Cultural Influences on Consumer Behaviour - Comparison of Consumers in the UK and Hong Kong - Research Proposal Example

Cultural Influences on Consumer Behaviour: A Comparison of Consumers in the UK and Hong Kong Introduction It is widely accepted that culture influences almost every aspect of human activity. One such view is put forward by Soares (2004, p. 1), who notes that “social sciences have long acknowledged cultural influences on human behaviour”. If such a proposition is true, then it implies that all activities in which human being are involved, including consumption of different services and products, are impacted by different people’s cultures. This subject is however still debatable. For instance, according to Soares (2004, p. 1), how consumer behaviour varies across cultures is an issue that is still under debate. Soares (2004, p. 1) also argues that at the heart of this discussion is whether or not the decision and tendencies and preferences of buyers from different nations are varied. While some studies (based on sources cited by Soares (2004, p. 1)) have suggested that consumer attitudes and behaviours are converging, meaning that differences among consumers from different countries are fading and that differences among consumers do not really matter in marketing, others have pointed out that cultural differences still matter. For instance, according to Doole and Lowe (2008, p. 80), culture influences consumer behaviour through various aspects including perceptions, communication regarding a given product, attitude, as well as differences in understanding of various products. According to the same author, these aspects have a major impact on how a consumer behaves in a buying process. Further, Doole and Lowe (2008) note that culture affects consumer behaviour through aspects such as religion, language, education and history, and that these elements convey indirect and direct messages to the consumers in regard to the choice of services and goods. Thus, even though debatable, it is apparent that culture determines the choice that consumers make when shopping. Thus, is important to understand the cultural factors that influence consumer behaviour. Based on the background information above, the purpose of this proposal is to set to the way for a research that will be conducted to evaluate the influence of culture on the buying behaviour of consumers in the UK and in Hong Kong. The choice of the two countries in which the study will be conducted is informed by the fact being in located different continents or regions, the two countries are likely to have significant cultural differences. Such differences will aid in determining the similarities or differences that exist in the buying behaviours of people from the two countries. Main research question The research will be guided by the following as the main question: How do national cultures influence the buying behaviour of consumers in the UK and Hong Kong? Literature Review Culture is viewed as a multifaceted construct that is difficult to define and is thought to be a phenomenon that changes over time. In regard to this, there have been many attempts to define the concept of culture. One such definition is that culture refers to the values and beliefs that are generally shared in a particular society at a given time. Culture is also perceived a phenomenon that is learned (Hofstede 1984), meaning that it can be transferred from one society to another. Pressey and Selassie (2002, p. 355) also cite several authors, who have pointed out that culture has an influence on all human activity. More importantly, the attributes of a country’s culture are reflected through religion, history and education, which serve as strong elements that define and influence a society’s or nation’s culture and character (Pressey & Selassie 2002, p. 355). Although it has been argued in some sources of literature (e.g. Soares 2004, p. 1) that consumer behaviour is converging, many other sources disagree with this standpoint. Such sources (e.g. de Mooij 2011, p. viii; de Mooij & Hofstede 2002, p. 61) are of the view that consumers are becoming more heterogeneous because of differences in cultures. For instance, de Mooij (2011, viii) notes that “there are no global consumers, and consumer behaviour is not converging across countries. The same author further notes that because of the cultural differences, understanding consumer behaviour across nations is of utmost importance. Similarly, it is argued that even as consumer incomes converge and differences in the use of different technologies across the world disappear, the manifestation of differences in values among different people will become more pronounced (de Mooij 2000; de Mooij & Hofstede 2002, p. 61). Because of this, de Mooij and Hofstede (2002, p. 61) argue that it is becoming increasingly important to understand the values of national cultures as well as their influence on the behaviour of consumers. There are many theories that are used to describe differences in cultural aspects of different societies. However Hofstede’s cultural dimensions framework is considered to be still the most detailed comparative assessment in regard to both the number of countries and the number of people who were involved in the research (Woodside 2010, p. 367). According to Woodside (2010, p. 367), Hofstede’s cultural dimensions framework is also considered to be well suited for application in consumer research because its initial four dimensions are appropriate for the formulation of integrative theory for worldwide research on consumer behaviour. This is because the variables are related to areas of traditional concern in studies related to consumer behaviour. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions framework is based on five dimensions: power distance, masculinity-femininity, individualism-collectivism, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation (de Mooij 2000, p. 105). Power distance refers to the degree to which a society accepts hierarchical differences (Neelankavil & Rai 2015, p. 52). In high power distance cultures such as Hong Kong, people are not likely to be involved in eye-catching consumption behaviour (Jimēnez-Zarco, Martinez-Ruiz & Izquierdo-Yusta 2015, p. 2164; Lau & Chan 2002, p. 88), compared to people in low power distance societies such as the UK, who are likely to prefer flashy consumption habits. It is also noted that people in high power distance societies tend to buy domestic products instead of imports due to the feeling of responsibility to be faithful to and serve their country (Jimēnez-Zarco et al. 2015, p. 2164), unlike people from low power distance societies, who are likely to be more open to products from other countries. Masculinity-femininity denotes the extent to which a society emphasises traditional masculine traits such as assertiveness and aggressiveness (Neelankavil & Rai 2015, p. 52). This relates to how sex roles are characterised and practiced in a society. The masculinity-femininity dimension affects how brand personalities are perceived in different cultures and this influences consumer behaviour towards different products (Kwan et al. 2015, p. 21). Individualism versus collectivism refers to the degree to which an individual or a group constitutes the centre point in a society (Neelankavil & Rai 2015, p. 52). This dimension looks at whether a society is more interested in the interests of an individual or those of a group. In highly individualist cultures (e.g. the UK and the US), people tend to focus on the positive effects of their own individual consumption habits and ignore the negative consequences. On the other hand, in relatively collectivist cultures (e.g. Hong Kong), people are more likely to pay attention to the potential negative effects of their behaviour and the impact of their actions on members of their groups as regards the consumption of a particular product or service (Kacen & Lee 2002, p. 165; Dittmar 2008, p. 44). The uncertainty avoidance dimension refers to the extent to which a society tolerates ambiguity or uncertainty, which ranges from avoiding uncertainty to accepting it (Neelankavil & Rai 2015, p. 52). Milner, Fodness and Speece (1993) note that it would be expected that cultures that have high uncertainty avoidance would have higher brand loyalty than those with low uncertainty avoidance. Notably, high uncertainty avoidance cultures are also more likely to have low adoption rates for new products compared to cultures with low uncertainty avoidance. Based on information provided by Burns (2011, p. 51), both the UK and Hong Kong are considered to be low uncertainty avoidance countries. Long-term orientation refers to the extent to which a society attaches value to thrift and respect for social obligations (Neelankavil & Rai 2015, p. 52). A society that values long-term orientation is likely to avoid any consumption that is considered to be profligate while a society that does not value thriftiness is likely to be more open in its consumption habits. Research Questions The following research questions will be used to guide the study: 1. How do consumption habits in the UK and Hong Kong relate with Hofstede’s cultural dimensions? 2. Are there any differences or similarities between consumer behaviours in the UK and Hong Kong based on the five variables in Hofstede’s cultural framework? Methodology Research paradigm Since the research will be based on an evaluation of how known cultural influences affect consumer behaviour, it will be best conducted using a positivist approach. According to Carson et al. (2001, p. 5), the positivist thought holds that “the world is external and objective” and thus its epistemology is premised on “the belief that observers are independent and that science is value-free”. Carson et al. (2005, p. 1) also note that the positivist philosophy also relates to factual information or to the causes of social occurrences and tries to offer explanations for causal relationships through objective fact. Further, the authors indicate that the positivist paradigm focuses on explanation and description, where the researcher’s thought is directed by explicitly outlined hypotheses and theories. The positivist paradigm is also appropriate for the proposed research because it makes an objective view of reality by trying to determine and measure the relationship between various phenomena (Bahl & Milne 2006, p. 198). More importantly, as noted by Bahl and Milne (2006, p. 198), positivist research seeks to create knowledge that can be generalised across different people, situations, and times, and is therefore context- and time-free. This aspect of the positivist research paradigm is very relevant to the proposed research since the research intends to compare cultural influences on consumer behaviour across two countries by relating the findings with concepts outlined in models that have already been defined and applied in other studies, specifically Hofstede’s dimensions of culture. Research design and sampling technique Since the positivist research philosophy uses mathematical techniques and statistics for processing quantitative data, the proposed research will adopt a research method that will collect quantitative data. For instance, the research will seek to determine if there are any variations in the behaviour of consumers in the UK and Hong Kong using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as a benchmark. To achieve this, the research will use a sampling technique that will ensure that the samples of participants in both countries reflect the general populations of consumers in the two countries. The research will adopt random sampling to avoid bias (Albright, Winston, Zappe 2011, p. 353) and will target shoppers who understand various aspects of culture. Thus, the participants will be adults, who are generally assumed to have some shopping experience as consumers. A non-probability sampling technique will be used and a quota sampling approach will be applied to come up with the sample. This strategy will be used because the sample frame (that is a list of households or individuals that represents the target population) is not easily available and is difficult to derive from and the targeted population is not easy to identify or reach efficiently and effectively using other forms of sampling (Akir & Othman 2010, p. 4). Population and sample size The sample size for consumers from each country will be approximately 1000 participants, thus making a total of 2000 participants. The target population will be from one city in each of the two countries (London and Hong Kong). These two cities have populations that can be considered to adequately reflect the consumer behaviour and cultures of the populations in the two target countries. A sample size of 1000 people from each city is considered to be sufficient since according to Krejcie and Morgan 1970 (cited by Akir & Othman 2010, p. 4), the least sample to determine a sample size from a given population is 384 individuals from a population of 1 million people. A similar sample size was used by Akir and Othman (2010) in their research on consumer shopping behaviour in Kuching City, Malaysia. Data collection method Similar to the approach used by Akir and Othman (2010), a total of 2000 questionnaires (1000 each for London and Hong Kong respectively) will be distributed by use of mall intercept at six selected retail stores located in each of the two cities. The six types of retail stores will include small retail stores, supermarkets, specialty stores, departmental stores, malls and hypermarkets. The questionnaires will be distributed to the participants, or optionally, the researcher will read the questions to the participants and complete the questionnaires using their responses. If the participants cannot complete the questionnaires immediately due to reasons such as time constraints, the researcher will request them to complete the questionnaires and send them using self-addressed and stamped envelope that will be provided. Participants may also opt to return the questionnaires personally to the researcher(s) who will be stationed at the specified retail outlets the following day. The research instrument A structured non-disguised questionnaire will be used to collect information from the research participants. This type of research instrument has several advantages, which are outlined next. To start with, the structured non-disguised questionnaire facilitates collection of information in an organised and orderly way since the questions have been prepared beforehand. Secondly, because the questions to which each participant responds are identical and arranged in the same order, the information can easily be compared. Another advantage of using the questionnaire is that its use is simple and straightforward; hence it is easy to administer and requires less time. As well, it is easy to tabulate, edit and interpret the data collected using the questionnaire. More importantly, it is possible to pre-test the questionnaire in order to make appropriate modification on the questions to be used in a research (Beri 2008, p. 107). The use of a structured questionnaire also has several disadvantages. One of them is that it suffers from a notable limitation, especially when respondents have to answer questions regarding motivational or personal aspects (Beri 2008, p. 107). Another disadvantage is that the response rate may be low (David & Sutton 2004, p. 159), especially when participants who promise to return their questionnaires personally or via mail fail to do so. Analysis of Data The data that will be collected will be coded and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 software. Descriptive statistics such as standard deviation and mean will be generated to offer an overview of the data from the countries in the survey. Frequency distribution will be used to describe the attributes of consumers in both the UK and Hong Kong in regard to their shopping behaviour as influenced by cultural factors. Frequency distribution will also be used to profile the personal information of respondents to determine trends across various groups and areas of shopping. Comparison will also be done between the two countries to determine how the behaviours of consumers in the UK and Hong Kong are influenced by the various variables in Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Similarities and differences in terms of cultural influences on consumer behaviour in the two countries will be derived by comparing measures such as correlation co-efficient, regression analysis and correlation matrix. As noted by Akir and Othman (2010, p. 4), Cronbach’s alpha coefficient will be conducted to measures such as the internal consistency and reliability of the research findings. Tables and charts will be used to illustrate the data as well as for purposes of making comparison.Top of FormBottom of Form Ethical Considerations Ethical considerations will be made throughout the entire process of conducting the research. To begin with, the researcher will seek for permission to conduct the research from the university. This will enable the researcher to obtain an authorisation letter to conduct the research in the two countries. Secondly, the retail stores that will be targeted for the research will be informed about the need to conduct the research with their customers as participants. Through this, the researcher will request for permission to be stationed at the respective stores and interact with customers visiting the stores. The purpose of the study, which is academic, will be stated. The researcher will also indicate that the data that will be obtained will be used only for the intended purpose. The researcher will also inform participants about the purpose of the research so that they may participate on the basis of an informed consent. Participants who opt not to participate in the research will not be compelled to participate and those who choose to stop midway will do so on their own volition without any consequences. 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