Cross-Cultural and Cross-National Consumer Research in the Global Economy of the Twenty-First Century

In this article we present a conceptual model of the effect of culture on consumer behavior incorporating the influence of globalization. This conceptual model shows that culture influences various domains of consumer behavior directly as well as through its social, personal, and psychological components/consequences. The model identifies several intermediary variables and processes related to each of these three components/consequences, and also depicts the influence of other environmental factors and marketing strategy elements on consumer behavior. We also identify five different categories of consumer culture orientation resulting from globalization. Highlights of each of the eight other articles included in this special issue are provided using the conceptual model as the structure and also indicating the nature of the article, cultures, and/or nations compared and sample sizes. We conclude with the contributions of the articles in terms of their coverage of the five different consumer cultural orientations and identify directions for future research.