In the previous segment, you learned that the lack of residential mobility is related to more materialistic consumption in China. In this segment, you will learn that the lower relational mobility in China also affects Chinese consumers’ reactions to foreign goods. In China, US, European and Japanese brands are typically perceived to have higher quality. A foreign company can leverage on the country-of-origin effect when they try to enter the consumer markets in China. Nonetheless, because the psychological characteristics of the Chinese consumers are different, foreign companies often feel the needs to adapt their products to the local consumers, mixing elements of foreign and local cultures in the design of the products. I will refer to this type of products as culturally mixed products. Do Chinese consumers’ higher levels of materialism and experience of restricted relational mobility have any effects on their acceptance of culturally mixed products? Recall that we also asked the Chinese consumers in our cross-national survey to indicate their acceptance of these products. We asked them what they would like to order for themselves in an American fast food store in China. On the menu are seven typical American fast food items, like the fried chicken and the burger. The remaining six items are fusion foods. An example being the Beijing duck wrap. We also asked participants how much they liked each of these items, as well as how culturally mixed they felt each food item was. Chinese consumers do perceive the six fusion items to be more culturally mixed than the seven American items. They also rated all six fusion food items to be culturally mixed. In general, Chinese consumers welcome culturally mixed products. Compared to American consumers, Chinese consumers are more likely to choose the culturally mixed items for themselves. Moreover, relational mobility predicts Chinese consumers’ acceptance of culturally mixed items. Chinese consumers who reported having experienced high relational mobility like culturally mixed products more. When the Chinese feel that they can develop new relations and leave current relations more easily, they are more culturally open in consumption; they are more willing to try out novel food that have ingredients from dissimilar cultures. Conspicuous consumption predicts Chinese consumers’ acceptance of culturally mixed items as well. Those who favor conspicuous consumption are also more willing to try out fusion food. This is the case because the fusion food combines Chinese ingredients with American ingredients, and many Chinese perceive things from American culture to have higher status. Thus, trying out fusion food may help to signal higher social status. Let’s take a minute to summarize what you should know by now. Materialism and conspicuous consumption in China. Self-esteem do not explain the above. Why elitism and relational mobility matters so much. And how the above changes consumption patterns and acceptance of foreign products. In the next segment, you will learn how these findings can be used to inform marketing strategies when foreign companies do business with Chinese consumers.
