Effect of personal factors on consumer decision making styles: Comparison of generation Y and Z

Many factors play a role in the process of choosing a product or service. Different personal, psychological, and cultural factors lead to the formation of different forms of consumption and consumer groups. It is possible to make inferences that consumers who share the same period characteristics, have the same economic situation, live in the same culture, have similar consumption habits with each other. One of the factors that play a role in the differentiation of consumers is the age group to which it belongs. Each generation's characteristics and ways of thinking are reflected in the decision-making and buying behavior of consumers of different generations. The purpose of this study is to examine and compare the consumption mechanisms of consumer individuals belonging to different generations. In addition to comparing inter-generational consumer differences, the impacts of certain personal factors (gender, educational status, economic status) on consumers has also been studied. To carry out the research, the scale of "Consumer Decision Making Styles" developed by Sproles and Kendall (1986), adapted to Turkish consumers by Dursun (2013) et al. was used. A total of 500 people were surveyed, 250 of them from Generation Y and Z. The findings obtained were analyzed by using IBM SPSS and IBM AMOS. The effects of personal factors on consumers' decision-making styles were examined and their decision-making styles were compared over Generation Y and Z. Keywords: Consumer, Decision Making Styles, Y and Z Generation, Personal Factors