the same design with a shorter ruler) (Caucasian straight man, 35 y.o., surgeon).

Ego booster? Aha! That’s pretty funny! Aha, aha. Ok. That’s pretty funny. I do have the same comments about the white, but you are absolutely right. The ruler is pretty funny. On the other hand this is just a kind a transform underwear into a novelty underwear: you buy one of them but you don’t buy five of them. And so, you might buy it as a random gift for somebody. You might say that this is, this perhaps more targeted towards a female buyer who are buying a guy gift for their significant other. You know, this is one possibility. Now it becomes more as a gift idea more than an everyday thing. People, um, men may not be particularly committed about their “package”… (Caucasian straight man, 29 y.o., MBA student).

Oh, God (laughs). That’s great! (half white-half Hispanic, married, straight, computer programmer, 33 y.o., bachelor degree

In terms of design, this is really cool. Both of them. I like these because they are not just saying “Anti-skid”; what they are saying is “Look at my size, this is where I am,” you know. Like this is a pretty cool thing. This has some style to it versus this is more marketing for anti-skid. And again, that’s not a selling aspect foe me. You can buy these, you can do price up on these, because these are kind of specialty underwear (about yellow measure tape design) (African-American straight man, 29 y.o., MBA student and entrepreneur)

These are a little bit more obviously funny. I like that. I think it’s talking about the size of genitalia and that’s another concern but an important thing for a man. (Caucasian straight man, 29 y.o., Communications graduate student)

24 That’s a lot more funny! Ha-ha That’s true both. This one I find fun. This could be embarrassing but certainly in a fun way. (Caucasian straight man, 28 y.o., Computer Scientist, PhD student)

However, there were three guys in a focus group, who did not like this idea:

The whole idea of ruler aspect is the thing I find stupid. I just find it completely silly and there is no point in it. I don’t like that idea… People who wear it – you just constantly making fun of person wearing that. It just like do you really need that kind of ego…Is like what you were saying they called “Ego Boost?” It is like something like advertising that just seems stupid to me cause it doesn’t seemed that important… I just don’t like the whole idea of measuring the penis. It just seems stupid to me. (Caucasian straight man, 21 y.o., an undergraduate student)

To me, like Skidmark is kinda of funny and I can see it as a joke. But as far as measuring tape and a ruler – it just seems like... It’s not even funny to me. It just kind like, Ok, how many inches do you on outside of your shorts which is obviously nothing – it is not representative of what you have on the inside your shorts, because it’s just a ruler painted on there. It seems like it’s there with absolutely no good purpose. It is like some desperate attempt to make something funny or like “Ho, maybe guys will really like this, or maybe think it’s cool, but it is completely wasted effort… (Caucasian gay man, 25 y.o., yoga teacher).

It’s like a whole fetish, but I bet you don’t want a woman to laugh when you take your pants off. Sense of humor should stay outside the bedroom (Caucasian straight man, 28 y.o., college instructor)

The participants were then asked who will buy Ego Booster and would they buy it for themselves? Most of them saw it as a gift for a friend, including the following occasions: bachelor party, a great gift for the Secret Santa game, and high school graduation. Most of the participants would like to buy it for themselves and were willing to pay between $8 and $20 per pair with $12-15 on average. If it was a gift idea, men were willing to pay more, between $15 and

25 $25. Also, the participants recommended to target women as they saw Ego

Booster boxer briefs as a great and funny gift from their significant others:

More from guy friends. But I can see it receiving from a girl friend. Maybe not from my specific girlfriend right now. But…you know this is something I can see a girlfriend or a friend. (Caucasian straight man, 28 y.o., Computer Scientist, PhD student)

Yeah, I’d love to see a reaction of my girlfriend off I took my pants off and there is a ruler on my underwear. It would be hilarious. But I primarily see women buying it for men. (Caucasian straight man, 35 y.o., surgeon)

These are more in line with those heart silk underwear that I would buy. I would buy these for maybe just $12, because I want to be cool for my girl, or something like that. Versus this, I wouldn’t buy these that has a ruler and anti-skid on it, because again, it has “Anti-Skid” on them. But again, I would buy these (shows plain black and white ruler).Yeah, I would buy it for myself… But it wouldn’t be a Valentine-type of a deal – it would be more casual night after watching some football, these are my “lucky shorts” or something. Yeah, check this out, babe (laughing) (African- American straight man, 29 y.o., MBA student and entrepreneur)

Um…I think it would be funny, but I don’t think … I think it would be attractive for people that …for guys around college age but for nobody else. Why it would be attractive for college age? Cause it’s more of a joke. And do you see it purchasing for yourself or more as a gift? Probably a gift. Unless you want to show something to your…(laughs) How would your girlfriend would respond to that? Probably just laugh (laughs) (Asian-American straight man, 21 y.o., undergraduate student)

If it was like a series of them, I see it could be a good wedding present. But it would be too cheap to be a wedding present. It could be like a high- school graduation present from a girlfriend to her boyfriend. Maybe I don’t know. Some club in a high school. Switching to the swim-team. Sport-related. That’s the type of people that I think would respond to it. The athletic crowd (Caucasian straight man, 29 y.o., Communications graduate student)

26 However, even those participants, who did not approve Ego Booster idea, agreed that it could be a good gift for a guy:

I would say if you are marketing for some kind of a guy gift – sure, why not, it would be funny. Other than that, I don’t think there is a reason for its existence if you’d ask me. (Caucasian gay man, 25 y.o., yoga teacher). Most of the participants were so engaged in a conversation about Ego

Booster idea that they began to brainstorm new ideas how to improve or extend

product line:

You can change it. You can put kilometers or something and do the “confidence boost” here…Or no, no, no, make the inches really big. If you’ll make inches really big, you see, you can have a confidence booster, you can have an Ego Booster and Ego-Destroyer. Yeah, Ego Crusher, and you can make inches really big. Like larger than they are supposed to be. Or you can make the inches really small for Ego Booster (half white-half Hispanic, married, straight, computer programmer, 33 y.o., bachelor degree).

One of the recommendations is to launch these designs under a different brand:

I think it is kinda funny that it says Skidmark and it has a measuring tape in front of it, though. Because it is like Oh, yeah, look at this – I got a brown butt on my underwear and measure my d*ck (Caucasian gay man, 25 y.o., yoga teacher).

The ruler idea echoed in the teenage memories of the majority of older participants (men

older 25 years old):

Ruler - This one (yellow) or a wooden ruler, the classic wooden ruler when you were a kid, cause I am sure everyone measures themselves like everybody does. (Caucasian straight men, 35 y.o., surgeon)

I like the one that looks more like a real ruler. There is something funny about that. Cause when guys engage in this kind of measurement, they probably doing that with, you know, standardized, accepted ruler of measurement (Caucasian straight man, 30 y.o., graduate student).

27 Implications:

Interviews revealed that straight men do not like to spend time on shopping. They see it as a “stressful” experience (versus “drinking beer at the bar with friends”), for example:

There are so many holes in underwear buying experience. The male buying underwear experience for me personally is not very pleasurable (African-American straight man, 29 y.o., MBA student and entrepreneur).

I don’t like when it is not arranged well, when you can’t find what you want. When they have staff mixed together – different colors, different brands mixed together, mumbled together – it drives me crazy. What else. Oh, when you can’t tell what color is it when you look at the box… Yeah, if you have a standard box where everything on top. Like someone in the box, if it is white, I know it is white. And sometime you go, you buy a box, you think it’s white and go home and then realize it’s blue or pink, or yellow (African straight men, 25 y.o., MBA student)

Gay and bisexual participants, in contrast, enjoy shopping: “Personally, I love shopping and I like shopping for underwear too because there is actually a lot of staff out there that I would think it is cute that I like to buy. And I like shopping in general”

(Caucasian gay man, 25 y.o., yoga teacher). Also, the participants indicated that they are not inclined to buy underwear impulsively, for example “Usually when I go buy underwear, it is not impulsive. Yeah, I can’t recall when I kind of purchased underwear impulsively. No, it is usually a planned trip”(African-American straight man, 29 y.o.,

MBA student and entrepreneur).

All men participated in the study are looking for comfort as a number one priority when they consider buying underwear. Comfort was defined by a few things:

28 1. Fabric (cotton is preferred) “Comfort. My number one thing is comfort. And

that is what usually drives me to purchase cotton underwear. I prefer cotton over other

materials and some high-end underwear doesn’t come in cotton all the time; they’ll use

spandex, they use all kinds of things.” (Caucasian bisexual man, 21 y.o., a student)

“I guess a comfortable material – cotton is comfortable for me. And other than that just a good fit with just a matter of having the right waist size and elastic, so it’s

comfortable. The things that are too tight or too loose are not comfortable for me”

(Caucasian straight man, 27 y.o., PhD student with concentration in psychology).

“I guess fit, materials, thermodynamics – when it just basically how well

ventilated they are” (Caucasian straight man, 29 y.o., MBA student). Or, another quote

by 21 y.o. straight Asian male: “I tried, I think it was Banana and Express, they were too

nylony. - It’s not natural? - Yeah. It doesn’t feel right.”

2. Support. A few of the participants emphasized the importance of support

talking about boxer-briefs underwear, for example, “I think it is support and style. I think there is a particular shape I was looking for and this one was particularly close to it”

(Caucasian straight man, 28 y.o., Computer Scientist, PhD student) or, “Not too tight”

(Caucasian straight men, 35 y.o., surgeon), or, “I have been to the gay [Perry Fenelly] stores where they sell very nice upscale underwear: $20-30 a pair. Maybe more, maybe

$45-50 and a lot of that is so intimate. Like base for it - selling a body image in a sexual way. I don’t buying to that. I don’t want my body - what I have - be on display; I want to be comfortable and if that means that there is certain support in some ways, that’s fine.

But I don’t want to be so revealing that I couldn’t wear jeans, cause it cause another

29 problem. Because a lot of times you have to talk up with those. I don’t enjoy, I like down.

(Caucasian bisexual man, 21 y.o., a student).

3. Another important factor that defines comfort is softness and strength/resistance of the waist-band, quality of seems, labels that don’t scratch the skin, “I like soft elastic, soothing that is not gonna rub and chafe me” (Caucasian bisexual man, 21 y.o., a student)

4. Length of the underwear: “What else I like – having a little bit of length to the shorts” (Caucasian straight man, 27 y.o., PhD student with concentration in psychology).

5. Color and style was another important characteristic. Most men said that they like solid colors (mostly black, dark blue or dark grey).

Maybe darker color, solid maybe. (Asian-American straight man, 21 y.o., undergraduate student)

Patterns…No, but I know I don’t like. Like I remember I had boxers like in high school that my mom would buy. It would be like stripes, flags or Joe-boxers was stupid designs on them. I am more of a solid, solid color. Solid color …simple, sleek …Fashionable. Something if you took off your pants in front of your girlfriend or someone you dating they would notice the right things about you. That it is not just loose fitting boxers. (Caucasian straight men, 35 y.o., surgeon)

Every single person in the study did not like white underwear and tried to avoid it.: It is so plain, so simple. It is too simple. I think it is an industrial color. Like white, plain, boring…pure white seems sterile to me; it seems almost like a hospital (Caucasian straight men, 35 y.o., surgeon)

“You try to avoid white underwear. It is also makes me feel young like tidy-whities, you know. I feel like I am 12 again. So, I try to stay away from that” (Caucasian straight man, 28 y.o., college instructor)

30 6. A combination of all above: “I need a combination of a lot of different things

cause I am also a yoga teacher and I want something that will work well for what I am

doing. And usually it requires a certain amount of compactness because of the way I have

to move. Um, so, comfort definitely, is it compact enough for what I need to do and honestly I totally look for how cute it is.” (Caucasian gay man, 25 y.o., yoga teacher)

Most straight men heavily rely on their girlfriend’s/wives opinion when they

have to choose a design of their underwear.

What is the most important thing for you in underwear? Dustin: mostly comfort but also cuteness How would you describe cuteness? Um, I don’t describe it – my girlfriend does. That’s why I’ve been buying the same for a while – because she likes them. (Caucasian straight man, 28 y.o., college instructor) My current friend us really into boxers (African-American straight man, 29 y.o., MBA student and entrepreneur).

I think she 9ex-girlfriend) thought I look attractive in them. They supposed to be designer styles. How did you feel about that? I felt good, I liked the ones she chose. I still have them. The ones I have, basically… (Caucasian straight man, 29 y.o., Communications graduate student)

Interestingly enough, no one participant has ever purchased underwear online, except

one interviewee:

I think I did once when it was my freshmen year just because I wasn’t familiar with the area Did you have to pay for delivery? Aha. Which is why I don’t do that anymore (Asian-American straight man, 21 y.o., undergraduate student)

31 Thus, even a computer programmer who purchases many items online does not

buy underwear through internet: “I like to feel fabric, to look at them” (half white-half

Hispanic, married, straight, computer programmer, 33 y.o., bachelor degree). Men

admitted that it is not a rational behavior, but they still prefer to go to the store to buy underwear:

Well, it’s a good question because you don’t try it on at the store. I don’t know. It’s a good question because you don’t try it on at the store. I don’t know… It’s a good question. I mean a lot of my shopping gone online and I’ve never bought underwear online – I don’t know… (Caucasian straight man, 29 y.o., MBA student)

Especially, when you mentioned that you tend to stick with underwear for a while and know what to expect, it makes sense to purchase it online? Right. Save yourself a trip. Yeah, I pretty much know what to expect. I kinda what style I want – not necessarily a brand. (Caucasian straight man, 27 y.o., PhD student with concentration in psychology)

The majority of interviewees prefer boxer-briefs: only four people out of 17 said that they buy boxers on a regular base. It does not align with the marketing data represented in Exhibit 6 that implies that 18-35 y.o. U.S. male consumers prefer boxers over boxer briefs. Nevertheless, the participants in current study might be not representative of the entire U.S. population since all of them currently live in a hip city and surrounded by a college community.

Another insight is about inertia behavior. Since underwear comes in packs

(usually three pieces per pack, GAP – two pieces, Fruit in the Loom – up to six), men don’t have a lot of choice what color to pick. Even the most price sensitive participants said that they buy a pack for one color they like and have to tolerate the rest.

32 Chapter 5 - Conclusion, Recommendations and Limitations

Interviews revealed that men loved the Ego Booster idea (especially older guys, between 25 and 35 years old) and would be willing to buy it for themselves, as a guy gift or see it as a gift from their significant others. The recommended designs are shown in Exhibits 18 and 19. In spite of the technical knowledge and frequent purchases of various items online, almost none of the participants has ever purchased any underwear online. Moreover, even though men said that they do not like shopping in general and see it as a “waste of time,” as well as they “tend to stick” to the same products and colors, they still refused to purchase underwear online (at least for themselves). Marketing data (Exhibit 4) validated this trend suggesting that only about

7% of men purchase underwear online. This behavioral choice can be explained by the cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957) expressed in an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously. The theory suggests that an individual chooses the easiest solution that requires minimal change in habit and then rationalizes the choice. Thus, even though participants do not like to go to the physical store, they reported that very often they make mistakes with picking the wrong size since they can not measure their waist and hips (for example, “most guys don’t know what their waste size is… as you get older, our waist size changes dramatically. So, we can be completely wrong”), they can not try on underwear at the store, nor open the package, and nonetheless, all participants said that they still prefer to go to the actual store.

33 Therefore, the first recommendation for Ego Booster is to try to sell it through the

national retail channels such as Spencer’s and Urban Outfitters and local stores such as

Dreamers, priced at $15.

At the same time, sales shift online over time. For example, one of the major retail

events that indicates purchasing trends in the U.S. is Black Friday (the Friday following

Thanksgiving Day that starts the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season).

Thus, online shoppers spent 35% more on Black Friday Web purchases in 2009 than a

year earlier with the average order value standing at $170.19. The shoppers bought on average of 5.4 items per order, up from 4.6 items last year (Pagels & Price, 2009).

Therefore, another suggestion for Ego Booster underwear is to sell online and position it as a gift for a guy friend or a boyfriend. The following websites will be a good fit with the Skidmark products: www.etsy.com, www.thinkgeek.com and www.cafepress.com.

If this underwear will be positioned as a gift, price can go up to $20 per pair. To drive

traffic to Skidmark own website, Facebook ads, Google words with the search words

“gift” or “novelty gift” and partner with sports/computer game online channels can attract

the right demographics. One of the possible motivations for purchases online could be

“Save yourself a trip” since interviewees identified that they do not enjoy driving to the

mall and spending more than 20 minutes at one store.

Limitations:

To examine male underwear market and consumer preferences, primary and

secondary data was used in this study. Thus, a several national surveys by Mintel were

34 used for the analysis of the industry, marketing trends, and competition. Nevertheless,

even the most recent reports, used in this paper, were at least a few months old. It may affect the accuracy of the marketing data due to the current economic situation. For example, more men may be involved in a transactional purchasing behavior (for example, one interviewee confessed “I kinda know what style I want – not necessarily a brand. So,

I am not loyal to a particular brand, but more to a concept”) and switch to Target or

WalMart from more expensive specialty stores; or another assumption is that more men may start buying underwear online (“save yourself a trip”). Therefore, a major limitation of the secondary data is its relevance in terms of time.

To get a better understanding of men’s perspectives and attitudes toward male underwear and purchasing experience, a primary data was collected via interviews and a focus group. Thus, “in the field of marketing and consumer research, quantitative research is often associated – if not equated - with personal interviews” (Moisander &

Valtonen, 2006, p. 71). In spite of the richness of this data, there were a few limitations to this method as well.

First of all, the data collected from sixteen people is not generalizible. All participants were recruited through the principal investigator’s personal network. A few participants were selected using snowballing technique, when interviewees’ referred their friends for the study. On one hand, this fact could be an advantage. Thus, having some previous knowledge about each participant could help to establish a rapport (Lindlof &

Taylor, 2002, p.188) and to correlate personality of each participant with his responses.

At the same time, it could entail biased feedback. For example, the principal investigator,

35 who interviewed the participants and moderated the focus group, is a young attractive

woman. Even though none of the participants explicitly expressed any discomfort

associated with this study, there is a chance that some men could feel uncomfortable

talking about certain topics.

In addition, personal circumstances and distractions could affect the quality of the

conversations. For example, one of the participants expected to have a job interview right after the interview for this study. No wonder, his responses by the end of the interview sounded somehow anxious. During the focus group meeting, a few friends and colleagues

entered the room and could potentially distract participants from the conversation.

Based on the research by Griffin and Hauser, one-on-one interviews are extremely

efficient as a form of a marketing research. Thus, thirteen-fourteen interviews are usually

enough to identify the highest percent of needs (Griffin & Hauser, 1993). Due to some

technical problems and time constrains, only ten interviews were used in this study.

However, insights from the focus group with six participants were incorporated in the

study to broaden the findings and to provide more reasonable recommendations. This

study could be improved by conducting more interviews with male as well as with female

participants, since primary and secondary data indicated that women buy male underwear

as well.

36 Appendix A - Interview/Focus Group Questions

General Questions:

1) Who buys your underwear? (Expected answers: Myself, My girlfriend/wife) 2) How often do you get underwear as a gift? 3) How often do you buy new underwear? 4) How many items do you buy at once? 5) Where you like to shop for underwear? Why do you choose these venues? 6) What type of underwear do you usually wear? (boxers, boxer briefs, etc). Why? 7) What is important to you in your underwear (quality, fabric, design, color, trademark, price)?

8) What is the average price for one pair of underwear that you usually buy? 9) What is your favorite trademark/s? 10) What is your favorite color/ color combination?

Skidmark (show existing sample)

1) What do you think about Skidmark underwear? (name, design, quality)? What do you like about it? Dislike? 2) Would you be willing to have it? (if yes, buy yourself or get it as a gift)? 3) How much you’ll be willing to pay for Skidmark?

Skidmark (show pictures of new designs):

1) What do you think about ruler idea? 2) What designs do you like the most? Why? What do you like about them? 3) What do you think about the rest of designs? How can I improve them?

4) Would you buy this underwear for yourself? Would you buy it for your friend? Would you like to get it as a gift? 5) Would you wear this underwear? How often? For what occasions?

Ask for final suggestions/feedback

37 Appendix B - New Skidmark Designs

38

39

40

Appendix C - Demographic Form:

1. Your age ______2. Your ethnicity ______3. Your sexual orientation ____straight ____gay ____bisexual 4. Your marital /dating status: _____ married _____cohabitate with a partner _____dating, but live separately _____ single 5. College education ______some college ______bachelor degree ______graduate degree

41 Appendix D – Interview Transcripts

Participant #1, 28 y.o., Caucasian, PhD in Computer Science, straight, has a girlfriend but live separately

How often do you get underwear as a gift? Never

Even not from your friends? I don’t think…never

How often do you buy new underwear? Once every 4 years

I need a serious response That’s about right. Maybe once in 5 years

Does it mean that you buy a bunch of things? Aha

How many (on average)? Like 30? Yeah, maybe 30

Can you tell me (because I know male underwear is very different from female), is it usually comes in a set of 3 pieces? What’s the average package? Five I think

Do they usually combined with different colors, designs? The kind I get – single color and they have a pack that might be multi-color and the pack that just black&white and I don’t even know. I just buy a few of each.

Why do you buy single color? And why do you buy different patterns? As I said I didn’t know which one I wanted, that’s why I got one of each.

So, one of the questions was how many items you buy at once? You said about 30. Then, where do you like to shop? Do you usually buy it at the actual store or big mall? What’s your favorite channel? I actually I searched all around to find this very special kind and Walmart had it then.

So, you usually go to Walmart and buy at the physical store. Did you ever try to buy something online? Um. I think I looked online and I didn’t see it anywhere else.

42 How in general, is it critical, is it important for you to find certain pattern or a color, or it is just “whatever”? Well, I can pay extra for certain pattern or certain pattern, but there aren’t seemed to be very interesting to me. So, I just went with plain.

What would be interesting to you? What kind of patterns or colors? It has to be very colorful or abstract. Or some kind of logo or, you know, ironic thing.

Ok. We will get to this point later. Then, what type of underwear do you usually wear? Am…Boxer-briefs.

Why? It’s a combination of support and style.

Then what’s important to you in your underwear? For example, quality, fabric, design, trade mark, price? Yeah, I think it is support and style. I think there is a particular shape I was looking for and this one was particularly close to it.

But in general, is it important – the texture, the material, that is should be natural, for example. That makes sense but when I was looking for underwear it was the shape. I think, now when I think about it is a good decision too, but it wasn’t my decision at that time.

Then, what is the average price for one pair that you usually pay? Um… maybe a $1.50, I am not sure.

Well, when it comes in a pack of 5 pieces, it will cost about ten bucks, right? Yeah, that’s about right.

But if you would buy it separately, it would be more expensive, right? Oh, that’s true. Aha.

Because from my research and I can even show you the competitors’ line, they price their underwear $30 per 1 pair. Wow!

So, I am surprised that $1.5 is a common price. Aha

Do you have any favorite trademarks? In the context of underwear?

Yes. 43 Um…I don’t know what would be a good trademark for underwear.

You know some people can say “I just buy Calvin Klein” staff, there are some loyal customers who stick with one or two trademarks. So, for you it is usually shape and color?

Not even the color. Just the shape and maybe it is the type of fabric. There is the type of stretchy fabric that works well I think.

Ok. And it is doesn’t matter what it is certain brand or not. And I think that with clothing it’s beginning to be I mean right or wrong I mean this is what I believe is that all underwear is made by factories in third-world countries and you know, some factories will become contracted by CK, some factories will be contracted out by some very cheap brand. But it is all pretty much will be the same type of factory.

Yeah. All right. Do you have a particular favorite color? Green, maybe

Green for underwear? I don’t know

Maybe color combination? I like something bright and not drab. I think that there is a lot of underwear that’s drab color, that is very dark. I’d rather have something lighter.

What about plain white? It doesn’t seem very …(appealing?). That’s too bright.

So, would it be more flesh color? Describe me your ideal pair of underwear. Bright green or um…or having a logo that is ironic is cool too.

Let me show you pair of underwear that I am going to test. It is called Skidmark. Aha. Yeah, that’s a cool underwear

What do you like about it? It has the right shape. That’s what we’ve been talking about. Fabric seems about …maybe, it is a little bit thinner than I expect. But fabric seems stretchy. Kind of interesting black vs. white. I mean it is suppose to be appropriate if it is darker where… ha-ha… reaches of the body are

It’s called stain resistant underwear, Skidmark. And it is promoted in a very humorous way. How much would you want to pay for this kind of underwear? [pause]….I think if I were trying to replace the underwear I currently have maybe a few dollars. Although, I am not looking to replace my underwear right now.

44 By the way, it’s not the selling thing. I just want to get your insights. Um, few dollars…How many? Three.

Ok. The actual price I think $12.5. And it is sold through website. I know that the producer of the underwear has negotiations with the retail stores but currently you can get it lonely through their website. So, let’s look more thoroughly at the actual design. What do you think about the name? Yeah, it is ironic as I was talking about, but I don’t know. It doesn’t catch me that much.

What would catch you? [with irony] I am getting hard to surprise in my old age.

Ha-ha-ha. Did you fill out how old are you? Do we have this information? Yeah

But when you mention it should be funny logo? Like Apple iPhone. How random it would be…

Ok. Maybe target [showing the circles with hands] Yeah [giggle]

What other elements would be funny? Maybe cartoon character. It is always nice. Like 80-s cartoon character. That would be really strange.

Ok. Like Road Runner? Yeah, yeah. That would be interesting.

What about Mickey Mouse? That’d be ok. That’d be more…Mickey Mouse is not a catchy appeal. Mickey Mouse is so mainstream. Um. Let’s see something little… of the beaten path.

Foe example? For example…Um…How about the Matrix underwear or a fight club underwear or some movie from years ago…

And it should be photographic quality? Maybe… Fight Club. I remember that was a soup or something. That was a part of logo.

Um. You know if we’ll put the soup on the back part… It would be very strange

It would be very gay 45 I didn’t know that

Ok. Maybe any other ideas? Maybe something about colors? Or the color scheme is ok? [referring to the existing color combination] Well, there is also…I mean black & white, you know. That’s a good combination with anything. Really. Ah…You can go more artistic route. Some type of pilot boxer… with the right colors might look nice. Or maybe Jackson Pollock boxer. That would be nice.

What would be Jackson Pollack type? Tell me more. Jackson Pollock? He painted by taking a canvas and…

Ah, the artist! Yes. Something artistic would be nice too.

So, Andy Warhol style? Andy Warhol. See, that gets closer to the kitchy-type. I can’t quite imagine Campbell Soup on the underwear, but, you know, something like that would be interesting.

Ok. But if you’ll look back and try to envision your wardrobe, what’s the percentage of your underwear is black color, green color. What’s the most common pair that you have? Well, just because the way they package them, I think I have more dark blue or black. Something like that.

By the way, would you be willing to but this existing underwear [about Skidmark] and give it to your friends as a joke? Probably not. Huh.

Why? I don’t know. I think. I don’t really want to be known as someone who gives underwear. Yeah.

Again, it’s…From guy to guy…you think it is inappropriate? Um... I don’t know…I like to give something technological. I like to give a friend or a something they can use. But underwear just…

I know that…I already spoke to some guys and they found it very funny. I they thought that it would be a cool gift idea. I hope they are not friends of mine…ha-ha-ha

Actually, some of them you know very well. But again, it was like a joke. It was almost like when people go to the sex shop to buy gifts for their friends. That’s funny for some reason. Yeah.

But it is not the case with Skidmark? 46 Yeah

All right. I have other prospective designs that I’d like to show you and get your opinion. One of the ideas that I have is to put the ruler and…These are a few versions [showing the printouts] What do you think about “ruler” idea? That’s a lot more funny! Ha-ha

Which one do you like the most?

Ha-ha. I mean just go with the one – very straight out. Be very direct, I think. This is a little bit plain [black & ruler design]. That would be the second choice [black with soil- resistant words, longer ruler], cause that sort of artistic a little bit.

Do you like when it is the full ruler or this part that goes here [shorter version]? Give something that got a room for. Go with long.

In general, do think it is just funny? Or it can be embarrassing for some people? What do you think about the actual design? That’s true both. This one I find fun. This could be embarrassing but certainly in a fun way.

In what circumstances you might purchase this underwear and wear it? Um…I couldn’t see it purchasing it to myself. But I could see it as a gift at the bachelor party. Something like that.

Ok. How would you respond if you would receive it as a gift? I would laugh. It would be funny

Do you picture it receiving from your girlfriend or guy friends? More from guy friends. But I can see it receiving from a girl friend. Maybe not from my specific girlfriend right now. But…you know this is something I can see a girlfriend or a friend.

So, can you picture yourself wearing it and showing it to your girlfriend? I don’t know if…I mean I would wear it as a part of a joke to huh. I am not sure if I would wear it daily or this is something I’d wear twice a week.

Ok, so once again, the first choice would be this one? Yes, it would be pretty direct.

Alright. And the second is this one. How much would you be willing to pay? That’s more of the range of $10 or so. Maybe 12

47 You mentioned that you usually buy it at the actual store. If you would see it online, would you buy it online? Definitely. Especially, considering that I would buy this for friend, you are not gonna try it before hand.

Right. Do you have any suggestions how we can improve it? Maybe, different colors or change the design? I don’t like this band.

You don’t like this band? The Skidmark band? Yeah. The band is over to your face.

And how would you change it? I think it is too thick. Um. And …I mean I think too long.

To reduce the size of the band? And should it have the word Skidmark? You can keep the word Skidmark but I don’t know why you need to put it in your face. I mean if anyone looks at my underwear it doesn’t have the logo like this but you would still able to find the brand name just fine

I call this idea “Ego Booster.” Ego Booster?

Yeah, because it has…how many – 13 inches or 14 inches. So should we put Ego Booster somewhere or just keep the ruler? Ego Booster – put that on the back. For girls, you say it on the back “Give it to your boyfriend as an Ego Booster.”On the package. But I am not sure a guy wants something that says Ego Booster.

Should we change colors? For this it makes sense (with yellow measure tape) because you are not trying to. This is not artistic themed boxers, this is the dog.

Would it be better plain black or with “skidmark” words? That’s tough to say. It might be better with “skidmark” words. It is tough to say.

With the measurement tape design if there will be some distractions? It’s true

Do you have any suggestions maybe to combine this with other underwear [as a pack] I don’t know if it is necessary. I mean this idea to give at the bachelor party, you don’t need three of them to make a good guy gift. This is good as it is. That being said maybe you need three different to catch the distributor’s eye. Maybe no one wants to be a distribution channel for one type of boxers. 48

Did you ever shop at Urban Outfitters and this kind of stores? No

Because there are a lot of stores with unusual gifts and they offer unusual clothing, underwear and accessories. This kind of stores could be a good fit with underwear such as Skidmark, but currently the producer of Skidmark considers online distribution channel. Would you have any suggestions in terms of promotion? How Skidmark can reach prospective customers?

The websites is like the knob

49 Participant #2 29 y.o., white, straight, dating, but leave separately, graduate degree

Who buys your underwear? I do

Have you ever receive it as a gift? I have actually receive it as a gift I don’t usually wear underwear but if I am working out or play soccer I occasionally like to have it on

So you just put jeans Yeah. But I have actually had someone who bought me underwear before. It was a girlfriend.

What was the reason why she used to buy you underwear? I think she thought I look attractive in them. They supposed to be designer styles.

How did you feel about that? I felt good, I liked the ones she chose. I still have them. The ones I have basically… 01:27

09:50 (existing Skidmark)

Or if you are in a junior-high, it might be a humiliating thing. If someone has a spot on their underwear and someone bought this as a way of doodle it.

How it could be improved? Maybe to have the same concept but have yellow or purple or maybe color red on green or blue on orange. They look like less serious, I guess. More like a joke. Right now it looks like serious/joke. I don’t know whether you suppose to laugh at them or suppose to…you know…

Can you describe me a potential customer? You said it is more older guys? I don’t know who would buy those necessary. But to me it is kinda of like a gag. For someone who buy them for themselves maybe be a redneck type of humor, who enjoy staff like that. But I see it like over the hill joke type, like you can’t control your bowl- movements. It would be a nice kind of underwear to maintain you’re cool.

What would be a good price? Maybe $14

50 I have alternative designs. I call them Ego-Boosters and you will understand why in a second. These are a little bit more obviously funny. I like that. I think it’s talking about the size of genitalia and that’s another concern but an important thing for a man.

Do you have a favorite one? I think that the one that is simply black and white ruler is no other thing is kinda fun.

The longer? I like the wider ruler

What would be the second choice? The same design with smaller ruler

Why you don’t like this one (with a measure tape) Before I realized it was a yard stick, I thought it was an unattractive color choice. Design – a big yellow bar.

How we can improve the designs? Would you add something? I would maybe take out black and white contrast and just make them black and just to have a white ruler outline. Or black with white ruler outline. I think the color contrast is what makes it look like it’s supposed to be a style preference that just…I don’t know… It makes it too nice, I guess. Or too designy. I don’t think that most people would care about snazzy looking white and black contrast. I think they would just prefer plain black. To me it looks more flatting I think I would feel more like a Nike Swoosh shorts if I wore those. It they were all black, they would be just an ordinary underwear. I think I will look better in all black

You would project that other guys would have a similar perception? I think so

How much would you pay for it? Maybe $15

Would you buy it for yourself? How you see it? Is it self-purchase or a gift, or a joke? I can see myself buying this pair if it all was black for a friend, but I don’t know if it was for a joke or if it just because it was available. I think the concept is funny on this one, and so, I don’t know. It might be good for a wedding, nit a wedding but to wrap a present in. Yeah, it’s like a bachelor party present.

Other situations? If it was like a series of them, I see it could be a good wedding present. But it would be too cheap to be a wedding present. It could be like a high-school graduation present from a girlfriend to her boyfriend. Maybe I don’t know. Some club in a high school. Switching

51 to the swim-team. Sport-related. That’s the type of people that I think would respond to it. The athletic crowd

In the locker room, do guys actually look at each other’s underwear? I think so, I don’t think they assess what’s around them, bit I think they forced to look at their surroundings. And I think that if someone tries to make a statement, that person is a dork. If they were plain black and they just said ruler design, the simplicity combined with the humor of it will make it funny. This one is the same amount of funny but a little bit trying too hard (about measure tape)

52 Caucasian male, bisexual, single, undergraduate student majoring in biology and dance 32:57

Have you ever received underwear as a gift? No, I never received underwear as a gift

How do you usually buy it? Go to the actual store of buy it online? I go to the actual store because online places are not allowing to return

Ok, but if they were allowing to return? Oh yeah, I’d be more willing to! To but one.

Can you tell me more about the process? How you choose it? Any specific designs that you pick? Well, growing up, it was, you know, my parents bought underwear for me. And it was – I don’t like those, and I had to go through the nest package for the next 6 months. And then – I don’t like those, and the go to the next package and “I hate those too.” So, it was *hitter* mess but I have a particular kind that I like and different variations of one kind.

What is it? It’s boxer briefs. I prefer boxer briefs. Not white! Ever! No white! Ever! These are my preferences

Why you don’t like white? White is so much, it’s…it appears less hygienic an in intimate setting… or could.

What f you have a combination of white and other colors? Other colors? It’s more possible, especially when it is not just a white cotton everywhere. It is something more…I don’t know

What is important for you? Is it fabric, quality, brand? Comfort. My number one thing is comfort. And that is what usually drives me to purchase cotton underwear. I prefer cotton over other materials and some high-end underwear doesn’t come in cotton all the time; they’ll use spandex, they use all kinds of things. And they don’t have like a lower-end cotton underwear. That’s just as comfortable – just designed better. I really like my thighs covered all the way down – like almost biker shorts – this is what I prefer, but it us very hard to find them. And when I find them, they are too expensive for a college student.

What’s the average price you usually pay for underwear? Average price? Ha-ha. I buy Heins underwear.

What is it?

53 Heins is a lower-end, every day kind of product. It’s I would say $8 for a pack of 6. That would be my guess how much I pay. If you would find a particular design that you really like, what would be the highest price you are willing to pay? Um…I struggle with that. Um, because to me, recently I invested some money in Spandex shorts which I could use as underwear potentially and I spent $50 on a pair of two. That’s kind of outrageous for me, but I get multiple uses out of them. I gonna be use it as underwear, I can swim in them, I can also wear them to the parties – just by themselves as a costume item. So, it fulfills multiple purposes, so I can justify my purchase. Cause I can use them for of these things.

When you mentioned comfort as the most important thing, do you have any other preferences? Yeah, I don’t want…Ok, I have been to the gay Perry Fenelly stores where they sell very nice upscale underwear: $20-30 a pair. Maybe more, maybe $45-50 and a lot of that is so intimate. Like based for it selling a body image in a sexual way. I don’t buying to that. I don’t want my body, what I have be on display. I want to be comfortable and if that means that there is certain support in some ways, that’s fine. But I don’t want to be so revealing that I couldn’t wear jeans, cause it cause another problem. Because a lot of times you have to talk up with those. I don’t enjoy, I like down.

Ok. How many items do you usually buy at once? At once? If I am buying the Heins cotton package – six, if I am buying something more expensive – one. Only one.

And is it more impulse purchase or you realize that you need to buy it and go to the store? It is a necessity purchase. If it’s the cotton lower-end underwear, that is a necessity everyday wear. If I have a big event coming up, then that might call for something more or, for instance, I have a hot day and I wanna wear something nice, and I realize “Oh, I don’t have anything and this person I like likes underwear, this person I am dating really likes hot underwear” and I don’t have any – I have Heins, that’s not really gonna make, you know. So, in that situation I might go and buy some of these.

Can you recall how many pairs of underwear do you currently have? 30-50? I probably have about 30 pairs of underwear. Well, about 30 pairs of cotton underwear, I have 1 dance belt, about 3 bikinis. Yeah, just smaller underwear for when I am active doing or whatever, so it keeping everything restrained and you don’t heart yourself. And then a couple biker shorts that I wear as underwear. And…yeah, that’s it.

Ok. By the way, when we talked about online purchases, they also charge you usually for delivery. For delivery?

54 Yes. You mentioned that you can’t return online and that’s a consideration against online purchases Oh, right

What about delivery price? Delivery price for online? I think lots of places do it as an incentive – if you purchase this amount, we are throwing delivery for free. Which tends to be helpful. And I’d say if I am spending more than $50, I want delivery to be free. If not – it shouldn’t cost that much. However, a lot of underwear companies are ship from overseas. So shipping is more. Like Aussiebum is one of them that I would order online and they don’t have it in stores – they don’t have a store in the US. So the only choice for me is to order it online or go to the stores where they have a limited selection online that I would enjoy. So, I don’t buy them because I can’t give them back. And so many of my friends buy this underwear and end up giving it to their friends because they don’t even get to go, to buy second time because they can’t afford at that point. Or they don’t buy any at all.

Why this trademark is so attractive? Is it a design or the model? Um, it’s the thing that they have a lot of variety, I think. And they cater to a larger client base. And Aussiebum when I think of male underwear and something that’s respected as a brand, Aussiebum is one. There others that I can’t recall at this moment, but Aussiebam is just stuck. Because their advertisement on the product

How they advertise it? For instance, you know these girls that have the shorts and it says “Dance” across the butt?

No You’ve never seen those. Ok. So, it’s like product placement, they’ll put Aussiebam across the entire butt of their product. And people don’t mind wearing it, because it’s respected. It draws attention and other people like that brand. So having a product name across the underwear is not a problem. And that’s why it’s memorable – that’s why I remember it over rest because the rest don’t put their product name on it. Now, for some having written the Aussiebum written over their underwear – they don’t particularly like it but in all men’s underwear they have it on the band, on the waistband and that’s really important too – to have a really nice waistband. I like soft elastic, soothing that is not gonna rub and chafe me.

Let me show you the sample Yeah!

And I want to hear your opinion. First off all the name. Skidmark

(me laughing) Stain-resistant underwear

55 Stain-resistant underwear, anti-soil section. Ok, and it wouldn’t say this “anti-soli section” or it would?

Well, that’s the actual sample This is the actual sample?

And the message of this underwear is to avoid some embarrassing situations Ok. I feel like this product is something that I wouldn’t find in men’s underwear store. It would be something that I would find in a paraphernalia store like Spencers, guy gifts almost. Because of its message. Men’s underwear tends to be comical, but not so much in the face as others. I don’t think it would sell very well in men’s underwear store because men who go to this stores, if they are looking for something comical, it is usually in the pattern or it something on it that makes it funny – not so much writing. I think maybe this could be done – this anti-soil section. The first question that I had “Is that gonna be on there?” Because I wouldn’t want that there. Do you know what I mean? I think I have entirely different interpretation of this product if those words weren’t there, because that’s pretty obvious with the brand name Skidmark – you are gonna get your whity- tidies but it’s not gonna show, they are still sexy and Skidmark is funny. It could be marketed in that way. I just don’t think that this anti-soil section really needs to be there, because it’s pretty obvious, it’s in the brand name. It’s really soft (touching)

You like the quality? I like the fabric. Yeah, I like the fabric a lot. Actually, just cotton I guess. Let’s see what it’s made of (looks inside). They are not gonna show me on the tag. But the waistband is nice and soft from the inside – it has that black there – that wouldn’t be so comfortable because they have this threading, here, that makes it really soft. So, the Skidmark, yeah, having a logo on it is pretty good

How much would you be willing to pay for this underwear? For this particular pair as a guy gift because of presentation it I want to pay no more than $10 to $15 for this, no more than that. Because the guy gifts tend to be expensive. Um…As a pair of underwear had this not been here (Skidmark brand) with more options I think…I don’t like the surging around the legs and whole fabric together so much because I had surging come undone before. So, yeah, I don’t really enjoy the surging of a different color here – it looks like, it doesn’t create that high-end look like it doesn’t want to sell for more. They got the waistband right – that’s good.

What about maybe other colors? Would it be better to have solid black? Um, white and black is pretty classic. I couldn’t… to make it even more comical I can see it as white and brown

13:40

56 Participant#4 - half white-half Hispanic, married, straight, computer programmer, 33 y.o., bachelor degree 33:01

Who buys your underwear? Me

Not your wife? Not yet. We have been married only for 6 months though

Did you ever get it as a gift? I had

And who dared to give you this kind of gifts? My mom. That’s a fairly, you know, your mom get you underwear (laughs)

How old you were at that time? Twenties of so. I started to buy boxers, so, she gave me boxers. I think I’ve gotten underwear in the past. I think if I was grown out of my underwear, so it’s kinda of like socks and underwear – these are kind of things, you don’t want to get them on Christmas but you get them anyways.

Did you usually tell her “Mom, I need to upgrade my collection?” No, it’s just one if these things that’s kind of typical. At least in the States it is typical. Mom thinks you need underwear, and socks and things like that, so…you get them for Christmas

How often she would give it to you? Once a year? Almost once a year

And is it a big pack? Is it enough for a year? Usually, it is just one pack of 6, or something like that. Yeah, it is just one package

When you mom stopped to give you underwear? Unless I got older. Like late 20s. I think I got boxers from her one year. I don’t know how she found that I like boxers, how I switched to boxers. Because I didn’t have a choice when I was a kid – I just kid of got tidy-whities. And then switched to the boxers and I got those maybe once or twice.

And now, what’s your favorite model? Boxers? Boxer briefs? I like the boxers the best

What is important for you in your underwear? Comfortable, comfort is important. Colors are nice. I don’t have, I don’t need anything fancy, but something that I like because I might wear them in the house if I am at home 57 and, you know, Juan isn’t picking on me (joking about his co-worker who was at the same room during this interview)

That’s what I was afraid! (everyone laughs). So, you mentioned that color isn’t that important. You can basically wear any colors, any patterns? Yeah, it isn’t that important

What about the fabric? Yeah, that’s important. Cotton is a comfortable fabric for me. I have a sensitive skin that I can avoid polyester that doesn’t feel right in me.

So, when you wear boxers under jeans, it is not visible? Usually no

And you prefer boxers over boxer briefs because it is more comfortable? Boxer briefs…You mean the tight boxer briefs? Yeah, I think I have a few of those. I think I wear these when I am working out of something like that.

How many pairs do you currently have? A lot. I have 20 or so

How often do you shop? Not very much anymore. I have a large number of them and I might get some more, but I have so much laundry now that it’s kind of hard to keep up with.

Do you usually to the actual store or buy it online? Go to the store

Have you ever purchased any underwear online? No

Why? I like to feel fabric, to look at them

Do you have any favorite stores? I usually to the GAP or department stores…Dillard’s or Nordstrom. I like to get something nice. At least it doesn’t have to be great, but something of a good quality that I know it’s gonna be soft.

And what will serve you for a long time? Yes!

What’s the average price you pay for a pair of underwear? I don’t know, it’s been a while, actually. I think $33 for a package of 6, maybe $5 each

58 Did you ever buy underwear as a single item or it is always a pack? Usually pack

And how they packed? Is it the same color or multi-colored pack? Usually if it’s a package of multi-color, it all will come, it all will be multi-colored package or if it’s just whites r all plain color, it would be one color. I’ve got some grey ones. And it’s all gonna be grey boxers

You mentioned that isn’t very important to you. However, do you have any favorite color? Primary colors

Like white, red or? I don’t have a favorite-favorite color, but if it’s primary colors, I tend to like these. Like green, red, yellow, blue. I like them to be different colors – not just like a solid color. But sometimes I have just ones solid, with black waistband or blue.

Ok. Stripes too. Patterns

What’s your favorite color? Striped. Horizontal. I haven’t seemed vertical yet. Oh, no, sorry, vertical, not horizontal. I haven’t seemed horizontal yet

Let’s see. Do you have any favorite trademarks? You mentioned you like to shop at GAP? Gap the best. I kept some of Ralph Lauren, actually, Those were nice.

You are not very concerned about the actual trademark, you would first examine the quality? Yeah!

Now, I can show you the actual sample Ok.

These are Skidmark boxer briefs, stain-resistant underwear. What do you think? Look at the surging – it’s great!

Give me your feedback. Well, it’s not bad. It’s not exactly the most esthetically pleasing but it’s not something that I wouldn’t wear, but I think Skidmark across the top…I think it has like a joke to it that is kinda of cool. So, that’s all right, cause it’s kinda of depends on your sense of humor if you would lie it or not. It’s not bad. I’d wear it. The Skidmark part – I don’t know about it…The actual “stain-resistant” part... What’s in there? In the stain-resistant part? 59

You can take a look. It’s soft. What’s the stain-resistant part?

I guess, it’s the same material Ok. Is this underwear inside-out or is it …?

No. Take a look. Oh, ok! Actually, it looked like it is inside-out because of the seems.

How much would you be willing to pay for this underwear? Um, I think the average price should be $5 per item.

But if it’s a single item, it’s not in pack? Single item…Depending on…like for that pair of underwear in particular, $5, but if it’s a nice pair I may pay $10 per pair.

How would you describe a nice pair? Um, colors that I like and pattern that I like. Mean that one is kind of a kit, I mean it is a mockup, but that one is kind of on a blatant side, it’s erratic, I’d buy it but I wouldn’t pay as much money as I would for a nicer pair.

You said it’s not the most esthetically pleasing design. What would be the most esthetically pleasing design? For me – I like colors, stripes, simple plain, in general simple.

Does it mean that if it was completely black, it would be better? Yeah, a little bit, I mean you can to high quality product for $8. If it is tailored well, you can buy something black or something other color but if it is all well-made. The seems are a little bit unattractive. And the, in the middle, the black area here – that is also a little bit unattractive

How to make it attractive? Um, hiding the seam would be a good thing, probably get rid of the anti-skidmark all up and down. Maybe, just put it in one place and, let’s see…You might actually only maybe make it a vertical thing instead of horizontal thing.

Wait a second, this is vertical so far. Oh, I mean horizontal, horizontal. Make this thing here horizontal (“anti-soil” words) or, it’s something that I would wear but again, I kind of don’t like this thing over here. If I need to have a some kind of bar here, Id’ flip it to be horizontal instead of vertical, not repeat wording in that area. Maybe, just put it one time.

We should keep words

60 Yeah, I mean the wording is ok. You might not to use the word “anti-soil” unless you want it for a humorous effect

Yes, that’s what was initially intended Yeah, this is a guess the anti-soil section. Yes, I guess you can do this and put the “anti-soil” area. That’s maybe be kinda of funny. But actually, maybe it one of the things to me, but repeating the words in this area makes me not to pay attention to what it saying. I’d probably pay more attention and actually put it somewhere where it’s more legible. Instead of repeating these words vertically, just put it one time horizontally because it is easier to read. And it’s just right there. Maybe put it right in the middle.

How do you envision the distribution of this underwear? What stores, what channels? Let’s just focus on this thing for a moment. If you really want to have a humorous effect, you can put like a graphics, like a stain graphic – I don’t know, some graphics there that will be some kind of humorous.

Like, pieces of excrements? You can put a graphic of pieces of food or a little yellow sludge

Oh my God, ok. You can put the words in this area (white) with words “this area is not so stain-resistant,” “soil-resistant area” is not so soil-resistant area. I think it could be probably sold more in a joke-type store. And probably, maybe, we have them. There are some in the mall. Spencer’s. They usually in the every single mall. Online, you probably can find a number of websites.

Another man in the room: the only issue I see with the Skidmarks is like awesome You got to market it to the guys and not to the girls who will get it for their boyfriends. The Skidmarks..

It could be sold as a novelty item and if you can clean up the esthetics, and make it wearable and make it more attractive

Another man in the room: it is awesome, they are cool, they are comfortable. And this is the first of many designs?

What about online channels? Joke sites. It depends. I know there is site geek, but I don’t know if they sell it. Etsy: E-T-S-Y, these guys got a really awesome site.

Another man in the room: it’s sort of like a lot of hand-made staff. There is no staff that you can get at the store. If you made something and you want to sell it, that’s where the Etsy is. It’s an awesome site. People love it.

61 Did you purchase anything from this website? Another man in the room: I didn’t – my girlfriend does

Tell me how you see a customer who’d buy Skidmark underwear? I guy, a girl? Another man in the room: Girls probably wouldn’t buy anything called Skidmark. So, it probably will be a guy.

Yeah, or some kind of a friend who can buy it for you a novelty, like a joke. Somebody that knows you well. Maybe, like a family member.

Another man in the room: Yeah-yeah-yeah, I can see that. Like girl, who buys underwear for a guy as a joke Like your mom buys it for you and embarrasses you in front of your family

Another man in the room: Definitely sort of a novelty. So, if you do a ruler, sort of that, you can market it to a girl, something you can buy for your boyfriend.

All right, let me show you the ruler designs. Oh, God (laughs) Another man in the room: no metric system? (Both laugh) That’s great Another man in the room: It’s awesome. I would buy it!

You can change it. You can put kilometers or something and do the confidence boost here

Another man in the room: or make the inches not to scale, like really small No, no, no, make the inches really big. If you’ll make inches really big, you see, you can have a confidence booster, you can have an Ego Booster and Ego-Destroyer. Yeah, Ego Crusher, and you can make inches really big. Like larger than they are supposed to be. Or you can make the inches really small for Ego Booster

Who will buy Ego Crusher? Another man in the room: Same thing, from your friends. Yeah, now your wife gets mad at you

Me: or ex-girlfriend, probably? Guys: yeah

So, do you have a favorite design? Another man in the room: I like the, this is really funny, but I like this one I like this one, this one is cleaner

If I can produce one, 62 Yeah, I would do the one without words and middle (black with a middle-size ruler) Another man in the room: Cause with words there are two gags. Actually, you are right, I would be willing to pay a little bit more money for that

How much you will be willing to pay? $7-8, maybe more. If it’s a novelty store, I might actually pay more

If it is priced between $12 to 15, would you pay this money? Another man in the room: Yeah, absolutely. You gotta know it’s more like a novelty thing Yeah, it’s true Another man in the room: it’s not a whole lot when you pay for a… boxer briefs would be like 3 to a bag for 9 bucks or something like that. But novelty thing, if you’ll put it on etsy or what’s the other one? What’s the other big one? Let me look it up. My friend actually sell t-shirts and staff there.

Yeah, maybe $10. If it’s for someone else, I would pay $12. If it’s for someone else, like a gift.

In what situations this would be an appropriate gift? Someone that I know well, or someone in my family. I wouldn’t give it to Matt, because it’s just no point (laughs)

What about bachelor party? Another man in the room: yeah, that would be good (laughs). I am kidding

What about Valentines day? (laughs) she is not getting a dinner. We are not going out – just getting McDonalds

Another man in the room: you can sell the inch one, the ruler one like a in one of the sex shops, like Dreamers or something like that. The thing is the Skidmarks might turn some people off. You might rebrand that for something else.

See, that what would go better in Spencer’s or something. But if you got rid of the Skidmark, it would work somewhere else

Another man in the room: the ruler is clever. Just “skidmarks” might put some people off

If there will be “Ego-Booster” name, would you like to have it on the band? Another man in the room: yeah, absolutely, just like that

Any final comments? Another man in the room: that’s awesome. I think it’s gonna do well. Is it for a class project or you just do it yourself?

63 Me: it’s my PR project, my Professional Report. I know the manufacturer of this underwear and we discussed a possibility of new designs

Another man in the room: you have a business here. Yeah, it may actually work well

How should I distribute it? How should I sell it? Another man in the room: Let me think. Laura (calls his co-worker), what’s the company that sells mug or something like that? The one with a lot of novelty staff that sold there. Like I bought

I don’t know if it will work on the thinkgeek Another man in the room: there are sites where you can go, the thing is they don’t do a lot of advertising, it is more the word-of-mouth. If you can prove that you can sell a lot, you can go somewhere else, to the novelty stores, something like that or distributor.

What would be the best promotion strategy? cafepress is more like…it would be more t-shirts.

What advertising channels will be appropriate? Another man in the room: Well, you can do…I don’t know how much they charge like on the back of the Chronicle (newspaper). On the back page, to see how much like three lines cost.

But it is Austin-focused newspaper. I was thinking more like a digital media. Another man in the room: yeah, you can get something like a facebook ad.

Any other suggestions? Another man in the room: actually, facebook ad would be really good. Contact Facebook and see how you can try to advertise this staff. Cause they are really good about narrowcasting. You’ll hit people like that! They probably the best narrow-casting medium. They have your data

Any guerilla marketing techniques? Maybe unusual appearances on the streets? Another man in the room: um, see, it’s underwear!

Me: yeah, but it is Texas! Another man in the room: to see models out there…I don’t know

If you have an interesting idea, you want to buy an unusual gift for your friend, where would you go? Another man in the room: I would go online. That’s another thing to do – get some google ads, search terms. Like every time someone googles “novelty gift,” you will give them links. And I don’t know, I never used them, I don’t know what pricing structure is. That’s how your demographics will look for staff. No one uses print, people google staff. 64

What search words? Definitely “gift,” “novelty gift”

Any other suggestions? I guess that’s is

(showed me websites) Guys, thank you, you are wonderful!

65 9:35 #5 Caucasian straight male, 29 yo, single, graduate degree (marketing degree) 25 min.

Who buys your underwear? I buy my underwear

Have you ever received it as a gift? Mmm. No, I don’t think I received it as a gift.

Your parents never bought it for you? When I was younger than 15, I think my parents bought it for me.

How often do you usually go to the store to buy underwear? How often do you shop? Once every 6 months.

And how many pairs do you usually buy? 10

Are they in packs or separate units? Um…both. Sometimes I buy in packs, sometimes I buy individual

Do you have any favorite channels, any favorite stores? Um…Most of the time Wal-mart for basics and then sometimes at department stores for other staff

Did you ever purchase anything online? I’ve never purchased underwear online

Why? Because I normally buy underwear when I am out buying something else. I do not have shopping occasions that are specific to underwear.

Is it more impulse purchase? It is a…It’s several shopping activities tied up together. So I am not sure if it was an impulse purchase because underwear is not sold near the cash register

Do you have any favorite brands? A.a. no

What is important for you in underwear? I guess fit, materials, thermodynamics – when it just basically how well ventilated they are.

Ok. What would be the best fabric? 66 Probably, cotton would be my preferred fabric. But then again I am not sure what fabric was for all underwear I’ve tried.

What’s your favorite model of underwear? (boxers, boxer-briefs) I tend to prefer boxer briefs

Describe me your ideal pair of boxer-briefs Um. I prefer most of my underwear to be solid colors, and I generally tend to prefer that some of my underwear is not solid colors but most of it would be. From a design standpoint…um…appropriate seams with appropriate fit that ‘s drive from the seams. No ample package room I guess is important. Ok. Yeah, that’s about it. I like attractive designs on the outside but, you know, it’s not my primary buying [attributes?]

How many pairs of underwear do you currently have? I don’t know. 15? The circulation I guess is about 15

What’s the average price you pay for underwear? Per pair?

Yeah, But if it comes in pack, how much is the pack? Like I said, I tend to see it as underwear that I wear all the time or the underwear that would be appropriate for, you know, dating or, you know, relationships and staff like that? In those cases I tend to wear underwear that is expensive. $20 variety, you know, per unit and other are $3-3.15 type packs.

Ok. Let me show you a sample that is called Skidmark… Skidmark? Great, great. (showing a sample) Ok. It’s kind of funny. Ok, ok

This is anti-soil section. It is stain-resistant underwear Aha, great, great, great

Give me your feedback. Give you my feedback…Well. I guess I like the idea that the text is all over the package. Some of the seam work might be irritating. So I don’t know whether the fit would be good but... Seems like the text, the brand on the waistband. The waistband seems to be thick, maybe too thick. The actual brand marks are raised which is gonna be more abrasive and might actually catch on jeans and staff like that. So, that’s a consideration. The idea of having a black section that goes straight up my butt seems kind of inappropriate. I don’t know…

But that’s the idea

67 Um…A black ass-crack. Ok, I mean, you know, that’s good, ha-ha. Again, looks like the seam work is raised on the inside… I kind of like this section here for the lower part (black seams on the bottom)

What do you like about it? I don’t know – it is more like it signals the end of the underwear. It’s a little bit makes it appear more like shorts because it has a kind of mark clearly defined edges. I guess that’s really all I have.

What is a reasonable price range for this underwear? The price that I would expect…to go for is $10-20 a pair. Though, my willingness to pay for it wouldn’t be $10-20 a pair.

Mmm…Ok. What would be the best way to promote this underwear? Do you see any retails stores that might be a good fit? Any chain?

I would say, you probably want to put it in some sort of sports channel. You noticed how distinctive the brand on the waistband is and literally how much text is all over it indicates to me that brand must be important to whomever buys it. Because it is only in sports environment that I think people would want a brand that proudly displayed all over their genitals. So I would probably expect it to see in sports-related apparel store. Perhaps mall, perhaps not. I wouldn’t probably expect to see this in a department store. I guess it doesn’t seem like this much text on boxers would be the type of thing that you would like to be present there. But I don’t really know…so. Ah. I wouldn’t expect to see it in Target or Wal-Mart just because how big this brand is. It doesn’t appear that it can be sold in packages.

I think it would 1 item sale Exactly. So since sales in these channels are in packs and they go more for volume. Then I suspect it wouldn’t be in those channels. I might think that this would go alongside with other products. In particular on the sport side. I am only guessing cause I don’t yet know, don’t really know anything about Skidmark.

You are not the only one. And I am surprised how serious you are. How seriously you approached, how professional at one point. You also consider it as a very serious item. (I am describing video)

Ok, ok, that makes sense. One comment on that is that you noticed they do have this anti- soil section and they wanted to make it as strong as possible. So I can see why they chose to have white around it. But the problem is not all soiling that occurs with underwear happens exactly in that location. And by that I mean this is underwear. It probably happens in hottest section of the body; people sweat and where they sweat there is moisture, dust accumulates. So you are talking about white section that is not going to be white for very long. The choice of colors to be exclusively white around the anti-soil section would make me think that I’d probably wouldn’t wanna buy white underwear 68 around my genitals even if a section of it is dark. The other section is completely white, it’s not gonna be very white for very long. So…And moreover, because this is dark, I have to wash this in my color. Cause I have to wash it in my colors, that means I am gonna be, this white is not gonna be white. It’s quickly become tan or other colors where virtually the words being washed. So, and that may not…Even if doesn’t have a shed of any dye in the wash, it means that because this are two different colors, a man can’t classify. We don’t do sophisticated laundry. Ok? It’s unlikely we will particularly for underwear check all the tags, instructions, and so on, and so forth. So, this one likely will go with other colors and because we can’t put it with whites because of the dark, therefore, it is gonna be in with a bunch of other staff which might stain white even if this (points on black) doesn’t stain anything. Even in hot water if this doesn’t release any ink, it’s gonna be with other things in the laundry which might. In which case this is gonna be white and therefore the staining problem continues.

Ok, what color? Should it be solid black or how would be improve it? If the whole thing had been black, that’s one possibility. It still allows you to be distinctive with the text here. Um, you might consider a blur section (instead of white). You consider a gold section.

Gold? Gold. Not metallic gold but a color something closer to this (shows wooden table). So, and the reason I say that is that’s a color that unlikely be unaffected by washing in and other things. It’s more resistant than just yellow. It is a possibility. You may also want to consider patterns here Those are my suggestions.

Let me show you more designs. More designs? Great! Great!

I call it ego booster. Ego booster? Aha! That’s pretty funny! Aha, aha. Ok. That’s pretty funny. Um.. I do have the same comments about the white, but you are absolutely right. The ruler is pretty funny. On the other hand this is just a kind a transform underwear into a novelty underwear: you buy one of them but you don’t buy five of them. And so, you might buy it as a random gift for somebody. You might say that this is, this perhaps more targeted towards a female buyer who are buying a guy gift for their significant other. You know, this is one possibility. Now it becomes more as a gift idea more than an everyday thing. People, um, men may not particularly committed about their package. So, that’s I think my…

Would you prefer to discuss them individually? Yes. I prefer the more cartoonish rather than more font-based forms. This is more rigid, so it makes the joke seem more serious. I also like that it stays in the same color scheme: black and white, you know, black and white format. I like that you provided an option that doesn’t involve so much text. You might also consider an examination where the text is more faded, so the contrast ratio between the white and ink or stitching on the [inaudible, 69 assumed genital area] area are milder and they basically fade in a few washes. So basically they maintain their value for wash 1, wash 2 and then they basically faded from existence. At that point it is a functional underwear rather than a joke – you can consider that. The other thing that I noticed here is that here is to be centimeters rather than inches. So, I think it is. Yeah, I can’t tell. So, you know, that’s one possibility

To put centimeters instead of inches? I noticed this is labeled as inches but there isn’t…

It would be impossible to fit 24 centimeters here. The main idea is to provide a huge scale to show how “marvelous” the guy is and of course it is impossible to put actual inches

Oh, I am not wanting 2 inch, 3 inch, 4 inch, but I mean the scale here is you don’[t necessary need 12 inches here. Cause there isn’t 12 inches in a genital area. Or is there? I guess it might be. ..ok… It might work. Yeah

When I talked to the guys before I designed it, they said that the acceptable “Ego Booster” range would be between 12 to 14 inches. SO, they would like to see a big scale.

Well, it makes sense. But you have to consider that the fraction of underwear literally goes underneath…Between your legs. And the other thing is that the average man does not have a penis between 12 and 14 inches.

Yes, that’s the idea! To make feel every average man to feel like he is … Larger

Giant! Ok. Ok. It is also a reminder to people with small penises that they have small penises, right? So, you should probably… I don’t know – something about the structure could be changed. But I can’t put my finger on what it is. But these are more scientific, more rigid, this is more drawn, so it goes along with the humor (black cartoonish). I probably prefer these (The humorous? Black, with plain black?) Yeah. And other thing if you gonna be doing. If you do inches, if you gonna do ruler, you probably also want – the soil comments. No one want to be reminded about that their underwear around their beautiful package is soiled…So, that might be a thought. So…

You know, brand extension. Brand extension, that’s pretty funny. That’s a good play on words

What would be a good price for this underwear (new designs)? These are tend to be more humorous. These are tend to be less day-to-day. So, you wanna charge…probably wanna charge more for the gift. $20 to $30 for the gift because you are not gonna be getting a lot of repeat sales.

70 If we will consider online channels, because it is very difficult to get into retail stores, what would be the best promotion strategy? How consumers will hear about underwear? Well for this particular with the ruler, you probably want to be focused on sites that focused on humor. I might consider companies that do t-shirts. T-shirt often time are selected based on humor. People often go looking for t-shirts and then these could be closer to “add on sales” or “did you consider boxers Skidmark that go along with your f*ck you and everybody else t-shirt?” that somebody bought would be appropriate to add, when people will be in exact state of mind, humorous state of mind, you know.

I just pictured a guy performing strip-dance with a funny t-shirt and Skidmarks. It would be a funny web-banner. It would be. I guess mu concern would be that a banner would have to be pretty large, so you actually the guy who take off his cloths should be able to see enough features in the crunch area. So, you may need to capture just a dancing fracture.

Ok. What about networking websites? Social networks? Social networking websites might work pretty well for the humor site. I think you could get a lot of play out of from recommending people to be fans of the measurement underwear and yeah…That’s my recommendation. I don’t do a lot of online recommending/adding friends of a blog, so, probably I am not the best person to ask about. Even though I ma writing a paper about social media. Give me a couple weeks.

Any final recommendations? Any final suggestions? Maybe about the package. If it would be only sold via online channels, issues with delivery or returns? Because you mentioned you never purchased underwear online I have not

But if it is a gift for your friend, you don’t have to care about returns. Aha, I wouldn’t have to care about returns, year, probably not. It would be fire and forget. I wouldn’t be somebody is gonna take back for… you know, I didn’t like my ruler, I need a bigger ruler. Can I trade this? I don’t think that underwear gets traded so much. But I really do think that it would be highly unlikely for a guy to buy this for another guy. It’s possible but maybe unlikely for a guy to buy it for himself. Maybe to the benefit of the promoter is to focus on women at gift locations with a positioning statement really focused on you know, “ad-n sales” add-ons gifts. Maybe, comedy t- shirts.

All right, thanks you so much! Oh, no problem. You bet!

71 #6 35 y.o. Caucasian straight man, single, oral surgeon (doctorate degree) 16: 55 min

Who buys you underwear? I do, I buy my underwear.

Did you ever receive it as a gift? I have. From my grandmother and from various girlfriends that I’ve dated throughout my life.

In what relation they gave it to you? I guess “Just this. See if you like this. You know.”

Once again, was it more like a wife who takes care of her husband or …? No, no. Girlfriend, kind of like “this is sexy underwear”

All right. Have you ever receive it as a gift, as a joke from your friends? Never from guy-friends. I’ve received some joke underwear with different things on it with banana or bunny, or Joe-boxers… see what else

When you received it from your girlfriends, was it on regular days or special occasions, Valentines day? Ah…I never got underwear for Valentines day. I get it primarily for like Christmas or like I said …you know, whatever.

Ok. Your favorite type of underwear? Boxer briefs. CK. What color?

Why? Why…I think they just look and feel better than boxers. Like cotton loose thick boxers. I don’t like [inaudible]

So, you mentioned your favorite brand CK. Any others? M.m…I have some Emporio Armani. I have couple pairs of Hugo Boss. And primarily Calvin Klein.

What attracted you to CK and others? I was in the end of my high school and first year of my college I’ve seen boxer brief campaign kinda happen. I think it was Marky Mark had boxer briefs on. So I remember seeing this advertisement because it was different in tiding ways, different than boxers and I tried a pair. My mom picked them up, I think I was 17. I think it was $20-30 at that time and I stuck with it.

Ok. What is important to you in your underwear? Not too tight. Fashionable 72

Describe me fashionable: Something if you took off your pants in front of your girlfriend or someone you dating they would notice the right things about you. That it is not just loose fitting boxers.

So, fashionable… Form-fitting

What about color? What about quality of fabric? I don’t like white. I like grays and blacks.

Why you don’t like white? It is so plain, so simple. It is too simple. I think it is an industrial color. Like white, plain, boring.

All right. What about the combination of white and other colors? I guess I can dig into something like that, but pure white seems sterile to me; it seems almost like a hospital. That if you sheet in your drawers, it means someone, you know… This is a joke. Don’t put that. Don’t put that in the study. Cause if you shit yourself with white drawers, it is not good. But black drawers will hide that. Put that in your study.

We will come back to this. How do you usually buy underwear? Um. Nordstrom’s. Yeah.

So, physical location? Yeah, the sock and underwear department.

Have you ever purchased underwear online? No.

Why? Um…I don’t know why. It is not something you just go and try on, right? No one, I don’t want to try someone else’s drawers after they got, you know…It is one time duty. Buy and no return. Um, it makes sense to do it online but it is a convenience of going shopping when I kinda run low on underwear, you know.

So, do you plan this kind of purchases or it is more impulse? No, it’s more a necessity. Kind like I run a lot. So I burn through underwear rather quickly cause I’m running. So wore through them. And then it’s kinda like of how you raised. I am like a big on buying new socks. I buy new socks every two weeks person. So, I buy underwear basically every month.

How many pairs do you currently have? On average. Fifteen. Maybe fifteen.

73 Ok, And when you purchase underwear, do you buy a lot of them? Two or Three

Are they separate items or they in pack? Separate

Why you don’t buy in pack? Cause most of them I buy don’t come in packs. Like the boxer briefs. One per deal.

Ok. And what’s the average price you pay for a pair? $25-30

So, you mentioned your favorite color…grey or… Black is my favorite color

Patters? Patterns…No, but I know I don’t like. Like I remember I had boxers like in high school that my mom would buy. It would be like stripes, flags or Joe-boxers was stupid designs on them. I am more of a solid, solid color. Solid color …simple, sleek

So, do I get it right that you prefer being stylish and fashionable as a guy from the cover of a magazine versus being silly and funny? Yeah

Ok. And now I want to show you a sample OK

It is called Skidmark That’s a good deal!

Stain-resistant underwear Stain-resistant underwear. Is it, is this a real company Skidmark?

Yes That is so funny. That’s hilarious. Cool.

So, tell me what do you think about it. Ah, the name is catch, for sure. I wouldn’t really wear it personally because I don’t want people know that I am wearing an anti-stain section. Usually it would be like I’d figure out how to clean myself up. But it is a novelty, novelty underwear, you know. I don’t know how women would feel about this if I would take off my cloths and I was wearing that, you know.

74 Let’s hope that they have very good sense of humor.

Aha (ironically). You realize that men are very basic. If they don’t have to do anything, they are not gonna do it. So, most men will wear underwear tidy-wise if don’t care what women think when they take their pants off. Cause that’s the case we are talking about. And there is function, there is necessity and there is, well, your significant other are suppose to think about you anyway.

When you were a student at your medical school, did you have a lot of jokes about hygienic habits? Um. About women?

Not necessary women but people with medical background are very sarcastic and skeptical. Aha, definitely. Personal grooming habits?

Yes When I was a resident, we would joke about people’s personal grooming habits, of course.

Ok What would be a reasonable price for this underwear? $20

Any suggestions about how to change it? Or it is good as it is? I think it is catchy. The Skidmark label – that’s really catchy. I mean a lot of people are gonna laugh at that to buy, purchase it.

Who will buy it? The guy who buy it for himself or get it as a gift? Maybe from a girl? I think it is a gift. I look at it and it’s comedy. I guess it is function too but the name is the catchy part of it. Cause everyone knows what the Skidmark is and anti-stain section is pretty funny.

Ok, if it is a gift: from whom to whom? I think it can be from anybody.

From your grandma? I can see my grandmother buying this. I can see my friend buying this as a joke. I wouldn’t personally buy this.

Ok. What about occasions? Just a joke or maybe certain occasions? Mmm. I think it primarily be a gift among other funny underwear where you would see something like this.

What about bachelor party or…

75 Yeah! I don’t really want to advertise that I crap my pants, you know what I mean? Cause that’s what I am saying here with anti-soil section. You know what I mean, like “Jim, Bob, thank you for recognizing that I sheet in my pants, I appreciate your purchase of the Skidmark brand underwear, therefore apologizing my difficulty…”

All right, I have other designs. It is not a sample yet, just designs. I call it Ego Booster

Oh my God! That is one for sure! This is gonna sell (about yellow tape measure long design). This is catchy and I think gift would be primarily from women to their significant others. But for sure, this would be the most … That’s the most eye-popping catchy, you gonna get people who look at it as a novelty, people will be proud that their significant others well endowed. I think this is very industrial with a tape measure, a lot of working-class guys use it. You have the smaller and larger…That’s hilarious. You will sell only this one (with long yellow tape measure) – there is no one who is gonna buy the shorter (about the same design)

The longer one. That is just a great idea. That’s funny.

But let’s talk about this idea. You would measure…not from here (showing the top, form the band), you would measure from here?

Yeah, from the base. But I would use the longer. Yeah, there gonna be guys who are don’t know how many inches there is.

I tried to put 12 or 14, I don’t know how many.

That’s the one that I was telling. I don’t know what is that and no one know what that is (about both black designs). And people don’t know. And this is, I don’t like that

This one (yellow) or a wooden ruler, the classic wooden ruler when you were a kid, cause I am sure everyone measures themselves like everybody does.

Wait a second. Guys measure themselves on a regular base? Not on a regular base but like when you are an adolescent you wanna see am I normal? This is catchy (holding yellow design). You would definitely sell a lot of these.

What would be a reasonable price? $20-25

And what channels do you envision for its distributions? At the stores? You know, South Congress boutique, novelty stores. Nordstrom and Macy’s aren’t gonna sell something that measuring your “unit.” It’s a novelty, online sales. I don’t think any big stores will pick that up. That’s just my opinion, but I don’t do this. That’s not what I do for living. But this is catchy, I would like that (long yellow measure tape)

76 Would you like to have this one for yourself? Yeah, I’d love to see a reaction of my girlfriend off I took my pants off and there is a ruler on my underwear. It would be hilarious. But I primarily see women buying it for men.

As a joke? Or maybe they are proud of what they got! I gonna put a ruler up on it. Here we go

What would be a reaction of other guys if you take off your pants in a locker room and other guys see this boxer briefs on you? They pretty much assume that you got a big “unit,” I guess. But if you can’t back that up, you gonna be in trouble.

What about design? Should we keep the same white areas, black areas? Yeah, I think the black highlights the ruler. It is very, very good.

All right. What about online sales? It depends on what you’re selling. Like branding it and going after the brand Skidmark, you know it’s a … I don’t know, I know nothing about online sales.

Should the band be Skidmark or just a plain black? I like Skidmark. It’s catchy, everyone knows what it is. It’s a good idea.

If it impossible to enter retail chain at this moment Just websites? I don’t I would have a TV ads with sex sales. A sexy woman buying underwear for her husband. A Skidmark and the ruler, this kind of thing. Or have a girl pulling off the guy’s jeans and seeing the Skidmark underwear and getting excited. That type of thing. Sex sells. That’s what I would think. Cause this sex. This is like ok, how big is a “unit” in a “pocket”

Do think of sex shops or more traditional stores? Yeah, you can do it the sex shops too. I see it’s a big business. I see it at the bachelorette parties, I see it girls buying for their husbands, that kind of thing.

Any other feedback, suggestions? I like the ruler. It’s industrial, you can see the guys, contraction workers getting this staff. I don’t like the hand-written ruler. The stain thing is kind of funny, but not this.

All right, thank you so much!

77 #7 African-American, 29 y.o., MBA student and entrepreneur, straight, dating but leaves separately 51:29

Who buys your underwear? Who buys my underwear…Um, I buy most of my underwear, but sometimes my girlfriend buys me underwear

How often? It’s kinda depends on whether I have a girlfriend and which girlfriend it is. In the past my underwear was purchased maybe three different girlfriends and it is usually like one time per year.

Ok, so it was a necessity or more as a joke? Sometimes a necessity, sometimes, yeah (laughs). I would wear a pair of underwear forever. Just like my general underwear – my t-shirts, my boxers – they would go raggedy, so sometimes it’s a necessity

So they would get annoyed that you don’t buy additional underwear and would stop by the store to pick underwear for you? Absolutely

Does it mean that it was more caring wife-husband type or “I can’t stand it anymore!” It was a little but of both, kind of a mixture. Like “I am pretty tied of these holes in your underwear!” You know, like, “I was going by and I picked those up.” If I got it as a gift it was more cutesy, like Sponge Bob pants. Yeah, those were really cute. I still wore those actually. That may be the only pair of underwear that is kind of cutesy.

What about the rest? Very plain. Boxers. I have a few pairs of boxer briefs. Although I want more boxer briefs, again, I am not the type to buy underwear. So, I haven’t went to buy. I have a pair of boxer briefs that literally has holes in it and I just refuse to go and buy, because they are comfortable too and I just don’t wanna mess with it

What kind of underwear do you currently have? I got boxer briefs and boxers

What’s your favorite? Boxer briefs probably

If you like boxer briefs, why do you buy boxers? Before the last time I bought underwear which probably was…I had this underwear buying experience maybe 4-5 years ago and I bought a lot. And, you know, I replaced a few maybe like 3 years ago, 3-4 years ago. So, I have a lot of underwear and just because

78 I like boxer briefs I need to go buy more boxers briefs, although the boxer briefs that I have are pretty worn, so I need to go buy more boxer briefs since I like them. Yeah…

How many pairs do you think you have right now? Probably, 30. And I have, maybe 5 of those are boxer briefs.

That’s interesting. If you like boxer briefs and you have only 5 out of 30, why? I have no clue. Cause, fir instance, I have certain jeans that fit me well, so it’s very uncomfortable for me to wear boxers, so I wear the boxer briefs. But I wouldn’t mind wear boxer briefs with more loose-fitting pants, but I don’t have them. So, I tend to wear those for necessity, like necessity and comfort versus just casually. I wear boxers casually. I wear them with shorts and staff like that and I’ll probably continue to do that.

From a male prospective, which ones are more comfortable, or it’s not a big difference? Boxers or boxer briefs?

Boxers. I tend to like boxers more in terms of comfort. I like…You know, it depends on what I am wearing. If I have something like really loose, like really loose shorts on, I wanna wear boxers because there are really loose. But if I am wearing like pants, like this pants right here. There are not exactly like snug-fitting but they are really comfortable, I would rather wear these with boxer briefs

What is important to you in underwear? Comfort

Describe me what comfort stands for? Don’t give in the way of my pants. For instance, if I am sitting down, I don’t want bunching. Bunching is very uncomfortable, this is why I wear boxer briefs with my snuggly-fit pants, I like to feel the wind. When I was young, I tended to wear boxers a lot, cause I didn’t wear cloths on which is pretty weird, so, you know, when I am wearing them, I wanna feel them. But then again, there are some things when I want to look good, they are more foam-fitting and I want to wear my briefs to be more comfortable, cause otherwise I’d be wearing large-cut boxers that would be bunching. That’s disgusting, that doesn’t feel right at all.

What about fabric? Cotton usually. I am not a big satin or silk guy. I’ve had some, I bought a pair of silk pair of underwear, but more for a show though with my girlfriend for a special evening, when we laughed. So, I bought this silk underwear with hearts on them. Yeah, and that was really cool, but I am not that…you know. I am more casual

It was what kind, boxers? Boxers. These are silk boxers. I’ve never had silk boxer briefs

You mentioned that you bought underwear last time about three years ago 79 Yeah, maybe longer

Where do you usually go? Target, Wal-Mart. I’ve actually purchased underwear like t-shirts from T-J Maxx or Marshals. I don’t usually buy high-end underwear in high cost places like Macy’s or something like that. I wouldn’t buy underwear there. Now…where I got those heart underwear? I think I got those at Target I believe. Those were probably purchased at Target

And were you looking for this kind of underwear? Yeah. I think so. I wanted to get something nice that would be better.

But in general, do you plan your underwear shopping in advance or it is more like “Oh, I like this one!” Like impulsive…That’s a good question. Usually when I go buy underwear, it is not impulsive. Yeah, I can’t recall when I kind of purchased underwear impulsively. No, it is usually a planned trip. Cause they are sitting there, every day you wearing them and one day you just say “All right. I gotta get something really quick.” Like I am going to the store to get underwear, so it’s rarely impulsive.

What’s the average price you pay for a pair of underwear? Oh, man, these things are going up too. For instance, you can buy a pack of three, if I can recall correctly for maybe like $10 to15 dollars. Those silk boxers, though, those were like $10 or $12 per unit. So, it is like 300% uptake from normal purchase. So, you know. The special underwear like Skids (refers to Skidmark) I would expect them to be more in between those two than the regular purchase.

Did you ever purchase anything online? No! That would feel very odd.

Why do you think so? Why do I think so… Because you can’t try them on.

Can you trying on the underwear at the store? No, you can’t. I’ve never tried them on. That’s what I am saying. I see no reason why you couldn’t buy it online, but for a man to purchase underwear online would be a definite change in buying habit. Like we are very comfortable to go to the store and at least looking at them, feeling them and say roughly it looks like my size compare to the other underwear that is in there. And the other package, sealed package. Some people would actually take and open them up and then put on next to them. Like you’ll go in there and you will see packages that had been opened, you know. Like at Target you will see those all the time, like opened package of underwear. Cause people just don’t like the fact that they have to walk away not having tried those on. But I don’t think they will let you to bring it back once this is open.

80 Oh, yeah. And how often do you have mistakes when you though it was your size, you tried them on at home and it was a wrong size? That happens all the time! That happens very often! So, I have an underwear at home that is super large. Like you know, not super large but pretty large. And this is that underwear that I have to wear with super baggy staff, cause otherwise it get the bunching going really bad.

They basically that big (showed)? Yes, these are huge! Like a flag or something! What was I thinking! Like literally, what was I thinking? I have no clue. And that’s another thing. I don’t go buy underwear very often, because you can’t make that mistake. It is actually very unpleasant buying experience. For instance if I go in and I want to…You got me think about it! This is…is very unfamiliar with this. You go in and you purchase underwear and they give you a range of size: from this size to this size. And most guys don’t know what their waste size is. You know, as you get older, our waist size changes dramatically. So, we can be completely wrong. Like these buying decisions for a pair of underwear that I am going to keep for the next five years. In these are not exactly cheap. So, I am going in, I am buying these things and I am not very comfortable with it at all. If there is a way to change it, you would, probably, make a lot of money there. Because I have no clue how it would be done. Seriously, it would be very rewarding to figure out the size before you made a purchase.

For example, theoretically, they can provide centimeters to measure the waist. Yes! Yes! That would actually be perfect! Like you put a measuring rod right next to it. You measure yourself – boom! You see, I am 19, you got a pair of underwear that is from 16 to 18 and then 19 to 20, or whatever – that would be perfect! When I am trying these things on, I just need to know what my waist size is.

I wish I worked for Walmart of other big retailer! If you, guys, planning on selling this staff, of course. Especially if you go to a more, I don’t know…Specialty stores. That would help quite a bit. I mean really!

Describe me your ideal underwear. Cotton, snug perfect fit. Expendable but snug, sturdy. The crunch area has to be comfortable. This is, probably, the most important area. That’s why guys mostly go for cotton. That’s about it.

No preferences in terms of color? I tend to try and match my underwear with colors I am wearing. If I wear green, I wear green underwear. But if I don’t have green underwear, I’d wear anything.

Is there anything that is no brainer? That you can always wear it with anything and you will always need it? For example, black or anything else? Black is usually pretty good. White is a very bad option. I don’t know why they selling underwear in white? Because of this whole brown staining thing, you know. Like Jesus, 81 why would you do that? So, most of my underwear is in dark colors. In fact, I got a pair of white underwear that I just rarely ever wear. Like I have to be out of all my underwear to wear those. And they are really large too. Like the one as the “flag” pair (laughs)

Do you have a favorite trademark? Trademark in terms of brand…Not really. I am not sold by any of them. Of course you go there and you gonna see Fruit and Loom (Fruit in the Loom) or Hanes, so you tend to buy Fruit and Loom or Hanes. But I am not like “Gotta get Fruit&Looms,” you know – give me anything, nothing extra special. From a brand perspective I am pretty easy. I am not one of those guys who off if you don’t get it a shelf space.

You would say that the most important thing is how comfortable is it, how affordable it is, right? In terms of my purchase, 1. the most important thing would be a location – being at the right place when I go buy. 2. Comfort, helping me to understand my accurate size. And then price.

Why you are resistant to online purchases with respect to underwear? Other than not being able to see it and touch it? What keeps you back? Yeah, that, probably, would be the biggest issue – not being able to see and touch it. Because you can make those mistakes and if I buy it online…

But at home you can measure your waist! But not too many guys have those measuring things (laughs). Not too many guys have those

Is your underwear comes in packs or as separate items? Usually bundle, usually about three. I’ve never seen anything more than three. And the colors! I have no clue who decides what colors go together! Yeah, there is some [inaudible] genius sitting back and think “You know, I know for a fact that green and maroon should be together” (laughs). You know like Wow! Ok. I really like that pair but I can’t stand that one or that one. And the rest of them – the combinations are horrible.

So, basically you purchase one pair of underwear and the rest of them would be “Ok.” Yeah, I gotta get these, I have to wear these…

Do you wear them as well? Yeah

When you get holes in your favorites ones? When I get the holes, those are my backups (laughing)

Now, it is time to show you a sample! Oh, wow, I didn’t know you had an actual pair! Oh, sweet. What is this? “Anti-Soil section?” (laughs) They are actually quite comfortable in terms of feel. Now, I have a 82 problem with the name because it says to me “I have Skidmarks” (laughs). And the “Anti-Soil section,” yeah…doesn’t make me more comfortable either.

That’s the main idea. To make you uncomfortable?

To make fun of the problem that some people have. And it is positioned. There is a video on youtube about how guys and girl on the date, and then after the date they go to his place and flirt with each other and everything leads to sex. And she says “Oh, I need to refresh myself,” so she goes to the bathroom, takes shower and then “Oh, you have laundry here! Let’s see” – she opens the laundry and there is his dirty underwear. Exaggerated of course, with skidmarks. “You are a dirty pig!” She slams the door. And them there is a music “Baby, come back.” Obviously, all this limited advertising that this company had was geared towards guys with a sense of humor as well as making fun of yourself. See. Here is the thing. I don’t think…This is good they don’t have a bud here. Nobody use this.

The little button? No, the little pee section. You know, nobody uses that. So, it’s not a big emphasis there. Actually, I think you can get rid of it altogether

Wait a second? Does it mean men don’t need this hole? I don’t know

They pull their pants down? Just pull it down. It’s a hell lot more easier for me to do that (to pull down pants) then do this thing. Cause we are not so small here – you know, you can get a guy here, for some guys it’s really easy – don’t get me wrong. For some people it is actually uncomfortable. The other thing is, like, I have never heard of a girl doing that. The matter of fact, I’ve seen girls with more dirty underwear than guys. Like I look at their underwear and then, wow, it’s pretty bad, you know. It’s just a bodily function, everybody sweat and stuff like that. So, I don’t think anybody would ever do that. Yeah, I’ve had some girls looking at my underwear, clean my underwear or anything – nobody is ever said anything like that. But the good thing about this is you have a good value at that, here, in terms of this being anti-soil section, because nobody wants to be soiled, nobody wants it there. Maybe, it doesn’t need to be made fun of, maybe it just needs to be solved. You see what I am saying? Probably, you have a technology that you can get really good sales from without making fun of it. Versus actually making fun of it – some guys may actually be turned off by it. Why use one technology to give you marketing advantage, the other technology, like the other side would be…For instance, if that was my product, I would more or less show guys the value of…I would show a guy who is walking around with what they call “Swass” – Swamp ass and so, and all he is walking around, digging in his butt trying to get this staff out of it, and these things get horrible when he get home, takes it off(about underwear), and there is nothing there. And even if they were white, that would even 83 prove the point more. If it’s really anti-soil, and there is nothing there. I would prove the point “hm, good staff.” You see, that would get the point home versus the girl. A guy would rarely, especially when he is already had sex with her…

No, they didn’t have sex – it was before the sex. But the guy, probably, would be like – if you did that, all right, bye. I am speaking from the guys’ point of view. But if you can give a value, you adding to me personally would be that I don’t have to wash these things as hard. Cause we get more annoyed that the women do, actually. I would think. Especially, if I am a single guy. I get more annoyed by I have to go and clean my underwear versus a girl seeing my underwear. The matter of fact, if she did, I would be like “Bye” (laughs). “You shouldn’t look in my cloths, weirdo”

By the way, can you tell me more about washing habits? How often do you do laundry as well as do guys really sort the staff out? I do because my mom taught me to sort this staff out. I had people who washed my cloth. My aunt, I argued with her. She is not very domesticated – when she washes her cloths, she puts all the colors together. And I think she messed up some of my cloths one time. I tend to separate everything, so if I’ve got whites, I have to wash these with whites, and I put bleach in it to make sure I keep it clean. But I wash…now I wash once, maybe, every week or every two weeks. And my washing is actually determined whether I am running out of my underwear. Right now I have one t-shirt left

26:00 There are so many holes in underwear buying experience. The male buying underwear experience for me personally is not very pleasurable. Mistakes: I hate the bundles – different designs that I might not even want

But for men, I don’t think I would ever buy underwear online. I think if I saw this underwear online, I would be just like “Nah,” it doesn’t appeal to me, because, for instance I would have to have a “OOO.” If I had a very comfortable buying experience at the store…For instance, what leads me to my online?.. So, books. You go to the bookstore – it is already comfortable – it is not very uncomfortable to buy books in the store. So, when they came with books online, they kinda fit, you know. It’s kinda small, hey, I know I don’t need to thumbs through the pages a lot – I know I need this book. They even give you an option virtually thumb through the pages and do that online. I’ll just put it in a shopping cart and buy it. Versus underwear – it is kinda more of a hands- on type of purchase.

34:00 Me: but if we’ll assume you already felt in love with a certain underwear Hassan: Yeah, I still prefer the store, because it is very like I don’t go and shop for a pair of underwear. And to actually see them to go in there and purchase it, even if this is an exact same model. Because what we are used to, it’s pretty impossible for me to go and find exact same pair of underwear that I worn, that I bought five years ago. 84

35:50 Showing designs: These two (yellow and black with long) In terms of design, this is really cool. Both of them. I like these because they are not just saying “Anti-skid”; what they are saying is “Look at my size, this is where I am,” you know. Like this is a pretty cool thing. This has some style to it versus this is more marketing for anti-skid. And again, that’s not a selling aspect foe me. You can buy these, you can do price up on these, because these are kind of specialty underwear (about yellow measure tape). These are more in line with those heart silk underwear that I would buy. I would buy these for maybe just $12, because I want to be cool for my girl, or something like that. Versus this, I wouldn’t buy these that has a ruler and anti-skid on it, because again, it has “Anti-Skid” on them. But again, I would buy these (shows plain black and white ruler)

Yeah, I would buy it for myself

But it wouldn’t be a Valentine-type of a deal – it would be more casual night after watching some football, these are my “lucky shorts” or something. Yeah, check this out, babe (laughing)

Me: One of the concerns I’ve heard is that the guy should validate his size. If a guy has a small penis, he wouldn’t wear these. For a very reason – you can’t lie. If you are with the girl, and you are about to take these things off, chances that she is gonna know that you are not this (laughs). It’s not like the car. The car is different because I am driving the car, you see my car, it looks very good, big-muscle car – that is the extension of my fallos, you know. But once I get you home – I already got you home, I don’t have to lie to you anymore. So I am wearing these – this is like underwear, I don’t have to lie about this anymore.

The situation is less imagination – more realistic, you know, I am gonna go with what I really like. 41:02

41:25 Like I said – you can take measurements. I would actually flip this. For instance, I would flip inches up here, put the ruler in front cause we start right here, 6 to 8. And you can do a size width - lots of different ways you can do it. The guys are gonna to come in and I would buy it. Because I would be like, “Yeah, that’s me

Versus a shirt that says “I am humongous, trust me.” A shirt would be more like if you had a muscular shirt that guy has his ruler on here

My current friend us really into boxers. 85

#8 - discarded

#9 – African – American, straight, single, 25 y.o., MBA student 24:19

Who buys your underwear? I do

Have you ever received it as a gift? Yes

My ex-girlfriend. Yeah, I got one that was funny and one that was probably the best of them all.

Do you wear it at all? I didn’t wear it too much. I just kept it cause it’s funny.

What was so funny about it? It was like a regular black pair of underwear but it had a picture of the man swinging on its…The way you have tape on yours, it had a picture on mine. Like it supposed to be a sport underwear, something that you would wear of…

Was it boxer briefs, boxers? Boxers

Did you ever receive it from your parents? No, just girlfriend

How often do you shop for underwear? Once in 6 month

How many pairs of underwear do you usually buy at once? When I go to buy, I buy like 6. I just buy two of the boxers. I buy boxers in threes. I tend to buy the same thing over and over again.

How the packed? Do they have different colors? I tend to stick to the same color. All of them are black

So, you wear only black underwear? I think I have one grey and one blue, but everything else is black.

And how many pairs of underwear you currently have? Probably, a good number…Can I estimate? 86

Yes, sure. That I wear, puts me between 25 and 30.

Ok, and how often…you said you go… Once in 6 month

Is it mote a necessity purchase, that you plan for or it can be an impulse purchase? It is always a necessity for me. I don’t like shopping that much. I will go if I need to buy something

Why you don’t like shopping? I don’t know. It is just one of the things I will need to when I have to. I will get bored going to mall. If I need to, then I’ll go find it. And if I’ll see something else I like, I will buy it too. But I don’t like just go and look out.

Describe me your experience when you are at the mall or at the shop when you buy underwear? What you dislike, what you find really annoying? The entire process… I tend to stick to the same colors. I dislike underwear that is bright or too colory – for a lack of a better word. I don’t like when it is not arranged well, when you can’t find what you want. When they have staff mixed together – different colors, different brands mized together, mumbled together – it drives me crazy. What else. Oh, when you can’t tell what color is it when you look at the box.

It means you can not take it out? Yeah, if you have a standard box where everything on top. Like someone in the box, if it is white, I know it is white. And sometime you go, you buy a box, you think it’s white and go home and then realize it’s blue or pink, or yellow

How often do you have this kind of mistakes with underwear? I had it once. I think it was white or something when I thought it was black. I brought it back

You can return it? Yeah, I didn’t wear it. I got to the car, I opened the box and I just took it back.

What are your favorite stores? I just buy it from Calvin Klein

05:00

87 #10- White Caucasian male, 27 yo, straight, dating, but live separately. Works on PhD in psychology. Very tall and skinny 26:52

Who buys your underwear? I buy my own underwear

Have you ever receive it as a gift? Um…Yeah, I guess so. But not probably in a while. Like for Christmas or something, with socks and underwear. But it probably has been a while since I got an underwear from my folks.

It was from your parents, friends, girlfriends? Parents, but probably many years ago

Ok. What’s your favorite type of underwear? Boxers? Boxer briefs? Boxer briefs

Why? Lengths, I guess and support

What is important for you in underwear? I guess, comfort, so I usually wear cotton – nothing sleek or anything like that. And silk. Yeah, support is one for sure. I don’t like just plain boxers, really. What else I like – having a little bit of length to the shorts.

Ok. When you describe comfort, what does it mean? Oh, um, I guess a comfortable material – cotton is comfortable for me. And other than that just a good fit with just a matter of having the right waist size and elastic, so it’s comfortable. The things that are too tight or too loose are not comfortable. For me

How many pairs of underwear do you currently have? Oh, probably 12 to 15. About two weeks worth, maybe.

And how often do you buy new underwear Oh, nit very often. Um, so usually find something and I stick with it for a while. No more than once a year.

And do you go to the physical store or shop online? I guess always a physical store. I don’t think I ever bought underwear online

Why? Um…Well, it’s a good question because you don’t try it on at the store. I don’t know. It’s a good question because you don’t try it on at the store. I don’t know… It’s a good

88 question. I mean a lot of my shopping gone online and I’ve never bought underwear online – I don’t know…

Would you consider it in the future as a possibility? Yeah, sure

Especially, when you mentioned that you tend to stick with underwear for a while and know what to expect, it makes sense to purchase it online Right. Save yourself a trip. Yeah, I pretty much know what to expect. I kinda what style I want – not necessarily a brand. So, I am not loyal to a particular brand, but more to a concept.

But do you have any brands that you currently prefer? Um, I guess I prefer them because I own them. Not necessarily loyal to them. I just found the style that I like and stuck with it.

And the style is boxer briefs with good fit. Year, right

Any colors? The relatively plain, I guess, stripes and colors and plaids, but nothing fancy, no cartoon characters.

You have no underwear with funny designs? I guess I used to have a couple pairs, but they were just a couple boxers, loose fitting.

04:02

89 #11 - 21 y.o. Asian male, straight, cohabitates with a partner, bachelor (advertising major), American born 20:21 – was in hurry, had a job interview after our interview, was slightly anxtious (it could affect our conversation)

Who buys your underwear? I do

Have you ever received it as a gift? No

But when you were a child? Probably 13

Do you have favorite brands? Not really. No, I really like GAP

And what’s your favorite type of underwear (boxers, boxer briefs)? Boxer briefs

Why? They are comfortable. And… I don’t know, they look better

Ok. The look and the feel Aha

What is important for you in underwear? Softness

Softness of the fabric or softness of seams as well? Both

Is color important? Not too much

Is it important how long it can serve? For example, you can have very soft underwear but it will serve you a couple months Yeah, that matters

Do you have favorite color or patterns? Maybe darker color, solid maybe. Yeah

Do you have any light-color underwear? No

90 How many pairs of underwear do you currently have? Probably around 20

And how often do you buy underwear? Probably, twice a year if needed

And how many items or pack do you buy at once? Probably two packs

How many pieces in each? Two in each

Do you usually shop at GAP or any other stores/channels? I tried, I think it was Banana and Express, they were too nylony

It’s not natural? Yeah. It doesn’t feel right

What about Fruit&Loom or other popular brands you can get at the stores such as Target, Walmart? I don’t think they last. And I think they thin – it feels that they won’t last

What’s the average lifetime of your underwear? I think pretty long. Like a year

When you shop for underwear, is it more planned purchase or more an impulse? I think it is more impulse. When I go to the store, I go to the mall I think of it, I think “Maybe I need it.”

When you mentioned that there are two pieces in the pack, are they of different colors? Yeah, usually darker and bright or a solid and striped

You mentioned you don’t have any white color, it means you don’t choose the ones that have white? Aha

Did you ever purchase underwear online? Mmm. I think I did once when it was my freshmen year just because I wasn’t familiar with the area

And how successful this experience was? It was fine, cause I think it really doesn’t matter – the size is usually the same, so I didn’t have to think about that. So, it was fine.

It was GAP underwear? 91 No, I think it was more generic off of Walmart or something

So, you don’t even remember the brand or the website? No, I pretty sure it was a department store

Did you have to pay for delivery? Aha. Which is why I don’t do that anymore

Do you like to go to the stores? Mmm. Yeah, if I like shopping

How much time it normally takes? I am quick

How much time you usually spend… At the mall or …?

At the mall, as well at the store with underwear Mall probably 30 minutes, in each store, probably, like 10 minutes

That’s so interesting! Guys are definitely much quicker! Yeah, I noticed.

Can you describe me your ideal underwear? Really soft, natural fit – not too tight, not too loose and…no tags.

No tags? Yeah, like no itchy tags. Now they have a tag that looks like a sticker or something

What’s the average price you pay for your underwear? I think ten bucks for two

Do you have a favorite color? Did I ask this question? Yeah, you have. Dark colors.

Let me show you a sample. These are boxers briefs called Skidmark (he laughs)

This is stain-resistant underwear with anti-soil section Aha

Tell me what you think about it. I don’t really like how long it is. And the awkward black section

What is awkward about it? 92 I don’t know. It feels weird, it looks weird Can we remove the words and if there are no words would it still be weird? Yeah

Just the black section looks weird…What would be better? Solid

With black. What do you think about Skidmark idea? It’s cool

What do you think about the quality of this underwear? It’s good. Seems well-maid

How long it will last? Depends on how much you wear. Maybe 6 months

By the way, how often do you do your laundry? I typically wash my clothing once a week or twice any other week – depends on how much cloths I wear.

Ok. Would you like to have a Skidmark underwear for yourself the way it is? I wouldn’t mind, just because I don’t have too much preference.

But would you be for example embarrassed or proud when you dance or when people can see a band with the word Skidmark, what would be your reaction? I’ll be fine with it. I don’t think people will think too much about it.

What would be a reasonable price for this underwear? Probably, 5 bucks

And do you envision it at the store or sold primarily through the websites? Well, since it has an anti-soil area, I think website would be better just because people might be looking for that. Cause I think anti-soil can call too much attention to that

And again, do you see it as a separate website for Skidmark stain-resistant anti-soil underwear or to partner with different websites? Its own website

And how to drive traffic to this website? How its potential consumers will know about it? Probably, just as [inaudible] and maybe partner with other companies just to get yourself there.

Do you see it more like a guy buys it for himself or more like a gift from someone? Buys it for himself, unless somebody wants to say something (laughs)

93 And who would it be? Your significant other Aha. Do you see it like a joke from your male friends? Maybe. Especially roommates

Roommates in college years? Yeah

What would be the best demographics for this product? Probably college age. Maybe 18 to 30-ish

Ok. It doesn’t seem to be very embarrassing…the direct joke about that. You perceived as “Yeah, sure, that’s ok”

I think it could be a pretty big joke if you have that kind of a problem. Especially if you got it as a gift

Ok. It probably depends on how it would be presented. Or, depends on your personality Yeah

Now, I have different designs, and it doesn’t have to have a Skidmark name on it. It is just based on the same model of underwear (showing designs, he laughs) They’re funny, yeah.

Which one do you like the most? Ah…The tape measure.

The longer? The shorter? It doesn’t matter. This one looks better

The longer? Yeah, cause it looks even.

The symmetry? Yeah

But genitalia’s part starts here (showing shorter version). However, the longer version seems to you more attractive? Yeah, I guess it would be funnier just because it’s more accurate (shows the shorter).

In general, what do you think about that idea? Um…I think it would be funny, but I don’t think … I think it would be attractive for people that …for guys around college age but for nobody else.

94 Why it would be attractive for college age? Cause it’s more of a joke.

And do you see it purchasing for yourself or more as a gift? Probably a gift.

Unless you want to show something to your… (he laughs)

How would your girlfriend would respond to that? Probably just laugh (laughs himself). Or…I don’t know

You can ask her when you get home. If it is a gift, from whom to whom? Um… Probably for someone’s 18-th birthday or 21-st birthday. More like a guy gift

As a recognition of very big assets? Or how they should present it? I don’t know

Is it more like “Hey buddy, we know yours is so huge, here we go!” or a different situation? Because you noticed, there are 12 inches everywhere Yeah. Maybe more as a joke, say that the person wishes there were…(implies 12 inches penis)

Oh, like “you have time to grow!” Ok. What would be the best price for that underwear? Probably, still around 5.

5 bucks? Yeah. Well, since it’s a gift, maybe like 5 to 10 range

Aha. If it will cost 15 or 20 would you still buy it? If I thought it was funny enough, yeah

Is it funny enough? It depends on a situation. It depends whom I am giving to.

Ok. But if it is a gift, I noticed that people are willing to pay more. Yeah

Tell me your first thoughts. When you just saw it, what did you think? Um…What I think? Like a novelty item

What else? How much time it took to recognize the idea? How many seconds? Right away

Right away? Immediately? 95 Yeah

Ok. You know, there are a lot of guys, especially older guys, they have a nostalgic connection – especially with the ruler – they said that when they were teenagers, of course, they used to measure themselves with the ruler I don’t think that everybody does

So, you think not so many people can connect with the ruler idea? Probably most

If I can produce just one design, which one would you choose? Probably this one

The longer, yellow. We still have 15 minutes left – don’t rush (he looked nervous because he had a job interview after our conversation). If it is a gift, would it be a gift in a regular daily life or more for an occasion? More for occasions

Occasions. We’ve got 18th and 21st birthday occasions. Anything else? Maybe bachelor’s party

Anything else? It’s all I can think of

What about Christmas? Or Valentines day? Yeah. Valentines. Maybe Christmas if you have that kind of friend

Aha, ok. One of the insights I got from one participant was Secret Santa game Yeah

If this underwear was sold in the store, what kind of a store do you see? Spencer’s

Spencer’s? Any others? No

Ok. Is it more like Urban Outfitters type or more like a sex shop type? What was that?

Urban Outfitters or sex shops? Urban Outfitters. They probably have something like that.

I checked – they don’t They have other things (laughs)

96 Yeah, they have other funny things but did you ever see underwear like this? I have seen boxers like this

Boxers like this? Do you remember where and the brand? Walmart. It might have been Joe boxers

Joe Boxers? Yeah, since they like to target the younger crowd

Ok. All right. I have a set of questions about distribution. If it would be a website how to promote it? How make people aware of it and drive traffic to this website? What would be your recommendation? Probably these sporting goods websites with little ads. Or gaming websites. The websites that young men like to visit

Different videogames and sports…Any other websites that guys like to visit? Maybe something for fun, something like jokes? Um, probably college humor

Can you name any video game websites? Probably like X-box or Playstation

Aha, ok. What about viral videos or social networks? Not sure that these would work

Why? I don’t think it would catch on

Do you personally click on banners when you go to this X-Box website? Yeah

How often? Whenever something catches my eye

And what can catch your eye? mmm. just everything that would interest me, like relevance. Like a new game or sports team that I check out

What about sports games: football, baseball – what teams do you check out? What kind of websites would it be? Fantasy Football

Is it a website – Fantasy Football? I think it’s on Fox or something [correction – it is on nfl.com]. I don’t know for sure

97 And who does it? Your friends? Yeah

Ok. What about clips on youtube, when there is a funny video with a link at the end. Do you click on it? I don’t usually do it

But do you often watch youtube videos? Not too much

Do you share this stuff on Facebook? No

If you would see that one of your friends shared a funny link with this design, would you check it out? Probably

If it is just a picture and “Guys, that’s funny, that’s hysterical” and there is a picture of this boxer briefs, would you click on it? Maybe, yeah

Any final suggestions, any final thoughts? No, I don’t think so

All right, thank you so much!

98 Bibliography

Almas, K., Al-Hawish, A., & Al-Khamis, W. (2003). Oral Hygiene Practices, Smoking Habits, and Self-Perceived Oral Malodor Among Dental Students. Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice, 4 (4), 77-90.

Anderson, C. (2006). The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More. New York, NY: Hyperion.

Baran, I., & Nalçacı, R. (2008). Self-reported denture hygiene habits and oral tissue conditions of complete denture wearers. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 49 (2), 237-241.

Cohen-Mansfield, J., & Jensen, B. (2005). The preference and importance of bathing, toileting and mouth care habits in older persons. Gerontology, 51(6), 375-385.

Coin Laundry Association. (2005). Take Another Look at Today’s Laundromat: Survey Comes Clean on Laundry Habits, Pet Peeves and More. Retrieved from: http://coinlaundry.org/pdf/FunInfo.pdf.

Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Fried, S. (2007). Husbandry. New York, NY: Bantam Dell.

Harris Interactive. (2005). Many Adults Report Not Washing Their Hands When They Should, and More People Claim to Wash Their Hands than Who Actually Do. Retrieved from: http://www.harrisinteractive.com/NEWS/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=1000.

Lindlof, T. R., & Taylor, B.C. (2002). Qualitative communications research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Marshall, M. N. (1996). Sampling for qualitative research. Family Practice, 13 (6), 522- 525.

Mintel. (December, 2008). Men's Underwear – US. Retrieved from http://www.mintel.com with access through The University of Texas Library Service.

Mintel/Experian Simmons NCS/NHCS. (2008). Adult Full Year—POP Number of men’s underwear items purchased, by age, April 2007-June 2008. Retrieved from http://www.mintel.com with access through The University of Texas Library Service.

99 Moisander, J., & Valtonen, A. (2006). Qualitative Marketing Research: A Cultural Approach. London: Sage Publication.

Mui, Y.Q. (2009, August 31). Blue Chip, White Cotton: What Underwear Says About the Economy, The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2009/08/30/AR2009083002761.html

Pagels, J. & Price, L. (2009, December 4). Black Friday sales boost economy: Holiday profits aid national retailers, some Austin businesses suffer. The Daily Texan, pp. 1, 5.

Websites: Aussiebum.com Fruit.com Jockey.com Hanes.com

100 VITA

Ekaterina Mikhailovna Konovalova was born in Krasnodar, Russia. She received her undergraduate and graduate degree in Advertising from the Kuban State University and earned a Masters degree in Community Social Psychology from The University of

Massachusetts at Lowell. In September, 2008, she entered the Graduate School at The

University of Texas at Austin. Her areas of expertise include consumer psychology, customers’ insights and multi-cultural marketing.

Email: [email protected]

This professional report was typed by the author.

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