Consumer Behavior In Asia
Consumer Behavior In Asia
Introduction
In recent decades, Asia has been home to many of the World¡¦s most dynamic markets. The region now represents 25 per cent of the world economy and about 50 per cent of the world¡¦s population. It is for this reason that few international companies can afford to ignore Asia as a marker to primary importance, despite the crisis that hit parts of the region in 1997/98. Western firm s without a presence in the region often fail to perceive the opportunities they miss in Asia to generate sales and profits of acquire experience, although their very absence represents the most substantial competitive threat to their future in the long run.
In light of the importance of Asia as a market, there is a surprising paucity of work that establishes a marking theory specific to Asia. In the case of consumer behavior, few would argue with the view that Asian consumers do appear to be distinctively different form Western consumers. Thus far, however, very little thought has been given to rethinking the theories, underlying models, concepts and views of Asian consumer segmentation, the motives of Asian consumers and how they behave.
Consumer behavior in Asia: premises
Cross-cultural perspectives in consumer behavior theory
Our first task is to make the case that a separate consumer behavior theory is necessary accurately to describe the behavior of Asian consumer. To do so, we must first establish the following two premises:
1. Consumer behavior is strongly influenced by culture
2. Asian culture is distinctly different from Western culture.
We can then conclude that a consumer behavior theory specific to Asian consumers is a necessity for any firm seeking to market products successfully to Asian consumers.
To argue for a distinct consumer behavior theory to explain the behavior fo Asian consumers puts us in the camp of the ¡¥cultural meaning¡¦ theorists. There are, in fact, a variety of perspectives concerning cross-cultural consumer behavior theory. Currently, the four main approaches to cross-cultural consumer behavior theory are (1) the global perspective, (2) the ¡¥imported¡¦ perspective, (3) the ethnic consumption perspective, and (4) the cultural meaning perspective (table 1.1)
Table 1.1 cross-cultural perspectives in consumer behavior theory
Consumer Behavior Theories
Consumers Universal Specific
UNIVERSAL 1. Global Perspective
Ć Consumers are global in preferences and behavior
CB theories are globally applicable 3. Ethnic Consumption perspective
Ć Although consumers are global in preferences for certain products, they differ in behavior
CB theories are not globally...