Global Consumers Research Articles

Discovering Chinese Product Strategies on Stimulating Attitude and Intention: Involvement of Innovation, Country-of-Origin and Knowledge

Globalization has succeeded in broadening consumers’ choice via technological assistance which provides sufficient variety of information. Companies shall face competition, both at domestic and international level, which is more intensified than prior to globalization. Chinese brands are increasingly popular overseas and reaching out to compete with other global brands. Global consumers are also continuously looking up for newest product innovations yet having the lowest price tag in the market. Their search brings about knowledge and attention on Chinese brands. This research aims to analyse the influence of product innovation, country of origin, and product knowledge on purchase intention through brand attitude. To collect data, close-ended questionnaires were handed over to 100 respondents. The data were then calculated using SmartPLS 3.2.7. The findings indicated that in order to create more favourable brand attitude, a company needs to focus on efforts to generate customer memory about product specification.

Is Consumer's Rooming Behavior Good or Bad for Retailers? - Focusing on Shopping Value of Global Consumers -

Is Consumer's Rooming Behavior Good or Bad for Retailers? - Focusing on Shopping Value of Global Consumers -

Global Consumer Cultures and Experiences of Sustainable Food Consumption in Host Country

Our research examined how subculture, micro-culture and acculturation influence sustainable food consumption of expatriates. More than fifty expatriates, retailers and sustainable labeling organizations participated in the research interviews. The research explored the depth of consumption cultural phenomenon. Expatriates had varying knowledge of sustainable food labels and its concepts in their consumption experience. Their sustainable food consumption habit, fueled by the global consumer culture, related to the triple dimensions. Integration into a new consumption was evident in the findings of economic considerations. This research provided some strategic and useful insights in responding to the needs of global consumers or expatriates.

An Analytical Study of National and International Care Label Systems of Textile and Apparel Products

This paper enables stakeholders involved in textile industry to gain an overview of standards used for care labelling and help establish a common standard that could be used as a universal standard. This study provides a comprehensive and detailed analytical study of care labelling standards adopted by common countries in the textile market. It was found that the development of a universal system for care labeling could enhance the trade of textile articles and assist consumers in caring for textile articles. Universal care label systems could be characterized by two main features of inclusiveness and comprehensiveness. The range of instructions and symbols presented were found different among standards. Insignificant differences in symbols’ shapes were found between standards for bleaching, ironing and professional cleaning. The washing process had the widest variety of instructions; in addition, options were provided by stated standards. Different meanings were found for similar shapes in some tumble drying symbols. The study findings show the importance of enhancing text based standards or the development of an understandable format across as many cultures as possible. The unification of symbols and meanings may be needed to provide global consumers consistent guidance. The efficiency of a detailed standard that provides and covers a wide range of instructions is an important aspect. The visibility and practicality of offering variable options/symbols in one standard is an important aspect for developing a universal care label system.

Studi Kasus Analisis Pendapatan Usaha Copasme di Kota Palangka Raya

Technological innovation in local food products is absolutely necessary, by creating the added value in such a way as local products so that the products produced have more or at least the same value as local products. The result of the creation of local products, Copasme able to meet the growing demands of global consumers, namely in addition to demanding aspects of pleasure, the enjoyment of local products, consumers still want aspects of health and safety. Copasme is one of the alternative drink sachets developed in Palangkaraya City. From the analysis of copasme sachet business during one period (per month) it is known that (1) production cost is IDR. 6,472,000.00 (2) revenue of IDR. 21,600,000.00, (3) Net income / profit of IDR. 15,128,000.00 (4) Efficiency of 3.3. This shows that the sachet copas business is efficient or feasible.

Earth Systems Thinking: Global Consumerism, Climate Change, and the Spiritual Value of the Earth

In this paper we consider the root cause of climate change to be the industrial waste heat by product of increasing global consumption. The embodied energy associated with the conversion of Earth’s resources into consumer goods has largely been driven by fossil fuel based energy. Using available data, we show how a) the rate of annual CO2 emissions to the atmosphere is increasing, b) the land+sea temperature anomaly index is increasing, particularly the last 3 years, c) the rate of heat addition to the world’s oceans is also accelerating as this is in direct response to a globally increasing consumption per capita. In short, all of our human induced rates related to consumption are accelerating with increasingly severe consequences to the Earth system that maintains us. This is occurring amidst the reality that humans are in a necessary physical partnership with nature. Despite this, many human cultures have pursued dominance over the Earth’s resources. This dominance is asserted by the mechanical philosophy of Descartes. Under this world view, the Earth is just a (soul-less) machine and man is distinct from nature and therefore entitled to dominate it; the Earth has no spiritual value. So this gives us license to dig up the planet to create the escalating distribution of products to global consumers and this is exactly what can be verified from the data. We refer to this as the business as usual trajectory. To correct this course trajectory, we propose two avenues: a) extend the concept and legality of the Public Trust Doctrine to all of Nature’s resources so that current generations have an obligation to ensure the future generations can same similar access to these resources, b) adopt a systems thinking approach that prioritizes human equity, dignity, environmental justice and environmental health over escalating global GDP. In short, global justice should be our priority, not global profit. From the systems thinking viewpoint, the Earth is not a market commodity subject to resource exhaustion, it is rather a sacred equilibrium system for the welfare of all.

“You Can Never Give Up Siyez If You Taste It Once”: Local Taste, Global Markets, and the Conservation of Einkorn, an Ancient Wheat

Einkorn (Triticum monococcum), locally known as siyez in northwest Turkey, is a hulled wheat variety. It is a semi-wild relative of wheat and is considered one of the Neolithic founder crops of agriculture, along with emmer and barley. Grown in the ancient Near East for at least eight thousand years, its production today is limited to marginal mountainous and isolated communities in different countries of the Mediterranean region. This article examines the expansion of einkorn markets in Turkey, an important wheat exporting and processing country, which has created increased income opportunities for small farmers in Ihsangazi, Kastamonu. Although einkorn already fits into the broad dietary habits of Turkish consumers, gradual market expansion has occurred as urban middle-class consumers acquire a taste for it. While the emergence of health niche markets has been one factor, the interventions of multiple actors have also helped to create and sustain these markets that connect local producers to both local and global consumers.

How to Handle State-Owned Enterprises in EU-China Investment Talks

Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are one of the main obstacles preventing China and the European Union from agreeing on a bilateral investment agreement (BIT). Given the benefits that both China and EU could obtain from a BIT, the question of SOEs should be addressed in the most effective way.We examine the main differences between Chinese and European SOEs, in terms of their sectoral coverage and, most importantly, their corporate governance. We argue that preferential market access for Chinese SOEs in China is the key to their undue competitive advantage globally, and is also the reason why global consumers might not necessarily benefit from Chinese SOEs in terms of welfare gain.Preferential market access in China, rather than ownership of SOEs, should be the key factor when evaluating the undue advantage enjoyed by Chinese corporates because private companies with ties to the Chinese government might also benefit from preferential market access.We also offer a checklist of issues for EU-China investment talks in relation to Chinese SOEs. First, creating barriers to prevent Chinese companies acquiring European assets will not solve the problem. Instead, equal market access in China is a much better goal to pursue in order to reduce the seemingly unlimited resources that Chinese SOEs seem to have to compete overseas. Second, bringing Chinese corporate governance closer to global market principles is also essential to ensure European and Chinese corporates operate on an equal footing in their cross-border investment decisions.

Corporate Solutions to Climate Change

Climate change is now impacting every country on every continent. Leading European countries are taking action-and even committing real moneyto fight climate change1 . Without action, the world’s average surface temperature is projected to rise over the 21st century and is likely to surpass 3 degrees Celsius this century-with some areas of the world expected to warm even more. In effort to resolve the issues related to climate change we need greater private sector participation. Incentivizing global investors and consumers to direct investments and consumption towards the corporations that are leading the effort towards climate sustainability may accelerate achieving United Nation’s current sustainable development goal (SDG’s) of Climate Action

Connecting with global consumers through corporate social responsibility initiatives: A cross-cultural investigation of congruence effects of attribution and communication styles

This study proposes that consumers' attribution styles influence how they respond to corporate social responsibility (CSR) messages. The current study employs a cross-cultural experiment to examine the interplay of consumer attribution styles and message types on the outcome of CSR communication, and reveals a significant interaction between attribution style and CSR message. Individuals with a dispositional attribution style responded more favorably to evidence-based CSR messages than to belief-based messages, while those with a situational attribution style responded more favorably to belief-based messages than to evidence-based messages. This study extends cross-cultural research into the area of CSR communication and offers practical guidelines for international marketers and corporations on how to communicate their CSR involvement to global consumers.

Cool governance: Japan’s ubiquitous society, surveillance, and creative industries

ABSTRACTThe rapid reform of the Akihabara district of Tokyo during the first decade of the twenty-first century, in conjunction with the Japanese government’s policy on the global promotion of Cool Japan, has been envisioned under the Japanese government’s new direction of becoming a ‘ubiquitous society’. From the postwar period when Akihabara became the techno-gadgetry hub of Tokyo, into the twenty-first century where it transforms itself into the Mecca of anime and video games, Akihabara has become the embodiment of national hope and technological future. Noticeably, what also implemented alongside this advance of techno-future is a new form of governance and surveillance. After Katō Tomohiro’s murderous rampage in Akihabara in 2008, numerous CCTVs have been installed to secure the neighbourhood from crime and news of this solution became a spectacle in international media. This form of ubiquitous techno-governance integrated as part of everyday life had already been imagined in anime such as Dennō Koiru (Coil A Circle of Children), which broadcast on Japan’s national broadcast station NHK in 2007. In light of the concerted effort of the Japanese government’s promotion of anime to the global consumers seamlessly integrating the urban developmental project of Akihabara, the production of Dennō Koiru at that historical juncture presents a pertinent foreshadowing of Japan’s ‘society of control’. This article will examine the notion of ubiquitous society and surveillance in Dennō Koiru and situate its production against the backdrop of Japan’s growing techno-governance vis-à-vis its creative industries in the twenty-first century.

Research Frontiers and Way Forward

Researchers and academics do research to address the current and future needs of the nation. They have to be alert and sensitive to demands of their surrounding that can be largely be classed into the community, industry and government to complete the quadruple helix that intertwines the three into the fourth segment i.e. the academia. The current buzzwords that ought to catch the attention of academia are Translational Research, Niche Area, Sustainable Development Growth (SDG), Internet of Things (IoT), 4th Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0), Big Data, Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) and Bottom 40% (B40). UiTM’s niche areas that have been declared to KPT are (a) Sustainable Technology and Economy, and (b) Social Engineering and Creative Media. These are very much in line with 17 Sustainable Development Goals declared by the United Nation in 2012 with the goal of integrating planetary stability with the target of fighting poverty and securing human wellbeing. Internet of Things that swarms the globe brings about the seamless integration of physical objects with information network through internet connectivity. This flourishing development hails the advent of 4th Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) that is inevitable where industrial automation and data exchange in the manufacturing technology rapidly includes cyber-physical system through IoT, cloud computing and cognitive computing. IR 4.0 should catapult productivity into hyper-drive to meet the needs of global consumers. The tremendous growth of cyber activities that encompass all aspects of life presents the inevitable progression into the dimension of Big Data. It is a new data ecosystem that is very large and complex, rendering the traditional data processing software inadequate and obsolete. A new breed of ICT experts are required to handle the enormousness of the task of capturing, storing, analyzing, searching, sharing, transferring, visualizing, updating and most importantly, information privacy. Closer to home, Malaysia is rapidly approaching the end of Wawasan 2020 and a new set of targets under Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) have been set to guide the nation’s journey into the year 2050. The goal is to be within the top 20 of world’s nation in economic development, social progress and innovation. There are seven thrusts in TN50 that encompass all aspects of a mature and well- endowed nation. The welfare of the bottom 40% of the people of Malaysia is given a special attention by a dedicated effort the B40 agenda in elevating their socio-economic status. UiTM has designed an approach to develop a lush research ecosystem based on a synergic and concerted move of bringing its workforce in the faculties on a transdisciplinary platform of Communities of Research (CoRe). The effect of CoRe is very much apparent in research spotlights of UiTM competency map that shows a definite healthy growth towards multi- and interdisciplinary research activities.

Navigating the Uncharted Risks of Covert Advertising in Influencer Marketing

Nowadays one of the more commonly used types of advertisement is through the use of influencers by brands on social media. There is no doubt about social media’s – and therefore the influencers’ – potential to reach a wide range of global consumers. Accordingly, such reach makes this global, newly-emerging group of tastemakers very valuable to brands. However, there is a catch: when content about a product is generated by influencers e.g. on their Instagram account, how do the consumers know whether the influencer genuinely used and liked that product, or whether there is a commercial relationship between the brand and the influencer, and such relationship is the real reason the influencer is posting about that product?

Internet Marketing as a Business Necessity

The pace at which marketing discipline evolves each year is challenging for both individual marketing experts and companies as systems, which are permanently competing for global consumers. With the development of the Internet as the main channel and best opportunity for the implementation of the optimal one-to-one marketing model, Internet marketing as a new area of marketing theory and practice has emerged and is constantly improving. On the other side, the power and attractiveness of online surrounding have also transformed the way consumers behave, creating new patterns and lifestyle that have to be taken into account when creating appropriate Internet marketing strategies, far different from the traditional ones. Thus, the aim of this article is to examine fundamentals of Internet-based marketing, and to analyse challenges and opportunities that should be addressed by modern companies in their Internet marketing strategies, together with possible limitations and risks that emerged in the electronic marketplace. The method used in the article is secondary research, and implies a detailed analysis of researches and studies in the given field.

Globalni brendovi u eri digitalizacije

One of the most prominent words today definitely is digital. It is all around us. From products that are digital to a highest possible degree, to the digital management practices in operating different businesses, down to discussions on benefits and shortcomings of the digital society. At the same time, the world is becoming increasingly global, which is boosting digitization to a large extent. Related to different aspects of globalization, the paper is focused on researching possibilities that digitization is bringing within itself, which can be productive in a process of making (and empowering) global brands. Sharply increasing the amount of information that is available to global consumers today through digital touchpoints (Facebook, Twitter, or product-evaluation platforms), gives great opportunities for products/services to become globally branded. At the same time, for globally oriented companies it poses a threat of a free interpretation of intended information value about their brands.

The State of Fun? Exclusive Casino Urbanism and Its Biopolitical Borders in Singapore

This paper interrogates the exclusionary politics of casino urbanism in Singapore, especially in terms of how this particular brand of urbanism reproduces disciplinary regimes through the uneven consumption of fun and leisure. Singapore’s vision of becoming a world-class “state of fun” is accompanied by increasingly sophisticated measures of boundary making between global leisure citizens and the excluded others, often comprised of the working class and those deemed to be at risk or lacking self-control and responsibility. The evolving biopolitical borders coincide with the multiple borders set up around Singapore’s casino spaces, ensuring the exclusive consumption of Singapore’s casino urbanism by the wealthy few. The fun regimes help to normalize social exclusion, moralize disciplinary control, and give legitimacy to the new class of global consumers under the operations of the state-capital apparatus. This paper argues that exclusive casino urbanism has broader social and political implications on issues of equality, accessibility, and urban participation.

Brand Personalities of Global Wine Exporters: A Collective Reputation Theory Perspective

ABSTRACTThis study examines the perceptions of the personalities that wine drinkers attribute to the wines of the six top exporting countries. An exploratory study with an inductive approach was used, and data were collected from 757 wine consumers from 22 countries. Based on the collective reputation theory, we question the use of standardized versus localized strategy when approaching international markets by the top producers of the world. By means of correspondence analysis, our results indicate that each wine producer country tends to have a different positioning among consumers from different regions of the world. Besides, it is evident that a standardized approach to marketing and promotion of a specific country’s wines to global markets could be viewed as rather myopic, representing a gross oversimplification of reality, and contradicting what our findings reveal about differences in global consumers’ perceptions of wines from the big six producers.

Colombian consumers’ outshopping of apparel in the U.S.

Outshopping is defined as purchasing goods outside of consumers’ trading areas. Despite threatening local economies, outshopping generates opportunities for the new trading areas in which it occurs. Studies on outshopping have reported contradictory results and academics suggest further research, especially in relation to consumers’ micro-level characteristics. Moreover, few studies have focused on the U.S. as the trading area and apparel as the traded product. Based on the theory of reasoned action, this quantitative study explores how attitudes toward international outshopping and subjective norm influence purchase intention of apparel goods among international outshoppers in the U.S. by focusing on four characteristics of international outshoppers – self-control in terms of spending, the desire for unique products, age, and gender – as antecedents of attitudes toward outshopping. Colombian consumers (South America) were chosen as respondents because market reports indicate that the U.S. is their top favorite international tourist destination. Findings suggest that more positive attitudes toward outshopping apparel in the U.S. were found among female consumers with higher self-control over their expenditures. Respondents were also influenced by the opinion of others; while age and desire for unique products were found non-significant. By understanding international outshoppers, marketers can develop unique market strategies for attracting global consumers.

Five-Star Sustainability

Abstract The $45 trillion-dollar consumer market—60 percent of global GDP—is the largest driver of human practices impacting sustainability. However, an insignificant number of products offer any insight into product sustainability. Labels like Fair Trade, though useful, have minimal market penetration. In the absence of sustainability information, consumers make purchases based on traditional indicators of product value like price, color, and brand but have no product-specific information on broader human values for issues like child labor, greenhouse gases, worker safety, or endangered species. A straightforward 1-to-5 star sustainability rating (coupled with an in-depth sustainability profile) on each consumer product would harness the power of the market's invisible hand, efficiently steering manufacturing decisions toward sustainability precisely to the degree that global consumers are concerned about social and environmental issues. Sustainability ratings would tweak the global market with every pur...

GLOBAL OR LOCAL FASHION CONSUMER SEGMENTS? A CROSSCULTURAL ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT FASHION CONSUMER LIFESTYLE CLUSTERS BASED ON CENTRAL FASHION CONSUMPTION MOTIVES IN FOUR COUNTRIES (UNITED STATES FRANCE GERMANY AND AUSTRIA)

Consumers around the world are increasingly categorized by parallel needs and similar longings which lead to an ever-more homogeneous global market (Chan, Li, Diehl & Terlutter, 2007; van Ittersum & Wong, 2010). The acceleration of global consumer assemblies has concurred with the occurrence and upsurge of global citizens and consumer cultures (Gao, Mittal & Zhang, 2015). Yet, many researchers still claim that cultural differences have to be considered to grasp buying customs of global (fashion) consumers (Tahmid, 2012). The rationale of this paper is to balance out this research gap and to contribute to the current debate of global vs. local (Cleveland, Papadopoulos & Laroche, 2011; Askegaard, Arnould & Kjelgaard, 2005; Arnett, 2002) fashion consumer lifestyle segments with joint or divergent dominant apparel purchase motivations. Motivational factors influencing apparel purchase behavior can be separated into rational, emotional (perceptional) and patronage motives (Diamond, 2005). In the main, Sproles & Kendall´s consumer characteristics approach (1986) provided the conceptual foundation of the present study of fashion consumption motivations (fashion referred to as apparel & clothing), partially modified to suit the peculiarities that mold fashion consumption. The total of 23 motivations is made up of 15 multi-item scales and 8 single items that complement the fashion-specific range of motivational drivers. Especially referring to fashion purchase motivations, countries like Germany and Austria (despite their prosperous market economies) have so far been markedly neglected and even for France, although universally recognized as the leading country for fashion, in-depth research on motivational parameters shaping individual shopping activities is scarce. Likewise, investigations on American (a nation with intense spending capacity) fashion purchase motivations are extremely seldom. The objective of this paper is threefold and expressed through the following three research questions: (1) What are important lifestyle cluster characterized by central fashion motivations? (2) Can representatives for each cluster be found in all countries? (3) Are there country specific differences which point to either global or local fashion consumer segments? The predefined set of fashion consumption motivations was put to test via an online quantitative consumer survey. The questionnaire was delineated in three languages, using a translation-back translation procedure and was thoroughly pre-tested. Altogether, 693 non-student individuals (482 females, 211 males; from 18 to 87 years of age) participated in the survey, equally distributed across countries, ages and gender among the four nations (despite the fact that quota sampling was used). Subjects were asked to evaluate the total of 23 fashion consumption motivations on a 7-point Likert scale. A factor analysis was conducted for each of the established multi-item scales (with a CA value of mostly above .70). Measurement Invariance (Steenkamp & Baumgartner 1998) across the four countries was assessed. Subsequently, a cluster analysis was carried out using the Ward algorithm, incorporating all 23 fashion consumption motivations to acquire a more detailed description of the consumer segments. Five consumer clusters were extracted through Elbow criteria: (1) pragmatic, socially-conscious, brand loyals (n= 195), (2) sustainable fashion shoppers (n=127), (3) detached fashion disinterested (n=128), (4) passionate, luxury-status fashion-leaders (n= 107), and (5) experiential fashion adventure-seekers (n=136). Country-wise, significant differences are manifested between the consumer segments, X²(12, 693) = 69.12, p=.000. Findings portend that consumers in all research countries can be allocated to one of the five clusters. This condition leads to the clear presumption that global consumer fashion consumer segments do exist. Nonetheless, some national divergences become evident. Particularly if a fashion brand or company intends to address a target group affiliating to the consumer cluster 1: pragmatic, socially-conscious, brand loyals, cluster 2: sustainable fashion shoppers or cluster 3: experiential fashion adventure-seekers, national differences need to be taken into consideration. Markedly, a pragmatic positioning appears to be most auspicious to target American and also French consumers whereas a sustainability and ethnocentric orientation seems to be substantially promising to reach German and also Austrian consumers, demonstrating that a complete standardization of a fashion firm´s positioning through the transnational appeal of dominant consumption motivations seems not yet to be advisable. Further implications, limitations and directions for future research are available upon request and will be addressed more thoroughly at the conference.