Consumer Style Inventory (CSI) Revisited: The case of Millennial Decision-making Style in a Developing Market

Abstract

This research study explores the buying styles of young consumers, especially the millennials (Gen Y, and Gen Z), whose idiosyncrasies and consumption peculiarities are quite different from previous generations. This present study further expanded on the eight constructs of the consumer style inventory (CSI) that were conceived by Sproles & Kendall, developing six additional constructs that helped define the younger consumers’ decision-making style. The sample population for this study was made up of 125 respondents (young consumers), who were selected randomly across all 20 local governments from Lagos State in Nigeria. The factor analyses through varimax rotation, the latent root criterion (eigenvalue =1), the scree plot test and the percentage of variance methodologies were conducted to determine the number of constructs that are significant to retain among the variables. The findings revealed that the new CSI constructs developed in this study (sexiness, trendiness, global branding, smartness, socialization and entertainment) are strong and significant within the young consumers’ styles of decision-making. The six (6) constructs developed reveal that the young consumers’ purchasing styles are evolving and have become sophisticated and relatively dynamic. That is why solely relying on Sproles & Kendall’s dimensions to assess the young consumers’ purchasing decision styles is inadequate and create gaps in business/behavior strategy development. By and large, the constructs developed here capture variables the variables that mostly underpin and dominate the considerations within the purchasing decision-making styles and behaviors among millennials.