THE RELATION BETWEEN CULTURE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF CONSUMERS: ATTRIBUTES-CONSEQUENCES-VALUES LINKAGES VARIATIONS

Abstract

Means-end chain (MEC) theory is grounded in a cognitive approach emphasizing connections between the attributes of the product, the consequences of consumption, and the corresponding instrumentality of satisfying consumer values (Gutman, 1982). Taking this hierarchical cognitive structure into account in cross-cultural contexts can lead to deeper understanding of international consumer behavior concerning product choice and consumption decisions. To date, however, international and cross-cultural applications of MEC theory have been conducted primarily by Western researchers with Anglo-Saxon consumers as subjects (e.g., Grunert et al., 2001; Hofstede, Steenkamp, & Wedel, 1999; Mort & Rose, 2004; Overby, Gardial, & Woodruff, 2004; Russel et al., 2004; Valette-Florence et al., 2000). In addition, little attention has been paid to consumers’ cognitive processing styles, which determine different patterns of thinking, in comparative analyses of MECs among consumers from different cultural backgrounds, particularly Western and Eastern cultures. This is despite the fact that a growing corpus of cross-cultural psychology studies confirms cultural differences in styles of thinking, with Western societies characterized by analytic thinking and Eastern societies characterized by holistic thinking (Nisbett et al., 2001). We suggest that this cultural orientation in the different styles of thinking influences the hierarchical cognitive structure on which consumers from Eastern versus Western cultures base their purchase decision-making process. Thus, the question we address in this research is whether analytic versus holistic thinking affects the manner in which consumers cognitively link product attributes to different consequences and values. More precisely, this research aims to contribute to recent MEC research by examining the relation between cultural differences in cognition between Western (French) and Eastern (Korean) cultural members and their MEC linkages underlying wine purchase decision. Our research was undertaken at two different levels of cross-cultural analysis: a chronic cultural difference level and an experimental level in which either the analytic or the holistic thinking tendency is primed.