Social Influence and Buying Behavior: A Reflection
Of Cultural Values in Multicultural Markets
by Kritika Kongsompong
One of the factors that must be given emphasis by different companies is the buying behavior of their consumers. There are many literatures and articles that have been written to determine the factors that influence the buying behavior of the people. In the research done by Kritika Kongsompong (2007), the researcher intended to investigate the consumer-decision making endeavors in different countries like Indians, Taiwanese, Thais, Americans and Australians. In this research, the author uses the Hofstede framework or model in the entire research. Herein, the paper argues that the cultural dimensions influence the consumer decision making process.
This research has been able to work on three hypothesis based on the relevant literature reviewed and used by the author. These hypotheses have been related to the social influence and collectivism context and this is uses for testing in consumption –related situation. The first hypotheses assume that Indians, Thais, and Taiwanese are characterized by relatively high levels of collectivism while Australians and Americans are characterized by relatively high levels of individualism. The next hypotheses assume that the relative collectivists are more subject to social influence in purchasing decisions than are relative individuals. The last hypotheses assume that the people in collectivist’s cultures will exhibit more susceptibility to social influence in buying situations than will people in individualist cultures.
In order to test the hypotheses, the author uses the date from five countries mentioned above. The author has used the ten-item scaled which is constructed through collectivism/individualism and social influence literature. The author has also been able to use the social influence scenario and scale of Lee and Green to be able to identify independent variable in the study. Herein, the scale used has captured the degree of social influence that four others have on purchase decision which include close friend, parents, boyfriend/girlfriend and salesperson. The mean and the standard deviation were also used for the analysis of the result of the scenario testing. Based on the data gathered and its analysis through the use of statistical approach, the author has found that Indians, Thais and Taiwanese are typically more collectivist than the westerners (Americans and Australians). In line with the second hypothesis, the hypotheses asserts that across the five nations considered in the sample, those individuals with a collectivist orientation have found out to be more susceptible to social influences in their purchase decision than those consumers with an individualist orientation. The author have divided the entire sample into two sub groups based on the respondents summed score on the ten-item collectivism scale.
In terms of the third hypotheses which states that consumers in the collectivist would show more susceptibility to social influence than consumers in the two individualist countries. The findings of the data gathered have shown that the hypotheses can be partially accepted because in the cases of the Americans and Thais, the relationship remains. In the findings, the analysis revealed that across virtually all the sources of social influence, Indian consumers showed more social influence than Taiwanese, Americans, Australians and Thais.
Based on the analysis of the data gathered, it can be said that the research ahs been able to achieved the objective of the research in terms of providing insights into the relationship between social influence and collectivism in buying situations. The author noted that the two are positively related as supported by the result of the findings from five diverse nations. The article revealed that social influence and collectivism is significantly relevant to each other to a more limited extent within diverse nations. Although this study has been able to achieve its objective, there are still some questions that arise based on the result of the study and this is concerning the factors that might serve to modify the relationship of social influence and collectivism.
The limitation of the study, as stated by the researcher, served as the main reason why the findings cannot be generalized. The sample articles used for the research are too small to represent a general idea; hence, the researchers suggested that future researches should be conducted. In addition, the finding of this research cannot be generalized as the variables themselves involved several factors and conditions. It is difficult to consider a research finding as general when various affective factors could affect the result.
Nonetheless, the research done by Kritika Kongsompong can interest and benefit a number of groups, particularly in the business, management, and educational field. The companies and other business organizations for instance, can learn that there are a number of factors affecting the consumer decision making process and consumer behavior. As business industries play a significant role in this important outcome, the management can then encourage considering the behavior of the consumers in their business strategy. Managers and the consumers per se s can also learn from this article. In particular, different individuals will realize that there are factors that can influence them in buying or purchasing specific products.
All in all, this research has been able to provide insightful details regarding social influence and buying behavior of the consumers. The consideration of consumers from different countries like Taiwan, Thailand, USA, India and Australia is essential to identify the influences in a multicultural setting. The result is very significant for all companies in the global market to know the difference between the buying behavior of people with eastern and western orientation.
Generally, this research suggests that those marketers must give enough consideration to the collectivist orientation of a culture when implementing marketing strategies. By and large, this research has been able to open the minds of many marketers on the importance of knowing the social influence of buying behavior and how they can be able to market their products with people in different orientations.
Reference
Kongsompong, K. (2007). “Social influence and buying behavior:A reflection of cultural values in multicultural markets”, at the 5th International Business Research Conference 2007 held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, during 26-27 April, 2007
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