Understanding the Female Consumers’ Decision Making Styles

Abstract

Understanding consumer decision making styles is vital for companies in developing the appropriate marketing strategies to best satisfy their target groups. Many studies have been conducted on the issue using the Consumer Styles Inventory (CSI) in different cultural settings conducted mostly on student samples. This study aims to test the transferability of the CSI to the Cypriot context through working with a sample drawn from adult female consumers living in the northern part of the island. Out of the eight consumer decision traits identified, three of them (Perfectionist- high quality seeking consumer, Confused by over choice consumer, Brand conscious consumer) are the same with the ones in the Sproles and Kendal (1986) study. Three of the traits identified (Time-energy conserving impulsive consumer, Careful, value for money consumer and Brand-store loyal consumer) have low reliabilities indicating that these traits cannot be accepted as reliable and need further refinement. Thus, the CSI’s generalizability across cultures has received limited support from the current study.

Keywords

• Consumer Behavior, Consumer Styles Inventory (CSI), Cyprus, Female Consumers

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