Cross-Cultural study of decision-making styles for contemporary young consumers

ABSTRACT This study addressed the cross-cultural applicability and tested the generalizability of the Consumer Styles Inventory (CSI) for profiling contemporary young consumers in the U.S. and South Korea. Online surveys were used to collect 411 American and 680 South Korean female responses from various universities in both countries, respectively. Using a cross-validation approach, this study revealed a seven-factor model for U.S. consumers and a five-factor model for South Korean consumers differed from the original Sproles and Kendall’s eight-factor model, suggesting a substantial modification to profile Decision-making Styles (DMS) of today’s global consumers. Findings are limited to young female consumers in both countries. The similarities and differences found between these two countries can provide helpful insights to apparel professionals targeting global consumers. The findings contribute a new way of profiling today’s young fashion consumers by modifying existing CSI that have been used for more than 30 years.