Criteria for purchase decisions

Although culture-free products resulting from modern human inventions, e.g., cars and computers, are less susceptible to the influence of culture, most products are to some degree culture-bound, e.g., food, clothing, cosmetics, etc. with consumer behavior varying due to their home culture. This chapter discusses those cultural differences with respect to criteria used for purchase decisions, such as novelty, quality, brand characteristics, country-of-origin, purchase risk and political/moral beliefs. Although some questions about the strength of the influence of country-of-origin have been raised, when consumers claim that they do not take the country-of-origin into account in their purchase decisions, they are primarily defending their self-image as a rational person. This chapter also discusses the role of political and moral beliefs. For example, ethically sensitive consumer behavior is more prevalent in cultures characterized by feminine and low power distance values.