THE GLOBAL CONSUMER CULTURE': AN EMPIRICAL STUDY IN THE NETHERLANDS Kamila Sobol A Thesis in The John Molson School of Business Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science in Administration (Marketing) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada July 2008 © Kamila Sobol, 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-42543-5 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-42543-5 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada ABSTRACT THE 'GLOBAL CONSUMER CULTURE': AN EMPIRICAL STUDY IN THE NETHERLANDS Kamila Sobol Globalization is spreading through the world, shaping people's daily lives and affecting their attitudes and behaviours. Global media, mass migration, advancements in technology and international business are creating a homogenized world market with similar preferences, needs and wants. Keeping in mind that past research has repeatedly demonstrated that culture exerts a very intense influence on consumer behaviour, the emergence of a global consumer culture is expected to be of predominant importance to marketing practitioners when deciding on whether to standardize or localize their marketing strategies. The present study demonstrates that the global consumer culture has emerged among the Dutch population and is affecting their consumption patterns. An investigation of the interplay of the global and local cultural influences on consumer behaviour revealed that people who have acculturated to the global consumer culture are more prone to purchase culture-free products, while people who have strongly maintained their ethnic identity are more susceptible to purchase culture-bound products. The present study's empirical data reveal that the acculturation to the global consumer culture (AGCC) and the ethnic identity (EID) constructs are negatively related. Moreover, significant correlations were found between the two first-order constructs of the study, namely AGCC and EID and such factors as materialism, ethnocentrism and some demographic variables. m Acknowledgements Writing this dissertation would not have been possible without the support, guidance and help of various individuals to whom I am very grateful. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor, Prof. Michel Laroche, who has provided me with a clear direction, great insight and continuous and critical feedback that has allowed me to complete this project smoothly and relatively quickly. I would also like to thank my committee members, Prof. Michele Paulin and Prof. Bianca Grohmann, who have kindly reviewed the dissertation and provided me with timely and important feedback. Moreover, I would sincerely like to thank Ebrahim Mazaheri for his time, patience and guidance during the phase when I analyzed my data and yielded result interpretations. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their enthusiasm and continuous encouragement throughout the entire process. IV Table of Contents List of Figures xii List of Tables xiii Chapter 1: Introduction and Research Objectives 1 11. Marketing Challenges in Light of Globalization 1 Overview 1 Standardization vs. Adaptation 1 Advocates of Standardization 3 Advocates of Adaptation 4 Compromise Solution 5 Marketing Research 6 1.2 Research Questions and Objectives 7 Rationale for the Research 7 Research Questions 8 Research Objectives 9 1.3 Research Overview 9 Chapter 2: Literature Review: Culture, Ethnic Identity and Acculturation 11 2.1 Culture 11 Definition of Culture 12 Operationalization of Culture 13 Schools of Thought about Culture 14 Transfer of Cultural Meaning 15 Culture's Influence on Consumer Behaviour and Consumption 17 Culture as a Basis for Segmentation 19 Summary 21 2.2 Values 21 Value Characteristics 22 Values - Intracultural Variations 22 Values and the Individual 24 2.3 Ethnic Identity 25 Definition of Ethnic Identity 26 Components of Ethnic Identity 26 Development of Ethnic Identity 26 Ethnic Identity and Consumer Behaviour 27 Summary 28 2.4 Acculturation 28 Definition of Acculturation 29 Components of Acculturation 29 Acculturation Process 30 Acculturation and Consumer Behaviour 32 2.5 Ethnic Identity and Acculturation Combined 32 Dual Ethnicity - Identity Conflict and Culture 'Swapping' 33 Identity Conflict 35 Culture 'Swapping' 36 Hyperacculturation 36 Summary 37 VI Chapter 3: Literature Review: Culture, Ethnic Identity and Acculturation ... 38 in Light of Globalization 3.1 Cultural Dynamics - Culture Change 39 3.2 Global Consumer Culture 39 The Result of Cultural Changes: Global Consumer Culture 42 Defining the Global Consumer Culture 44 Conceptualizations of the Global Consumer Culture 44 Nature of the Global Consumer Culture 45 The Drivers of the Global Consumer Culture 46 Acculturation to the Global Consumer Culture (AGCC) 47 Exposure to Global and Foreign Mass Media 47 Exposure to and Use of the English Language 49 Exposure to Marketing Activities of Multinational Corporations 50 Social Interactions 51 Cosmopolitanism 52 Openness to and Desire to Participate in the Global Consumer Culture 53 Self-Identification with the Global Consumer Culture 54 Rebutting the Concept of the Global Consumer Culture 55 Chapter 4: Research Hypotheses 57 Global Consumer Culture in Relation to Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions 60 The Effects of the Global Consumer Culture on Consumer Behaviour 66 Materialism & Ethnocentrism 71 Demographics 73 Conceptual Model 77 vii Chapter 5: Questionnaire Development 5.1 Measuring Culture 5.2 Selecting Questionnaire Scales Culture Typology The 'Acculturation to the Global Consumer Culture' Scale The 'Ethnic Identity' Scale The Ethnocentrism Scale The Materialism Scale Social Desirability Scale The Product Categories Reflecting Consumer Behaviour 5.3 Questionnaire Description 5.4 Questionnaire Pretest Chapter 6: Data Collection and Coding Procedures 6.1 The Netherlands Selected Cities for Data Collection 6.2 Data Collection Sample Description 6.3 Data Coding Chapter 7: Research Analysis and Results Exploratory Factor and Reliability Analyses: AGCC and EID Hypothesis 1: The Presence of the Global Consumer Culture among Dutch Population Hypothesis 2: The Relationships between AGCC and EID Hypothesis 3: Relating the AGCC and EID Constructs to Hofstede's Cultural Typology Vlll Hypothesis 4: Culture's Influences on Consumer Behaviour 119 Hypothesis 5: Materialism & Ethnocentrism 127 Hypothesis 6: Demographics - Age 129 Hypothesis 7: Demographics - Gender 130 Hypothesis 8: Demographics - Education 131 Hypothesis 9: Demographics - Income 131 Summary of Findings 133 Chapter 8: Conclusions and Discussion 135 Study Limitations 138 Practical Implications 142 Ideas for Future Research 144 Conclusions 149 References 150 Appendices 184 1. Frameworks for Optimal Level of Standardization 185 2. List of Definitions of Culture found in the Marketing Literature 186 3. Theoretical Research: Cultural Influences on Consumer Behaviour 188 4. Empirical Research: Cultural Influences on Consumer Behaviour 189 5. The Effects of Ethnic Identity on Consumer Behaviour 191 6. List of Definitions of Acculturation found in the Marketing Literature 193 7. The Effects of Acculturation on Consumer Behaviour 194 8. Askegaard, Arnould and Kjeldgaard's (2005) Model of Consumer Identity 195 9. "World Englishes" (Kachru, 1992) 196 IX 10. List of Cosmopolitan Motifs (Lash & Urry, 1994) 197 11. Empirical Evidence Supporting the Concept of the Global Consumer Culture 198 12. Product Categories as a Market Segmentation Basis 199 13. Furrer, Liu and Sudharshan's Scale Measuring Culture (2000) 200 14. Yoo, Donthu and Lenartowicz Scale Measuring Culture (2001) 201 15. Churchill's Paradigm for Scale Development 202 16. The 'Acculturation to the Global Consumer Culture' Scale (Cleveland, 2006) 203