Preview

Is Consumer Behavior Diverging rather than Converging?

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2385 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Is Consumer Behavior Diverging rather than Converging?
Is consumer behavior diverging rather than converging?

Many would say that because of globalization, the income, media and technology would suggest that consumer’s needs, taste, lifestyles and wants have become homogeneous, giving special emphasis on technology and internet. But what people do with their possessions does not converge. Some believe that global companies will achieve success by concentrating on what everybody wants rather than worrying about the details of what everyone things they might like. It’s like everybody, everywhere wants all the same thing they have heard about, seen or experienced via the new technologies. And to think this way is wrong since it would mean that the entire world was a single entity and that firms would only sell the same things in the same way everywhere.
Actually there is no empirical evidence that the consumer’s behavior is converging. The analysis implies that countries converge with respect to only relatively recent media such as television as compared to the divergence being seen with old media such as radio and newspaper. And that by this, internet might follow a similar pattern in the future as the old media, but it’s a recent phenomenon to talk about it. With these new technologies some say that it’s expected to prefer standard, high quality and low price products rather than customized high-priced ones. This idea was argued by Harvard’s Ted Levitt in his famous article titled “The Globalization of Markets”. This assumption is based on that consumer behavior is rational but this is unrealistic and consumers aren’t rational at all and they don’t purchase decisions that maximize profits.
As for example, convergence at macro levels like GNP per capita or the number of telephones per 1000 people do not necessarily imply convergence of consumer choice. And the cultural difference is being ignored. It’s the socio-demographic and psychological factors, the culture that tend to be a more useful



References: Consumer Behavior and Culture: consequences for global marketing and advertising/ editor , Marieke de Mooij. – 2nd ed. http://geert-hofstede.com/latvia.html, 22-11-2013 http://hbr.org/1983/05/the-globalization-of-markets, 24-11-2013, 15h45

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Solomon, M et al. (2010). Consumer Behaviour – A European Perspective. (4th ed.). Harlow: Prentice Hall.…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Chpt 1 Sample

    • 21302 Words
    • 86 Pages

    2. Tastes and preferences of consumers in different nations are beginning to converge on some global norm.…

    • 21302 Words
    • 86 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Research Report

    • 3178 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Steenkamp, J. (2001). The role of national culture in international marketing research. International Market Review, 18(1), 30-44.…

    • 3178 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Rome 's vast empire lasted for an amazing one thousand-year reign. Half of it referred to as the republic, and the other as the empire. However, after its fall in 5oo-a.d. Rome has still remained in existence through its strong culture, architecture, literature, and even religion (Spielvogel 175). Even after its disappearance as a nation Rome left behind a legacy that will never be forgotten. Its ideals and traditions have been immolated, and adopted for over two thousand years. Whether, it is through its language of Latin, its influence of religion, or its amazing architectural ability Rome has influenced almost every culture following its demise. The heritage of Rome has been passed down through three different channels; one is through the eastern Roman Empire; through the Roman Catholic Church, and consciously by any and every one who has been in touch with Roman Culture (Hadas 157).…

    • 1524 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nayeem, T. (2012). Cultural influences on consumer behavior. International Journal of Business and Management, 7(21), 78-91. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1353608736?accountid=458…

    • 2171 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why does everyone in The Giver lack individuality? One could argue that there are many differences in citizens such as Assignments and physical attributes. However, those are two of the very few distinctions. In Lois Lowry’s book, The Giver, people are mostly the same which both creates and solves many societal issues.…

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    SOLOMON, M., BAMOSSY,G., ASKEGAARD,S. and HOGG,M., 2010.’Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective, 4th ed. London: Prentice Hall…

    • 3907 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Solomon M, Bamossy G, Askegaard S and Hogg K. M, 2006, Consumer Behaviour A European Perspective, 3rd Edition, Prentice Hall.…

    • 1275 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    How does globalization impact consumers? This question has been highly debated by economists. Some believe consumers will be negatively affected by globalization with greater economic instability and multiple financial crisis’ while corporations receive record profits. Other experts are of the opinion that globalization will provide customers with more wealth, more goods at lower costs, and will end poverty. Globalization gives customers the advantage of getting the best products at the best prices, per many economists and theorists. Each country, in a global market, manufacturers a product (or products) that they are best and most efficient at producing. As a result, consumers have affordable products that were previously out of their price range in some cultures (i.e. cars). Thus, the standard of living in each country is raised due to the positive effects of globalization. According to this perspective, the new global economy will shift millions of people from absolute poverty to the middle class. Another predicted benefit of globalization is that it will increase global salaries of managers and professionals and provide an increased market for international positions. Consumer access to disposable income will increase demand for technological advancement and new and improved goods. Further, lower prices give consumers the benefit of being able to save money or spend money on things they want instead of only things they need. In the article “Global Marketing and Advertising,” de Mooij suggests (Sage, 2005) that “wealth brings choice” and she believes consumers will choose to bring back old values to contain or in an effort to halt the westernizing of their culture. Harvard Professor…

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    These propositions are centered on the varying levels of analysis that was put forth to study the different constructs of social, cultural and consumer behaviour. And the propositions do present a context for the analysis with a special concern for the type of culture that is being taken into consideration.…

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Regardless of a company's motivation for expanding outside its domestic markets, the strategies it uses to compete in foreign markets have to be situation-driven; cultural, demographic, and market conditions vary significantly among the countries of the world. Cultures and lifestyles are the most obvious country-to-country differences. Market demographics are close behind. Consumers in Spain do not have the same tastes, preferences, and buying habits as consumers in Norway; buyers differ yet again in Greece, in Chile, in New Zealand, and in Taiwan. Less than 10 percent of the populations of Brazil, India, and China have annual purchasing power equivalent to $20,000. Middle-class consumers represent a much smaller portion of the population in these and other emerging countries than in North America, Japan, and much of Europe.1 Sometimes, product designs suitable for one country are inappropriate in another—for example, in the United States electrical devices run on 110-volt electrical systems, but in some European countries the standard is a 240-volt electric system, necessitating the use of different electrical designs and components. In France consumers prefer top-loading washing machines, while in most other European countries consumers prefer front-loading machines. Northern Europeans want large refrigerators because they tend to shop once a week in supermarkets; southern Europeans can get by on small refrigerators because they shop daily. In parts of Asia refrigerators are a status symbol and may be placed in the living room, leading to preferences for stylish designs and colors—in India bright blue and red are popular colors. In other Asian countries, household space is constrained and many refrigerators are only four feet high so the top can be used for something else. In Hong Kong the preference is for compact, European-style appliances, but in Taiwan large American-style appliances are more popular.…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Culture is an aggregate of the learned beliefs, attitudes, values, norms and customs of a society or group of people, shared by them and transmitted from generation to generation within that society.…

    • 6006 Words
    • 25 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    • Solomon, M., Bamossy, G. and Askegaard, S. (2002), Consumer Behaviour- A European Perspective. 2nd ed.,Prentice Hall…

    • 2078 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    How does the differences in culture impact upon consumer behaviour and marketing practice in international markets? Outline how the elements of culture impact on the above.…

    • 1508 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are cultural factors affecting the consumer behavior of people, such as the Cultural stress that people face when choosing a phone and it involves the beliefs and values of the society they live in, and in these cultures there are subcultures affecting people with religion, geographic, race among other things, and the social class in which specifically affects the consumer behavior, in poor societies it would not matter if you have a old or a new phone but in rich…

    • 1414 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics