Second-Hand Clothing Shoppers’ Motivations. An Exploratory Study among Ethnic Hungarians from the Szeklerland Region of Romania

Abstract We conducted a non-representative online questionnaire survey among inhabitants of the Szeklerland region in Romania with a view to looking into their second-hand shopping habits. Based on an adapted version of an international scale, the present analysis aims to explore the motivational background of these shopping activities. The exploratory factor analysis indicated five motivational dimensions: economic/austerity, critical/environmental, originality, social interaction, nostalgic and self-expression. The three latter motivational dimensions resemble the hedonic motivational dimensions indicated by the literature. The motivational dimensions can be explained by a series of independent variables; however, the explanatory power of regression models is marginal. As a second step, we adopted a cluster analysis in order to model second-hand shoppers’ typical consumer segments. We found three clusters: austerity social interactionist, originality seekers, and nostalgic critics.