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PREFACE
Aims and Beneficiaries of this Book
This new Handbook on International Consumer Behavior (CB) provides an
international, culturally adjusted, multidisciplinary and holistic perspective on
Consumer Behavior.
The book distinguishes by a truly international perspective on the different elements of
the Consumer Behavior process based on up-to date research in 22 countries collected
by 59 book contributors. Most interesting and innovative is the juxtaposition of CB
related issues in developed economic and transitional, crisis hit economic settings.
Spirited by the centrality of CB for developing national and international corporate
marketing strategies and tactics and by an applied research and case study approach,
this book differentiates CB as to industry sectors (Retailing, Banking, Tourism &
Hospitality,
Manufacturing,
Education
and
Real
Estate).
Further
aspects
of
differentiation refer to company size (Global, Multinational, International Enterprises
and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) and contemporary new CB trends relating to
online perspectives and virtual reality, ecological trends and organic products. With its
mosaic of eclectic multidisciplinary research in a great variety of research settings, the
book is recommendable for both, researchers and practitioners. Researchers, both
lecturers and postgraduate research and PhD students as well as students in Consumer
Behavior and International Marketing modules can benefit, learn and be inspired for
their own research from the whole spectrum of research methodologies applied in this
book and from the indications of current and future knowledge gaps provided.
Practitioners are highly sensitized of the fundamental role of International Consumer
Behavior for successful international business. The book does not illuminate CB in
isolation but provides a bridge and implications for innovative and increasingly to be
localized and culturally adjusted international marketing strategies and tactics. The
research cases can also be a very valuable ingredient for the practitioners’ knowledge
management pool.
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Content
For the last five decades Consumer Behavior has gained a reputation as a scientific
multidisciplinary domain in its own right. The discipline saw an evolution of a range of
very useful models (i.e. Engle-Kollatt- Blackwell model, Howard Sheth model,
Bettman’s model, the often cited ‘Black Box’ Model and, more recently, Holistic
Consumer Behavior models), which explain the process of consumer behavior
embracing external and internal stimuli affecting the consumer, consumer decision
making and, finally, post-purchase behavioral aspects. The multidisciplinary character
of the domain is reflected by psychological models helping to explain, for example,
individual motivational factors and consumer satisfaction aspects (i.e. expectancydisconfirmation, equity or cognitive dissonance). Furthermore, multidisciplinary
conceptual peers refer to macro- (i.e. cultural and cross-cultural influences and
consumerism) and micro sociological concepts (i.e. self-concept and identity).
Especially, latter are increasingly considered in, so called, holistic consumer behavior
models to explain the influences of lifestyle, national, ethnic, social- or self- identity on
consumer behavior. The contributions of young researchers of the CIRCLE network to
this book reflect the increasing inclusion of multidisciplinary concepts for explaining
the increasingly diverse and complex interrelationships of consumer behavior factors
triggered by historical political, economic, social or technological challenges we could
witness in recent years: globalization, the transition of many countries from centrally
planned to free market economies implying a re-learning of consumer behavior, or the
Global Climate crisis entailing new social and consumer trends as to ecologically
friendly or ‘green’ consumer behavior. The research on consequences of the recent
global economic crisis is still in its embryonic stage and will be centerpiece of future
research in the field.
For the last four decades academics engage in a discussion if the discipline of consumer
behavior needs a ‘grand’ conceptually all-embracing theory or not.
Although, the
knowledge contributions of a generic ‘grand’ consumer behavior model are
appreciated, the research results on current global challenges on consumer behavior
strongly seem to point to a mosaic of eclectic theories as they are better suited to
address increasingly required localized and differentiated research solutions.
The
following summary of the book contributions underlines the call of this book for
increasing differentiating and localized theory on consumer behavior to close an
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existing myriad of knowledge gaps in the field, which, with a generic theory, eventually
would be obscured and not identified. The book underlines that many topics in
consumer behavior are in a fluent state of development not being mature for an allembracing theory. The following summary also reflects a great value of the book in that
it points to new areas for further research.
Chapter 1: External Influences on Consumer Behavior: Differentiation as to Culture,
Gender and Economic Influences
Tsoukatos holds that culture affects consumers’ service quality perceptions and
expectations, which, in turn, influence her/his levels of satisfaction, loyalty and business
performance. He calls to re-examine and constantly monitor existing and often outdated
cultural typologies and indices to reflect global cultural trends. Interestingly, the author
calls for developing instruments for benchmarking individual cultural measurements,
compared to the national culture approach.
Having researched the research setting of Chalkidiki, Greece, Wickens points to a newly
emerging consumer’s interest in ‘the other’s culture’. The author suggests that current
tourism marketing does not reflect the newly arising customer motive regarding
experiencing the authentic local culture and heritage.
Based on a case of the fast food industry, Horska’s, Nagyova’s and Rovny’s
international survey conceptualizes the role of cultural distance, learning and memory
on standardization vs. adaptation strategies and the marketing mix. The survey results
imply how cultural distance activates the standardization-differentiation continuum
and degrees of marketing mix adaptation. Furthermore, relating to a societal dimension
of marketing, the authors suggest areas for further research to refer to the effect of
western fast food systems on the consumerism and further development of society in
Oman, India and Indonesia.
In line with Tsoukatos, Ganguly and Dash suggest to measure culture on an individual
level and to localize web site design. The authors contribute to bridge the identified
current literature gap on the relationship between culture and e-commerce by
providing a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the factors that generate on-line
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trust, and the impact of cultural values of the consumers on these factors. He
conceptualizes culture as a moderator in the relationship between the antecedent factors
and trust. The author appeals to be more versatile in adjusting information, navigation
design or social presence to different cultures.
Walsh’s research concludes that additional studies are required to better understand the
food choices and shopping patterns of older women. She investigated influencing
factors of choice, such as price, meal structures (traditional, convenience, delicatessen,
manufacturer brands vs. retail brands) and retail choice. The author suggests planners
and retailers to better respond to changing shopping patterns of this segment and to
better include this marginalized group in the development of shopping facilities.
Stressing sociological aspects of consumer behaviour, Temperley and Ching-Wei
describe new trends in single males’ shopping behaviour and the evolving males’ role
in society. According to the authors, differentiated shopping behaviour of males and
implicit typologies are related to the respective self-concept and the societal image to be
portrayed. Suggestions as to appropriate marketing strategies are provided.
Bozbay’s explanatory research study contributes to the understanding of the role of
gender on web-site attributes perceptions and their intention to visit web-sites in
Turkey. Significant gender differences exist regarding their perceptions of ease of use,
personality and fun attributes. The study implies a stronger focus on female consumers
and gender orientated and differentiated marketing strategies.
The macro- economic paper of Valma investigates the influences of consumption on
employment and inter- and intraregional interdependence in this context in Greece.
Suggestions for policy makers are provided favoring economic rather than financial
growth promotion incentives.
Chapter 2: Internal Stimuli: Differentiation as to Perception, Consumer Profiles and
Product and Service Categories
Sibinska’s et al’s research implies the creation of new consumer profiles triggered by
technological change. The main purpose of the paper is to present the motives, online
expectations and implicit profiles of online banking customers in Poland and their
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perceptions of bank websites. The findings have an implication on the level of
satisfaction and loyalty of the banking clients. According to the authors, the transaction
aspect of a website’s functionality is most important of all providing the consumers
with higher levels of convenience. Previous research findings that clients’ loyalty
decreases by increased knowledge provided by online information has not been
confirmed by this research.
Having applied a triangulation approach, Wechner and Kaufmann explore the
influencing factors of consumers’ perception towards delicatessen, focusing on
explaining the role of culture related factors in this context. So far, concepts related to
consumers’ perception of delicatessen have not yet been sufficiently addressed in
literature. By understanding the relevant factors of consumers’ perception towards
delicatessen, it is possible to manage changes in consumer behavior, retail markets and
European regulations. A number of practical implications are provided.
Within the context of destination branding in tourism, Tassiopoulos and Vallabh shed
light on the, so far, quite neglected research topic of consumers’ dining perceptions and
experiences and the quality of service provided. The authors chose as a research setting
East London in South Africa. The results have interesting implications for local
restaurants, policy makers in terms of the sustainability of employment in East London
as well as on visitors’ perceptions.
Based on an extensive literature review, Draskovic, Temperley and Vignali identify a
current gap of knowledge as to the differentiated perception of packaging in the phase
of purchase and the phase of consumption leading to conflicting views on the role of
packaging as a means of communication and as an integral part of the product or brand.
Furthermore, the authors point to limitations of the mainstream literature in that
published studies relate to the self service supermarket environment and, within that
mainly to food products, representing a very narrow focus of study. The authors
envision a huge research potential in expanding studies on many and different
consumer product categories. Due to the increased role of packaging in product
differentiation and the ongoing changes in the marketing communication budgets the
topic is of high practical value.
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Chapter 3: Evaluation and Purchase Decision: Differentiation as to Attitudes,
Involvement, Prior Knowledge and Decision Making Patterns
By combining qualitative and quantitative research, Perucic, Dragicevic and Pavlic
investigated consumer's attitudes towards organic food in the region of Dubrovnik and
their interest in buying bitter orange jam as an indigenous ecological product. The
results show that there is great interest in different segments for bitter orange jam as the
ecological autochthonous product. The implications of this research are manifold: it
emphasizes the productive participation of small and medium sized enterprises, the
contribution of organic products to better life conditions, and the use of organic jam as
an authentic souvenir.
Against the backdrop of the current global discussion on Global Climate Change and
CO2 reduction goals defined by many countries, Sommer, Weimer and Haug address
aspects of environmental and ‚green‘ consumer behavior in the context of consumers‘
attitudes and intentions as to electric car purchase. In the case of electric cars, a gap or
cognitive dissonance exists between attitudes as well as positive awareness for climate
change on the one hand and the willingness to accordingly adapt the behavior on the
other. When explaining consumer behavior in this field, the authors suggest resorting
to theories on personal and psychological perspectives as well as on self-interest in
order to embrace a truly consumer centered business philosophy. They regard the
Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and the Theory of Planned Behavior as suitable to
cover these topics. The authors appeal to strengthen the role of small and medium sized
enterprises and to increasingly design appropriate Customer relationship marketing
strategies.
Hallier portrays various streams of retailing developments related to physical outlets,
assortment offers or increasing IT system use, identifying and advocating increased
consumer participation. The retail development is illustrated as moving from point of
sales (POS), to point of purchase (POP), to point of differentiation (POD) to, finally,
point of consumer (POC).
Applying a phenomenological approach, Kenyon and Parsons contribute to the
understanding on how consumers encode and decode advertisements. In this context,
consumers’ use of prior knowledge and past experiences in the decoding process is
described. A new decoding model is presented concluding that participants use many
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reference points when decoding advertisements that are not associated with the product
or service being advertised. This presents a challenge to the creative directors, who
perhaps should work harder in keeping the attention of the audience and ensure they
remain focused on the product or service in hand.
Guozhong Xie takes note of the fact that information available for consumers in most
cases is vague or imprecise or incomplete, which aggravates consumers’ decision
making. In order to scientifically explain and facilitate consumer’s decision making, the
author suggests the consideration of both, the Analytic Hierarchy Process Model (AHP)
and Fuzzy Logic.
Both models are regarded capable to use imprecise and vague
information to make a decision for a problem with multiple criteria or objectives. The
computation process of the models are differentiated, with ‘Fuzzy Logic’ using easier
applicable natural human language and the, however, more challenging AHP model
using a 9 point scale and the relative comparison between a pair in importance and
preference.
Chapter 4: Post-Purchase Behavior: Differentiation as to B2B and B2C and Market
Power
Based on a comparative analysis of the customers’ behavior models in the Business to
Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C) market segments, Babenkova
emphasizes the importance of elaborating a comprehensive, cost-efficient customer
satisfaction measurement system. An algorithm of customer analysis and a method of
industrial customer satisfaction assessment are provided. The author regards the
concept of measuring customer satisfaction and building customer loyalty a key
element of a profitable business strategy. She suggests almost all company departments
to be involved in the process. As to B2B markets, sales managers and especially design
engineers are of paramount importance. The process is applied in a Russian company.
A brand switching matrix was applied as a methodological tool by Chung to investigate
the market competitive condition of the two brands ‘Polo’ and ‘Bean Pole’. The 1,014
sample data of consumers aged from 15 to 34 years were collected in the Seoul area—
the centre of fashion retailing in Korea. In addition, the brand equity between these two
brands was assessed. The matrix showed a considerable portion of repurchase, which
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could be explained by brand loyalty. The brand preference and perceived values such
as simplicity, naturalness and neatness might bring Polo Ralph Lauren greater global
brand power.
Chapter 5: Implications for International Marketing Strategies and Tactics: MIS and
Relationships
Supported by several contributors of this book, Guido and Bassi equate a well
organized, implemented and easily accessible Marketing Information System
containing market data on consumers, competitors, technology and general market
conditions with competitive advantage and with an indispensable basis for marketing
strategies and plans. The authors point to the necessity of having security programs in
place and to increasingly automate the system by the use of artificial intelligence and
intelligent agents. Future developments in the field are seen in the exploitation of open
sources.
Thrassou and Vrontis conceptualize a relationship between consumers and businesses
in developed countries which should be characterized by consumer protection, both in
terms of visible aspects (i.e. overpricing or shoddy/unsafe products) and in terms of
communicative aspects avoiding to put the consumer under ‘the spell’ of branding and
marketing communication.
Rashid refers to preconditions to use the internet as a means for relationship building.
Based on a literature review on the internet, internet marketing and customer
relationship marketing, this paper contributes to the knowledge of website design as a
basis for improving relationships between a university and its students. Having
conducted a case study on the students’ perceptions of the Leeds Metropolitan
University website, relational drivers were identified for relationship building. The
research concludes that relational drivers such as customer orientation, service quality,
experience, trust, shared values and communication student satisfaction, commitment
and loyalty are reflected by newsgroups, chat forums, bulletin board systems or voice
and conferencing facilities
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In addition to Rashid, Pantano appeals to use advanced technology supporting
relationship orientated marketing strategies. She presents a new stimulating store
concept by created by Virtual or Augmented Reality. Advanced media applications are
seen to act as knowledge management systems for knowledge communication of
products. In particular, the results suggest that consumers have a positive response to
the introduction of augmented reality, mainly due to the presence of new enjoyable
elements. Importantly, consumers are willing to engage in more purchases due to the
fun provided in the store. In particular, consumers appreciated the virtual environment
and the possibility of visiting virtual reconstructions of the Magna Græcia (Calabria),
which allowed a more immersive and exciting experience.
The literature review of Rudawska justifies the conclusion that two issues, the nature of
relations between a company and its customers, and the connection between the nature
of created relations and the value of business entities operating on the market, are
completely obscured. Therefore, the author explains, based on quantitative research, the
significance of customer relationships’ nature in the process of company’s value
creation and indicated a connection between the nature of a relation and the value of
business entities operating on the market.
This case study in the setting of Cyprus provides evidence to that Cause Related
Marketing has become one of the most popular forms of corporate giving in Cyprus
reflecting a firm’s commitment in addressing the urgent social issues of the day.
Papasolomou proposes that this method of promotion will have particular appeal to
small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) since it can be a relatively cheap and
economic way to create awareness of a new product, service or brand and subsequently
influence consumer behavior in a favorable way towards the product, brand or
corporation.
Monk examines the role of staff training for creating consumer loyalty for UK’s branded
coffee shops. In contrast to other scholars in the field, who postulate that spending more
on staff training is a key strategy to improve service quality and consumer loyalty in the
catering industry, the author of this paper concludes that a modest level of staff
training, including part-time employed front personnel, is all that is expected by
customers in this particular sector. These findings point to an innate difference between
the kinds of experience customers expect in a coffee shop, compared to expectations in a
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restaurant. More research is suggested to ascertain the effects of a recession on
employment conditions associated with peripheral workers such as the front line staff
in this industry.
Last but by far not least, Siano and Basile explain why social processes, in which
consumers are involved , are the reasons for significant changes in consumer behavior.
Underpinned by theories of social psychology, sociology and North European and
Latin/Mediterranean marketing studies, the authors contribute to the studies on
consumer-brand relations focusing on the function a brand can have in the context of
an individual’s socializing habits. From a theoretical point of view, the study illustrates
how social processes in which the individual/consumer is involved, are at the basis of
significant changes in consumer behavior. Most note worthily, this paper systematizes
and synthesizes previous studies on the evolution of consumer- brand relation, both,
from an emotive point of view -from attractiveness to commitment- and from a social
perspective - from browser to mingler and finally opinion leader.
Chapter 6: Differentiation as to Idiosyncrasies of Transition and/or Crisis Hit
Countries: Still Existing Gaps and Potentially New Roles
Husic and Muris point to problems in post-socialist countries with segmentation as
social strata are still developing. In this pioneering research, the social situation in postsocialist countries is described to be in a turbulent state with the legacies of socialism
still to be felt. As a precondition for market segmentation and understanding of
individuals’ consumer behavior, the authors suggest to understand social groups and
their behavior with each other. Relating to the case of Bosnia Herzegovina, the authors
stress that class distribution remains concentrated in the middle and that social strata
are still developing and strongly influenced by current political and economic
developments. More stable results to be utilized for segmentation purposes, on the
other hand, are suggested to come from lifestyle analysis which based on the VALS
methodology led to three clusters in Bosnia Herzegovina: Urban Intellectuals, Trendy
and Popular Individuals and Passive Observers.
Within the context of a political crisis in Zimbabwe, Ndlovou and Heath propose and
illustrate a close relationship that exists between consumer behavior, destination
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branding, destination image, destination positioning, tourism and politics. The
empirical evidence indicates that political factors could negatively affect consumer
behavior which has a direct effect on the health of the brand. The author concludes to
expand future studies on the inclusion of other stakeholders, such as civic groups,
politicians and representatives of manufacturing, mining and agriculture. The call for
concerted efforts implying differentiating consumer behavior theories in crisis
situations is also resonated by several other articles in this chapter.
This article by Foret provides a ranking of the importance of product parameters and
retail outlets for the purchase of a variety of product categories by private households
in the Czech Republic with implications on the marketing mix.
Based on the case of Russian poultry farming enterprises, Neganova suggests
developing the company’s core competences in a way to make their products more
corresponding with consumers’ needs. This would increase product value, customer
satisfaction and competitiveness as a whole.
Matrices interlinking competences,
resources, business processes and product features have been developed. Future
research: core competencies as a basis for strategic alliances building.
Based on the Albanian tourism case, the findings of this explorative study by Bazini and
Elmazi suggest that marketing communications strategies in transition countries lack
the focus on specific groups or consumers and, hence effectiveness of the
communication message. Marketing managers in the field are suggested to classify
groups of tourists according to their characteristics and identify the motives of people in
the target market. Furthermore, in line with Guido and Bassi, travel agencies are called
to conduct up to date research on environmental challenges and to develop customer
knowledge.
Elmazi and Gega conceptualize newly emerging consumer profiles and their
preferential factors in purchase decisions in the Albanian Real Estate Sector which went
through major incidents that changed the demand and supply structure of the sector.
Growth in the real estate market of Albania requires the need for careful planning and
strategy building characterized by market-orientation and customer focus reflected by
intelligence on the needs, wants, preferences, and behavior of different target customer
groups, and act on that knowledge (again supporting Guido’s and Bassi’s view). The
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findings imply to improve the image of real estate agents by better using Internet, print
media, and customer references as factors of their communications strategy.
Based on qualitative empirical research, Morphitou addresses similar problems as
Bazini and Elmazi when researching the development of the ongoing transition of the
Cypriot higher education sector. She suggests shifting the focus from a product and
sales driven approach to an integrated and holistic marketing one. To achieve this
endeavor the barrier of short-termism encouraged by the government’s attitude to
private education and the institution’s own financial goals have to be overcome. A
government strategy embracing all higher education institutions should be put in place.
Additionally, colleges and universities must re-evaluate the traditional communication
methods used with more personal ways to reach an increasing number of interested
students who are looking for entertainment in every message they receive.
The study by Vallabh and Tassiopoulos provides suggestions for the survival of small
and medium sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs) in the Eastern Cape Province in South
Africa. The authors identified a clear lack of research on customer relationship
management among SMTEs in the Eastern Cape Province. Based on reviewed SMTE
service excellence business models the authors state that Customer Relationship
Marketing plays a vital role. The opportunities and challenges SMTEs are facing when
managing CRM are provided. The key tenets of the paper are that he organization, in
order to really manage customer relationships, has to primarily develop a culture,
motivating employees at all levels towards learning and facilitating them in capturing,
selecting, using, and sharing knowledge by providing the means and the technology
required to do so.
In the same vein as Husic and Muris, Brčić - Stipčević, Guszak and Sopta hold that it
takes more time for transition countries to accept new trends and to embrace
contemporary strategies. They analyzed effects of a multichannel strategy for both
retailers and consumers and investigated how Internet as an additional channel affects
total sales of the two market leaders and how consumers react to FMCG web stores in
Croatia. The results indicate that the additional channel introduction strategy did not
result in high Internet sales but that the introduction has other significant effects.
Internet was and still is used to enhance promotion of the extensive store network and
to attract customers from other retailers. Also, Internet is used to support the expansion
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into regional markets, as there is a minimal language barrier. Findings on frequency,
average value and type of purchase support the proposition that web shops did not
avert demand for FMCG products away from in-store channels. The research results
indicate newly emerging segments. Interestingly, it is more likely that in the near future
customers will prefer physical stores to satisfy emotional needs whilst using the
Internet for secondary shopping trips.
Applied on a case study of a Russian gas filling station chain, Kapustina developed a
differentiated algorithm for branding. The offered algorithm, consisting of the analytical
stage and the brand development stage, facilitates considerably the branding process
itself taking individual client needs and idiosyncratic environmental conditions into
account; it decreases its labor-intensiveness and it embraces the marketing mix partially,
concentrating only on the effective branding tools.