From innovators to reluctant adopters: a big five psychographic approach to fashion consumer segmentation

Purposes of this research were to examine (a) correlations between innate innovativeness, big five personality traits and fashion innovativeness and (b) how consumer segments based on level of fashion innovativeness differ in big five personality traits and innate innovativeness. The study is situated within the context of three theories: personality traits, consumer segmentation, and innovation adoption and two models: the OCEAN personality model and hierarchical model of consumer innovativeness. A panel service collected data from 202 women and 209 men across the US. Results revealed that correlations between the variables were significant. There were differences between and among fashion innovators, early adopters, late adopters, and reluctant adopters regarding innate innovativeness and personality traits. This research fills a gap in the literature by introducing and testing a conceptual model supported by prior research and the current study.