Do Cultural Factors Influence Consumer Decisions - Research Paper Example

Running Head Consumer Personality Factors Consumer Personality Factors: Do cultural factors and values influence consumer decisions and satisfaction? Abstract The aim of the paper is to discuss the role and impact of cultural values on consumer decisions and satisfaction, and prove the position that consumer choices are culturally determined. The paper is based on theoretical materials and analysis of controversial issues. Ideas and presuppositions are supported by theories of such gurus as Hofstede and Ritzer, and works of Ratneshwar, Chaudhuru, etc. The cultural context appears to influence the social context, which is itself a determinant of consumer behavior. The paper concludes that cultural factors and values influence decisions and preferences of consumers because psychological factors including motives, perception, emotions and cognition (important in product choices) are determined by cultural contexts. Introduction In the era of globalization, there is a tendency towards global products and a global consumer indifferent to cultural variations and a country of origin. Critics (Foxall et al 1998) state that mass society and globalization transforms traditional tastes and preferences of consumers, and eliminates the impact of cultural factors and values on consumer decisions and satisfaction. The controversy is that there is no an ideal global product appealing to all consumers in spite of their culture and social background (Chaudhuru 2006; Mariampolski, 2005). Ever if people consume global products and goods, their choices and decisions are culturally and social determined influenced by personal values and cultural traditions. Position statement: In spite of global transformations and global market changes, consumer’s satisfaction and decisions are culturally determined and influenced by cultural traditions and product preferences of a particular geographic region. Two Sides of One Simple Issue It is well known fact that globalization transforms consumer culture and changes customers preferences. Customers just acquire associations between the use of the product and pleasant consequences, develop good feelings about the product, and develop desires for the product, and as these various effects interact in complex ways. This basic a temporal and unidirectional model linking the stimulus situation to behavior is elaborated by a consideration of the feedback effects of behavior, and the variations in the model that can occur over the product life cycle (Foxall et al 1998). Perception, cognition and persuasion, motivations and emotions are determined by the product itself and its benefits rather than social and cultural background of a customer. For instance, such critics as Ritzer (2001) and La Feber (2002) argue that a traditional Japanese dish ‘sushi’ is also a part of globalization processes and cultural expansion. “McDonald’s is not always enamored of this proliferation. Take the case of We Be Sushi, a San Francisco chain with a half dozen outlets” (Ritzer 13). This example portrays that global corporations bring modern way of life and the most unique cultural traditions of the countries rather then American way of life. On the other hand, consumers do not exist in isolation from social and cultural norms and values and subconsciously influenced by century old traditions and values. More generally, cultural context has been demonstrated to affect individuals' beliefs about common objects. Consumers cannot neglect influence of their culture because culture is generally considered to involve learned, rather than innate, distinctions (Mariampolski, 2005). Therefore, in a sense, all of the effects of the cultural context might be seen as occurring as a result of social learning. In addition, it should be noted that the cultural differences in exposure to televisions and newspapers might determine the likelihood of the consumer being subjected to observational learning procedures, as well as the classical conditioning of emotional responses, and the acquisition of secondary motives. Following Schlosser& Shavitt (1999) in order for these learning processes to occur, the consumer must be exposed to the observational learning stimuli (such as product, model, vicarious reinforcement, and so on). Why Culture is Important Geert Hofstede is one of the main theorists who examines the role and impact of culture and cultural values on business and marketing environment (1996). The cultural context can be defined as the totality of the customs, arts, sciences, religions, politics, and economics that distinguishes one society from another, and that influences the individual consumer's behavior. Subculture is usually defined as a category of people who share a sense of identification that is distinguishable from that of the culture as a whole (Hofstede 1996). In this case, it is impossible to omit and neglect the role and impact of cultural context on a person and his perception of a product. A shared sense of identification may result from a shared set of values, from a common history, or from similarity in sociodemographic attributes. Social class is perhaps the type of subculture that is most often used by consumer psychologists (Mariampolski, 2005). The attribute that distinguishes between levels of social class is the relative level of social benefits (e.g., influence power, prestige, income). The constructs of culture, subculture, and social class can be considered one at a time in examining their effects on consumers. To argue with Ritzer (2001) and La Feber (2002) who underline a crucial impact of global consumer culture and mass culture on consumer choices, I would say that a regional culture determines social preferences of a particular person and shapes his values. Culture and Perception One way of considering the effect of cultural context on perception is to consider variations in the stimulus situation across different cultures. Although the presence of stimuli does not necessarily guarantee their perception, perception of such stimuli is likely to become less frequent if the stimuli are themselves less frequent. Consider, for example, the cultural variability in the availability of televisions and newspapers, two important sources of consumer information (Ratneshwar, 2005). With reference to social class, the general findings can be summarized as follows: upper class consumers have tended to buy more newspapers, to read more of the newspaper they buy, and to watch less television; middle-class consumers have preferred to purchase the morning paper, and watch television to some extent; and, lower class consumers have preferred to purchase the afternoon paper, and watch television regularly. Again, this may represent an indirect influence of the cultural context on perception through the influence of cultural context on mode of exposure to product relevant information (Pan & Schmitt 1998). Ratneshwar (2005) observes differences between American and Lebanese children in their responses to the question, "What is a (blank) for," where the blank was replaced by things like a cat, hands, trees, sand, and so on. If different cultures hold different beliefs about the function of a particular product, then one would expect consumers immersed in those two different cultural contexts to hold different beliefs about the nature of the product. For example, urban, temperate-climate Americans might consider a good beverage to be one that makes you "feel alive," whereas rural, desert-dwelling Arabs might consider a good beverage to be one that quenches your thirst. Another example of the effect of the cultural context on cognition lies in the observation that social class seems to determine the development of the assumed relationship between price and quality. Some critics can say that social class has a greater impact on customers’ preferences but values of the social class is determined by culture and country of origin; social classes is also a part of culture. Fry and Siller (1970 cited Chaudhuru 2006 ) observed that lower class consumers are more likely than higher class consumers to rely on price as an index of product quality. This may be because higher class consumers feet that they can evaluate a product independent of the banal consideration of how much it costs. Alternatively, this may be because money is much more salient to the lower class consumer due to its scarcity. I suppose this represents another influence of the cultural context on consumers' cognitions. Culture has a great impact on the experience and expression of emotional states. With reference to social class, Graham (1956 cited Chaudhuru 2006) examined the relation between social class and adoption of new products. Graham found that innovations seem to be accepted to the extent that the innovations are compatible with the cultural attributes and lifestyle of the social classes. Some of the product categories in which social class has been found to mediate consumer behavior are credit cards, clothing, and leisure activities (Schlosser & Shavitt 1999). Ratneshwar (2005) discusses the effects of cultural context on the development, operation, and manifestation of motivations. Recall the distinction between primary motives, that are unlearned, based directly on physiological needs, and secondary motives, that are learned, and presumably based indirectly on physiological needs through classical conditioning. Regarding primary motives, consider the cultural differences that have been observed for the motivations of hunger and sex. The Balinese are reported to dislike eating in public, and to conceal their eating behavior as much as possible. One implication of this cultural influence on primary motives is that appeals to motives may be more or less effective, depending on the cultural response to the motive addressed in the appeal. Speculation suggests that an appeal to any motive will be relatively effective in a culture that is repressive, or deprived, regarding any motive (because that motive is in a continual state of need). Similarly, an appeal to any motive will be relatively ineffective in a culture that is permissive, or affluent, regarding this motive (because that motive is in a continual state of satiation) (Snell 1995). Emotions and Cultural Preferences Emotion can be defined as a state of arousal involving conscious experience and visceral, or physiological, changes. In the context of consumer behavior, the result of the internal process of emotion is a feeling toward the product. For example, after 6 months of hearing about and using new Kona brand instant coffee, the user may come to feel really good about Kona coffee (Foxall et al 1999). In Geert Hofstede explains that different cultures express emotions differently. Following Hofstede 1996): ‘all societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others (p. 34). Hofstede (1996) explains that consumers from different cultures react differently to unclear, ambiguous, or favorable situations. This influence their emotions and cognition, intentions and behavior, memory and motivation (Kelly 2004). Cultural values and factors have a crucial impact on consumer decisions and satisfaction because culture determines emotional responses towards products. One determinant of emotional response toward a product is repetition. The mere exposure effect refers to the typical finding that repetitions may lead to more favorable evaluations of the repeated stimulus. It was found that some cultures (Chinese, Japanese, Muslim societies etc) need more repetition in advertising campaigns than French and Italian consumers. Another determinant of emotional response toward products is past experience, and a very powerful way to characterize this influence is in terms of the classical conditioning model. Different cultures have different market experiences and marketing traditions. In this case, culturally determined stimulus comes to elicit a conditioned response. The classical conditioning of emotional responses to products may be very important, in light of the amount of information typically conveyed in television commercial advertisements. Another determinant of emotional responses toward products is humor (Chaudhuru, 2006). It is known fact that international companies usually avoid ‘humor’ in their advertisements because there are difficulties inherent in this approach to developing a positive emotional response toward the product. Humor is not universal; that is, something that is funny in one geographic region may not be funny in another (or can be offensive and sound rude) (Chaudhuru, 2006). These facts reject the idea that cultural factors and values have no impact on consumer choices and decisions. Is Motivation Important? Motivation refers to a state of tension within the individual that arouses, maintains, and directs behavior toward some goal. It is usually assumed that attaining the goal reduces the tension instilled by the motivation (Chaudhuru, 2006). In the context of consumer behavior, the result of motivation is a desire or need for the product. Different cultures have different motives and values determined by century old traditions and cultural practices. The approach holds that the product can be portrayed as satisfying existing motivations. This approach involves the appeal to motives. The second approach holds that the product can be portrayed in such a way as to generate the arousal and direction of behavior. Beyond simply appealing to motives, this approach involves the creation of motives (Chaudhuru, 2006). Motivation can be describes as “urges, aspirations, drives and needs of human beings direct or control or explain their behavior” (Dowling et al 1999, p. 76). It may simply be described as keenness for a particular pattern of behavior. For instance, in many Asian countries motives of people are based on religious beliefs and cultural preferences while American consumers are motivated by product features and benefits, prices and discounts. I think this keenness is determined through cultural patterns and values learnt by people since childhood. Obvious regional differences in geographic and climatic variables can account for product consumption differences. Culture, Family and Product Preferences Cultural contexts can influence the critical relationships between family members in such a way as to influence the "national character," or the dominant personality types found in a given culture. For example, Foxall et al (1999) compared middle class and working class parent-child interactions. Middle-class parents expected children to be happy, cooperative, and curious, and middle-class parents attempted to control their children through the development of self-direction, and through punishment based on the intent of the act. Alternatively, working-class parents expected children to be neat, obedient, and respectful, and working-class parents attempted to control their children through external proscriptions, and through punishment based on the consequences of the act (Chaudhuru 2006). Similar social class differences have been observed for husband-wife consumer interactions. It is important to note that there is no such phenomenon as a ‘global family’ or ‘global family values’. For this reason, it is possible to say that culture of each country determines consumer preferences through system of family values and traditions. Conclusion The facts mentioned above vividly portray that a consumer is influenced by cultural values ad preferences as a part of his social background. Consumers are a part of social context and environment, market system and mass culture of their region. Thus, their life choices and product decisions are shaped and leant through life. Mass culture and mass consumption have a great impact on consumers’ preferences, but it does not shape values and norms of people. Motives, perception, emotions and cognition determine presences and cultural values of consumers. Product consumption is a part of culture and traditions. For this reason, strong and consistent regional differences in lifestyles, values, and other psychographic dimensions should exist, and national advertising campaigns should be abandoned in favor of region specific campaigns. References 1. Chaudhuru, A. (2006). Emotion and Reason in Consumer Behavior. Butterworth-Heinemann. 2. Dowling, P. J., Welch, D. E. and Schuler, R.S. (1999). International Human Resource Management, 3 edn, South West Publishing. 3. Foxall, G., Goldsmith, R.E., Brown, S. (1998). Consumer Psychology for Marketing. Int. Thomson Business Press; 2 edn. 4. Hofstede, G. (1996). Cultures and Organizations, Software of the Mind: Intercultural Cooperation and its Importance for Survival. McGraw-Hill. 5. Kelly, W.W. (ed) (2004). Fans and Consumer Culture in Contemporary Japan. Albany: State University of New York Press. 6. La Feber, W. (2002). Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism, New and Expanded Edition. W. W. Norton & Company; New Exp Su edn. 7. Mariampolski, H. (2005). Ethnography for Marketers: A Guide to Consumer Immersion. SAGE Publications. 8. Pan, Y., Schmitt, B. (1996). Language and Brand Attitudes: Impact of Script and Sound Matching in Chinese and English. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 5 (3), 263-275. 9. Ritzer, G. (2001). McDonaldization: The Reader. Pine Forge Press; 2 edn. 10. Ratneshwar, S. (2005). Inside Consumption Perspectives on Consumer Motives, Goals and Desires. Routledge; 1 edn. 11. Schlosser, A Shavitt, Sh. (1999). Effects of an Approaching Group Discussion on Product Responses. Journal of Consumer Psychology 8 (4), 377-407. 12. Snell, J. (1995). Intuitive Hedonics: Consumer Beliefs About the Dynamics of Liking Journal of Consumer Psychology, 4 (1), 33-58. Read More