Advances in Consumer Research (Volume VIII) / 301

The Role of Gender on Turkish Consumers Decision-Making Styles

Bahar Yasin, Istanbul University, Turkey
Abstract Decision-making styles defined as a mental orientation that characterizes a consumers approach to making choices. This research was undertaken to identify consumer decision-making styles in Turkey and to find out the differences in male and female consumers decision-making styles. In order to identify Turkish consumers decision-making characteristics, factor analysis was performed. Nine decisionmaking styles factors were identified for Turkish consumers. Decision-making differences of male and female consumers were analyzed by t-test. The mean differences between the two groups styles related to Novelty-Fashion Conscious Consumer, Confused by Overchoice Consumer, Brand Conscious Consumer and Recreational Consumer factors were found to be statistically significant. EXTENDED ABSTRACT Conceptualization and Purpose of the Study Consumer Decision-Making Style defined as a mental orientation that characterizes a consumer s approach to making choices. Knowledge of consumer decision-making styles is clearly important to marketers because it is closely related to purchase behaviour. This research was undertaken to identify decisionmaking styles of Turkish consumers and to find out the differences in male and female consumers decision-making styles. Understanding the decision-making styles differences of male and female consumers would obviously be of great benefit to marketers in finding better ways of communicating with male and female consumers and in guiding marketing strategy and marketing mix decisions. Methodology/Approach The dimensions of decisionmaking styles of Turkish consumers were investigated using a revised consumer decision-making styles inventory (CSI). A questionnaire was designed to measure consumer decision-making styles in Turkey. In pilot study, the instrument with 78 Likert scale items was applied to 280 consumers in stanbul during the first two weeks of May 2007. The 78 item CSI inventory was then factor analyzed. Items that had a factor loading less than 0.40 were removed. This resulted in the removal of 24 items. The remaining 54 items were than factor analyzed again. This resulted in an acceptable nine factor solution. As a result of the pilot study, 54 items revised CSI was utilized in order to examine the decisionmaking styles of Turkish consumers. Data was collected from an adult consumer sample ranging in age from 18 to 46 plus. In total, 612 questionnaires were received between 2007, May 28 and June, 10. An initial check of data collected revealed that 602 questionnaires could be used for data analysis and 10 questionnaires were discarded because of either missing data or apparent inappropriate response patterns. Factor analysis with varimax rotation of factors was performed to identify the Turkish consumers decision-making characteristics. In order to capture the decision-making styles differences of male and female consumers, t-test was performed. t test compared mean scores on consumer decision-making styles factors between males and females. Findings The nine-factor solution, with factor loadings all greater than 0.40 and ranging from 0.401 to 0.763, explained 301 57.057 % of the variance. Factors were named in line with the studies reviewed in literature. All factors had satisfactory levels of reliability. A comparison of the present study with Sproles and Kendalls (1986) results revealed that the majority of factor loadings and reliability coefficients are higher in the present study, indicating that in Turkey, the items better explain the factors they load onto. And also when compared the results to other replication studies, some factors like Time Consciousness, Time Restricted, Convenience and Time Consciousness and Variety Seeking were not found in this study. The mean differences between male consumers and female consumers decision-making styles were tested by t-test. Results of the t-test showed that the mean differences between the two groups styles related to Novelty-Fashion Conscious Consumer, Confused by Overchoice Consumer, Brand Conscious Consumer and Recreational Consumer styles factors were found statistically significant. Female consumers agreement on Novelty-Fashion Conscious Consumer, Confused by Overchoice Consumer, Brand Conscious Consumer and Recreational Consumer styles were higher than male consumers. Research Limitations In this study, data was collected from consumers living in Istanbul. It may not be possible to generalize the results found with the consumer sample used in this study to whole population in Turkey. Future research with a more diverse sample representing consumers from all regions of the country is warranted in order to generate more robust support for the applicability of the CSI as well as to reveal more managerial implications in the Turkish consumer market. From a demographic point of view, gender differences in consumer decision-making styles were examined in this study. Future research could examine the role of other demographic variables such as age, income and education etc. on each decision-making style. INTRODUCTION Decision making is more complex and even more important for consumers today than in the past. Consumers are surrounded by advertising, news articles, and direct mailings that provide a huge amount of information. In addition, increases in the number of variety of goods, stores and shopping malls and the availability of multicomponent products and electronic purchasing capabilities have broadened the sphere for consumer choice and have complicated decision making (Hafstrom, Chae, and Chung 1992). Consumers, surrounded with information overload and variety of choices, tackle this complexity by displaying particular decision making styles and by employing certain purchasing strategies. Consumer Decision-Making Style defined as a mental orientation characterizing a consumers approach to making choices (Sproles and Kendall 1986, 276) and it was evaluated as a basic consumer personality, analogous to the concept of personality in psychology. Knowledge of consumer decision-making styles is clearly important to marketers because it is closely related to purchase behaviour. Characterizing consumers in this way allows marketers to differentiate their offerings (Mitchell and Bates 1998). In this study, consumer decision-making styles in Turkey were examined and the decision-making differences of male and female consumers were also determined. Advances in Consumer Research (Volume VIII), 2009

302 / The Role of Gender on Turkish Consumers Decision-Making Styles CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND Consumer Decision-Making Styles The investigation of consumer decision-making has a long tradition in marketing and consumer behaviour research. Recently, considerable scientific effort has been devoted to the exploration of consumers decision-making styles (Bauer, Sauer, and Becker 2006). In consumer behaviour literature, three approaches have been suggested to characterize consumer styles: the psychographic/ lifestyle approach, the consumer typology approach, and the consumer characteristics approach (Sproles and Kendall 1986). Following consumer characteristics approach Sproles and Kendall (1986), combined these decision-making traits and additional traits to develop a consumer decision-making styles inventory (CSI), a comprehensive instrument that measures eight mental characteristics of consumer decision-making. The CSI was developed and validated from a sample of 482 American highschool students who were asked about their decision-making styles for personal products like clothing, cosmetics and hairdryers (Bakewell and Mitchell 2004). Forty items pertaining to affective and cognitive orientations in decision making are grouped into eight potential styles or traits affecting behaviour: Perfectionism/ high quality consciousness, Brand consciousness, Novelty/Fashion consciousness, Recreational/Hedonistic shopping consciousness, Price/Value for Money shopping consciousness, Impulsiveness, Confusion from overchoice (from a proliferation of brands, stores and consumer information for example), Habitual/Brand Loyal orientation toward consumption. This measurement system (CSI), which is proposed by Sproles and Kendall (1986), provided a foundation for standardized testing of consumer decision making styles and had been tested and validated in international settings. Tai (2005), in his study, attempted to investigate the fundamental motivations and shopping preferences of modern Chinese women based on the CSI. Tai (2005), aimed to generate and create a typology of the shopping style dimensions of working female consumers between the ages of 18 and 44 in Shanghai and Hong Kong. In the study, researcher developed the shopping style characteristics through the extensive search from local newspapers, magazines and earlier lifestyle studies and defined 15 decision-making dimensions. The items used for the questionnaire were either developed directly from CSI or specifically from the 15 hypothesised decision-making dimensions. Principal component factor analysis was performed to identify the underlying shopping style dimensions. The 34 variables with factor loadings all greater than 0.50 were loaded on 10 factors. Ten factors were named as follows; price and value consciousness, fashion enthusiasm, brand consciousness, quality consciousness, personal style conscious, environmental and health consciousness, convenience and time consciousness, brand and store loyalty, shopping influences and reliance on the mass media. Leo, Bennett, and Hartel (2005) aimed to demonstrate that consumer decision-making styles differ according to consumers cultural orientation. In the study, differences on CSI between Anglo-Saxon Australians and Singaporean Chinese were compared and examined. Findings of the study indicated that there were significant country differences for the decision-making styles of brand consciousness, innovativeness and confused by overchoice. Results showed that Australians are more brand conscious; Singaporeans are more innovation focused than Australians and Australians are more confused by overchoice than Singaporeans. Besides, no significant differences were found between consumers from Singapore and Australia for quality consciousness, recreation consciousness and brand loyalty decision-making styles. Researchers did not test the differences in price consciousness and impulse buying between Australians and Singaporeans due to a lack of reliability amongst the items. Wesley, LeHew, and Woodside (2006), assessed consumers decision-making styles related to their shopping mall behaviour. They proposed that shopping contexts (e.g., shopping in regional versus local area malls) theoretically should not affect the structure of consumer decision-making styles. The rationale behind this proposition was explained by researchers as follows: Consumer decision-making styles are thinking styles that are preferred ways of using the abilities that an individual develops over several years, that is, consumer decision-making styles serve to bridge personality and consumers use of rules or heuristics stored in memory. Consequently, they expected that type of shopping mall does not affect the structure of consumer decision-making styles. The findings of the study supported the view that CDM styles are independent of the mall shopping context that the loadings of items occur for the same factor for at least three of the four malls. Thus, CDM styles are found to be independent in structure to different shopping contexts. Gender Differences in Consumer Decision-Making Styles In consumer behaviour literature and especially in consumer decision-making area, number and scope of studies focusing on gender differences are relatively few and narrow. Although limited in number and scope, some research which examined the impact of gender on buying behaviour has found that there are differences between males and females (Bakewell and Mitchell 2003). Mitchell and Walsh (2004) analyzed the decision-making styles differences of men and women German consumers. Results showed that brand consciousness, perfectionism, confused by overchoice and impulsiveness are common factors for both sexes. They also tested the gender differences for these common factors and found that males are more brand conscious; Women have higher expectations with regard to product quality and are slightly more confused than males. For impulsiveness trait, no significant difference found between the mean scores of males and females. In another study that focussed on gender differences, it was concluded that women hold diametrically opposed values regarding effective shopping compared with men (Falk and Campbell 1997). In essence, these differences manifested in terms of the time spent browsing and researching choices. Women enjoyed the process and were happy to spend considerable time and mental energy, while men sought to buy quickly and avoid it as much as possible. Other studies have confirmed the shopping as leisure dimension for women (Jansen-Verbeke 1987) and that women do shopping for longer hours and are more involved than men (Dholakia 1999). There are many differences between male and female consumers that lead to the notion that males and females will approach shopping differently (Mitchell and Walsh 2004). For instance, in terms of personality traits, men are reported to be more independent, confident, competitive, externally motivated, more willing to take risks, especially with money (Mitchell and Walsh 2004), and less prone to perceive product risk than females (Darley and Smith 1995). They are less likely than women to complain when dissatisfied with a good or service (Solnick and Hemenway 1992), less likely to spread negative word of mouth (Smith and Cooper- Martin 1997) and less likely to participate in family purchase decisions than females. Men are less appearance and clothing conscious. This could be because, in many societies, it behoves women to fulfil the role of the attractive gender or

Advances in Consumer Research (Volume VIII) / 303 because men exhibit a weaker sensitivity to the opinions of their friends, which makes them less concerned with their appearance. Males exhibit fewer interpersonal relationships, are less prone to engage in active information provision to other consumers (Feick and Price 1987) and are less likely to be impulsive (OGuinn and Faber 1989) as well as compulsive buyers (Kollat and Willet 1967; Mitchell and Walsh 2004). Men use more information and communication technology products than women, show a greater interest in these products and show a greater fondness for the latest technical products. Men are also more likely to engage in variety-seeking purchasing, exhibit weaker brand involvement, be less environmentally concerned and be less likely to buy environmentally-friendly products (Mitchell and Walsh 2004). Thus, understanding the decision-making styles differences of male and female consumers would obviously be of great benefit to marketers in finding better ways of communicating with male and female consumers and in guiding marketing strategy and marketing mix decisions. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This research was undertaken to identify decision-making styles of Turkish consumers and to find out the differences in male and female consumers decision-making styles. The dimensions of decision-making styles of Turkish consumers were investigated using a revised consumer decision-making styles inventory. Measurement A questionnaire was designed to measure consumer decisionmaking styles in Turkey. It was based on the studies of Sproles and Kendall 1986; Hafstrom et al. 1992; Fan and Xiao 1998; Mitchell and Bates 1998; Tai 2005; Bauer et al. 2006; Walsh, Mitchell and Thurau 2001 and Chase 2004. First of all, scale items were translated into Turkish with minor changes in wording to clarify the meaning in the Turkish questionnaire and new items were included for each of the consumer decision-making styles confirmed by above mentioned researchers. In pilot study, the instrument with 78 Likert scale items was applied to 280 master/ doctorate students and research assistants from two universities in Istanbul during the first two weeks of May 2007. Respondents were asked to indicate their degree to which they agreed with each statement as a description of themselves as consumers of products such as clothes, furniture, mobile phone and technology products etc. on a five point Likert-type scale (1=strongly disagree; 5=strongly agree). The 78 item CSI was then factor analyzed. Results showed that nine-factor solution was more interpretable. Items that had a factor loading less than 0.40 on its primary factor and items that had substantial cross-loading were removed. This resulted in the removal of 24 items. The remaining 54 items were than factor analyzed again. This resulted in an acceptable ninefactor solution. As a result of the pilot study, a 54 items revised CSI inventory was utilized in order to examine the decisionmaking styles of Turkish consumers. Data was collected from an adult consumer sample. Because high school and college students usually come from a very narrow age range and their consumer decision-making styles are likely to be less crystallized at this stage than later in life, the present study focused on adult consumers ranging in age from 18 to 46 plus. Also, data were collected around shopping malls and places nearby shopping centres in Istanbul, Turkey. Judgmental sampling method was adopted to generate respondents from different age groups, income levels, education levels, and occupations. To enhance the representativeness of the sample, respondents were drawn from different districts of stanbul. In total, 612 questionnaires were received between 2007, May 28 and June 10. An initial check of data collected revealed that 602 questionnaires could be used for data analysis and 10 questionnaires were discarded because of either missing data or apparent inappropriate response patterns. Demographic information of the sample is shown in table 1.

TABLE 1 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents Characteristic Gender Male Female Total Age 25 and below 26-35 36-45 46 and over Total Education Primary School Secondary School High School University MS/Doctorate Total 100 95 190 171 46 602 16.6 15.8 31.6 28.4 7.6 100.0 146 209 134 113 602 24.3 34.7 22.3 18.8 100.0 291 311 602 48.3 51.7 100.0 n % Characteristic Marital Status Married Single Total Occupation Private Sector Public Sector Self-employed Merchant Tradesman Housewife Student Total Income 1500 YTL and below 1501 YTL 2500 YTL 2501 YTL and over Total 203 194 205 602 33.7 32.2 34.1 100 157 91 50 34 78 114 78 602 26.1 15.1 8.3 5.6 13.0 18.9 13.0 100.0 298 304 602 49.5 50.5 100.0 n %

304 / The Role of Gender on Turkish Consumers Decision-Making Styles As seen in table 1, the sample for this research consisted of 602 consumers with 48.3 % females and 51.7 % males. Of the 34.7 % of the respondents were between the age of 26-35. Married and single respondents rate was almost the same with 49.5 % married and 50.5 % single. Most of the respondents had university and over grade (28.4% University and 7.6% Master and Doctorate degree) and mostly working in private (26.1%) sector. The sample was represented by high, medium and low income levels (33.7 % low, 32.2 % medium and 34.1 % high). Analysis Factor analysis with varimax rotation of factors was performed to identify the Turkish consumers decision-making styles. Items loaded heavily on more than one factor, and items having low correlations with other items, were dropped. Totally seven items in the questionnaire were dropped. The remaining 47 variables were loaded on nine factors, with factor loadings all greater than 0.40 and ranging from 0.401 to 0.763. The ninefactor solution explained 57.057 % of the variance. The order of factors is based on the amount of variance explained. In the Turkish sample, almost all items loaded on factors like those found in Sproles and Kendalls (1986) study. After a closer examination of the loading on the factors, a name was given to each factor in line with Sproles and Kendall (1986), as they reflect similar decision-making styles of Turkish consumers. A new factor which is not found in the CSI, developed by Sproles and Kendall (1986), was named as Environmental and Health Conscious Consumer, in line with the work of Tai (2005). Cronbachs alpha coefficient was used to assess the internal consistency among the set of items on each factor. All factors had satisfactory levels of reliability. Reliability coefficients for Novelty-Fashion Conscious Consumer, Confused by Overchoice Consumer, Brand Conscious Consumer and Recreational Consumer factors were above 0.80. Reliability coefficients for High Quality Conscious Consumer, Price Conscious Consumer, Environmental and Health Conscious Consumer factors were above 0.70. The alpha coefficients for the remaining Impulsive Consumer and Brand Loyal Consumer factors were 0.69 and 0.68. The results of factor analysis and reliability coefficients for each factor are presented in table 2.

TABLE 2 Consumer Decision Making Factors and Reliability Coefficients Decision-Making Styles Factors Factor 1: Novelty-Fashion Conscious Consumer (= 0.840) I like to buy new and fashionable goods Fashionable, attractive styling is very important to me I keep my wardrobe up-to-date with the changing fashions I am always avoiding to have old-fashion styling and image Having out-of-date goods annoys me I am very interested in updating goods with the newest ones Factor 2: Confused by Overchoice Consumer (= 0.845) I often have difficulties in deciding when there are so many alternatives All the information I get on different products confuses me It is hard to choose among so many alternatives for me The more I learn about products, the harder it seems to choose the best Shopping is difficult for me when there are so many choices There are so many brands to choose from that often I feel confused Factor 3: Brand Conscious Consumer (= 0.821) The more known the brand of a product, the more confident I feel when purchasing The higher the price of a product, the better its quality I think getting best quality brands requires paying higher prices I prefer to buy best-known brands, even though they are sometimes more expensive Among the similar products, I tend to choose famous brands The well-known brands are best for me Factor 4: Recreational Consumer (= 0.849) Shopping is one of the most enjoyable activity that I like Going shopping is one of the enjoyable activities of my life Shopping is a pleasant activity to me I feel myself so good when shopping I like shopping for long hours I enjoy shopping just for the fun of it Factor 5: High Quality Conscious Consumer (= 0.775) A product have to be perfect, or the best to satisfy me I always buy the most quality products that are best in all attributes In general I usually try to buy the best overall quality Getting very good quality is very important to me When it comes to purchasing products, I try to get the very best or perfect choice I make a special effort to choose the best quality product available Loadings 0.734 0.716 0.706 0.704 0.660 0.589 0.763 0.726 0.713 0.700 0.700 0.615 0.677 0.672 0.631 0.625 0.603 0.601 0.763 0.733 0.719 0.688 0.687 0.464 0.671 0.615 0.586 0.557 0.483 0.431

Advances in Consumer Research (Volume VIII) / 305 Decision-Making Styles Factors Factor 6: Price Conscious Consumer (= 0.720) Price discounts and sales campaigns have an important role on my purchasing decisions I compare discount rates of products when choosing among alternatives The lower price products are usually my choice Price discounts and sale specials shape my shopping decisions I go shopping as much as possible at sales season Factor 7: Environmental and Health Conscious Consumer (= 0.733) I never buy products that harms health and environment I prefer environment friendly products without looking if they are more expensive or not I am willing to pay higher price for green products I frequently purchase products that claim to be environmental friendly Factor 8: Impulsive Consumer (= 0.699) I am a typical shopper who often goes beyond his/her shopping budget Sometimes, I expend over the amount I planned I am impulsive when purchasing I should plan my shopping more carefully than I do Factor 9: Brand Loyal Consumer (= 0.684) I go to the same stores each time I shop Once I find a product or brand I like, I stick with it I have favourite brands I buy over and over Once I have made a brand choice, I prefer to buy it without trying other brands Extraction Method: Principal Comp. Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. a. Rotation converged in 8 iterations. Total Variance Explained: 57.057% = Cronbach's Alpha Total Scale Reliability ( )= 0.926 TABLE 3 Summary of Turkish Consumers Decision-Making Styles Novelty-Fashion Conscious Consumer Confused by Overchoice Consumer Brand Conscious Consumer Recreational Consumer They like to buy new and fashionable goods. Fashionable styling is important for them and they avoid having old fashion styling and image. They follow changing fashions and interested in updating goods with the newest ones. High scorers on this characteristic feel the quantity of different product alternatives alone is confusing, and the amount of information available about these products adds to confusion. Consumers with high score on this dimension pay attention to the brand names of products and are interested in purchasing famous and well-known brand-name products. They seem to think high prices signal high quality. These consumers enjoy shopping. They find shopping one of the most enjoyable activities of their life. Shopping makes them feel good and they like shopping for long hours. They enjoy shopping for the fun of it. Consumers who score high on this factor perceive the quality of a product to be very important and are willing to make special efforts to choose products with the very best quality. These consumers follow sales campaigns and price discounts. They tend to choose lower price products and prefer to go shopping at sales times. They are careful about buying the products that do not harm the health and environment. Expensiveness of the environment friendly products doesnt matter for them. They are ready to pay higher prices for green products. These consumers are impulsive when buying. They are identifying themselves as a typical shopper who often goes beyond the planned shopping budget. They feel that they should plan their shopping more carefully than they do. High scorers on this factor mention that they go to the same store each time they shop. When they find a brand they liked, they buy it over and over and they do not prefer to change their brand choices. Loadings 0.743 0.689 0.613 0.601 0.573 0.713 0.698 0.648 0.634 0.697 0.643 0.633 0.410 0.603 0.602 0.503 0.486

High Quality Conscious Consumer Price Conscious Consumer Environmental and Health Conscious Consumer Impulsive Consumer

Brand Loyal Consumer

306 / The Role of Gender on Turkish Consumers Decision-Making Styles Comparison of Findings of CSI Replication Studies When it is compared to Sproles and Kendalls (1986) study, it was seen that eight factors found by Sproles and Kendall (1986) were confirmed in Turkish data. A comparison of the present study with Sproles and Kendalls (1986) results revealed that the majority of factor loadings and reliability coefficients are higher in the present study, indicating that in Turkey, the items better explain the factors they load onto. A Time Consciousness (Fan and Xiao, 1998), or TimeEnergy Conserving trait, as identified by Hafstrom et al. (1992) and subsequently in Mitchell and Bates (1998) eight and ten factor models, and also Time Restricted trait identified by Mitchell and Walsh (2004) or Convenience and Time Consciousness trait identified in Tais (2005) work were not found in the present study. This could be due to long opening hours of shopping malls (until 10 pm on weekdays and 11 pm at weekend) in Turkey. Variety Seeking trait as identified by Walsh et al. (2001) and subsequently in Mitchell and Walshs (2004) female sample and Bauer et al.s (2006) study was not found in the present study. This may be due to cultural difference in shoppers attitudes among Turkey and other countries or because of financial constraints of Turkish consumers. Decision-Making Styles Differences of Male and Female Consumers In order to capture the decision-making differences of males and females t-test was performed. t test compared mean scores on consumer decision-making factors between males and females. Table 4 shows the differences between the male consumers and female consumers decision-making styles.

TABLE 4 T-test Results for Male and Female Decision-Making Styles Novelty-Fashion Conscious Consumer Confused by Overchoice Consumer Brand Conscious Consumer Recreational Consumer High Quality Conscious Consumer Price Conscious Consumer Environmental and Health Conscious Consumer Impulsive Consumer Brand Loyal Consumer * p< .05 The mean differences between the two groups styles related to Novelty-Fashion Conscious Consumer, Confused by Overchoice Consumer, Brand Conscious Consumer and Recreational Consumer styles were statistically significant. But mean differences between the two groups styled related to High Quality Conscious Consumer, Price Conscious Consumer, Environmental and Health Conscious Consumer, Impulsive Consumer and Brand Loyal Consumer styles were statistically insignificant. Female consumers agreement on Novelty-Fashion Conscious Consumer, Confused by Overchoice Consumer, Brand Conscious Consumer and Recreational Consumer styles were higher than male consumers. Females high score on novelty- fashion consciousness style indicates that they like to keep up-to-date with styles more than males. To attract females, retailers should emphasise the fashion aspects of their merchandise and might offer additional services relating to fashion such as in-store magazines, and sales staff with knowledge of forthcoming trends. Female consumers high score on confused by overchoice trait means that compared to males, females are more likely to experience information overload. Retailers should think about simplified store layouts and payment services and a reduction in the number of product lines, etc. to speed up the shopping process of female consumers. High score on brand consciousness suggest that female consumers tend to choose well-known brands significantly more often than males and they are more willing to pay higher prices for famous brands. Female consumers seem to equate higher prices with better quality more than males. Females are also seen to be more recreational than males. This finding indicate that female consumers enjoy shopping more than male consumers and they are probably responding appropriately to the efforts of retailers that provide more entertaining shopping experiences. Thus, retailers should continue to look for ways in which they can induce feelings of fun and leisure for female consumers. For recreational shoppers, shopping has become a way of spending leisure time, therefore shopping centres should allow the recreational female shoppers to spend time as pleasantly as possible, strolling through the different stores, meeting people, eating and drinking. CONCLUSION The objectives of this study were fulfilled. Decision-making styles of Turkish consumers were identified, and decision-making differences of male and female consumers were defined. While consumer decision-making styles have been extensively studied in Western Cultures, this research is the first study to apply the revised CSI in Turkey. Results of the study have provided general support for the usefulness of the revised scales in understanding Turkish consumer decision-making styles. In this study, after deeply examining the previous studies that applied CSI, items of the CSI, originally developed by Sproles and Kendall in 1986, were altered in order to have a more general approach to purchasing goods rather than a specific product type and to adopt the scale to Turkish consumers. And also one more dimension named as environmental and health conscious consumer was added to the scale, by refereeing the work of Tai (2005) and future research implication of Fan and Xiao (1998). Mean Female 2.982 3.233 3.262 3.377 3.390 3.416 3.497 3.113 3.271 t Male 2.833 3.012 3.128 2.979 3.363 3.383 3.424 3.047 3.205 2.407 3.549 2.216 6.285 0.507 0.618 1.220 1.110 1.140 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 0.016* 0.000* 0.027* 0.000* 0.612 0.537 0.223 0.268 0.255 df p

Advances in Consumer Research (Volume VIII) / 307 Therefore, a nine-factor model was proposed. All the dimensions confirmed with the use of data recently collected from adult consumers living in stanbul. These nine dimensions were Novelty-Fashion Conscious Consumer, Confused by Overchoice Consumer, Brand Conscious Consumer, Recreational Consumer, High Quality Conscious Consumer, Price Conscious Consumer, Environmental and Health Conscious Consumer, Impulsive Consumer and Brand Loyal Consumer. Eight factors found by Sproles and Kendall (1986) were confirmed in Turkish data. A comparison of the present study with Sproles and Kendalls (1986) results revealed that the majority of factor loadings and reliability coefficients are higher in the present study, indicating that in Turkey, the items better explain the factors they load onto. And also when compared to other replication studies, some factors like Time Consciousness, Time Restricted, Convenience and Time Consciousness and Variety Seeking were not found in this study. The reason behind the absence of time related factors for Turkish consumers can be explained by the long opening hours of shopping malls (until 10 pm on weekdays and 11 pm at weekend) in Turkey and the absence of Variety Seeking trait may be due to cultural difference in shoppers attitudes among Turkey and other countries or because of financial constraints of Turkish consumers. The nine dimensions found in the study were then used to examine decision-making differences of male and female consumers. It was seen that female consumers are tend to be more novelty-fashion conscious, get more confused when there are many alternatives, give more importance to brand in their purchasing decisions and enjoy shopping more than male consumers. For the rest of the decision-making factors there were no differences found between male and female consumers. Females high score on novelty- fashion consciousness style indicates that they like to keep up-to-date with styles more than males. Female consumers high score on confused by overchoice trait means that compared to males, females are more likely to experience information overload. High score on brand consciousness suggest that female consumers tend to choose well-known brands significantly more often than males and they are more willing to pay higher prices for famous brands. Female consumers seem to equate higher prices with better quality more than males. Females are also seen to be more recreational than males. This finding indicate that female consumers enjoy shopping more than male consumers and they are probably responding appropriately to the efforts of retailers that provide more entertaining shopping experiences. Thus, to attract fashion oriented females, retailers should emphasise the fashion aspects of their merchandise and might offer additional services relating to fashion such as in-store magazines, and sales staff with knowledge of forthcoming trends. Retailers should also think about simplified store layouts and payment services and a reduction in the number of product lines, etc. to speed up the shopping process of confused female consumers. Retailers should continue to look for ways in which they can induce feelings of fun and leisure for recreational female consumers. For recreational shoppers, shopping has become a way of spending leisure time, therefore shopping centres should allow the recreational female shoppers to spend time as pleasantly as possible, strolling through the different stores, meeting people, eating and drinking. When compared these gender differences with Mitchell and Walshs (2004) work, some similarities and contradictions were standing out. Mitchell and Walsh (2004) tested the gender differences of German consumers for brand consciousness, perfectionism, confused by overchoice and impulsiveness factors. They found that, contradicting to Turkish males; German males are more brand conscious than females. In that study, German women found to have higher expectations than men with regard to product quality but in present study it was found that Turkish males and females high-quality consciousness scores are not different. Mitchell and Walsh (2004) also found that, like Turkish females, German women were more confused than males. For impulsiveness trait, similar to results of the present study, no significant difference found between the mean scores of males and females. LIMITATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Considering the fact that Turkey is composed of seven regions, each having many cities with distinct characteristics, it may not be possible to generalize the results found with the consumer sample used in this study to whole population in Turkey. Future research with a more diverse sample representing consumers from all regions of the country is warranted in order to generate more robust support for the applicability of the CSI as well as to reveal more managerial implications in the Turkish consumer market. Gender differences in consumer decisionmaking styles were examined in this study. Future research could examine the role of other demographic variables such as age, income and education etc. on each decision-making style. 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