Pergamon S0969-5931 (96)00006-6 InternationalBusiness Review Vol.5, No. 2, pp. 209-230, 1996 Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. Allrights reserved 0969-5931196 $15.00 + 0.00 An Empirical Investigation of US Credit Card Users: Card Choice and Usage Behavior Ali Kara,* Erdener Kaynak# and Orsay Kucukemiroglu* *College of Business Administration, Pennsylvania State University at York, 1031 Edgecomb Ave, York, PA 17402, USA tSchool of Business Administration, Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg, Middletown, PA 17057, USA An Empirical Investigation of US Credit Card Users Abstract -- The purpose of this research is to analyze household credit card choice and usage behavior. The theoretical model used to analyze the credit card choice behavior is a conjoint model which assumes the utility maximization and rational evaluation of the available credit card alternatives. The study also investigates the effects of credit card attitudes and practices on the credit card usage behavior. The data for the study were collected in southcentral Pennsylvania and analyzed by using traditional conjoint analysis and factor analysis. Study findings indicate that credit card holders and users show distinct differences in the use and selection of credit cards. Four different types of credit card customers identified necessitate the development and implementation of multiple target market strategies by credit card issuing companies. The results of the study offer important managerial and public policy implications for decision makers at banks, financial institutions and other credit card dispensing firms. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd Key Words -- Credit Card, Consumer Choice, Conjoint Analysis, Services Marketing. Ali Kara is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Pennsylvania State University at York. His articles appeared in publications such as Journal of Advertising, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Global Marketing, the International Journal of Management Science, Journal of Applied Business Research, Journal of Euromarketing, Management International Review and the International Journal of Bank Marketing. He teaches variety of quantitative business analysis and marketing courses at the Penn State York Campus. Erdener Kaynak is Professor of Marketing at the School of Business Administration at Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg. He is an author or co-author of 20 books and more than 200 articles some of which have appeared in Journal of Business Research, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Management International Review, Columbia Journal of World Business, Journal of Global Marketing, European Journal of Marketing and many others. He has been a training advisor, consultant and senior advisor in five continents at over 25 countries. His latest project assignment was a UNDP sponsored project in Kyrgyzstan. Dr Kaynak has also received a number of scholarship and distinctions nationally as well as internationally. The most recent one is a Fellowship of the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science. Orsay Kucukemiroglu is an Associate Professor of Business Administration at Penn state University, York Campus. He has published over a dozen diverse journals such as Decision Sciences, Management International Review, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Professional Services Marketing and etc. 209