What Kind of Shopper Are You?
Quality, brands, novelty, fun or price - what really drives your choices
Everyone thinks they shop sensibly, and everyone means something different by it. Consumer researchers found that people carry a handful of fairly stable decision styles into every purchase, from a pair of shoes to a phone: some hunt for the best, some trust the name on the label, some want the newest, some simply enjoy the browsing, and some will cross town to save a little. Most people run two or three at once, and they do not always agree.
Before you start There are no right answers. Pick what is usually true for you, not what sounds best.
Think about everyday purchases over the past year - clothes, gadgets, things for the home - rather than one big exception.
What it measures
Five of the eight decision styles in the Consumer Styles Inventory: quality seeking, brand consciousness, novelty and fashion, shopping for enjoyment, and price consciousness. It is not a money-attitudes test, which looks at how you feel about money in general; this looks at what tips the balance at the moment you choose one product over another.
Based on: Consumer Styles Inventory (Sproles & Kendall, 1986)
Possible results
Quality seeker
How hard you look for the best rather than the good enough.
Brand conscious
How much you let the name and the price stand for quality.
Novelty and fashion
How much the new and the current pull you.
Shopping for fun
Whether shopping itself is a pleasure or a chore.
Price conscious
How much getting value for money drives your choices.
Common questions
Is it better to be a quality seeker or a price seeker?
Neither wins across the board. Price focus pays off on things that are much the same whatever you pay, like basic groceries or cables; quality focus pays off on things you use daily for years, like shoes, a mattress or a chair. The costly mistakes usually come from applying one style to everything.
Does a higher price really mean better quality?
Much less often than people assume. Consumer testing organisations regularly find mid-priced or own-label products rated as well as premium ones. Price partly reflects quality, but also marketing, packaging and what the seller thinks buyers will pay - which is why brand-conscious shoppers pay a premium for reassurance.
Why do I enjoy shopping more when I am stressed?
Because browsing and buying give a quick, reliable sense of choice and reward at a moment when other things feel out of control. The lift is real but short. If you notice the pattern, a cooling-off rule - leaving things in the basket for a day - keeps the enjoyment of browsing while cutting most of the regret.
Sources
- Sproles, G. B., & Kendall, E. L. (1986). A methodology for profiling consumers' decision-making styles. Journal of Consumer Affairs. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6606.1986.tb00382.x
- Hafstrom, J. L., Chae, J. S., & Chung, Y. S. (1992). Consumer decision-making styles: Comparison between United States and Korean young consumers. Journal of Consumer Affairs. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6606.1992.tb00020.x
- Walsh, G., Mitchell, V.-W., & Hennig-Thurau, T. (2001). German consumer decision-making styles. Journal of Consumer Affairs. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6606.2001.tb00103.x
An honest note The items are Quinthea's own wording, adapted from the Consumer Styles Inventory, so scores are not comparable with its published norms. This test uses five of its eight styles. The inventory was first built with young American consumers, and studies in other countries have reproduced some styles cleanly and others only partly, so the structure is not universal. Your style can also differ a lot between product categories and budgets.
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