Iranian Customer's Decision Making Styles: Emphasizing on Ethnicity

Ethnicity has traditionally been taken into consideration in Iran, concerning its long historical background. Regarding the conceptual complexity of the word “ethnicity” and its effect on purchase style of every group, it has been tried in this article to study ethnicity-based decision making styles according to Sproles and Kendall model in Refah Chain Shopping Centers, located in Tehran. Research statistical sample consists of 200 people who were selected by using stratified sampling method. Data was collected by a 40-item questionnaire. Research results reveal that there is no meaningful difference in terms of studying the effect of ethnicity and gender in decision making styles of consumers and the only different elements among different groups were shopping avoidance trends and impulsiveness/carelessness trends (causes to feel sorry for consumers). In this research, 10 styles were identified among customers of Refah Chain Shopping Centers.