Abstract

Expanding cross-cultural social interaction regardless of whether it is real or virtual makes consumers become interested in different cultures, thereby increasing the number of consumers with positive attitudes toward foreign countries. This study examines the role of consumer affinity—a feeling of sympathy and attachment to a specific foreign country—in cross-cultural consumer decision-making. Specifically, it investigates the conditions that promote or inhibit consumer affinity for foreign product evaluation from the perspective of construal level theory and regulatory focus theory. A series of experiments clarified that when considering the purchase of a foreign product, consumer affinity caused a psychological proximity between the two countries, which could result in a change in consumers’ construal level and, therefore, a difference in the effective method of a product appeal (promotion-focused vs. prevention-focused). This psychological mechanism will expand the research on effective communication strategies when marketing products or services globally.

摘要

扩大跨文化的社交，无论是真实的还是虚拟的，都会使消费者对不同的文化产生兴趣，从而增加对外国持积极态度的消费者数量。本研究考察了消费者亲和力——对特定外国的同情和依恋感——在跨文化消费者决策中的作用。具体而言，它从解释水平理论和监管焦点理论的角度研究了促进或抑制消费者对外国产品评价的亲和力的条件。一系列实验阐明，在考虑购买外国产品时，消费者亲和性导致两国之间的心理接近，这可能导致消费者的解释水平发生变化，因此，产品吸引力的有效方法的差异（以促销为重点与以预防为重点）。这种心理机制将扩大对全球营销产品或服务时有效传播策略的研究。