Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between individualism-collectivism and consumer decision-making
styles applied to the purchase of automobiles. An adapted version of the widely used Consumer Styles Inventory
(Sproles & Kendall, 1986) was used to measure consumer decision-making styles. Based on a sample of 202
respondents from Australian individualist and collectivist backgrounds, exploratory and confirmatory factor
analysis were conducted on Sproles and Kendall’s (1986) CSI adapted for high involvement purchases. Mean
differences between the two cultural backgrounds were assessed via MANCOVA. Results indicated that
individualists and collectivists significantly differed on ‘brand conscious’ and ‘confused by overchoice’ decision
making styles, with collectivists scoring significantly higher. There were no differences in the perfectionist, high
quality conscious; price conscious and habitual/brand loyal decision-making styles. The paper also discusses
how automobile companies could develop suitable marketing strategies for individualist and collectivist
consumers in Australia.

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