The Influence of Culture and Regulatory Focus on Variety Seeking Behavior

Nowadays it is vital for companies to offer their products all over the world in order to be successful. The economic rise of emerging markets such as China, India or the Middle East increases the importance of those new customer segments, as their contribution towards the companies‘ profits continuously grow. To further exploit the potential of emerging markets, it is important to understand how to acquire and retain those cultural different customers. Existing but scarce academic literature in Variety Seeking Behavior identified that consumers in emerging markets as more brand loyal consumers from Western, industrialized markets. They do not switch brands and show a low tendency to seek variety in their consumer behavior, making them a challenge for companies to be acquired. However, handson experiences and studies reveal that customers in emerging markets actually are engaged in a high Variety Seeking Behavior, switch brands very often, and thus are not brand loyal. Overall, it seems that academic literature and the practical world show mixed findings in terms of Variety Seeking Behavior in a cultural context; findings which must be explored. This book addresses this issue by investigating how and why there are different perceptions on brand switching or variety seeking behavior of those important customers. To answer this, a theoretical framework is developed in which moderating variables are expected to influence the theorized relationship of culture and regulatory focus on Variety Seeking Behavior. The conceptual framework and its empirical validation will advance academic understanding of brand switching habits of customers from emerging markets and will have essential implications for the practical world. At the end, this book finds answers for the mixed results between academia and the practical world.