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Market Sustainability: a Globalization and Consumer Culture Perspective in the Chinese Retail Market sustainability Article Market Sustainability: A Globalization and Consumer Culture Perspective in the Chinese Retail Market Farman Afzal 1,* , Yunfei Shao 1, Muhammad Sajid 2 and Fahim Afzal 3 1 School of Management and Economics, Center for West African Studies, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China; [email protected] 2 School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London, London TW20 OEX, UK; [email protected] 3 Business School of Hohai University, Hohai University Nanjing, Nanjing 210029, China; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 28 October 2018; Accepted: 16 January 2019; Published: 22 January 2019 Abstract: Consumer behavior is becoming increasingly heterogeneous due to the changing culture patterns and effects of globalization. This phenomenon increases the importance of focusing on the social dimension of sustainability in a consumer market. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by emphasizing the consequences of individual cultural values and individual materialistic values in the Chinese consumer market. In this endeavor, Hofstede’s framework of individual culture with materialistic effect is applied to understand consumer behavior in a processed food market. Rigorous research activity was conducted at the point of sale in different supermarkets to record the responses of random consumers. The results of multi-variate covariance-based structure equation modeling show that individual materialistic values have emerged as a key determinant, which reflects the individual culture for consumer buying behavior in a state of globalization. Power distance, long-term orientation, and uncertainty avoidance were found to be important measures of individual culture. The findings of the study are useful in assisting the industry for product launching and marketing strategies to achieve future sustainability in the processed food market. In the pursuit of a sustainable processed food market, the focus should shift toward individual cultural values away from national and group cultures. Keywords: individual culture; consumer behavior; materialism; sustainable market; processed food; globalization 1. Introduction Achieving market sustainability has been a vast area of research, being a significant challenge in emerging markets, including meeting customer needs and achieving sustainable consumption [1]. Globalization has emerged as a key indicator of economic prosperity in emerging markets [2]. Economic development, an increase in consumer base, and changing patterns in retail sales present opportunities for many international retailers. This attractive prospect for business expansion also presents challenges for business growth [3]. As multiple cases have shown, many challenges surround different cultural forces in achieving sustainable market practices [4]. Living is becoming gradually synonymous with consumption patterns [5]. People do not only employ consumption for their basic physiological needs but to create self-actualization and define one’s role in society [6]. Adhering to these materialistic thoughts, consumption has become a source of identification and self-realization for people because they consume the symbolic meaning of those Sustainability 2019, 11, 575; doi:10.3390/su11030575 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Sustainability 2019, 11, 575 2 of 24 products, an “image”, to pursue happiness and the acquisition of success [7]. An increase in living standard has modernized the traditional business processes, and attention has been diverted to retailing [8,9]. Culture is a crucial topic, since the emergence of globalization in the 21st century [10]. Adhering to individual cultural values (ICVs) profoundly influences the preferences and choices of a person when responding to marketing efforts [11]. A consumer’s local culture generally resists foreign products in many societies. In the 21st century, despite an increase in urbanization, and decomposition of the traditional joint family system, the forces of globalization are influencing people’s spending power [10]. This ecological change is reflected in individual decision-making behavior, especially in countries where the cultural background of the population is heterogeneous. These individuals have different attributes and behave differently than others [12]. Therefore, the growing consumer orientation of many societies around the world is expanding the occasions for taking advantage of consumer buying behavior (CBB) [13]. However, the extent of this behavior is ignored by marketers in term of ICVs and the materialistic thoughts of consumers, which are transforming rapidly in developing countries [3]. Such cultural differences are an important aspect of achieving consumer market sustainability. A sustainable global market is influencing consumer desire for better nutrition and lifestyle because people are migrating and sharing cultural values across countries [11]. Consequently, for the development of a sustainable market, it is essential to understand the role of ICVs and the materialistic thoughts of people on buying decisions in marketplaces [11,14,15]. Business managers are trying to determine the optimal level of marketing standardization in the world food market [15]. The marketers mainly focus on persistently studying individual culture (IC) because it has a direct and important relationship with the consumers, who are changing their interest from conventional food to processed food [16]. Several attempts have been made to develop an integrated view of consumer culture. The efforts to measure consumer behavior (CB) through IC and materialism have increased significantly, where society does not influence decision making and individual decisions are pre-dominated. Though, decision making varies from society to society and product to product as well. When imported products are available in a market and are intensively promoted, consumers’ materialistic values (MVs) tend to reflect the cultural value (CV) of whether or not to adopt the new product [17]. However, current models of CB and culture do not offer a comprehensive framework firmly grounded in theory, or do not include sufficient explanations of how IC dimensions affect specific CB traits [12]. Gupta [10] empirically investigated the impact of globalization on changing MVs in Indian consumers. In that study, consumers’ predisposition toward foreign brands and their MVs were found to be significantly positively correlated. Kiran [11] determines the factors that lead to the purchase of processed, packaged, ready to use, and branded food products. Kiran’s study further suggests addressing the role of IC and globalization in market growth. Similarly, Monga and William [5] conducted a study on cross-cultural styles of thinking and their influence on CB. Their study focused on international retail food chains and demonstrated the key role of local culture in consumer decisions. The study shows that cross-cultural styles tend to emerge due to increasing globalization. Sobol et al. [15] conducted a longitudinal study on globalization, culture, and CB of Dutch consumers. The study extended this body of research by illustrating culture’s varying effects on food consumption and suggested contextualizing the consumption pattern of processed food at the local level. The basic assumption underlying this current study is that consumers’ decisions in the market are influenced by increasing globalization, and the effect of transforming ICVs [12]. However, individual materialism resists external pressure and gradually changes ICVs. Culture is considered to be crucial in developing a marketing strategy. ICVs, and the extent to which people adhere to their values, profoundly influence how consumers make choices and decisions in a market. This cultural diffusion is rapidly transforming nations from collectivism to individualism and appears to be a critical challenge for contemporary business managers. In the past, business managers have contended to achieve an optimal level of market standardization when managing the global market [15], though many products Sustainability 2019, 11, 575 3 of 24 failed due to misalignment of consumer decisions with the cultural impact on products. It is essential to align products with culture for future sustainability and competitiveness in the consumer market. The present research is an attempt to address the following research question (RQ): How is CBB at an individual level influenced by individual materialistic values (IMVs) that reflect the cultural beliefs and values of consumers within the environment of globalization for the sustainable future market? Specifically, we investigated the influence of changing IC and materialism patterns of people on buying behavior (BB) in an emerging market in China. This cultural transformation is due to the impact of globalization. Thus, this phenomena is being reflected in the consumer market at the retail level in a different category of products, particularly in food products [12]. While, looking for the essence of a sustainable market system, it is important to achieve sustainability to enable a better consumer lifestyle. The first stage in improving lifestyle is people’s preferences of retail products, like processed food, and their willingness to adopt this change. We focused on Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture at an individual level [17,18] and synthesized previous research that evaluated the impact on CB [9] and materialism [7] as a moderator that signifies
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