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Accueil - Search - The role of the construct of self and the style of reasoning in the cultural variations of consumers: experiments and measurements on the means-end chain

The role of the construct of self and the style of reasoning in the cultural variations of consumers: experiments and measurements on the means-end chain

Doctor :Byung CHOI
Director :Mme Nathalie GUIBERT
Thesis date :19 November 2014
Hours :14h30
Add to calendar 11/19/2014 14:30 11/19/2014 17:30 Europe/Paris The role of the construct of self and the style of reasoning in the cultural variations of consumers: experiments and measurements on the means-end chain Means-end chain theory, including both consumer values and evaluation of product's attributes in the study of consumer behavior, has been developed through empirical validation primarily from Western cultures. This research thus focuses on the cross-cultural generalizability of such theoretical fra... false MM/DD/YYYY
Jury :

Nathalie GUIBERT - Professor (université Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas)

Ulrike MAYRHOFER - Professor (université Lyon 3)

Pierre VALETTE-FLORENCE - Professor (IAE - Grenoble)

Bertrand BELVAUX - Associate Professor (MCF HDR - université de Bourgogne)

Mathilde GOLLETY - Professor (université Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas)

Means-end chain theory, including both consumer values and evaluation of product's attributes in the study of consumer behavior, has been developed through empirical validation primarily from Western cultures. This research thus focuses on the cross-cultural generalizability of such theoretical framework by examining the relation of cultural processes differentiating Westerners from Easterners with the hierarchical linkages between attributes, consequences and values. Previous researchers have demonstrated that individual differences in self-construal exert an important influence on cross-cultural variations in cognition and even behavior and also that individuals can switch between various cultural frames of reference in response to corresponding social cues. On the basis of a dynamic constructivist approach to culture and cognition, we suggest that self-construal is a predictive driver of cultural differences in thinking styles, thereby influencing consumers' cognitive structures. To investigate the mechanism responsible for cultural variations of means-end content and structure, the salient self-construal was experimentally manipulated through the use of cultural priming methodologies, and then all possible combinations of attributes, consequences and values were measured by means of the Association-Pattern Technique matrices (213 French students and 217 Korean students) which had been previously defined through 52 in-depth laddering interviews conducted in each country. Our findings provide support for self-construal associated with different thinking style as a determinant of cultural differences in consumers' means-end value hierarchy structure. There is also evidence that consumers' cultural orientation can be made more accessible by situational prime, particularly that these effects of self-construal priming are able to reduce or eliminate cultural differences between western and eastern consumers.