Consumer Behavior and Culture

`It is no exaggeration to say that de Mooij's theory and findings as presented in this book might serve as a basis and a source of inspiration for an emerging sociology of translation, not only in terms of modelling and empirical research, but also for didactic purposes. Her model and findings have the potential to offer invaluable input into the practice of translation at large, rather than just the translation of advertising, as they may facilitate the discovery of deep-level cultural factors underlying discoursal practices' - The Translator
It is increasingly understood that consumers worldwide are not the same. This book is the first that provides empirical evidence that differences in consumer behaviour across countries are not decreasing but increasing. It points at the increased need to understand culture to explain the differences because all aspects of consumer behaviour are culture-bound. Culture is not just an environmental factor, it is integrated in all of human behaviour, and thus in consumer behaviour.
The book presents a model of consumer behaviour in which culture is integrated. The structure of the book follows this model. After reviewing the myths of global marketing the concept of culture and models of culture are explored, and empirical evidence is provided of convergence and divergence in consumer behaviour. After that the various psychological and sociological aspects of human behaviour are covered that are used for explaining consumer behaviour. Examples are the concept of self and personality and the various social and mental processes such as group-influence, motivation, emotion, perception, information processing.

Marieke de Mooij, Ph.D. (Netherlands), is a consultant in cross-cultural communications, as well as a retired profesora associada of international advertising at the University of Navarra in Spain and visiting professor at several universities across the world. She is the author of several academic publications on the influence of culture on marketing and advertising. She has also authored books on culture and consumer behavior as well as culture and communication theory worldwide.

"Prof. De Mooij helps the reader navigate unknown landscapes through interesting anecdotes. Where she goes beyond anecdotes, are the solid analyses around a well-tested statistical model for understanding cultures. Dr de Mooij has written a timely book, one that adds tremendously to informed debate on what culture means for consumption. For practitioners, be they in academia or business, it demonstrates once again exactly how rich insights can be extracted from rigorous data. It is an exhortation to go beyond the first conclusion that springs to mind. Finally, as citizens of a rapidly developing country , all Indian readers would be grateful to the author for asserting what we have always thought but have seldom been encouraged to believe that we are representatives of unique history, heritage and culture. And that being Indian is not a cause for being defensive on the Global Arena."