Éclaircissement to Understand Consumers' Decision-Making Psyche and Gender Effects, a Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Sohaib Mustafa; Muhammad Tayyab Sohail; Roobaea Alroobaea; Saeed Rubaiee; A Anas; Asem Majed Othman; Muhammad Nawaz

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.920594

Éclaircissement to Understand Consumers' Decision-Making Psyche and Gender Effects, a Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Front Psychol. 2022 Jun 2:13:920594. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.920594. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Sohaib Mustafa¹, Muhammad Tayyab Sohail², Roobaea Alroobaea³, Saeed Rubaiee^{4

5}, A Anas⁴, Asem Majed Othman⁴, Muhammad Nawaz⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China.
² South Asian Research Centre, School of Public Administration, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, China.
³ Department of Computer Science, College of Computers and Information Technology, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Business Administration, National College of Business Administration and Economics, Lahore, Pakistan.

Abstract

Consumers' decision-making is complex and diverse in terms of gender. Different social, psychological, and economic factors mold the decision-making preferences of consumers. Most researchers used a variance-based approach to explain consumer decision-making that assumes symmetric relationship between variables. We have collected data from 468 smartwatch users and applied a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to explain and compare male and female consumers' decision-making complexity. fsQCA assumes that an asymmetric relationship between variables can exist in the real world, and different combinations of variables can lead to the same output. Results explain that different variables have a core and secondary level of impact on consumer decision-making. Hence, we can not claim that certain factors are significant or insignificant for decision-making. fsQCA results revealed that cost value, performance expectancy, and social influence play a key role in consumers' buying decisions. This study has contributed to the existing literature by explaining consumer decision-making by applying configuration and complexity theories and identifying unique solutions for both genders. A major contribution to theoretical literature was also made by this research, which revealed the complexity of consumer purchasing decisions made for new products.

Keywords: UTAUT; configurations; consumer decision-making; fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA); gender-difference in purchase; gender-specific psyche; smartwatches; use behavior.