Executive Summary
Although globalization continues to intensify across industries and economies, it is unclear whether consumer attitudes and behaviors worldwide are likewise globalizing. As global forces progressively permeate across national frontiers, some authors have argued that a homogeneous global consumer culture will eventually emerge. Others have countered that individual consumers are increasingly motivated to resist global forces and that the entrenchment of localized differences promotes greater heterogeneity of behaviors. Still others have argued that under globalization, the cultural fragmentation of the individual consumer means that behaviors are simultaneously becoming similar and dissimilar, within and across countries. Successful marketing is largely contingent on implementing a consumer-oriented strategy that considers the attitudes and values of targeted consumers. Thus, international marketers need to understand how and which consumer attitudes and associated behaviors are similar and different across countries. To this end, Cleveland, Laroche, and Papadopoulos conduct a cross-cultural study, focusing on three attitudinal dispositions linked to globalization— cosmopolitanism (COS), consumer ethnocentrism (CET), and materialism (MAT)—as well as the potential demographic precursors and behavioral outcomes of these key constructs.
After validating these dispositional measures across the eight-country samples (Canada, Mexico, Chile, South Korea, India, Sweden, Hungary, and Greece), the authors show that the links to the various demographic predictors (sex, age, income, and education) differ considerably across country samples. The roles of COS, CET, and MAT on consumer behavior vary substantially across the range of product categories considered. For example, whereas COS is positively linked to behaviors associated with electronic media and communication products, CET is negatively linked to such behaviors. Although the authors find common patterns of relationships across two or more country samples, many discrepancies also are evidenced.
Cleveland, Laroche, and Papadopoulos advise international marketers to recognize the following when defining the target market and designing the marketing strategy (in particular, communication appeals): (1) the situations that increase the feelings of traditional culture affiliation and attendant consumer ethnocentric dispositions (e.g., the consumption of foods and other culturally laden products), (2) the contexts favoring the emergence of cosmopolitan dispositions (e.g., product categories that appeal to universal human values), and (3) when and where consumption is driven by material values (e.g., socially visible products). In summary, the findings imply that globalization has made uneven inroads on consumer attitudes and behaviors.
Biography
Mark Cleveland, PhD (Concordia University, Montreal) is Assistant Professor of Marketing, Aubrey Dan Program of Management and Organizational Studies, at the University of Western Ontario, where he conducts research in globalization and global consumer culture, cross-cultural consumer behavior, ethnic identity and acculturation, consumer values, culture in consumption, cross-cultural decision making, green marketing, branding, advertising, gift-giving, and services marketing. He has won numerous awards for the quality of his research, including the 2006 Best Paper Award from the International Journal of Advertising. Recent publications appear in Journal of Business Research, Journal of Economic Psychology, Journal of International Marketing, the International Marketing Review, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Consumer Behavior, Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, and Journal of International Consumer Marketing.
Michel Laroche, the Royal Bank Distinguished Professor of Marketing, is a Fellow of Royal Society of Canada, American Psychological Association, Society for Marketing Advances, Academy of Marketing Science, and Concordia Research Fellow. He has received several research and service awards. His main interests are in communication, consumer behavior, culture, retail, and Internet and services marketing. He is the coauthor of several major textbooks, including Customer Behaviour, Marketing in Canada, Advertising in Canada, Consumer Behaviour: A Canadian Perspective, Marketing Research in Canada, and Canadian Retailing. He has published more than 110 papers in leading journals, such as Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Retailing, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of International Marketing, International Journal of Research in Marketing, and Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology. He currently is serving as Managing Editor of the Journal of Business Research.
Dr. Nicolas Papadopoulos is Professor of Marketing and International Business and Director of the International Business Study Group at the Sprott School at Business of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. He has served as the school’s Director and Associate Dean (Research). He received the Capital Educators’ Award in 2007, and in 2008 he received the university’s Davidson Dunton Research Award and the distinction of Carleton University Chancellor’s Professor. His research focuses on international strategy and buyer responses to strategies, including expansion strategy, place equity and branding, the role of culture, and market systems at the trade bloc and global levels. He has over 300 publications and presentations, including articles in such journals as Journal of Macromarketing, International Business Review, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and Journal of Brand Management, and he serves on the editorial boards of seven journals.
J International Marketing, Volume 17, Number 1, March 2009
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