Consumer Behaviour in Asia

In recent decades, Asia has been home to many of the world’s most dynamic markets. The region now represents 25 per cent of the world economy and about 50 per cent of the world’s population. It is for this reason that few international companies can afford to ignore Asia as a market of primary importance, despite the crisis which hit parts of the region in 1997/98. Western firms without a presence in the region often fail to perceive the opportunities they miss in Asia to generate sales and profits or acquire experience, although their very absence represents the most substantial competitive threat to their future in the long run.

Before proceeding with a discussion of Asian consumer behaviour, it is necessary to have a basic understanding of those cultural characteristics which are specific to Asia and which result in a pattern of consumer behaviour fundamentally different from that found in the West. In this chapter, we will look at Asian religions, concept of self, others and the collective group, roles and status, and family dynamics in order to understand how Asian culture differs from that of the West, particularly along Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Trompenaars’ value orientations.

Child-rearing and educational practices largely determine how an individual’s patterns of learning, problem-solving, information-processing and memory are formed. Whether an individual comes from a low or a high context culture and also a universalist or particularist culture will affect the development of his perceptual and cognitive skills. Those from a high context culture may more readily learn and remember the totality of images and messages, while those from low context cultures may tend to break down the whole to remember the elements. In terms of communication styles, a high context/low context orientation is typically reflected in the level of explicitness of the language. Thus learning, memory and communication styles are additional distinctly culture-bound aspects of consumer behaviour.

While culture helps us to understand a society’s consumer behaviour, the reverse is true as well: observation of a society’s consumption behaviour illuminates aspects of culture. Consumption choices can reflect how an individual perceives himself, his gender and his role as part of a larger whole or as an isolated individual. Culture and consumer behaviour are therefore intimately and inextricably linked. As it is necessary to understand one in order to understand the other, we began with a discussion of the distinctive features of Asian culture compared with cultures of the West. We will now tie these observations to an explanation of current consumer behaviour among Asian cultures and provide an analysis of corresponding marketing implications.

Countries in Asia have been concentrating their energies on economic development and modernisation, and leisure has been relatively low on the list of priorities. As economic development progresses and the personal wealth of the average Asian continues to improve, attention will turn increasingly towards leisure activity. We can expect that in 10 or 20 years, by which time Asians will make up two-thirds of the world’s population, the leisure industry in Asia will have developed enormously. In this section, we will look at the leisure industry as an example of Asian consumer behaviour to illustrate the concepts discussed in earlier chapters.

Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market into distinct groups of consumers with different characteristics, needs and behaviours. Among the various segments identified, the marketer selects one or more of the most attractive or suitable target groups, to which he will tailor appropriate activities within the marketing mix. The marketing mix activities in turn create a certain positioning of the product or service that is appealing to the targeted segment.

Whenever a company expands across borders, it is faced with the issue of either sticking to its product without any change, adapting the product to the new market or developing an entirely new product. The decision taken will depend primarily on the preferences of consumers but is also closely linked with the cost of manufacturing and government regulations.

The world economy is globalising. Time and distance are shrinking as efficiency and speed greatly improve communication, transportation and financial flows. The Internet alone has had an enormous effect in terms of international availability of information as well as the capacity for personal and professional communication. The media, too, have become internationalised; we can watch CNN in the vast majority of cities across the world. In entertainment, the film and music industries ensure the worldwide distribution of movies and music, communicating similar cultural values across the globe.

It was December 1995, and the end-of-year shopping season well under way. Mr Guy Leymarie, President of Cartier Japan, was looking forward to the visit the next week of Mr Alain-Dominique Perrin, President of Cartier International, Mr Richard Lepeu, Managing Director of Cartier International, and their team. Perrin and Lepeu came to Tokyo every year in December to discuss the marketing plans put together by Leymarie and his team, and continued from there to visit other Cartier subsidiaries in Asia. His style of leadership was already familiar to Leymarie, who had been Secretary General of Cartier International in Paris until his posting to Japan in February 1992.