Revisiting sproles and Kendall's consumer styles inventory (CSI) in the 21st century: A case of Australian consumers decision-making styles in the context of high and low-involvement purchases

There has been considerable research on the investigation of Consumer Decision-Making Styles(CDMS). However, research designs suggested to date mainly replicate the original study bySproles and Kendall (1986) proposing eight mental characteristics, the Consumer StylesInventory (CSI). The research aims to develop this approach further and apply the CSI to differentproduct involvement (e.g., high and low) and compare the relationship between productinvolvement and consumer decision-making styles. Data were collected from 208 Australianrespondents using a self-administered questionnaire. Exploratory and confirmatory factoranalysis was conducted on the CSI adapted for high and low involvement purchases. Thegeneralisability of the CSI was tested within this context. Results found significant differencesbetween the two product categories and demonstrated a relationship between products and CDMSand that CDMS are governed by consumers' perceived product involvement. Furthermore, theoriginal CSI can still be a valuable measure to low involvement purchases; however, it isquestionable and requires further modification in relation to high involvement purchases. Forinstance, the addition of new factors such as “environmental sustainability”, “innovationconsciousness”, “corporate social responsibility”, etc. with the original scale would helpunderstand CDMS effectively. The findings of this research will expand the scientific literatureon the relationship between product involvement and CDMS. Knowing that Australians are‘rational’ and ‘quality conscious’ buyers, managers can employ CDMS to analyse consumers’needs and develop segmented marketing messages and strategies.