The influence of culture and consumers: exploratory and risk taking behaviour

Abstract

The rapidly increasing importance of International Marketing has led marketers, practioners and academics alike, to seek a deeper understanding of how consumers and markets differ around the globe. The pendulum of studies in this area has swung between the need for adaptation and the pragmatics of standardisation. International consumer behaviour has, therefore, been influenced by this polarisation of the question leading researchers to focus either on revealing differences, or similarities within various consumer behaviour domains. This project aimed to make a contribution to this discussion by adopting a cultural perspective of consumer behaviour. Risk related issues were identified as constituting a culturally sensitive consumer behaviour dimension (Hofstede, 1984; Steenkamp, 2001; Clark, 1990). Moreover, Exploratory and Risk Taking Behaviour constitutes an important dimension of consumer behaviour across abroad range of products and situations. Consequently, the research question centered on understanding the influence of culture on Exploratory and Risk Taking Behaviour as well as understanding risk and exploratory behaviours and their dimensions. The present project was, thus, designed as a theoretical study focusing on the examination of structured hypotheses relating the variable of Culture with that of Exploratory and Risk Taking Behaviour. Hofstede’s (1984, 1991, 2001) framework and Nationality were adopted to operationalise the concept of Culture. First, cultural values were used to identify Portugal and the UK as two countries with opposite scores along these dimensions. Second, cultural values were measured at the individual level to overcome the limitations of this research framework at the micro level of analysis (Dorfman and Howell, 1988; Yoo, Donthu and Lenartowicz, 2001). The classification of each country in each cultural dimension was hypothesized to have consequences in terms of consumer Optimum Stimulation Level, and Exploratory and Risk Taking Behaviour and Product-Specific Perceived Risk and a nomological net of hypotheses relating these constructs was proposed. A quantitative approach based on a survey was adopted and data was collected in Portugal and the UK. Overall, results lend support to proposed conceptual framework for Culture, Optimum Stimulation level, Exploratory and Risk taking Behaviour and Product-Specific Perceived Risk. Evidence was found for the influence of culture on Exploratory and Risk Taking Behaviour. Culture, both in terms of Nationality and Cultural values, impacted all subsequent layers of constructs such that: - Nationality had an impact on Cultural Values, a partially mediated impact on Optimum Stimulation Level, a fully mediated impact on Exploratory and Risk Taking Behaviour and a partially mediated impact on Product-Specific Perceived Risk; - Cultural values had a direct impact on Optimum Stimulation Level, a partially mediated impact on Exploratory and Risk Taking Behaviour and a fully mediated impact on Perceived Risk; - Optimum Stimulation Level served as a general predictor of risk attitudes since it impacted Exploratory Consumption Behaviour and Exploratory Risk Taking. Furthermore, Optimum Stimulation Level had a fully mediated impact on perceived risk. These facets of Exploratory and Risk Taking Behaviour, furthermore, were predictors of Product-Specific Perceived Risk. Optimum Stimulation Level, as seen previously, was not directly related to Perceived Risk. Thus, Optimum Stimulation Level and Exploratory and Risk Taking Behaviour appear to capture different aspects of an individual risk-taking attitude. These conclusions provide an insightful contribution to an understanding of crosscultural consumer behaviour. In parallel to a growing body of research stressing the impact of culture consumer behaviour in different national and cultural settings, support was found to the view that cultural differences should be a springboard for crosscultural studies.