The influence of Hofstede dimensions of national culture on consumer behavior in Gulf countries

Sam Toglaw, PhD*

* ‏Head of Marketing Degree, The Australian College of Kuwait.

samtoglaw@gmail.com

We examined qualitatively the influence of Hofstede dimensions of national culture on consumer behavior in Gulf countries in the Middle East. Focus groups were formed and the outcomes were analyzed. Results indicated that the national culture in the gulf countries is collectivist and feminine. However, it has a high indulgence and short term orientation contrary to the majority of expatiates who live in gulf countries with long term orientation and restrained style of living. On the other hand. High indulgence is perceived by members of the focus groups as a social problem because it is related to overspending, over consumption and higher tendency to purchase luxury products. Cross communication and educational programs were suggested to elevate the level of awareness of the consumers in gulf council countries (GCC) in relation to the negative consequences of high indulgence.

On the other hand, power distance and uncertainty avoidance were reviewed. Citizens of gulf countries were described to share a lower power distance and uncertainty avoidance among each other but the national culture of these countries tend to reflect a medium to high levels of power distance and uncertainty avoidance. The potential problems associated to these dimensions were highlighted and solutions were proposed.

Keywords: National culture, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, consumer behavior, decision making process, low involvement and high involvement purchase process.

Introduction

Hofstede (1973) defined culture as the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others. He described the national culture of a country with four dimensions, Power Distance (PDI), Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV), Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS) and Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI). In 1991, he added the fifth dimension of national cultures which is “long-term versus short-term orientation” in order to cover aspects of values not discussed in the original paradigm. In 2010 he added a sixth dimension which is “indulgence versus self-restraint” as a result of co-author Michael Minkov’s analysis of data from the World Values Survey. In the following few pages the dimension of national culture are reviewed with a focus on the Gulf Council Countries (GCC). I addition the relationship and influence of national culture on consumer behavior is investigated.

Power distance (PDI) expresses the degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. The fundamental issue here is how a society handles inequalities among people. People in societies exhibiting a large degree of power distance accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. In societies with low power distance, people strive to equalise the distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power. Cultures that endorse low power distance expect and accept power relations that are more consultative or democratic.

Individualism versus collectivism dimension (IDV) describes the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. It reflects people’s self-image in terms of “I” or “we.”

In individualistic societies, the stress is put on personal achievements and individual rights. People are expected to stand up for themselves and their immediate family, and to choose their own affiliations. It is a preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their immediate families only.

In contrast, in collectivist societies, individuals act predominantly as members of a lifelong and cohesive group or organization it represents a preference for a tightly-knit framework in society in which individuals can expect their relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.

Masculinity vs. femininity (MAS) dimension describes the distribution of emotional roles between genders. The masculinity side of this dimension represents a preference in society for achievement, heroism, competitiveness, assertiveness and material reward for success. People in the society at large are more in competition . Its opposite, femininity, stands for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak, building relations and quality of life. Society at large is more consensus-oriented.

In masculine cultures, the differences between gender roles are more dramatic and less fluid than in feminine cultures where men and women have the same values emphasizing modesty and caring.

The uncertainty avoidance dimension (UAI) expresses the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. It reflects the extent to which members of a society attempt to cope with anxiety by minimizing uncertainty particularly in relation to future events. Do people need to control future or let it happen. To what extent can deal with unclear and unstructured situations.

People in cultures with high uncertainty avoidance tend to be more emotional. They try to minimize the occurrence of unknown and unusual circumstances and to proceed with careful changes step by step planning and by implementing rules, laws and regulations. In contrast, low uncertainty avoidance cultures accept and feel comfortable in unstructured situations or changeable environments and try to have as few rules as possible. People in these cultures tend to be more pragmatic, they are more tolerant of change. Countries exhibiting strong UAI maintain rigid codes of belief and behavior. Weak UAI societies maintain a more relaxed attitude in which practice counts more than principles (McSweeney, 2002).

Long term vs. short term orientation (LTO) is the fifth dimension that describes societies time horizon. Long term oriented societies attach more importance to the future. They foster pragmatic values oriented towards rewards, including persistence, saving and capacity for adaptation. In societies with a long-term orientation, people believe that truth depends very much on situation, context and time. They show an ability to adapt traditions to changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and invest, thriftiness, and perseverance in achieving results.

In short term oriented societies, values promoted are related to the past and the present, including steadiness, respect for tradition, preservation of one’s face, reciprocation and fulfilling social obligations. A relatively small propensity to save for the future, and a focus on achieving quick results.

Indulgence versus restraint dimension (IVR) describes the extent to which members in a society try to control their desires and impulses. Whereas indulgent societies have a tendency to allow relatively free gratification (fulfillment) of basic and natural human desires related to enjoying life and having fun, restrained societies have a conviction that such gratification needs to be curbed and regulated by strict norms.

The country scores on the Hofstede dimensions can also be found to correlate with other data about the countries in question. Some examples: power distance is correlated with income inequality in a country. Individualism is correlated with national wealth. Masculinity is correlated negatively with the percent of women in democratically elected governments. Uncertainty avoidance is associated with the legal obligation in developed countries for citizens to carry identity cards. Long-term orientation is correlated with school results.

Table 1: Hofstede national culture dimensions as viewed by international studies

National Culture Dimension	High	Medium	Low
PDI	Latin and Asian countries, African areas and the Arab world	USA	Anglo and Germanic countries –Most Europe In Europe, power distance tends to be lower in northern countries and higher in southern and eastern parts: for example, 68 in Poland and 57 for Spain vs. 31 for Sweden and 35 for the United Kingdom.
IND	North America and Europe	Japan and the Arab world	Asia, Africa and Latin America
UAI	Latin American countries, Southern and Eastern Europe countries including German speaking countries, and Japan	Middle East	Anglo, Nordic, and Chinese culture countries as well as Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Denmark
MAS	Japan, Europe, Venezuela		Scandinavian / Nordic countries: Norway scores 8 and Sweden, Most Latin American countries
LTO	East Asia and Japan	Europe	Anglo countries, the Muslim world, Africa and in Latin America
IVR	Latin America, parts of Africa, the Anglo world and Nordic Europe		East Asia, Eastern Europe and the Muslim world.

National culture and consumer behavior

Hofstede dimensions of national culture have very important implications on the consumer behavior and social interactions in a society. For example, consumers in countries with high level of uncertainty avoidance would require more guarantees on the performance of a particular product before buying it. Companies which are selling cars in a country of high UAI need to focus their marketing communications and promotional campaigns on safety and warranties for main parts or the car.

Also, selling cars to consumers in countries with national culture of long term orientation require focusing on values related to capacity for adaptation and savings based on longer service life and higher cash for reselling the car.

Therefore, it is plausible to say that companies selling cars in countries with high indulgence dimension need to focus on the luxury of the car, its shape and design as well as offering more features in order to allow customers reach the maximum joy and fulfillment.

China is a high collectivist country. Promoting cars in china requires showing a collective experience of driving the car. Ads and commercials should show friends or a group of people driving  the car with a collective experience of satisfaction and happiness. Whereas promoting cars in individualistic societies require showing personal benefits and satisfaction on the individual level.

Consumer behavior in GCC countries

Gulf council countries (GCC) are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Oman. They are oil producing countries in the Middle East which attract a large number of expatriates from all over the world to work and live in a tax free environment. A large percentage of expatriates are from the Middle East who share some cultural and religious aspects with the citizens of GCC countries.

Cultural differences are more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Not all people can accommodate cultural differences. understanding these differences facilitates cross cultural communication and helps solve many behavioral problems.

Although some researchers studied some aspects of consumer behavior in Gulf Council countries, there is little work written about the Hofstede cultural dimensions in these countries. The study conducted by Alhemoud (2008) explains that the merchandise image was the most salient in determining the frequency of supermarket shopping in Kuwait but it does not cover the potential dimension of national culture that could influence the intention for frequent shopping. In other study conducted by Al-Jeraisy (2008) on the consumer behavior of Saudi families, the female gender was found positively associated to the purchase decision process in a collectivist society that is perceived to have a higher power distance between the male and female genders.  Therefore, in order to explore more relations between the national culture dimensions and the consumer behavior, this study requires an exploratory qualitative approach to find the link between the national culture and consumer behavior in GC countries. 

Method

The study is an initiative exploratory investigation of the influence of Hofstede dimensions of national culture on consumer behavior in GCC countries. Therefore, a qualitative approach based on focus groups and semi-structured interviews was adopted. In-depth interviews will help probe more deeply than it is possible with other research methods. Also, they will help understand and compare interviewee’s opinions, feelings and personal experiences.

Sample

Six focus groups each consists of six members where used as a preliminary research method. Each focus group consists of three local citizens of a GCC country and three expatriates who lived in a particular GCC country for minimum of ten years. Each focus group was oriented for one country of the six GCC countries. GCC countries are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Oman. The focus groups aimed to picture the dimensions of Hofstede national culture in Arab gulf countries in the Middle East. In addition, the discussions with the members in the focus groups aimed for defining the influence of various Hofstede dimension on the consumer behavior in GCC countries. The average time of each focus group was 90 minutes.

Data Analysis

The qualitative data enabled a dynamic handling of the research where data collection and analysis took place concurrently and the ideas were refined and revised in the light of the gathered information. A checklist was used to guide the progress of the focus group and insure that all relevant points are covered. The conducted focus group interviews were transcribed and analyzed. The text in each paragraph with flagged with keywords. Key words were defined and grouped into different themes.

The frequencies of occurrence of key words were recorded. The obtained qualitative data from in-depth interviews were analyzed by simple content analysis (Miles and Huberman, 1984). Data was categorized in a systematic way to uncover patterns or themes and to extract meanings from the collected mass information. 

Results

Members of focus groups agree that the national culture of  GCC countries is collectivist and feminine. First of all it embraces a tightly-knit framework in which individuals can expect their relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.

On the other hand, the national culture of  GCC is viewed as a feminine culture which demonstrates a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak, building relations and aspiration for quality of life.

Uncertainty avoidance

Also, the national culture of  GCC is described as low in uncertainty avoidance due to fact that locals have strong social ties due to familial and tribal structure of the society. Locals visit each other frequently in reception halls commonly called Diwaniya or Majlis. 

On the other hand, uncertainty avoidance was described to be higher for consumers shopping in GC markets. Members of focus groups referred this higher level to two factors, firstly most sales people in GC countries are expatriates that come from different cultures which could be subject to stereotyping in some cases. Secondly, the market relies mainly on imported goods from different parts of the world. Not all these products are from known or international brands, the matter that requires insurances for good performance such as warrantees and testimonials.

Power distance

Although the respondents of the focus groups indicated that the national culture in GC countries tend to reflect medium to high power distance, the focus group about Kuwait described the citizens of Kuwait as having lower level of  power distance among each others. That was explained by the higher level of self-efficacy referred to strong familial and tribal influence. As a result a large portion of the society do not accept the unequal distribution of power and show a lower power distance.

In relation to the purchase process, people in the gulf countries prefer a higher power distance between the buyer and the sales person. However, in a collectivist society, families tend to be more consultative and show less power distance among each others.

When buyers exercise a high level of power distance towards a salesperson, this could cause communicational and behavioral problems between the buyer and the seller. This could happen when one of them (particularly the seller) does not accept the higher level of power distance  exercised by the consumer. Exercising a low power distance can be viewed as lacking respect and requiring discipline in cultures demanding high power distance with hierarchical order in which everybody has a place which needs no further justification.

Indulgence versus restraint

Finally, results of the focus groups indicate that locals have higher level of indulgence versus restraint in comparison to expatriates.  Locals live in wealthy tax free countries and enjoy a higher income in comparison to other countries. This creates an environment that allows relatively free gratification (fulfillment) of basic and natural human desires. These desires are related to life enjoyment, higher consumption rates of relatively expensive and luxurious products. The indulgence dimension of national culture was discussed with subjects from GCC countries. Many focus group members raised concerns of taking the indulgence dimension out of its context. They view this dimension of national culture as related to or associated with overspending, over consumption which are potential precursors for many unfavorable behaviors and consequences such as wasting, obesity and related diseases.

In order to address this problem, cross cultural communication, and training programs were suggested. Interaction with other national cultures could be substantiated through travel and interaction with people in countries of medium to low indulgence orientation.

Another aspect of indulgence is the allowance of free gratification of basic desires such as fun. Although this is viewed as desirable in countries of high indulgence score such as the Anglo world, Latin America and parts of Africa and Nordic Europe, focus groups criticized the unregulated style of life that relies on high indulgence which could be positively associated with unfavorable behaviors. 

Long term versus short term orientation

Locals were perceived to have a short term orientation than expatriates who attach more importance to the future and show a strong propensity to save and invest for the future. Locals enjoy more income and social security benefits which lower relatively their long term orientation. Consumers in GC countries enjoy a higher income than many other countries. Citizens tend to give preference for indulgence over restraint way of life contrary to many expatiates who tend to make savings (long term orientation) and purchase less expensive products (restrained way of life).

Directions For Future Research

This is an exploratory research based on qualitative analysis of focus group output. It gives directions for further research in this area particularly the national cultures of the gulf countries. These countries are distinguished from other Middle Eastern countries by many important aspects such as the feminine conservative culture where the population is a mix between local citizens and expatriates.

A quantitative approach based on statistical analysis of questionnaires filled by shoppers in gulf countries will generate more interesting causal relationships between the Hofstede dimensions of national culture and several behavioral aspects of the consumers in these countries.

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