The power of social influence: East-West Comparison on Purchasing Behavior

This article compares consumer decision-making endeavors between Indians, Thais, Taiwanese, Americans, and Australians. Utilising Hofstede's framework, the paper argues that cultural dimensions influence consumer decision making endeavors. It is essential that managers understand cross-cultural consumer decision-making process to make strategic decisions or effectively handle members of these nationalities. Marked differences were found between the two populations for: group harmonization, peer support, conflict avoidance, and social influence in purchasing behavior. The results suggest that consumer decision process differs due to consumers ' cultural values. Managerial implications and future research directions are discussed