Abstract
Although consumer decision-making style represents a relatively consistent pattern of cognitive and affective responses, culture has been proven to impact significantly on individual values and attitudes, thus, culture is expected to have a significant influence on consumer decision-making styles. This paper investigates the decision-making styles of young Malay, Chinese and Indian consumers in Malaysia using Consumer Style Inventory (CSI) developed by Sproles and Kendall (1986). An examination of the psychometric properties of CSI shows some similarities and differences in consumer decision-making styles among the three ethnic groups, suggesting that ethnicity affects shopping behavior. Identification of new traits exclusive to each ethnic group suggests that CSI cannot be applied without considering the cultural factors.
Highlights
Whereas many studies investigated decision-making styles across different countries, to date, no research has been conducted to determine consumer decision-making styles across different ethnic groups within a national boundary
This study utilized exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with principal component method to extract a small number of latent variables from a large number of observed variables (40-items on the Consumer Style Inventory (CSI))
This study was a first attempt at verifying the generalizability of Sproles and Kendall’s CSI across three ethnic groups within a Malaysian retail environment
Summary
Whereas many studies investigated decision-making styles across different countries, to date, no research has been conducted to determine consumer decision-making styles across different ethnic groups within a national boundary. In Malaysia, two published studies on decision-making styles are identified, namely Mokhlis (2009) and Wan Omar et al (2009), both of which sampled the student market. While these two studies provided important insights into consumer behavior within the specific context of Malaysia, the studies did not looked at ethnic variation in consumer decision-making styles. It is believed that ethnic groups in Malaysia may have certain distinctive characteristics in terms of decision-making styles that could be of equal interest to both researchers and marketers. The purpose of this study is to examine consumer decision-making styles of the three main ethnic groups in Malaysia namely Malay, Chinese and Indian. The aim is to demonstrate that consumer decision-making styles differs according to consumers’ ethnicity and that consumer behavior can be predicted from an understanding of the cultural personality of consumers
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