Consumers' Risk Reduction Strategies

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between risk type, categorical involvement, and risk reduction strategies within a comprehensive framework. The study is composed of two stages. Final results, obtained from questionnaire data, reveal that categorically involved consumers engage in more personal risk reduction strategies, usually at the point of sale, and become more loyal consumers. It is also discussed that psychological and social risk types are the ones which consumers feel a greater pressure to decrease the perceived risk, and that different risk types necessitate different risk reduction strategies. It is concluded that this study might contribute to the existing literature on the grounds that it brings different constructs together in the same framework; investigate the effects of categorical involvement; and provide important solutions to marketing managers regarding risk reduction strategies for different risk types.