Cross-cultural Analysis on European Consumer Behaviours How different are French, Italian and Spanish consumers when purchasing electronic products Taekil Kim Dissertation

How different are French, Italian and Spanish consumers when purchasing electronic products?
Taekil (Travis) Kim BUS6A1  Page 2
Statement of Originality and Authenticity
I, Taekil (Travis) Kim, pledge that the research is carried out by me and the dissertation
paper is my own work. Any theories, ideas, quotes from the work of others are duly
acknowledged under the Harvard Referencing system (Saunders et al., 2003; Bahar,
2014).”
Date: 30.04.2015
Taekil (Travis) Kim

Acknowledgements
Before anything, I’d like to thank my mother for surviving a cancer. She bravely and
firmly encouraged me to return to the U.K. to continue my studies for my future. After
spending so many years abroad away from her, I realise that there cannot be a future for
me without her.
I sincerely appreciate my dissertation supervisor, Dr. Antony Dilleen, for his steadfast
review on my work and useful feedback.
Dr. Angelo Gioè – grazie mile per la tua participazione alla entrevista per la mia tesis.
Anche, ti ringrazzio per il tuo aiuto con la traduzione de domande di questionario in
Italiano.
Thank you, Zabi for your help with structuring my dissertation and your helpful
comments.
Special thanks to all the respondents (mainly French, Spanish, Italians and English) who
have participated in my survey.

Dedication
Although the main theme of the research concerns characteristics of European
consumers (namely French, Italians and Spanish), the research is dedicated to anyone
who feels passion for European cultures and people.
Simultaneously, the researcher hopes that the research provides useful information for
companies from outside the European Union intending to learn about European
markets.

List of Abbreviations
FTA Free Trade Agreement
TPP Trans Pacific Partnership
EPI Export Promoted Industrialisation
UAI Uncertainty Avoidance Index
VAT Value-added Tax
EU The European Union

Abstract
Trade liberalisation movement from the political sphere is bringing about more
opportunities for businesses to go abroad as they reduce legal and technical trade
barriers. In this context, cultural barriers are becoming relatively more compelling
because they are paramount to understand local consumer behaviours; therefore, the
research seeks to answer following questions:
1. How do cultures impact consumer behaviours?
2. Can such linkage be used as predictive indicator of foreign consumer
behaviours?
3. Do consumers from different cultures have unique or specific characteristics in
their behaviours as consumers?
The author chose to compare France, Italy and Spain to test the existing theories on
cross-cultural consumer behaviour analysis. Limiting the research to these countries was
to provide in-depth consumer profiles as well as for the matter of practicality. In fact,
findings of this research suggest that predicting foreign consumer behaviours based on
cultural analysis may not be adequate. In any case, other findings revealed that the
consumers from the three countries exhibited similarities when it comes to
incorporating opinions of their friends and families when deciding to buy consumer
electronics; however, they were very different in terms of their attitudes towards
celebrity / expert endorsement promotion, information searching behaviours, and
consumer innovativeness.
Finally, the researcher identified distinguishable characteristics of consumer behaviours
in each country. French consumers were rational evaluators and valued “durability”
when buying consumer electronics. Italian consumers were fond of brands in general
and the biggest online researchers in the field of product information. Spanish
consumers had the highest level of ownership of latest consumer electronics. At the
same time, they valued practicality than prestige or image.

Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION 14
Research Problem 15
Scope of the Research 16
Background to the Selection of this Topic 16
Statement of Aim and Objectives 16
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 18
Chapter Introduction 18
Definition of Culture 18
Culture’s Impact on Consumer Behaviours 18
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Model 19
Cultural Dimensions and Related Consumer Behaviours 20
Hierarchical Cultures and Celebrity / Expert Endorsement 22
Opinion Leadership 23
Individualism vs. Collectivism 24
Incorporation of Opinions from Reference Groups 25
Information Sharing 26
Achievement and Material Success vs. Modesty and Quality of Life 27
Status and Brand Consciousness 28
Resistance towards Uncertainty 29
The Level of Risk Perceived 30
Information Searching Behaviour 30
Consumer Innovativeness 31
Contrasting Views on Influence of Culture on Consumer Behaviours 31

Cultures Becoming Similar to Each Other 31
Convergence of Consumer Tastes and Behaviours 32
Chapter Conclusion: Limitations and Their Impact on Designing Methodology 32
3. METHODOLOGY 34
Overview of the Research Paradigms 35
Research Philosophy 35
The Researcher’s Choice: Pragmatism 35
The Research Approach 36
Researcher's Choice: Hybrid Approach 36
Research Design 37
Researcher's Choice: descripto-explanatory 37
Research Strategy 37
The Researcher’s Choice: Multiple Case Study 38
Research Choices: Mixed-methods 39
Data Collection Methods (Implementation and justification) 40
Secondary Data 41
Primary data 41
Interview 45
Research Limitations 46
Research Ethics 47
4. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 48
Case 1. Power Distance Vs Celebrity and Expert Endorsement 49

Restatement of Hypothesis 49
The Survey Question 1 49
The results from the researcher’s survey (appendix 11) 50
Validity of the Theories 50
The Interview Results 51
Case 2. Masculine Culture Vs Brand-Consciousness 52
Hypothesis 52
The Results of the Researcher’s Survey (appendix 12) 52
Validity of the Theories 53
The Results of Online Survey by GMI/Mintel 54
The Importance of Brand in Purchase Decisions 55
Analysis 56
The Interview Results 56
Uncertainty Avoidant Tendency Vs Consumer Innovativeness 57
The Survey Question by the Researcher 57
Analysis (appendix 14) 57
Validity of Hypothesis 58
Findings from the Interview with Differing Outcomes 58
Actual Level of Ownership of the Latest Consumer Electronics in Each Country (appendix
5) 59
The Interpretation of Inconsistent Results 62

Validity of Hypothesis 62
Information Searching Behaviors and Uncertainty-Avoidant Tendencies 63
Hypothesis 63
The Survey Question 63
Self-assessed Level of Information Search Behaviour 63
Average Number of Product Attributes that Consumers Assess Critically (Appendix 15.2)
65
Findings from the Interview 66
Analysis and Interpretation 66
Validity of Theories 67
Individualism vs. Collectivism & Reference Group Opinions 68
Hypothesis 68
Survey Question 68
Survey Results 68
Validity of Theory 69
The survey outcomes suggest that the hypothesis did not fully hold true. Therefore,
Childers and Rao (1992), Webster and Faircoth III (1994), and Kau and Jung’s theory
(2004), on which the hypothesis above was based, may need revision. 69
Interpretation of the Results 69
Chapter Summary 70
5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 71
Revision of Research Aims and Objectives 71
The Research Objectives 71
Steps to Achieve the Aims and Objectives 72

Research Questions and Answers 72
Profile of Consumer Behaviours by Country 77
French Consumers 77
Italian Consumers 78
Spanish Consumers 79
Implications of the Research to International Marketers 80
Research Limitations 81
Research Recommendations 82
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY 83
7. APPENDICES 90
Appendix 1. Definitions Each Research Philosophy 90
Appendix 2. Definitions of Each Research Philosophy and Respective Limitations 92
Appendix 3. Definition of Each Type of Research 93
Appendix 4. Survey on Online Activities Performed in the Past Three Months (in
France, Italy and Spain) 94
Appendix 5. Household Ownership of Electronic products in France, Italy and Spain
98
Appendix 6. Online survey forms 102
English Version 102
Spanish Version 105
French Version 107
Italian Version 110
Appendix 7. Profile of Dr. Angelo Gioè 112
Appendix 8. Types of interviews 113
Appendix 9. Original (Spanish) and Translated (English) Transcript of the Interview

with Dr. Gioè 114
The Interview Transcript Translated into English 119
Appendix 10. The Interview Consent Form 124
Appendix 11. The results for the survey question No.1 125
Appendix 15.1 The results for the survey question no.5 129
Appendix 15.2 Average number of product attributes that consumers from France,
Italy and Spain critically consider before making a purchase decision (modified from
the results for question no. 3) 130
Appendix 16. The results for the survey question no.6 131

Table of Figures
FIGURE 1 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS COVERED IN THIS RESEARCH AND RELATED CONSUMER BEHAVIOURS.20
FIGURE 2 COMPARISONS OF CULTURAL DIMENSIONS BETWEEN FRANCE, ITALY AND SPAIN........................21
FIGURE 3 HIERARCHICAL CULTURES IN EUROPE MEASURED BY POWER DISTANCE INDEX.........................22
FIGURE 5 INDIVIDUALIST CULTURES AND COLLECTIVIST CULTURES IN EUROPE.........................................24
FIGURE 6 MASCULINITY INDEX IN EUROPE .................................................................................................27
FIGURE 7 UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE INDEX IN EUROPE .............................................................................29
FIGURE 8 TYPES OF RESEARCH CHOICES ....................................................................................................39
Table of Tables
TABLE 1 COMPARISON OF POWER DISTANCE INDEX BETWEEN FRANCE, ITALY AND SPAIN 23
TABLE 3 COMPARISON OF INDIVIDUALISM INDEX BETWEEN FRANCE, ITALY AND SPAIN 25
TABLE 4 COMPARISON OF MASCULINITY INDEX BETWEEN FRANCE, ITALY AND SPAIN 28
TABLE 5 COMPARISON OF UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE BETWEEN FRANCE, ITALY AND SPAIN 30
TABLE 6 SUMMARY OF HYPOTHESES 33

Introduction
In many countries in the world, including the United States of America and the member
states of the EU, political measures concerning free trade like bilateral free trade
agreements (FTA) or the regional FTA—e.g. the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)—have
attracted great attention recently.
This is because such institutions will reduce legal and technical trade barriers. For that,
many speculate that such trends will have favourable effects on international trade
(Coopes, 2014; Schipani, 2014; Martin, 2012). For example, the number of companies
participating in international trade will rise and more of their products will be consumed
by foreign consumers. Indeed, trade liberalisation movement from the political sphere
has already been bringing about greater opportunities for private sector businesses to go
abroad.
On the other hand, industry participants seem to concern more about cultural and
linguistic barriers now (Schipani & Mander, 2014; Ramirez, 2012). These barriers are
becoming relatively more compelling. This is especially so, when entering and
establishing in a foreign market (Branch, 2006; Durmaz et al., 2011).
Indeed, cultural factors require delicate analysis because they affect consumer
behaviours. For example, some aspects of a culture like collectivism or the degree of
resistance towards uncertainty are hard to perceive. Nonetheless, understanding such
cultural aspects, and furthermore, predicting how they can influence the beliefs and
behaviours of the local consumers are critical (Smith & Albaum, 2010).
This is why many authors argue that the success of marketing activities in a foreign
market lays on cultural understanding (Manzoor, et al., 2014; Solomon, et al., 2006).
Often causes of differing “consumption patterns” and “buyer behaviours” are found in
cultural differences (Brunot, n.d.; Solomon, et al., 2006; Blythe, 2005).

Research Problem
In this context, the research problem begins with the fact that firms pursuing
international expansion1
face the issue of precisely recognising local cultures and the
resulting buying patterns and consumer behaviours in the respective markets.
One way of appreciating the local cultures and predicting local consumer behaviours is
clustering method as suggested by Smith (2014), Wellford and Prescott (1996 as cited in
Hollensen, 2007:256). Clustering gather countries into groups based on common
characteristics like cultural factors. In the initial stage of foreign market development,
clustering can be effectively used as a part of the market screening process,2
and in the
later stage, it can assist cross-national market segmentation.
However, clustering does not provide precise analyses of each culture. Fine-tuning
marketing activities like advertising or developing new products requires more precise
understanding of the unique cultures of the country. Thus, more flexible and
customisable approach to analyse foreign cultures is needed to predict foreign consumer
behaviours.
For that, the research intends to answer the following questions.
4. Is there a reliable framework to analyse a culture?
5. What are the types of consumer behaviours affected by these dimensions? Can
the linkages used to reliably predict foreign consumer behaviours?
6. Do consumers from different cultures have unique or specific characteristics in
terms of consumer behaviours?
7. What implications does the analysis on cultures and consumer behaviours have
on international marketers?
1
E.g. by setting up a sales subsidiary in a foreign market to export
2
For example, the former groups Spain and Italy together as the “Latin cluster” whereas the later groups
southern Italy and Greece together.

Scope of the Research
The focus of the research will be reduced at three levels. Firstly, the nationalities of
consumers will be limited to those from three selected European countries; France, Italy
and Spain. Secondly, the category of products dealt in this research will be limited to
electronic products. Finally, as the readers will realise as they progress in this research,
only a certain dimensions from the Hofstede’s cultural dimension model were selected
and investigation.
Background to the Selection of this Topic
The biggest motives for the researcher to choose this area as the research topic were his
interest in internationalisation of companies through exportation and passion for
European cultures. Growing up in Korea–where the driver of the economic growth was
the export promoted industrialization (EPI) policy–the author had been exposed to
countless articles and documentaries on Korean firms gaining market success abroad
through their product adaptation strategies reflecting local consumer preferences and
cultures.
When selecting countries for the research, the author felt that there was lack of
information as to non-English speaking European cultures and consumer profiles–
particularly for France, Italy and Spain in Western Europe–in Korea.
Statement of Aim and Objectives
The aims of the research are to understand the cultural differences between three
European countries–i.e. France, Italy and Spain–and to illustrate specificities of their
consumer behaviours. The researcher hopes that the outcomes of the research can be
useful for companies from outside the European Union intending to enter the three
European Markets.

Furthermore, in carrying out the research, it is also aimed at verifying the validity of
theories that link consumer behaviours and respective cultural aspects. If they are valid,
it will prove that cultural differences can be used as indicators of differing consumer
behaviours. If proved invalid, it will suggest the need for further research as to why or
the need for alternative methods to predict foreign consumer behaviours.
These aims lead to following objectives to be achieved:
 To define a culture and understand what it consists of.
 To review the academic construct used for analysing cultures and the implications
for consumer behaviours
 To corroborate the validity of reviewed theories and models relating to
cross-cultural consumer behaviour
 To gain understanding of the difference in consumer behaviours with reference to
their cultural specificities
 To present useful information for foreign firms for their market entry decision to
the aforementioned European markets

Literature Review
Chapter Introduction
This chapter provides literature review on the relationship between national cultures and
their impact on consumer behaviours. It starts off with a definition of a culture and links
it with consumer behaviours in general. Limitation on cultural influence on
consumption behaviour will be discussed at the end.
Definition of Culture
To begin with, it is necessary to know what a culture is. Some authors (Solomon et al.,
2006; Durmaz et al., 2011) define it as “the accumulation of shared meanings, rituals,
norms” and so forth “among the members of the society.” It implies that individuals are
part of a society and they are evidently influenced by the collective “meanings” and
“values” established by the society (Brassington & Pettitt, 2006).
Mühlbacher, Leighs and Dahringer (2006) provide another insightful definition of
culture, which is perhaps more relevant to consumer behaviour context; the culture
provides “the standards of beliefs, perception” and “evaluation” which affect
individuals’ “subjective perceptions of reality.”
Culture’s Impact on Consumer Behaviours
What the first definition implies is that a culture works as very common rules under
which individuals behave or on which they judge what is a normal behaviour to follow.
So, knowing these rules will help identifying certain common behaviours within a
society – in this case, consumer behaviours.

The second definition implies that cultures fundamentally affect how consumers
evaluate products logically as well as the way consumers view and feel about products
emotionally (Hollensen, 2007; Mühlbacher, et al., 2006; Solomon, et al., 2006; Szmigin
& Piacentini, 2014; and Usunier & Lee, 2005).
Combining the two points, it is suggested that differences between cultures leads to
different consumer behaviours. So, consumers from different cultures may show
distinguishable characteristics when it comes to choosing, buying, using and even
throwing away products or services (Solomon et al., 2010).
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Model
Geert Hofstede is an authoritative scholar in the field of cultural studies (Kau & Jung,
2004; Katsioloudes & Hadjidakis, 2007). He developed a framework on cultural
analysis, widely known as Hofstede’s cultural dimensions model. This model is the
most widely used tool for cross-cultural consumer research (Sondergaard, 1994;
Steenkamp, 2001 cited in Soares et al., 2007) and evaluated to be the most applicable
for such research (Lu et al., 1999 cited in Soars et al., 2007); however, it should be also
noted that his quantitative data were solely gathered from IBM employees around the
world (Lynn & Gelb, 1996). So it is questionable as to whether those values adequately
represent cultures at national level.
Nonetheless, as noted by Helsen et al. (1993) and Wind and Douglas (1972) (cited in
Lynn & Gelb, 1996), it would be practically impossible and too costly to quantify
cultural variables in international scale within the period of time given for the author.
Therefore, the author decided to rely on his data.

Cultural Dimensions and Related Consumer Behaviours
Figure 1 Cultural Dimensions Covered in this Research and Related Consumer
Behaviours
As outlined above, the four cultural dimensions examined by the researcher were
“power distance,” “individualism vs. collectivism,” “masculinity vs. femininity,” and
“uncertainty avoidance” (The Hofstede Centre, 2014). Power distance concerns how
hierarchical a society is (Kau & Jung, 2004). Individualism vs. collectivism concerns
how closely individuals feel towards each other in a given society (The Hofstede Centre,
2014; Kau & Jung, 2004). Masculinity vs. femininity is about which value between
achievement (masculine) or quality of life—like happiness—(feminine), a society is
oriented towards (De Mooij & Hofstede, 2011; Lam et al., 2009). Uncertainty
avoidance shows how reluctant people feel towards unknown outcomes or
consequences in the future (The Hofstede Centre, 2014). In any case, these
terminologies shall be further discussed below. Then, the countries shall be compared
on each cultural dimension; and relevant consumer behaviours affected by each cultural
variables.
Power Distance
Opinion
Leadership
Celebrity /
Expert
Endorsement
Individualism
vs. Collectivism
Opinions from
Reference
Group
Information
Sharing
Masculinity vs.
Femininity
Status Brand
Consciousness
Uncertainty
Avoidance
Risk Perception
Information
Search
Consumer
Innovativeness

Figure 2 Comparisons of Cultural Dimensions between France, Italy and Spain
Source: The Hofstede Centre (2014)
For the cultural comparison between the selected countries, the data from the figure
above will be based throughout the literature review and findings and analysis chapters.

Hierarchical Cultures and Celebrity / Expert Endorsement
Figure 3 Hierarchical Cultures in Europe Measured by Power Distance Index
Source: (Chartsbin, 2015)
By definition, this dimension of a culture, called power distance, measures the
inequality between those who hold influential qualities such as “power,” “wealth,” and
“prestige” (Kau & Jung, 2004) and those who do not. For the purpose of the research, it
is important to distinguish the influential qualities from coercive force because they can
be rather subtle and indirect. For example, famous fashion models like Kate Moss and
David Gandy may wear clothes with new designs that everyone would want to follow
voluntarily. Similarly, when an expert can influence actions of others—i.e. consumers in
this context—by sharing his / her expertise, this is called the “expert power” (BPP
Learning Media, 2009).
In fact, the effectiveness of such influence is not determined by those who exercise
them (BPP Learning Media, 2009); it is rather those who voluntarily accept and follow
such figures who decide to do so (De Mooij & Hofstede, 2011; Patwardhan, 2013). One
way of seeing how obedient people are in general in a given society is to see whether
their culture is hierarchical or egalitarian (Hofstede, 1991 cited in Joynt & Warner,

2002). In a hierarchical culture, the individuals can be expected to be more receptive to
those who are deemed as authoritative or influential.
Opinion Leadership
In fact, Kau and Jung (2004) incorporated this into consumer behavior context and
postulated that, in hierarchical cultures, consumers tend to follow more easily
“recommendations and opinions on products” from opinion leaders such as
“commercial authorities” “experts,” or “celebrities.” This form of promotion strategy
through famous figures is called celebrity endorsement (figure above). Similarly, when
someone known to be an expert is used, it is called the expert endorsement.
Table 1 Comparison of Power Distance Index between France, Italy and Spain
Country France Italy Spain
Power Distance Index 68 50 57
Modified from The Hofstede Centre (2014)
Among the three countries chosen for comparison in this research, French culture shows
the highest level of hierarchy (table above). So, it can be hypothesised that French
consumers will be relatively more receptive to opinions or reviews by experts and
celebrities. To the contrary, Italians will be the least readily persuaded by them.

Individualism vs. Collectivism
Figure 4 Individualist Cultures and Collectivist Cultures in Europe
Individualism and collectivism concern the linkage between individuals and the groups
or societies that they belong to (Hofstede, 1980 cited in Kau & Jung, 2004). In
individualistic societies such as the United Kingdom (89), Netherlands (80) and
Hungary (80) (Figure 4), the bonding between people is “relatively weak.” (Bergmüller,
2013).
On the other hand, in collectivistic cultures like Portugal (27) and Slovenia (27),
individuals are more interactive and depend more on each other (De Mooij & Hofstede,
2011). Kau and Jung (2004) argue that this cultural dimension affects following areas of
consumer behaviours: incorporation of opinions from reference groups and information
sharing.

Incorporation of Opinions from Reference Groups
By definition, a reference group is a group of people who affect purchase decisions or
buying behaviours of a consumer (Park and Lessing, 1977 cited in Kau & Jung, 2004;
Solomon et al., 2006). In other words, they can be anyone from friends or family
members or colleagues.
Childers and Rao (1992) and Webster and Faircoth III (1994) (cited in Kau and Jung,
2004) conclude that the more collectivist the society is, the more influential a reference
group becomes on “product choices and buying decisions.” So, in collectivist countries
like Portugal and Slovenia, consumers will incorporate opinions of their people around
into purchase decisions. In the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Hungary, consumers
will make purchase decisions relatively more independently.
Table 2 Comparison of Individualism Index between France, Italy and Spain
Individualism Index 71 76 51
Among the three countries for the research in this dissertation, Spain appears to be
much more collectivist than France and Italy. So, if the arguments of the
aforementioned scholars (Childers and Rao, 1992; Webster and Faircoth III, 1994 cited
in Kau and Jung, 2004) are still valid, Spanish consumers will apply the opinions of
their reference group on their purchase decisions more than French and Italians. Italian
consumers will be the most independent decision makers for purchases.

Information Sharing
It concerns the transmission of information as to “consumption domains” between
individuals (Hirschman 1983 cited in Kau & Jung 2004). For example, people often
share their experience of using certain brands or products (product or service review). In
collectivist cultures, people engage more in information sharing activities (Kau & Jung,
2004). This may be because the bond between people is stronger or people spend more
time together. Consequentially, sharing information like product reviews or
recommendations may be more readily engaged. People feel rather cared by those who
give them advice for better choices, than feeling they are told what to do because they
are not capable of adequate purchase decisions.
The degree of information sharing activities—e.g. the depth of review on certain
products, frequency of opinion sharing and consumer advises, the number of
individuals—can be expected to be positively correlated with how collectivist a society
is (Kau & Jung, 2004). This suggests Spanish consumers will share product information
and reviews than French and Italian counterparts.

Achievement and Material Success vs. Modesty and Quality of Life
Figure 5 Masculinity Index in Europe
In some cultures, people are more competitive and want to achieve “material success.”
This type of culture is termed as a masculine culture (De Mooij & Hofstede, 2011; Lam
et al., 2009). According to Hofstede’s masculinity index, central European countries like
Slovakia (100), Hungary (88), and Austria (79) seem to reflect such cultures (Figure 5).
Other cultures may exhibit quite the opposite qualities such as “caring for others,”
“modesty” and “quality of life” (De Mooij & Hofstede, 2011; Lam et al., 2009). Nordic
cultures–Sweden (5), Norway (8), Denmark (16)–are particularly characterised by these
qualities.
As to the wordings, while these terms are coined according to characteristics and roles
of each gender that have been traditionally perceived, in fact they rather refer to
“motives driving people within culture” (Szmigin & Piacentini, 2014).

Status and Brand Consciousness
In achievement-oriented cultures, consumers are more brand conscious and inclined to
own luxury products to show their success (De Mooij & Hofstede, 2011) as opposed to
feminine cultures where individuals tend to “shun” conspicuous consumption or
displaying “status symbols” (Lai, et al., 2010).
Synovate’s research (2008) (as cited in De Mooij, 2010) provides convincing
corroboration; “the percentage of business people” who owned watches over €750 as
their main watches and “the percentage” of individuals who purchased jewelry costing
over €1,500 within the past year correlated with the masculinity index.
Table 3 Comparison of Masculinity Index between France, Italy and Spain
Masculinity Index 43 70 42
Among the three European countries to be investigated in this research, Italian culture
shows the highest orientation towards “achievement,” and “material success.” Lower
values in this index by France and Spain mean that they prefer modesty while still
pursuing for quality of life. If De Mooij and Hofstede’s postulation is valid, consumer
electronics with premium brands will be appreciated the most by the Italian consumers.
Spanish will be the least interested in the brands themselves—although, French and
Spanish are expected to have little difference as the Hofstede’s index suggests.

Resistance towards Uncertainty
Figure 6 Uncertainty Avoidance Index in Europe
(Source: Targetmap, 2013)
Uncertainty avoidance refers to how reluctant individuals feel about unknown or vague
outcomes (The Hofstede Centre, 2014). This dimension of a culture is reflected on
uncertainty avoidance index (The Hofstede Centre, 2014). Putting this into consumer
behaviour contexts, an example of the aforementioned outcomes may be unsatisfactory
user experience. Consumers may feel that they paid too much for a computer because it
is slower than expected (underperformance) or they should have bought another brand
because their post-purchase service is more extensive.3
3
This type of uneasy reflection after purchase is called “post purchase cognitive dissonance” (Saleem, et
al., 2012; Solomon, et al., 2006; Blythe, 2005)

The Level of Risk Perceived
Kau and Jung (2004) conclude that consumers’ preference to avoid uncertainty has a
causal effect on how much risk they perceive. That is, consumers who want to be
certain about post-purchase outcomes, they will find it risker to make purchase
decisions. In contrast, for those who do not care so much about the consequences, it will
feel less risky to purchase products.
The average level of predisposition to avoid uncertainty differs across cultures—so do
the amount and the types of purchase risks that consumers feel (Solomon, et al., 2006).
This difference influences two kinds of consumer behaviours among others (Kau &
Jung, 2004) as explained below.
Information Searching Behaviour
One way for consumers to lower uncertainty and risks—a.k.a. “risk-reducing
behaviour”—is searching for information about products (Garner and Thompson, 1986
cited in Kau and Jung, 2004. p.14; Solomon et al., 2006). Usunier and Lee (2005) argue
that the amount of information that consumers search in general differ across cultures.
Table 4 Comparison of Uncertainty Avoidance between France, Italy and Spain
UAI 86 75 86
Referring to the table above, France and Spain seem to be equally high in intolerance
towards uncertainty and ambiguity. While Italy’s score is relatively lower than the other
two, it can still be considered as high. So, the hypothesis is that French and Spanish
consumers will research more before they purchase electronic products. On the other
hand, Italian consumers may purchase them relatively more spontaneously.

Consumer Innovativeness
Another area of consumer behaviour affected by this cultural dimension is consumer
innovativeness (Lynn & Gelb, 1996; Steenkamp et al., 1999; Yaveroglu & Donthu,
2002; van Everdingen & Waarts, 2003; Yeniyurt & Townsend, 2003 cited in Soars,
2006; Patwardhan, 2013). It refers to consumers’ inclination to try new products or
brands (Hirschma, 1981 cited in Kau & Jung, 2004. p. 13). Evidently trying something
new engages “making changes, taking risks and accepting” uncertain outcomes (Lynn &
Gelb, 1996). For that, consumers from highly uncertainty avoidant cultures—like
France and Spain—are more prudent when making a purchase decision on unfamiliar
products (Kumar & Alkailani, 2011).
Contrastingly, consumers from cultures that are relatively more tolerant to uncertain
outcomes—Italy, in this case—will more readily try new and unfamiliar products and
brands (Lynn & Gelb, 1996; Steenkamp et al., 1999 cited in Usunier & Lee, 2005, p.
93; Patwardhan, 2013); thus, combining the two discussions, it can be hypothesised that
Italian consumers are relatively more innovative than Spanish and French consumers.
Contrasting Views on Influence of Culture on Consumer Behaviours
Cultures Becoming Similar to Each Other
Growing mobility between borders followed by increasing degree of interaction with
foreign cultures leads to “acculturation.” This refers to the “cultural learning” process,
where people adapt to each other’s cultures (Solomon, et al., 2006). This indicates that
cultures change dynamically and that different cultures may slowly converge. This may
undermine the accuracy of predicting consumer behaviours based on analysis of
national cultures—because national cultures are becoming similar to each other anyway.

Convergence of Consumer Tastes and Behaviours
Another phenomenon in line with this concept is the convergence of consumers’ tastes
across nations. Even before the 80’s, consumers in very remote cities such as New York,
Frankfurt and Tokyo started to build similar tastes for certain products (Levitt, 1983
cited in Katsioloudes & Hadjidakis, 2007). Thereafter, many authors (Jain 1987;
Czincota & Ronkainen 1993; Assael 1998; Bullmore 2000 cited in De Mooij, 2003:183;
Durmaz et al., 2011) have agreed on this viewpoint that more global convergence would
take place in “consumer needs” and “lifestyles” as well as the consumers’ tastes across
the world. This means is, if consumer behaviours in different countries become similar
to each other—while their cultures are not affected from each other—once again,
predicting consumer behaviours based on cultural factors can be inaccurate.
Chapter Conclusion: Limitations and Their Impact on Designing
Methodology
So far, it was explained that a culture affects consumer behaviours. Various dimensions
of a culture have been explained and how each of them affects different types of
consumer behaviours was also discussed. At the same time, there were also contrasting
views that suggested limitations to such correlations. Then, does it mean that it is
precise to base culture as a predictive indicator of foreign consumer behaviours?
Furthermore, the literatures discussed above did not answer “how” precise it is, to meet
the purpose of this research.4
Lastly, the researcher has found that most of the theories were developed or published in
the late 90’s and near the beginning of 2000. Considering the dynamic nature of a
culture—as discussed above—this raises the need to update the validity of the
aforementioned theories. In conclusion, these limitations largely affected the design of
methodology for the research, which will be discussed in the next chapter.
4
The second aim of the research was to verify the validity of the theories regarding cultural influence on
consumer behaviours.

Table 5 Summary of Hypotheses
H1.
French consumers will more readily embrace celebrity endorsement and opinion
leadership by electronics experts or professionals. Italians will view them least
positively.
H2.
Italians will be the most premium brand conscious consumers while French and
Spanish will be comparably less conscious of brands when making purchase
decisions.
H3.
French and Spanish consumers will seek for more product information than the
Italians before reaching their purchase decisions.
H4.
Italian consumers will exhibit the highest consumer innovativeness i.e. they will
be inclined to try new and unfamiliar products.
H5
Spanish consumers will tend to incorporate opinions of their friends and families
when making purchase decisions. Italians will be the least affected by the
opinions of their reference groups when purchasing consumer electronics.

Methodology
This chapter will illustrate research methods undertaken by the researcher to achieve the
research aims by answering the research questions. The following diagram below
provides an overview of this chapter.
Research
Choice
Research
Design
Approach
Dissertation
Chapter
Affected
Philosophy
Research
Framework
Research
Paradigm
Pragmatism
Methodology
Inductive Deductive
Descripto-
explanatory
Mixed-
method
Research
The Researcher’s Choices

Overview of the Research Paradigms
The very first step for the researcher before developing the methodology was to review
the “set of practices” for researching and generation of theories. They were outlined in a
framework called, the research paradigms (Bassey, 1991 cited in Bahar 2013;
University of Southampton, n.d.). The framework contains three main themes (criteria)5
within which the researcher determined his viewpoints. As Bassey (1991, cited in Bahar,
2013) suggested, these variables helped deciding which research philosophy
corresponded to the researcher.
Research Philosophy6
The main four types of research philosophies are positivism, interpretivism,
pragmatism and realism (see Appendix 1 for definition of each philosophy).
The Researcher’s Choice: Pragmatism
Pragmatism was the most relevant philosophy. Its advantage is that the researcher can
take both stances of positivism and interpretivism capitalising on the strengths of each;
the former allows deducing precise and quantifiable explanation of analysis and the
latter allows describing social phenomena or subjective opinions (Saunders et al. 2008).
This way, the researcher can meet the two research aims; firstly, proving the validity of
5
The three main themes are ontology (what to see as reality), epistemology (“how to know something”),
and methodology (“how to go about finding out”) (Guba, 1990 as cited in University of Southampton,
n.d.).
6
The research philosophy incorporates the researcher’s “assumptions” as to how the researcher views the
world (Saunders et al., 2008). Consequently, it indirectly oversees and guides the “research actions” to
be taken (Bassey, 1991 cited in Bahar 2013). The choice of research philosophy also had technical
implication to design of the research. This is demonstrated later in the research choice section.

existing theories—which concerned causal relationship between culture and consumer
behaviours—and secondly, illustrating consumer behaviours and cultures.
Another advantage of pragmatism is that it allows the researcher to mix different
research approaches (Denscombe, 2008)—discussed later. However, with this option,
the research will also have to be mindful of possible complication of the research
structure, incoherent findings, or losing focus in the research.
The Research Approach
There are two approaches to research: deductive and inductive (Saunders, et al., 2009;
Research-Methodology.net, 2015) - appendix 2 for definitions and limitations of each
research approach.
Researcher's Choice: Hybrid Approach
In line with the aforementioned research philosophy and also after reflecting on the
purpose of this research—e.g. the research aims and the kinds of knowledge (research
conclusion) being pursued—the researcher decided to take hybrid approach (mixed
method approach).
 This way, the deductive approach was used to corroborate the validity of
existing theories on the causal relationship between culture and consumer
behaviours. Note that, among the steps involved in this approach (appendix 2),
drawing hypotheses and explaining which variables to be taken from secondary
sources (the Hofstede’s indices on the three European countries) have been
already discussed in the literature review; therefore, this chapter will focus on
what are some further variables needed for the research; how they will be
collected; and how the hypotheses will be tested.

 The inductive approach was used to illustrate the differences in consumer
behaviours between France, Italy and Spain. In practice, interpreting subjective
data was indeed confusing and time-consuming as warned by the limitation of
this approach (appendix 2). Extracting coherent and meaningful interpretation of
the data within the allowed timeframe was challenging.
Research Design
After reflecting on the researcher’s philosophies and approaches to the research, the
types of research can be determined. Saunders et al. (2009) suggest that there are four
types of research according to their purposes: exploratory, descriptive, explanatory,
descripto-explanatory (see appendix 3 for definitions).
Researcher's Choice: descripto-explanatory
For the purpose of this research, it can be classified as “descripto-explanatory
research” because it aims at explaining the causal relationship between culture and
consumer behaviours as well as describing particularities of consumer behaviours with
reference to differing cultures between France, Italy and Spain.
Research Strategy
Upon clarifying the purpose and type of the research, research strategies can be
established. As to the types of strategies, Saunders, et al. (2009:141-150) provides a list
as follows: experiment, survey, case study, action research, grounded theory,
ethnography, and archival research.

The Researcher’s Choice: Multiple Case Study
Case study strategy was chosen after considering its suitability for the research and
feasibility to carry it out—as advised by Saunders et al. (2009).
Suitability
A case study is defined as “the empirical investigation of a particular contemporary
phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence” (Robson,
2002:178 cited in Saunders, 2009:146). The first part of the definition coincides with
the main objectives of this research—understanding and illustrating consumer
behaviours and encompassing cultural settings (phenomena within real life contexts).
Then, the second part (multiple sources of evidence) creates advantage over the survey
strategy because it allows exploring broader context beyond the “variables for which
data can be collected” on a survey (Saunders, 2009). This means, once certain consumer
behaviours are described (what and how), the reasons why they occur–e.g. due to
cultural factors or economic reasons—can be further explored using other evidence
(Saunders, 2009).
Feasibility
On the other hand, in terms of proving the correlation between cultural factors and
consumer behaviours, the experimental strategy may provide more accurate results;
however, consumer behaviours (the “phenomenon being studied”) can be affected by
other numerous factors in addition to the cultural factors (“surrounding contexts”)
(Saunders, 2009). That is, “the boundary” between them cannot be separated as clearly,
nor is it possible to keep the settings (the cultural factors) “highly controlled” (Saunders,
2009) as would be required by the experiment strategy; therefore, the only feasible
strategy is the case study strategy.

Research Choices: Mixed-methods
Figure 7 Types of Research Choices
(Source: Saunders, et al., 2009: 152)
As discussed, this research has a descripto-explanatory purpose and will be carried out
based on case study strategy (multiple source of evidence). This raises need for both
qualitative and quantitative data; to describe consumer behaviours (phenomena) and
cultures (contexts), qualitative data will be needed. On the other hand, to probe and
explain causal relationship (or correlation) between the two sets of variables,
quantitative data will allow more objective analysis.
Consequently, the research should employ the mixed-method design, where “both
quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques and analysis procedures” are used
(Saunders, et al., 2009: 152).

Advantages of mixed-method design
Additionally, the researcher hopes that this design brings about following advantages as
suggested by Saunders, et al. (2009:154):
1. “Triangulation” – e.g. certain arguments gathered from interview can be
corroborated numerically by independent quantitative data improving
confidence of the data and research conclusion.
2. “Complementarity” - both relative comparison and description can be done by
combining results from quantitative and qualitative data.
3. Aiding the interpretation – e.g. after comparing which country is more
favourable for celebrity endorsement promotion strategy using quantitative data,
qualitative data can bed used to help interpreting why this happens.
Limitation of mixed-method design
Data collected from different methods (i.e. quantitative and qualitative) may lack
coherence between them; thus, when interpreting the data, the likelihood of
complication may multiply (Bryman, 2006 cited in Saunders, et al., 2009: 154).
Data Collection Methods (Implementation and justification)
As mentioned earlier, some of the research objectives could not be fulfilled through the
literature reviews due to lack of relevant and country-specific literatures. For that, the
researcher’s chosen data collection methods were tailored to collect variables
specifically necessary to achieve those objectives. The chosen methods shall be
discussed below.

Secondary Data7
As explained by Smith & Albaum (2010) and Saunders, et al. (2009), secondary data
are convenient to collect but they may not be the most suitable data.8
Secondary data
for this research were collected from following sources:
 Consumer behaviours, marketing and cross-cultural studies textbooks
 Press articles from online newspapers or webpages
 Electronic databases (e.g. Euromonitor, Marketline Advantage, Mintel, Emerald)
Following two surveys were found to be particularly relevant to this research.
1. “Online activities performed in the past three months” in France, Italy and
Spain by GMI/Mintel (2014): collected from 2,000 internet users in each country
(See appendix 4). It contained relevant data for attitude towards brands, information
searching and sharing activities.
2. “Household Ownership of Electronic Products” by GMI/Mintel (2014): collected
from 10,000 from five Western European countries (See appendix 5). The
percentage of ownership of latest consumer electronics in France, Italy and Spain
will allow relative comparison of consumer innovativeness in these countries. Big
sample population in this survey means enhanced accuracy on research conclusion.
Primary data
Online Survey (See appendix 6 for actual survey forms)
For further data necessary to prove the hypotheses, the researcher created and
7
Secondary data refer to both qualitative and quantitative data that have been already collected by other
researchers or “agencies” for other purposes (Smith & Albaum, 2010; Saunders, et al., 2009).
8
Because they are collected for other purposes

distributed a customised survey.
Operational details
The survey questions were initially created in English, and were sequentially translated
into Spanish, French and Italian upon approval by the researcher’s supervisor. Then,
survey forms were created Good Forms.
Distribution
Online distribution was advantageous when gathering data from widely dispersed
respondents. For that, the forms were published through Facebook and Tweeter in the
following dates
Start End
The English version 12:42 23 January 2015
22 February 2015
(Data collection ended)
The Spanish version 14:23 23 January 2015
The French version 15:02 23 January 2015
The Italian version 18:54 27 January 2015
To some respondents, they were distributed through E-mail as well, but the response
rate was not recorded.

Others, 9
Canada, 2
Russia, 2
Switzerland, 2
Argentina, 3
Germany, 3
Sweden, 3
N/A, 3
The United
Kingdom, 5Italy, 9
France, 13
Spain, 19
Physical Distribution
During the same period—on an ad hoc basis—the
researcher went around at Regent’s University London
with his iPad to collect data from his friends and
colleagues. To maintain the independence of the results
while carefully observing the respondent’s facial and
verbal expressions, the researcher stood face-to-face
(as illustrated on the left). Although physical
distribution was time consuming, it proved to be
effective in gathering response because no one rejected.
(Source: Dunworth, 2013)
Profiles of the Respondents
The surveys were kept accessible for
anyone. As a result, 73 people from
more 19 countries participated in
the survey. Some respondents
forgot to state their
nationalities and were
classified as Not Applicable
(N/A). In any case, the three
major nationalities were
Spanish (20), French (13) and
Italians (9)—because they were
more actively approached to
participate.

Types of the Data
For descriptive analysis, initial survey questions were designed to collect qualitative
data like the respondents’ nationalities—in fact, these were used to categorise data into
groups by country of origin.
Then, as can be seen above, other questions were deliberately designed in a
self-assessment format with numerical answers so as to collect “quantified” data.9
Indeed, as Saunders, et al. (2009: 362) said, these data were useful for two purposes:
1. Describing “the variability in different phenomena” (i.e. relative comparison of
consumer behaviours between countries)
2. Explaining the causal “relationships between variables” (i.e. culture vs.
consumer behaviours)
Limitations
However, as Saunders et al. (2009) warned, the survey method was not adecuate for
gathering data relating to open-ended questions–e.g. “how different are Italian
consumers from French and Spanish when it comes to pre-purchase research
behaviours.” This is because the answers are gathered from prescribed questions and
answers (Saunders, et al., 2009).
9
The “quantified” data mean quantitative data which are inherently of qualitative nature.

Interview10
To complement such limitation of the survey method, the author additionally carried out
an interview with Dr. Gioè, the director of Italian cultural institute in Korea, over Skype
on the 7th
of March, 2015. Qqualitative data at macro-level were sought through this
interview to triangulate and aid the interpretation of the data collected from surveys.
Suitability of the Interviewee
Dr. Gioè was considered as perfect for this research because of his excellent
understanding of cultural concepts and extensive experience in foreign countries (See
appendix 7 for his profile). In particual, it was very valuable that he could appreciate
differences in consumer behaviours between France, Italy (native) and Spain as he has
lived in all of these countries during many years. For that, his explanation was
fundamental to answer the third research question.11
The researcher decided to carry out a structured interview (the types of interviews and
their characteristics are discussed in appendix 8) because it is suitable for both
descriptive and explanatory research (Saunders et al., 2009 cited in Oyelere, 2015).
Consequentially, the researcher gained the relevant information from the interview as he
sought—firstly, Dr. Gioè’s experiences, opinions and his descriptive information on
consumer behaviours providing rich contexts as to “what;” and secondly, the answers to
all of the questions related to the hypotheses, providing explanation to “why” and
“how.”
The interview was in Spanish and the translated transcription along with the original
version can be found in appendix 9.
10
An interview is a research technique conducted through two-way communication between an
interviewer (researcher) and an interviewee (respondent) (Saunders, et al., 2009).
11
The third research question was “Do consumers from different cultures have unique or specific
characteristics in terms of consumer behaviours?”

Data Analysis
Once the data were collected from the researcher’s survey, they were grouped by
country (illustrated on the left above) Then, using Excel, the researcher calculated the
average values—i.e. mean, media and mode—of the variables (right).
Research Limitations
Firstly of all, the sample size may be too small to reflect the consumer behaviours of the
whole country. The biggest sample population that the author achieved was 19
respondents (Spain). Evidently, it is difficult to say that this sample represents nearly 50
million Spanish consumers.
Secondly, as Kilsgård et al. also (2008:7) pointed out in their dissertation, subcultures
and regional cultures may be percievably different from the national cultures. However,
for practical reasons, the author could not incorporate differences between subcultures
or regional cultures—e.g. Catalonia and Madrid or Milan o Napoli—within the selected
countries; therefore, cultural differences were discussed only at national level and it is
quite possible that consumer behaviours are very particular within certain regions in
each country.

France Italy Spain
Number of respondents 13 9 19
Number of respondents who have lived abroad 12 8 13
Average number of years abroad 2.6 4.3 2
Lastly, as tabulated above, the majority of the respondents have experience of living
abroad. Given that the average number of years abroad was at least over 2 years (Spain),
the respondents must have been affected by foreign cultures through acculturation
process—i.e. cultural learning (Solomon, et al., 2006) as discussed in the literature
review. For that, assuming that their responses reflect their national consumer
behaviours may not be perfectly adequate.
Research Ethics12
As suggested by Jankowicz (2005),13
the first step taken by the researcher for ethical
research practices was to obtain and to inform himself of the code of conduct from the
Market Research Society (2010). It provided ethical parameters relevant for this
research. Furthermore, the author produced a consent form adapted from Saunders et al.
(2009) (appendix 10) and got it electronically acknowledged by Dr. Gioè. He agreed on
every clause except recording of the interview. Consequently, the researcher destroyed
the audio record upon completing the transcription.
12
defined as the “appropriateness” of the researcher’s “behaviour in relation to the rights of those who
become the subject of or are affected” by his / her work (Saunders, et al., 2009). Respondents or
participants should not suffer due to the researcher’s inethical behaviour, interpretation or modification.
13
He suggested that researchers obtain suitable ethical guidelines to inform themselves of the ethical
rules and apply them to the researchers’ projects to prevent unethical behaviours.

Findings and Analysis
This chapter shall present the findings and analysis on the data collected from both
primary and secondary sources. The researcher’s survey data are tabulated under each
question (see appendix 11 – 16).
Source: Yin (2003) cited in Oyelere, 2015)
The format of presentation will follow “the embedded multiple-case study” design as
illustrated above. Each hypothesis will outline the context (theme) within which two or
three units of analysis are carried out. Each case will outline the researcher’s
corresponding survey question; summarise the data collected from different sources;
and analyse them.

Case 1 Power Distance Vs Celebrity and Expert Endorsement
Restatement of Hypothesis
In the literature review chapter, it was hypothesised that French consumers would have
the most favourable attitude on the consumer electronics recommended by or advertised
with experts and celebrities. This was because their cultures were relatively more
hierarchical.14
On the other hand, Italian consumers were not expected to be as
receptive to public opinion leaders.
To prove this, the first question in the author’s survey was, “how much would you
prefer personal electronic products recommended by celebrities or well-known experts
in their field?” (0 = does not affect my purchase decision, 10= very much). The result
was as follows in the graph.
14
This hypothesis was based on Kau and Jung’s (2004) argument that consumers from hierarchical
cultures are more readily persuaded by celebrity or expert endorsement.

The results from the researcher’s survey (appendix 11)
Both mean (shown in the graph above) and median average revealed that celebrity and
expert endorsement was most positively viewed by the Italian consumers. Spanish
consumers had higher mean value than the French. Nonetheless, this does not
necessarily mean that Italian consumers are particular more into the products promoted
by celebrities or experts. In fact, even the Italians’ scores were very low in absolute
terms. This means that in all three countries, consumers’ purchase decisions are little
influenced by this type of promotion.
Validity of the Theories
Ranking
(Highest to
lowest)
Purchase Decisions Readily Persuaded by Celebrities
and Experts
Validity of
Theory
Hypothesised Self-assessed
1 France Italy No
2 Spain Spain Yes
3 Italy France No
In any case, as tabulated above, the survey outcome contrasted with the hypothesis
based on Kau and Jung’s (2004) postulation. So, it can be said that consumer attitudes
towards celebrity endorsement do not correlate with how hierarchical the culture is.
1.2
3.1
1.9
6.8
5.0
5.7
France Italy Spain
Celebrity / Expert Endorsement vs. Hofstede's Power
Distance Index (PDI)
Celebrity / Expert Endorsement Hofstede's PDI

The Interview Results
Qualitative data collected through the
interview with Dr. Gioè (2015) provided
supplementary explanation (see appendix 9).
Dr. Gioè pointed out that it is not as
prominent for electronic products as in Asia
(illustrated on the left). This may be because
European consumers are ignorant towards it.
This point coincides with the researcher’s
observation gained when distributing the
survey. So, firms that sell electronic products
may be reluctant to employ celebrity
endorsement because they are inefffective.
In any case, further decription by Dr. Gioè on consumer characteristics in each country
helped explaining the discrepancy in the scores between the countries. He said that
French consumers have higher tendency to evaluate products rationally and
meticulously before purchasing. In regards to which source of information that French
consumers trust, Dr. Gioè explained that they prefer “direct” and credible ones—e.g.
close friends or family members. This explains why French consumers scored low in
this question; They are not pursuaded by mere image of celebrities or promotion
oriented by companies to increase their sales.
Italian consumers like “well-designed” and fashionable items. This suggest that they are
more sensible towards image. Therefore, famous celebrities endorsing certain images on
electronic products or experts advising for new treneds can be more effective in Italy.
In Spain, the type of promotion with actual (or pretending) users of the products is more
prominent. This suggests Spanish consumers are pursuaded more when other ordinary
citizens like themselves endorse the products rather than celebrities.
Promotion of air conditioning products by LG
using famous actress and actor in Korea
(source: Extralast.com, 2010)

Case 2 Masculine Culture Vs Brand-Consciousness
Hypothesis
Based De Mooij and Hofstede’s arguent (2011), it was hypothesised that Italian
consumers would have higher preference for consumer electronics with premium brands.
For French and Spanish consumers, the brands being premium would not matter as
much.
The corresponding question was “when you decide to buy a personal electronic device
(PED), how important is it that its brand is well-known or prestigious?” (0 = does not
matter at all, 10 = very much)
The Results of the Researcher’s Survey (appendix 12)
France Italy Spain
Hofstede's Masculinity 4.3 7.0 4.2
Brand / Prestige Orientation 5.5 5.6 4.8
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
Hofstede's Masculinity
& Brand / Prestige

The results show the highest score for Italians followed by French. This means, Italian
consumers have higher preference for electronic products by premium brands (e.g.
Apple) than French. The Spanish consumers found it less important that they buy
products from premium brands. When triangulated with the data collected from the
interview,15
this outcome coincided suggesting its accuracy and reliability.
Validity of the Theories
Ranking
(Highest to
lowest)
Preference for Consumer Electronic by Premium
Brands
Validity of
Theory
Hypothesised Self-assessed
1 Italy Italy Yes
2 France France Yes
3 Spain Spain Yes
While the order (ranking) correlated with the hypothesis accepting De Mooij and
Hofstede’s (2011) postulation, the researcher also identified the limitation to this
interpretation; the difference in numerical values is too little (negligible) especially
between the French and Italians. So, it is inadequate to definitely argue which group of
consumers like to buy products with premium brands more than others. Instead, given
the scores were around 5 (the intermediate), it should be interpreted that the brand being
prestigious or famous influenced the purchase decision only to an intermediate extent.
15
Dr. Gioè implied that Italian and French consumers are more interested in (famous and well-known)
brands in general than Spanish consumers.

The Results of Online Survey by GMI/Mintel
(Source: compiled and modified from GMI/Mintel, 2014)
The secondary data16
(figure above) suggest that Italian consumers are interested in
branded products or brands themselves in general17
regardless of whether they are
prestigious or not. They had the highest percentage of internet users who have engaged
in brand-related online activities—i.e. “liking,” “following,” and “visiting” brand
websites.
French had the least percentage of participants. Even so, their lowest percentage being
54% means more than one in every two people visited a brand’s website. The researcher
considered that this was not so low either.
Interestingly, in all three countries, very high majority of respondents liked expressing
their interests in brands by “liking” or “following” them on a social media website.
16
As mentioned in the methodology chapter, this survey by GMI/Mintel (2014) asked “2,000 internet
users aged over 16” in each western European country as to what kind of online activities they have done
over the past three months.
17
The questions of this survey were not confined to electronic products. So, the level of activities with
brands should be interpreted as the level of interests in brands in general.
54
77
69
82
66
79
Visited a brand's own website
Liked or followed a brand on a social media
website
Online Activities in the Past Three Months in relation to Brands
(%)
Spain Italy France

The Importance of Brand in Purchase Decisions
The respondents were asked to “select all of the features that they would critically
consider when purchasing a personal electronic product.” The result is presented in the
table below. Each item was listed in order by popularity and the proportion of
respondents is represented by the percentage.18
<Most Commonly Considered Product Attributes Before Purchase Decisions>
France Italy Spain
1 Utility / functionality 92% 1 Utility / functionality 89% 1 Utility / functionality 89%
2 Quality 92% 2 Quality 89% 2 Price 84%
3 Design / style / colors,
Brand, Price
77%
3 Price 67% 3 Quality 79%
4
Design / style / colors, Post-purchase
installation (applications / software),
and Durability 44%
4 Design / style / colors 74%
5 Durability 63%
4 Durability 69% 6
Post-purchase installation
(applications / software)
37%
5 After-sales service 46% 5 After-sales service 33%
7 Brand, Financing options
(e.g. credit terms) 26%6
Post-purchase installation
(applications / software)
31% 6 Brand 22%
7
Financing options (e.g.
credit terms), Delivery
options
15% 7 Delivery options 11%
8 Country of origin (Made
in...), Others 21%
(Source: Modified from Appendix 13)
18
The source data compiled are available in the appendix 13

Analysis
Some features of products such as “utility, functionality,” “quality” and “price” were
critically considered by most of the consumers regardless of their nationality; however,
the number of responses greatly differed when it comes to consideration of brands. 77%
of the French consumers critically considered the brand, ranking it as their 3rd
most
commonly considered attribute. Contrastingly, only a small number of Spanish (22%,
7th
) and Italians (22%, 6th
) considered it before making their purchase decisions.
Also, contrary to the discussion in the previous case, only less than half of Italian
consumers said that they critically consider design and style of the products. In fact,
higher proportion in French and Spanish consumer groups indicated consideration for
these attributes. This inconsistency could not be explained by the researcher; thus,
presenting an area for future research.
The Interview Results
Dr. Gioè suggested that the connotation of brand can differ between countries.
According to him, French consumers want products that last—i.e. durable. So, for them,
a brand signals product quality and assists estimating durability of products.
Contrastingly, Italian consumers like trying new products. So, they change their
products more frequently. This explains why “price” was more commonly considered
than “durability.” In this context, brand is more of a personality that distinguishes the
products from others. While it provides signs of quality as well, it is not something to be
evaluated critically.
Finally, Dr. Gioè shared his observation that Spanish consumers tend to go for familiar
brands. This reduces the need for critically evaluating between brands.

Uncertainty Avoidant Tendency Vs Consumer Innovativeness
The Survey Question by the Researcher
The participants were asked, “How much do you agree that you are an innovative
consumer? (How often do you buy new electronic products?) (0 = I am a late follower,
10 = I am an early adopter).
Analysis (appendix 14)
The result revealed that Italian consumers assessed themselves as relatively more
innovative than their French and Spanish counterparts (partially as hypothesised). That
being said, the mean value by the Italian respondents was nearly 5. This intermediate
level suggests, while they are not the quickest consumers to adopt cutting-edge
consumer electronics, they still buy them at early stage. So, based on this survey data,
Italian consumers can be labelled as “early majority” on average.
8.6
7.5
8.6
3.2
4.9
2.9
France Italy Spain
Consumer innovativeness Vs. Hofstede's Uncertainty
Avoidance Index (UAI)
Hofstede's UAI

On the other hand, while France and Spain had the same level of UAI,19
Spanish
consumers gave themselves slightly lower scores in this question. Nonetheless, their
mean value is nearly 3. So, it is still closer to 5 than 0 (late follower). This implies that
even if they purchase less frequently and are relatively slower in adopting advanced
consumer electronics, they are a notch quicker than “late followers.” In this context,
both French and Spanish consumers may be labelled as “late majority.”
Validity of Hypothesis
Ranking
(Highest to
lowest)
Hypothesised Consumer
Innovativeness
Self-assessed Consumer
Innovativeness
Validity of
Theory
1 Italy 1 Italy Yes
2
France, Spain
2 France
Partially
3 Spain
The table above shows that Italian consumers were the most innovative as hypothesised
and when self-assessed. As mentioned previously, French and Spanish consumers had
only small difference in self-assessed consumer innovativeness; therefore, the theory
suggested by various authors (Kumar & Alkailani, 2011; Lynn & Gelb, 1996;
Steenkamp et al., 1999 cited in Usunier & Lee, 2005, p. 93; Patwardhan, 2013) proves
to be partially true.
Findings from the Interview with Differing Outcomes
Dr. Gioè explained that both Italians and Spanish have the “tendency in common to
pursue variety of products and to try something new,” which is somewhat different from
the findings above. He believes that “the Italians are equally interested in new products
and when something comes out in the market, they always talk about it.”
19
It was discussed in the literature review section that uncertainty avoidance means consumers’
resistance towards uncertain outcomes.

Actual Level of Ownership of the Latest Consumer Electronics in Each Country
(appendix 5)
(Source: modified from GMI/Mintel, 2014)
The survey outcome by GMI/Mintel (2014) was partially in line with Dr. Gioè’s opinion.
It revealed that Spanish people lead the ownership of technologically-advanced
products. For example, 3DTV, Internet-enabled TV, and to a certain extent,
High-Definition TV (HDTV) use advanced technology. Spanish consumers had the
highest ownership of 3DTV and HDTV (graph above). Surprisingly, Italian consumers
scored the least ownership of advanced televisions in all three categories.
73
26
11
71
22
11
77
25
13
High-definition TV
Internet-enabled TV
3DTV
Household ownership of televisions in Spain, Italy, and France
(%)
Spain Italy France

(Source: modified from GMI/Mintel, 2014)
The types of mobile phones that consumers currently own could also be used as a sign
of consumer innovativeness; consumers who use smatphones–which have relatively
more advanced features–can be said to be more innovative.
Again, referring to the graph above, Spanish consumers had the highest ownership of
smartphones. Since they had the lowest owerneship of basic mobile phones, it means
that Spanish consumers have been the quickest in transitioning from the conventional
ones to smartphones. On the other hand, Italy occupied the second place in smartphone
ownership while having the the highest basic mobile phone ownership. This means that
in many households, both types of phones are being used. For example, grandparents
may continue to use basic phones while the younger family membres use smartphones.
Alternatively, some members of the family may have retained the old ones even after
buying smartphones.
68
32
78
42
86
22
Smartphone
Basic mobile
Household ownership of mobile phones in Spain, Italy, and
France (%)
Spain Italy France

(Source: modified from GMI/Mintel, 2014.)
The graph above reveals that Spain has the highest rate of ownership of electronic
products in 9 product categories. Especially when it comes to newly introduced
products such as e-readers and tablet computers, Spanish ownership is visibly greater
than other countries. France had the least ownership of these products except Blu-ray
player and desktop computer. These technologies have been introduced since a while
ago. So, this may imply that French consumers prefer to wait until the electronic
products become common and familiar in the market.
78
69
65
38
48
40
8
26
83
72
62
72
51
43
17
16
83
74
72
72
57
51
33
13
Laptop/netbook computer
DVD player
Desktop computer
Digital or video camera (excluding mobile phones)
Static games console (eg Nintendo Wii, PS3, Xbox
360)
Tablet computer (eg Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy
Tab)
E-reader (eg Kindle, Kobo, Nook)
Blu-ray player (excluding PlayStation 3, PlayStation
4, Xbox One)
Household ownership of other electronic products in Spain, Italy,
and France (%)
Spain Italy France

The Interpretation of Inconsistent Results
As to the inconsistent results, the researcher proposes two possible causes. Firstly, since
the survey question was of subjective nature, there might have been difference in
interpretation. So, the Italian consumers may have been more generous when giving
scores to themselves than the Spanish did to themselves. Alternatively, external factors
may have been involved preventing these latest consumer electronics from coming into
wide use–e.g. “structure of the industry” (Gioè, 2015) or the rate of VAT. If this is the
case, further research in this area could be helpful explaining the inconsistency.
Validity of Hypothesis
The results of the researcher’s survey proved that the hypothesis was largely valid;20
however, the findings from other sources (the secondary survey and the interview)
showed inconsistency. Consequently, it is questionable to conclude the theory to be
valid. Further research is recommended in this area.
20
There was a negative correlation between self-assessed consumer innovativeness and Hofstede’s
uncertainty avoidance index (UAI) as suggested by theory by Kumar and Alkailani (2011), Lynn & Gelb
(1996), Steenkamp et al. (1999) and Patwardhan (2013).
Ranking
(Highest to
lowest)
Hypothesised
Consumer
Innovativeness
Self-assessed
consumer
innovativeness
Actual level of
ownership of latest
consumer electronics
1 Italy Italy Spain
2
France, Spain
France Italy
3 Spain France

Information Searching Behaviors and Uncertainty-Avoidant Tendencies
Hypothesis
French and Spanish consumers—from uncertainty-avoidant cultures—would evaluate
more product information than Italians before purchasing consumer electronics. If they
do not have the information, they will engage more in information searching activities
to gain enough understanding of the products.
The Survey Question
“How much information concerning the personal electronic products would you
consider before making the purchase decision?” (0 = none, 10 = very much)
Self-assessed Level of Information Search Behaviour
To the contrary to the hypothesis, French consumers said that they considered the least
information whereas Italians assessed the most. This order was also observed in
GMI/Mintel’s survey (2014)—which inquired into online information searching
behaviours.
8.6
7.5
8.6
4.4
7.6
5.96.1
4.4
5.3
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.0
France Italy Spain
Uncertainty Avoidance and Information Searching
Behaviours
Hofstede's Uncertainty
Avoidance
Self-assessed Quantity of
Product Information
Considered
Average Number of Critical
Product Attributes

(Source: modified from GMI/Mintel, 2014. Input data can be found in the appendix 4)
The graph above shows that relatively more Italians engaged in online research
activities—related to consumption or purchase—than French and Spanish counterparts.
The only activity surpassed by another national was “finding, buying, and using the
local voucher deals”—by the Spanish consumers. Having said that, it should also be
noted that almost as many Spanish internet users engaged in online research activities as
the Italians. So it can be said that Italian and Spanish consumers are both active
researchers on the web.
“Visiting a brand’s own website” is included in this part again because the author
assumed that it was very likely that the purpose of “visiting” was to engage in some
information search from their websites.
55
44
54
56
39
65
65
69
69
47
43
62
66
69
49
Visited price comparison websites
Read product / service reviews
Visited a brand’s own website
Found things to/places to visit locally
Found, bought, or used local voucher deals
The Percentage of Internet Users Who Engaged in Information
Searching Activities over the past 3 Months (%)
Spain Italy France

Average Number of Product Attributes that Consumers Assess Critically
(Appendix 15.2)
Question 3
Please select all of the features that you would critically consider when
purchasing a personal electronic product
Average number of product attributes that consumers from France, Italy and Spain critically consider
before making a purchase decision (modified from the results for question no. 3)
Mean Average 6.076923077 4.444444 5.315789
While the previous finding seemingly suggest the hypothesis was invalid, upon
calculating average number of product attributes considered in each country, the
researcher unexpectedly came across a contrasting outcome. 21
French consumers
considered approximately 6 attributes on average while the Italians chose slightly more
than 4 (as tabulated above). The Spanish average (5) was between the French and the
Italian average; thus, the new order can be tabulated as below.
Ranking
(Highest to
lowest)
Hypothesised Quantity of
Information Considered /
Searched
Average Number of Product
Attributes Considered
Validity of
Theory
1 France, Spain 1 France
Partially Yes2
Italy
2 Spain
3 Italy
While these findings seem to partially correlate with the hypothesis, one may also argue
that the numerical difference is too little—because it is not convincing to conclude that
consumer behaviours reflect their cultural differences just because they evaluate one
more product attribute on average than consumers from other countries.
21
In fact, the data used were collected from the researcher’s survey question number 3. This question
was once discussed in the “achievement oriented culture vs. preference for prestigious brand” case.

Findings from the Interview
In any case, Dr. Gioè’s opinion agreed that French consumers generally evaluate more
product information than other two European counterparts. Additionally he estimated
that there are more price comparison websites in France. This may explains why higher
percentage of French internet users visited these websites than the Spanish.
Analysis and Interpretation
To understand why the findings presented inconsistent conclusions, the reseacher
reviewed the survey questions. He found that they suggested different contexts as
tabulated below.
1st
question
How much product information in general is considered before purchase
2nd
question
What kind of research activities are done on the web relating to shopping
or consumption
3rd
question
How many product attributes are considered critically when purchasing
the products
In fact, analysing these contextual differences, the researcher could deduce another
conclusion—i.e. consumers from each country have different style of evaluating
products to make their purchase decisions. For example, French consumers focus more
on the product attributes, which serve as evaluation criteria for their buying decisions.
This means, French consumers gauge the likely outcome of the purchase or suitability
of their chosen product by matching their needs and relevant product attributes - e.g.
portability, durability, price, etc. For that, they are not so interested in looking for
general information associated with products (e.g. what other consumers say about the
products on the web).

On the other hand, Italian consumers like to research—more specifically reading
product / service reviews. This would help them to envisage the outcomes after
purchase. Since the overall experience of other consumers using the products becomes
the basis for buying decisions, they can check less on products themselves. The level of
pre-purchase online research and product attribute evaluation by Spanish consumers
was in between the Italian and French consumers.
Validity of Theories
Coinciding with Usunier and Lee’s statement (2005), the findings demonstrated that the
level of information search activity differed by country. However, as with Garner and
Thompson (1986 cited in Kau and Jung, 2004. p.14) and Solomon et al. (2006), the
findings presented contrasting conclusions; therefore, the argument that consumers from
high uncertainty-avoidant cultures search for or consider more product information
could not be fully validated. This suggest further research to be carried out in the future.

Individualism vs. Collectivism & Reference Group Opinions
Hypothesis
It was discussed in the literature review that consumers from collectivist cultures reflect
opinions of their reference groups22
more than those from individualist cultures. For
that, it was hypothesised that Spanish consumers would incorporate opinions of their
friends or family or colleagues the most when making purchase decisions. Italian
consumers would be the most independent decision makers for purchases.
Survey Question
“When you decide to buy a personal electronic product (PED), how much would you
have considered the opinions of people around you?” (0 = none, 10 = very much).
Survey Results
22
The reference groups are friends, family, colleagues, or even celebrities that one aspires to resemble or
thinks he/she already resembles.
7.1
7.6
5.1
5.6 5.3 5.4
France Italy Spain
Hofstede's Individualism / Collectivism vs. Reflection on
Reference Group Opinions
Hofstede's Individualism vs. Collectivism

The results show that Italy still had the lowest dependence of opinions of their reference
groups, while French consumers seek more for opinions from their reference groups
than the Spanish.
Validity of Theory
Ranking
(Highest to
lowest)
Hypothesised Level of
Reflection on Reference Group
Opinions
Self-assessed Level of
Reflection on Reference Group
Opinions
Validity of
Theory
1 Spain 1 France No
2 France 2 Spain No
3 Italy 3 Italy Yes
The survey outcomes suggest that the hypothesis did not fully hold true. Therefore,
Childers and Rao (1992), Webster and Faircoth III (1994), and Kau and Jung’s theory
(2004), on which the hypothesis above was based, may need revision.
Interpretation of the Results
France Italy Spain
Written product / service reviews 32% 45% 42%
In the previous case, it was mentioned that French consumers engage relatively less in
online information searching activities—especially when it comes to product reviews.
One reason for this may be that there is less information available on the web in France.
Mintel’s survey (2014) result (table above) shows that France had the least number of
participants who have written product or service reviews over the last three months.
Lack of information on the web may have lead the French consumers to turn to their
friends and family for reference.

Findings from the Interview
To this view, the interview with Dr. Gioè suggested another possible reason. His
experience reflected that French consumers prefer “more direct” information from their
families or friends. They tend to be cautious with information online or from
unverifiable sources—as explained previously with celebrity endorsement. So, it can be
concluded that French consumers prefer internal source of information than the external.
On the other hand, Italian and Spanish consumers seem to depend slightly less on
opinions from their friends and families and take on online information relatively more.
Chapter Summary
So far, findings from primary (the researcher’s survey and the interview) and secondary
data (GMI/Mintel’s survey) have been discussed. Theories discussed in the literature
review were compared to the researcher’s findings to prove their validity. Further
analysis and interpretation of data provided description on consumer behaviours of each
nationality. In the following chapter, these conclusions shall be summarised and
corresponding recommendations shall be suggested for future research.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter shall review the research questions and provide answers to them by
summarising key findings from the research. Limitations to the research outcomes will
be discussed and corresponding recommendations for future research will be suggested
in the end.
Revision of Research Aims and Objectives
Research Aims
1 2
To illustrate specificities of consumer
behaviours in France, Italy and Spain
To verify the validity of theories that link
consumer behaviours and respective cultural
aspects
The Research Objectives
Research objectives
Corresponding
Chapter
I. To define a culture and understand what it consists of.
II. Identify implications for consumer behaviours.
Literature Review
III. To corroborate the validity of reviewed theories and models
relating to cross-cultural consumer behaviour.
IV. To present differences in consumer behaviours with reference
to their cultural specificities.
Findings and
Analysis

Steps to Achieve the Aims and Objectives
In order to achieve the research objectives, thus achieving the aims as well, following
steps have been taken:
Steps Taken to Achieve the Objectives
Objective
1
Relevant literatures were reviewed to define a culture and its dimensions. In this,
Hofstede’s cultural dimension model was used as framework.
Objective
2
Implications of each cultural dimension on consumer behaviours discussed in
existing academic literatures were reviewed.
Objective
3
1. Identifying cultural differences between selected countries (France, Italy and
Spain). For this, indices from Hofstede’s cultural dimensions were used.
2. Establishing expected patterns of outcomes (i.e. hypotheses) in consumer
behaviours in each country based on the cultural differences.
3. Data were collected through survey (both primary and secondary) whose
questions were designed to quantify the results for objective comparison.
4. When the results of the latter comparison agreed with the hypotheses, the
corresponding theories were proved to be valid.
Objective
4
The author carried out an interview to provide contexts (i.e. qualitative explanation
as to differences in consumer behaviours) as well as to corroborate the findings
from surveys.
Research Questions and Answers
Research Question 1. Is there a reliable framework to analyse a culture? What are
the types of consumer behaviours affected by cultural variables?
It was found that Hofstede’s cultural dimension model was the most widely used
framework (Sondergaard, 1994; Steenkamp, 2001 cited in Soares et al., 2007) when
analysing cross-cultural consumer behaviours. This model distinguishes principally four
dimensions of a culture, which are power distance, masculinity / femininity, uncertainty
avoidance and individualism / collectivism (The Hofstede Centre, 2014). Indeed, great

amount of academic and field research has been developed on this model. Many
researchers and scholars have identified and affirmed the linkage between each
dimension and certain areas of consumer behaviours (as discussed in the literature
review and will be discussed once again below).
Research Question 2. Are these existing theories on cultural impact on consumer
behaviours valid?
Summary of Hypotheses and their Validity
The hypotheses
Analysis on the following sources
Author’s survey
Survey by
Mintel
Interview
Case
Study 1
Hierarchical Culture & Celebrity
or Expert Endorsement
Completely no N/A N/A
Case
Study 2
Orientation for Achievement &
Preference for Premium Brands
Yes, but with
low confidence
Not Completely Yes
Case
Study 3
Reluctance towards Uncertain
Outcomes & Consumer
Innovativeness
Partially yes No
Partially
yes
Case
Study 4
Reluctance towards Uncertain
Outcomes & Research and
Evaluation of Product Information
No
Some
correlation but
still no
Partially
no
Case
Study 5
Collectivist Culture & Reflection
on Reference Group Opinions
Not completely N/A No
Relevant theories have been tested in the findings chapter through deductive approach
as summarised in the table above. On the left side, case studies and corresponding
hypotheses tested in this research are listed out. On the right side, it is summarised
whether the analysis on the data—collected from differing sources— proved the validity
of the hypotheses. Further detailed explanations are available below.

Explanation
Case Study 1. Hierarchical Culture & Celebrity or Expert Endorsement
France presented the most hierarchical culture, for which French consumers were
hypothesised to be the most positively affected by celebrity or expert endorsement
promotion. Italian culture was the opposite. However, the author’s survey revealed that
Italian consumers had the most favourable view on the aforementioned promotion
strategy; therefore, Kau and Jung (2004)’s postulation was proved to be invalid in this
research.
Case Study 2. Achievement vs. Quality of Life & Preference for Premium Brands
Italian culture was the most achievement and competition oriented while the Spanish
was the least. So, Italian consumers were predicted to be the most brand and prestige
conscious consumers while the Spanish to be the least. One of the questions in the
Author’s survey and the interview resulted in correlation with the hypothesis— which
was developed on Mooij & Hofstede (2011) and Synovate (2008 as cited in De Mooij,
2010). However, another question in the author’s survey and Mintel’s survey produced
somewhat inconsistent outcomes questioning the validity of the former outcomes.
Case Study 3. Intolerance to Uncertain Consequences vs. Consumer
Innovativeness
As hypothesised, Italians assessed themselves to be the most innovative consumers.
Spanish and French rated themselves to be less innovative; therefore, the author’s
survey results sustained that the theory by Kumar & Alkailani (2011), Lynn & Gelb
(1996), Steenkamp et al. (1999), and Patwardhan (2013) was valid; howver, Mitel’s
survey result revealed that Spanish households have the highest level of ownership of
latest consumer electronics. To this result, Dr. Gioè added that both Spanish and Italian
consumers are the most adventurous and frequent purchasers of electronic products.

Cross-cultural Analysis on European Consumer Behaviours How different are French, Italian and Spanish consumers when purchasing electronic products Taekil Kim Dissertation

Cross-cultural Analysis on European Consumer Behaviours How different are French, Italian and Spanish consumers when purchasing electronic products Taekil Kim Dissertation

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