PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Michele Parent
Industrial/Organizational
December 1994

The Effects of Culture on Consumer Response to Dissatisfaction

    The purpose of this study was to research how cultural differences may influence the way individuals respond to dissatisfying consumer situations.  Subjects consisted of 121 volunteers (47 European-Americans, 38 Japanese-Americans and 36 Hispanics).  It was expected that Japanese-Americans and Hispanics would respond differently than European-Americans to dissatisfying scenarios due to the Japanese-American cultural scripts of haji (avoidance of shame) and gaman (to suppress emotion) and the Hispanic cultural script, simpatia (avoidance of negative behavior).

    A one-factor design with three levels of culture was used for each dependent measure.  Planned comparisons were also performed.

    It was found that Japanese-Americans reported non-behavioral voice intentions more than European-Americans and Hispanics.  Also, Japanese-Americans and Hispanics participated in retaliation behavior more than European-Americans.

    These results indicate that different cultural groups will use different complaint behaviors when faced with a dissatisfying consumer experience.

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