ASSOCIATION OF CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT AND PRODUCT CATEGORIES

Abstract

The concept of consumer involvement (CI) has received widespread attention in the marketing domain over the last three decades. In marketing literature, CI is perceived as one of the central determinants of consumer behaviour and is integral to decision making. Academic marketing researchers and practitioners alike have advocated the tailoring of marketing strategies to meet differences in the level of CI in product purchase decisions. This requires an understanding of how CI varies across product categories. Hence, in this study, the researchers intend to examine whether CI varies over the product categories. The product categories selected for the study includes products with high search qualities (e.g. - cloths) and products with high experience qualities (e.g. – hair cut). Unit of analysis was individual consumers. 200 individuals were selected by employing the convenient sampling procedure. CI was measured using scales developed by Mittal (1989) and Zaichkowsky (1985). However, the validity and the reliability of the measurement scales were tested. The t-test for related samples (Tull & Hawkins, 1997) was performed to examine whether a significant difference exits among the mean scores of CI across the product categories. The results disclose that there is significant difference of CI value among the product categories. Therefore, marketers should design appropriate marketing mix strategies highlighting search qualities, experience qualities separately for the two product categories.

Key Words: Consumer Behavior, consumer involvement, product categories, Sri Lanka

For full paper: fmscresearch@sjp.ac.lk