The Spray-On Hair Audience : TV: Infomercial customers are a billion-dollar market. Who are these people and why are they giving their credit card numbers to strangers?

Blame it on all those plums growing in Fay Duga’s back yard.

Rather than let them rot, Duga churns the plums into jelly and stores it in jars. But the work was getting to be a bit much for the 79-year-old resident of Highland Springs, so when she saw some widget called a food dehydrator advertised on a flashy, 30-minute TV commercial, she ordered one for $79.06.

But Duga never could get her Ronco electric food dehydrator to work. “I said to myself, ‘Oh nuts, it’s easier the way I do it,’ ” she said. So Duga went back to her old method of preserving, then shipped back the gadget.

Like millions of TV-watching consumers, Duga was lured by the breathless promises of television marketing at its most awkwardly compelling: the infomercial. An infomercial is a 30-minute TV commercial--usually produced at a fraction of the cost of a conventional 30-second spot. Unlike most TV ads, however, infomercials typically pressure consumers to order the products right away.

In the world of infomercials, knowing the audience will become increasingly critical. At stake is more than $1 billion in annual infomercial-related sales. But there have been scant few studies about the people who purchase from infomercials. It has generally been more luck than serious marketing research that has led to the most successful infomercials.

Exactly who are these people who can be persuaded to pick up the phone, call perfect strangers and give out credit card numbers for items they have never seen or touched? For the first time, some details are emerging.

One recent survey of 6,000 regular TV shoppers revealed that minorities represent a disproportionate 45% of the nation’s TV shoppers, said Harvey D. Braun, national partner at the New York accounting firm Deloitte & Touche, which conducted the survey with Columbus, Ohio-based Impact Resources.

Only 11% of the TV shoppers are over age 65. Men buy almost as often as do women. Most home shoppers are married or living with someone else. And while the rich do little home shopping, lower-income families make more than 44% of the purchases. About 76% of the TV shoppers have VCRs at home, and 67% have cable TV.

Meanwhile, 44% of the TV shoppers are regular buyers from catalogues--a rate nearly four times higher than that of the general market.

“They’re the same people who buy from the Fuller brush man and the Avon lady,” said Barry J. Cutler, director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Practice.

Indeed, marketing consultants say many buyers are much like Duga--people who simply believe that the products advertised will make their lives better.

To learn more about customers such as Duga, more than 400 infomercial makers attended a conference in Los Angeles last week. The sponsor of the conference, the Los Angeles-based Infomercial Marketing Report, sends out a monthly newsletter with tips on infomercial trends.

“The rise of the infomercial is sociologically tied to the things going on in this country,” said Steve Dworman, publisher of the newsletter. “A lot of people are afraid to go out of their home to shop.”

A lot of others are also frightened to order anything from an industry that sells everything from spray-on hair to bee pollen that supposedly helps people shed weight, rid allergies and, of course, reverse aging.

But even as the infomercial industry insists that its reputation has greatly improved--with the likes of Volvo, Kodak and Ross Perot now on board--the sleaze factor is always lurking.

The Federal Trade Commission will announce today that it has fined Philadelphia-based National Media Corp. $275,000 for “deceptive endorsements” of four different products that have been sold nationally on infomercials. Among the products: Crystal Power, a crystal that was promoted as a cure for breast cancer.

Meanwhile, the Better Business Bureau’s regional office in Cypress reports an uptick in infomercial-related complaints, including 65 since the beginning of the year for Agoura Hills-based Ronco Inc. Ronco executives did not respond to telephone and fax requests for comment.

Several consumer groups contend that many people watch infomercials simply because they can’t figure out whether they’re watching a TV show or a commercial. “Infomercials work best when their clear purpose is masked,” said Ronald K.L. Collins, co-founder of the Washington-based Center for the Study of Commercialism.

The majority of consumers who respond to infomercials are simply people who are unsatisfied with their lives, said Dr. Joyce Brothers, the consumer psychologist. “The more unhappy people are with their lives, the more they will believe that something can magically change it,” she said. People respond to infomercials, Brothers said, “hoping these products can make them thinner, prettier, healthier and happier.”

Perhaps more than anything else, infomercials have successfully tapped into the fascination most consumers have with observing demonstrations, said Carol Moog, an advertising consultant and psychologist based in Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

“Watching one of these things is like watching Mr. Wizard,” she said. “We human beings are learning creatures, and we take great pleasure in being shown how something works.”

Especially if that someone showing us is Cher. Indeed, there is one thing that infomercial makers know about viewers: They like buying from celebrities. That’s why Dionne Warwick is asking consumers to “call a psychic friend” on the Psychic Friends Network of Phone Advice, and why Cher is in a 30-minute ad for Lori Davis Hair Products.

While only one in 10 infomercials is successful enough in generating sales to air for more than a few days, the use of a celebrity can improve the odds to about one in six, industry executives say.

“People want to use the same things that they think celebrities use,” said Noreen Jenny, president of Woodland Hills-based Celebrity Endorsement Network. “They want to look like them, act like them and live like them.”

Briefly

Suissa/Miller of Santa Monica has picked up the creative portion of the $50-million account for Los Angeles-based Bally’s Health & Tennis Corp., formerly handled by Cohen/Johnson. . . . Italia/Gal Advertising has won the estimated $3-million account for Century City-based food chain Johnny Rockets. . . . Mendelsohn/Zien Advertising has won the $1.5-million ad account for women’s active wear maker Gilda Marx. . . . The Sacramento-based California Fluid Milk Processor Advisory Board is looking for an agency for a new $20-million account focusing on consumer education. . . . The Los Angeles office of Bozell Worldwide will oversee advertising for “Heal L.A.,” a program to address problems of inner-city youth, in collaboration with Michael Jackson’s Heal the World Foundation.

Who Gets Hooked on TV Shopping These findings are based on a survey taken of 6,000 consumers who say they regularly buy items advertised on “infomercials” or on home shopping networks. The results contain a few surprises as to who are the faithful shoppers.

Sex: Researchers found that men buy almost as often as do women. Women: 52.3% Men: 47.7% Marital status: Most home shoppers are married--or living with someone. Married: 44% Single: 27% Divorced or separated: 11.3% Living together ad other: 9.7% Widowed: 8% Ethnic profile: While most shoppers are white, minorities account for a disproportionate number relative to the makeup of the U.S. population. White: 55% Black: 20% Latino: 17% Other: 4.9% Asian: 2.1% Age: Senior citizens account for far fewer home shoppers than many suspect. 18-24: 18.1% 25-34: 26.1% 35-44: 26.6% 45-54: 12.6% 55-64: 10.6% 65+: 10.9% Household income: Almost half of home shoppers make less than $25,000 a year. Under $15,000: 22.3% $15,000-24,999: 22.2%$25,000-39,999: 22.9% $40,000-74,999: 19% $75,000+: 8.3% Percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding or lack of responses.Source: Deloitte & Touche and Impact Resources