Consumer Decision‐Making Styles Across Product Involvement Levels: A Mixed‐Methods Study of Online Flash Sale Events

Abstract

ABSTRACT Online flash sale events create urgency, scarcity and deep‐discount conditions, yet little is known about how consumer decision‐making styles vary across product involvement levels and how they are associated with situational involvement. Grounded in consumer decision‐making styles and involvement theory, this sequential exploratory mixed‐methods research examines these variations across high‐, medium‐ and low‐involvement product categories and associations with situational involvement. A preliminary study identified package holidays, high‐street clothes and takeaway food vouchers as high‐, medium‐ and low‐involvement categories, respectively. Semi‐structured interviews with 28 UK online shoppers were analysed using content analysis with intercoder reliability assessment. Questionnaire data from the package holidays ( n = 464), high‐street clothes ( n = 521) and takeaway food vouchers ( n = 420) were analysed using structural equation modelling. Brand consciousness, perfectionism, price consciousness and web security were positively associated with situational involvement across all three categories. Fulfilment and impulsiveness were positively associated, and inertia negatively associated, for high‐street clothes and takeaway food vouchers. Fashion consciousness was positively associated for high‐street clothes, whereas health consciousness for takeaway food vouchers and safety for package holidays were not significantly associated. The findings qualify product‐neutral applications of consumer decision‐making styles by identifying category‐invariant, partially shared and category‐specific dimensions. Retailers can use these patterns to tailor product information and communication to the decision‐making styles relevant to each product category.