An investigation of consumer decision-making styles among consumers in North East India

There is a growing managerial interest in getting an insight into what affects the consumer and their corresponding decision-making styles. The study aims to assist marketers to develop innovative marketing strategies. Eight mental traits from the revised model of the consumer style inventory (CSI) developed by Sproles and Kendall (1986) were utilised to determine the decision-making style of the respondent. Responses from 390 respondents of 18 to 56 years of age were collected using random sampling techniques. Within the context, CSI generalisability was evaluated, and factors on decision-making traits accounted for 61.26% of the variance and range of eigenvalues between 1.49 to 4.42. Furthermore, a comparison was made with other studies to identify the differences and similarities of consumer decision-making styles across the population of four countries. For instance, the addition of new factors such as 'supply of goods', 'bandhs and blockade', 'infrastructure', 'organic product', etc. would help understand CDMS effectively. Being aware that Manipur is a landlocked state and that Chinese goods are widely available on the market, further research in view of local aspects can be developed in CDMS to analyse consumer perception and marketing strategies.