IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON DECISION-MAKING BY PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS OF ECONOMIC GOODS

Increased interest in specific aspects of cross-cultural variations in behavior of consumers coming from different cultures is currently observed both among scholars and international/global companies engaged in marketing activity on the global market. Data on variations in behavior of consumers from different cultures serves as the basis for development of either differentiated or undifferentiated (standardized) marketing strategies by international companies. This article reveals the nature of such phenomena as interpenetration, deterritorialization, contamination, pluralism and hybridization of culture that influence the behavior of consumers on the global markets. It also exposes the extent of differences or similarities in behavior of consumers from different cultures/countries, identified in the course of the review of 86 international studies of cross-cultural variations in consumer behavior conducted over a 17-year period from 2000 to 2016. The studies, published in the leading international peer-reviewed journals, were selected based on 19 criteria and grouped into three categories: study description, market description and characteristics of culture. In this article the author uses content analysis to systemize approaches to implementation of results of research of cross-cultural variations in consumer behavior in international marketing. The author concludes that while marketing strategy of differentiation currently prevails, the above-mentioned phenomena may cause this pattern to significantly change in the future.