Consumer decision-making styles in online sports goods purchase

The purpose of this study was to identify consumer decision-making styles in online sports goods purchase. Data were collected and analyzed using exploratory mixed (qualitative-quantitative) research method. The qualitative part was done through the analysis of the interview findings and the quantitative part was done through the second-order confirmatory factor analysis. Sampling in the qualitative part of the research was done purposefully untill theoretical data saturation through interviews with three groups of samples (15 sports management and marketing specialists, 12 business owners and 18 customers with a history of online shopping of sports products). In the quantitative part of the research, data were collected from 414 samples using an electronic questionnaire. The reliability and validity of the data were confirmed in both parts of the study. Qualitative data were analyzed by interpretive analysis and the data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and second-order confirmatory factor analysis tests. Divergent validity, convergent validity, and combined reliability of data were calculated. The results of the study led to the identification of 9 styles of online purchasing decision making styles including; quality sensitive, saving time and energy, optimization, information sensitive, information abundance, diversity, brand-loyal, advertising sensitive and reliable. This model can provide insight into online business marketing strategies as well as fill existing research gaps.