Using values and shopping styles to identify fashion apparel segments

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to segment consumers using personal values and to link the resulting typologies with shopping styles for the fashion apparel (FA) market. Design/methodology/approach – The Schwartz value inventory (SVI) was suitably modified for the Spanish fashion retail consumer context using expert and consumer panels and then administered. Firstly, principal components analysis was conducted to identify the motivational value types and compare with Schwartz. Secondly, cluster analysis was used to create a typology of Spanish fashion consumers. Finally, ANOVA analysis was conducted to link the consumer typology with a typology of shopping styles. Findings – Eleven motivational types of consumer values were found (congruent with Schwartz's results), however with slight differences leading to the uncovering of Spanish culture‐specific motivational types such as “ecology”, “inner peace” and four distinct motivational types of “self‐direction”. This further led to the emergence of four fashion retail consumer segments which could be linked to shopping styles with six of the eight shopping styles showing significant differences across segments. Research limitations/implications – Results may vary with cultural context and consumer industry context suggesting future research opportunities. Practical implications – Cultural differences in consumer values cannot be ignored even amidst globalization. Therefore, the use of consumer values for Spanish fashion retail consumer segmentation and its further link with shopping styles has significant implications for fashion retail marketers as it can be used to plan the retail marketing mix strategy. Originality/value – The study has originality and value since the results provide interesting empirical evidence of the usefulness of personal values as a consumer segmentation tool, and expand one's knowledge on the relationship between cultural values and consumer shopping behaviour in a critical but neglected research domain; the Spanish fashion retail context.