TOMS DEMOGRAPHIC

TARGET MARKET

TOMS is mainly focused in North America, however, there are over 30 countries where TOMS are available for purchase.  TOMS tend to target the age range of 13-30 year old, men and women, as well as high school or college degree holders.  The groups that TOMS have focused on in their target market tend to be hip, socially involved individuals who tend to be in the demographics of the middle class.  Further, as TOMS is a shoe company, they have also focused on their products to individuals seeking for fashionable and comfortable shoes that are affordable.

HOW DO STUDENTS, AS THEIR MAJOR DEMOGRAPHIC, RESPOND TO TOMS?

We conducted a survey of UBC students to assess what their perception is of TOMS. Here are the most telling results of that survey:

• Almost every single respondent had heard of TOMS
• 51% were familiar with the company and their mission, but only 10% had any idea of how it was actually implemented
• 52% of respondents actually owned TOMS products
  • 33% of owners cited purchasing them because of the projected charitable benefit
  • 55% would purchase them over a similar but less expensive product purely because of the charitable aspect
  • 77% of those surveyed viewed the company as either “good” or “excellent”
  • 76% of respondents stated that they thought that companies like TOMS, a for profit company with a charitable aspect, were a good way to give to developing nations

As we can see from the results, these students had a largely favourable perception of TOMS. As well, it becomes evident that this positive perception has a strong link to the “charitable” aspect of the company. What was interesting was that support for the company was so strong, yet so few people stated that they had a good understanding of the full concept and implementation. It seems that, for these students, simply being told that buying the product was helping children in need was enough to get their support. This emphasizes the strength of the single story: by making the issue simple for consumers, they view it positively and want to participate.

SURVEY MONKEY RESULTS FOR THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

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