The Relative Importance of life style and Demograhic / Socio-Economic variables in Explainig ownership of consumer durable products

Abstract

The main objective of the study was: To know whether life style variables play a role in explaining ownership of consumer durable products, and to examine the relative importance of life style and demographic/socio—economic variables in this context. The secondary objectives of the study were: 1) To identify within the group of life style and demographic/socio-economic variables, the individual variables which are salient in explaining ownership of various types of consumer durable products. 2) To make generalizations regarding the appropriateness of various descriptor variables for explaining the ownership of alternative types of consumer durable products. The main motivation for the study was the absence of previous research examining the relevance of life style variables to explaining the ownership of consumer durable products (Existingresearch in the context of durables has mainly focused on demographic/socio—economic variables). The study was based on a survey of 381 urban housewives conducted by a market research agency. A total of 19 durable products were studied. An a priori list of demographic/socio—economic and lifestyle variables that might be important in explaining the ownership of various consumer durable products was prepared. In accordance with this a priori list, the variables relevant to the present study were delineated from the data provided by the agency. The reliability of the various multi—item life style variables was assessed on the basis of Cronbach’s coefficient alpha. Discriminant analysis was carried out to identify the descriptor variables which were important in discriminating between owners and non-owners of each of the 19 products studied. Subsequently, clustering techniques were used to create groups of products so as to maximize within group similarities and across group differences in the demographic and life style variables that explained ownership of the products. Following from the above analyses, the demographic/socio-economic and life style variables which were salient in explaining the ownership of the products and product groups were identified, and conclusions made. The major findings of the study were: 1) Life style variables were found to be important in explaining the ownership of consumer durable products. Between 42% and 56% of the total variance explained by demographic/socio—economic and life style variables was accounted for by life style variables alone. In each of the product groups which were obtained through cluster analysis, the important descriptor variables which were identified contained at least three and in some cases as many as eight life style variables. 2) The demographic/socio-economic variables which were found to be salient in explaining consumer durables ownership in the Indian context were family income, ownership of assets (car, telephone and house) and the type of residence, education of the husband and housewife and the husband's occupation. The life style variables which were found to be important in the Indian context were the extent of the housewife's involvement in various routine household tasks, convenience orientation, hedonic orientation, innovativeness and the extent of exposure to mass media such as newspapers, television and magazines. 3) It was found that in each of the product groups which were obtained through cluster analysis, the products were homogeneous with respect to certain product characteristics. By identifying the product characteristics and relating these to the descriptor variables that were found to be best explaining the ownership of the products in each of the product groups, it was possible to make certain generalizations regarding the suitability of various descriptor variables for alternative types of consumer durable products. This study has important implications for both academicians and practitioners. The study extends life style research to the context of consumer durables and shows that it is important to include life style variables in order to provide more complete and operationally meaningful explanations of durables ownership. Secondly, the study identifies and provides a list of demographic and life style variables found to be important in explaining ownership of consumer durable products in the Indian context. Practitioners could benefit by choosing from among these variables while segmenting markets for consumer durable products. The variables also form a useful inventory for academicians who wish to do further segmentation research on consumer durables in the Indian context. Finally, the generalizations made in the study regarding the appropriateness of various descriptor variables for alternative types of durable products provide a useful basis for hypothesizing about what kinds of descriptor variables might be most appropriate for what kinds of products, thus contributing to building a better theory of market segmentation.