| Holding nearly one-fifth of the world's population, the consumer market in China offers huge potential that cannot be neglected by international apparel marketers. However, there is a dearth of research on specific clothing buying decision-making patterns and the underlying factors influencing the purchasing behaviour of Chinese consumers.; The purpose of this study was to investigate the specific decision-making styles governing young Chinese consumers' buying decisions of casual wear and to empirically examine the relationships between consumer decision-making styles and their potential underlying factors. A two-stage questionnaire survey was conducted with university students in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Taipei. Data from the survey were statistically analysed by t-test, analysis of variance, factor analysis, multiple regression, cluster analysis and multivariate analysis of variance.; Several important findings were identified. First, of the eight consumer decision-making styles proposed by Sproles and Kendall (1986), only seven styles including brand consciousness, recreational and hedonistic consciousness, perfectionism consciousness, confused by overchoice, habitual and brand loyal orientation, price and value consciousness and novelty and fashion consciousness held valid for young clothing consumers in China. In addition, the relative importance of individual styles was found to be different in the five cities. Significant influence of demographic characteristics, such as gender, number of siblings and birth order on several consumer decision-making styles was also identified. Second, clothing choice criteria, lifestyle characteristics, fashion involvement and influence from socialisation agents were found to be the major underlying factors for these consumer decision-making styles. Among these four, lifestyle characteristics were considered the most important, while influence from socialisation agents was regarded as the least important. Third, five meaningful segments with a divergent combination of decision-making styles were found among young Chinese consumers. They are active brand buyers, rational and confused by overchoice buyers, value buyers, trendy and hedonistic buyers and low concerned buyers. The findings from this study give valuable insights for academic practitioners and clothing marketers into young Chinese consumers' decision-making practices in terms of casual wear purchases. In addition, they also provide a basis for academic practitioners for investigating consumer decision-making styles in a more comprehensive manner. |
