cultural orientation – Success Across Cultures

Do you patronize companies whose ethical values mirror your own?

Do you consider environmental impact when purchasing a product or service?

Last week, we discussed how green marketing can cater to different cultures.

In this same vein, the research we’re looking at this week identifies ways in which cultural values influence ethical consumption.

But first, let’s define what ‘ethical consumption’ actually is.

What is ‘Ethical Consumption’?

The study itself defines ethical consumption as involving

“the rational use of resources, consideration of environmental impacts, and assertion of consumer rights in modern consumption patterns. Ethical consumption embodies social responsibility that is driven by an individual’s conscience and broader ethical consciousness.”

“the rational use of resources, consideration of environmental impacts, and assertion of consumer rights in modern consumption patterns. Ethical consumption embodies social responsibility that is driven by an individual’s conscience and broader ethical consciousness.”

In other words, your dollar is a vote cast on the way you’d like the world to be.

The Study

Engaging 938 subjects who were invited to participate in an online survey, this study unraveled the impact of diverse cultural orientations on two distinct dimensions: eco-friendly and socioeconomic-oriented consumption.

Researchers asked themselves how vertical individualism, vertical collectivism, horizontal individualism, and horizontal collectivism might shape ethical consumption patterns?

Through text messages and emails, they reached out to individuals pre-registered with a marketing research company, tapping into the diverse perspectives of consumer panels.

The study set out to examine the relationships between cultural values and ethical consumption in order to understand consumer behaviors.

Findings

The findings, revealed through structural equation modeling with EQS 6, painted a distinctive picture.

Vertical individualism emerged as a silent observer, having no statistically significant effect on eco-friendly consumption.

This suggests that cultures emphasizing autonomy through competition and personal achievement may not align with eco-friendly ethical consumption.

In contrast, horizontal individualism, horizontal collectivism, and vertical collectivism positively impacted both eco-friendly and socioeconomic-oriented consumption.

HI, with its focus on uniqueness and social equality, and VC, emphasizing sacrifice for group purposes, were associated with a propensity for consuming natural diets.

HC, valuing equality and social harmony, also played a significant role in fostering eco-friendly consumption.

The study also highlighted the positive correlation between ethical consumption behaviors and consumer happiness.

Specifically, cultures with strong HC tendencies exhibited robust eco-friendly ethical consumption behavior, indicating a link between cultural values and happiness.

VC, HI, and VI cultures were also associated with eco-friendly consumption, though to varying degrees.

The study concludes by emphasizing the diversity within cultural frameworks, cautioning against oversimplifying a country’s culture into individualist or collectivist categories.

It advocates for the utility of the two-dimensional cultural framework in understanding cultural diversity.

Does your culture impact your web skills?

How about the way you perceive web advertising?

Last week, we talked about what types of advertising appeal to horizontal and vertical cultures.

This week, we’ll take a closer look at cultural distinctions among web users, including individuals’ media consumption patterns, web proficiency, challenges faced, and their overall stance on web-based advertising.

Cultural Orientations

The conventional understanding of individualism and collectivism, typically framed as opposing concepts on a binary spectrum, warrants a more nuanced and comprehensive approach.

Recent research has shed light on the limitations of the conventional unidimensional viewpoint, leading to the emergence of a more intricate classification known as Vertical and Horizontal Individualism and Collectivism (Triandis, 1995, 2001).

As we saw with the study last week, this four-fold classification framework offers a valuable instrument for investigating the potential role of cultural orientations in shaping people’s attitudes and behaviors towards media and persuasive communications.

This empirical study employs this four-fold classification to scrutinize cultural predispositions within an individualistic culture, coupled with people’s responses to persuasive communication on the Web.

The Study

In the course of an online survey administered to web users, this study’s findings reveal that these unique cultural orientations wield discernible effects on people’s perceived web skills and their attitudes toward web advertising, both in broad and specific contexts.

Overall, respondents in the four groups shared similarities in media usage patterns and reported no significant differences in perceived challenges related to the Web.

However, when it came to perceived Web skills, those with a strong horizontal individualistic orientation appeared to hold a perception of higher skill levels compared to the other groups.

Web Advertising

What truly stands out is the intriguing revelation that individuals with diverse dominant cultural orientations indeed exhibit varying general attitudes toward Web advertising.

Notably, the four groups also differed in their perceptions of the informativeness and entertainment value of Web advertising.

Strikingly, those with a pronounced horizontal individualistic orientation tended to express more negative opinions regarding Web advertising, deeming it less informative and less entertaining than their counterparts.

The idea that individuals with high horizontal individualism may perceive Web advertising as targeting a mass audience rather than catering to their personal uniqueness is intriguing.

These respondents also reported the highest Web skills among the groups, perhaps driven by their desire to control what they view on the Web and customize persuasive messages to satisfy their quest for individuality.

In sum, these findings underscore the pivotal role of cultural orientations in shaping consumer predispositions towards persuasive communications on the Web.

In addition to individual attributes like Web skills and knowledge, cultural values and orientations can be regarded as a foundational and steadfast underpinning for shaping beliefs and attitudes.

These cultural predispositions play a critical role in influencing an individual’s outlook on a wide range of topics, their motivations, objectives, and behaviors.

Tag: cultural orientation

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