Consumer profiles of apparel product involvement and values

Purpose - This study sets out to explore how consumers may be segmented based on their levels of apparel product involvement using Kapferer and Laurent's consumer involvement profiles (CIP). It also seeks to examine whether consumers within each profile group could be differentiated by their personally-held values. Design/methodology/approach - Questionnaires were mailed to female consumers, ages 18 and over, randomly selected from a consumer database. Responses from 757 female consumers were used. The response rate based on delivered questionnaires was 30 percent. Laurent and Kapferer's CIP was used to measure consumer involvement and Kahle's list of values (LOV) was used to measure consumer values. Findings - Five consumer involvement types were identified based on four dimensions of involvement: challenged moderate, knowledged enthusiast, indifferent moderate, challenged enthusiast, and cautious moderate. This study found that values could be used to further explain differences between the enthusiast and moderate consumer types. All nine value items showed significant relationships with dimensions perceived/sign and pleasure interest. Knowledge enthusiast and challenged enthusiast types perceived many values to be significantly more important then challenged moderate types. Research limitations/implications - Current findings varied somewhat from prior study results using the CIP scale. Further examination of the CIP scale in terms of dimensionality, validity and reliability are suggested. Originality/value - This research segments consumers based on their levels of product involvement and profiles each group by personally-held values.