Brands of Packet Sanitary Towel Used.

Housewives using Packet or “Other” type of S.T. were asked to indicate the brand they used. This question was not asked in Glasgow, Peebles, Dorchester or Salisbury, and of the remaining housewives using packet or “Other” type, some 495 replied as follows:-

All proportions over 1% in this sample are statistically of positive significance. Probable error on the proportions given for the most important brands is calculated at two standard deviations.

Many of the housewives mentioned more than one brand of Sanitary Towel.

It will be seen that many housewives mentioned one of the four most prominent brands. It is interesting that, confronted with the question “Which brand do you usually use?”, one third of the housewives answering had no clear preference. Such housewives occasionally commented that “they did not mind the brand as long as the towels were large enough or comfortable.”

It is not possible to estimate the preferences of housewives unwilling to answer this question, and it cannot be assumed that the proportions indicated above are a guide to this, since they represent the answers of people willing to give the particular information.

Preferences for Brands of Sanitary Towels.

All housewives using Packet S.Ts were asked to indicate the brand preferred. Answers were received from 893 housewives, and may be compared with the type used as indicated above.

A word of caution must be given here that the analysis of brands used did not include details for Glasgow, Peebles, Dorchester and Salisbury, whereas the preferences include details from all towns. Comparison of these figures must therefore bear this point in mind.

It is interesting that the proportions mentioning the four leading brands actually used.

Unless the omission of the four towns invalidates such a comparison, the figures indicate that housewives are to some extent unable to secure the brands they prefer and that a large proportion of housewives have no preference as between the brands they are able to secure.

An attempt was made to estimate the effect of omitting these four areas by re-calculating preferences without including preference figures for the four towns. This, as will be seen below, has the effect of lessening somewhat the differences between types preferred and types used, but the main conclusion remains true.

It would appear that preferences in Glasgow, Peebles, Dorchester and Salisbury were, on the whole, less for the four main brands than in other towns visited.

Reasons for Brand Preferences in Packet Sanitary Towels.

All housewives indicating preferences for certain brands of Sanitary Towels were asked their reasons for their preference.

In only three brands, Southall’s, Mene and Lilia, were the number of housewives expressing preference sufficiently large for an analysis of the reasons offered for preference to be of use.

In the following cases, an appreciable proportion of Lilia users had comments to make, but much smaller proportions of the other two types.

Many people made more than one comment, and these figures therefore contain duplication. In addition to these differences on the part of Lilia users, it was observed that many more Lilia users than users of other brands had two or three comments to make on Lilia. Thus:

Sources of Supply of Packet S.T.

Housewives using Packet S.Ts were asked where they generally obtained their towels, Some duplication occurs in the proportions noted below, since some housewives mentioned more than one source of supply.

These proportions are given below for bombed, reception and other areas, though it must be pointed out that wartime changes cannot be alone responsible for what differences there are. They are based not on persons, but on the number of times each source of supply is mentioned.

Social Groups.

It will be seen that in the D group there are fewer duplications than in the other groups and an appreciable proportion of housewives buying from “Other Sources”.

No notable differences appear in the proportions of housewives in urban or rural areas acquiring their Sanitary Towels from the four sources noted.

Age Groups.

No statistically significant differences on the basis of the present sample can be shown to exist between the sources of supply favoured by housewives of different ages. There is however a tendency for the 40-50s to prefer the Draper and the 20-40s to prefer the Chemist. The 20-40s tend also to use other sources more markedly than 40-50s.

It should be explained that “Other Sources” include chain stores, Woolworth’s and shops other than specifically Drapers or Chemists.