A cross-cultural examination of the effects of social perception styles on store image formation

Abstract

This study involves a cross-cultural examination of the effects of social perception styles on consumers' store image formation. A matched student sample and a matched women sample from the U.S. and China were compared. A 2 (conforming vs. autonomous societies) by 2 (high vs. low socially oriented graphic displays) by 2 (high vs. low personalized customer service) by 2 (student vs. adult woman sample) between-subject experiment design was conducted. The results showed that as hypothesized, Chinese students were more significantly affected by the social cues that are embedded within the store environment than American students were. Unlike American women, Chinese women formed a favorable impression of a store with low social orientation. Implications on how international retailers should develop a retail mix that is effective across cultures were discussed.