Consumer decision-making styles in food purchase

This study sets out to identify consumer shopping behaviour and classify consumers into segments based on their food shopping behaviour. Data were collected from a random sample of 490 respondents. The sample was drawn proportionate to population size from seven southeastern states of the U.S. A modified version of Consumer Style Inventory (CSI), which consisted of 30 items taken from Sproles and Kendall (1) and 13 items from Tai (2); Hou and Lin (3) was used to collect the data. Factor analysis identified 11 dimensions that affect food shopping behaviour. Subsequent cluster analysis isolated four distinct consumer segments: labelled as diverse (47.98%), value-loyal (16.84%), emotional (21.75%) and high conscious (13.43%) consumers. These findings support targeting educational programs to encourage adoption of healthier shopping and dietary habits.