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Do consumers acculturated to global consumer culture buy more impulsively? The moderating role of attitudes towards and beliefs about advertising

Journal of Global Marketing, 2019

Barbara Czarnecka, Bruno Schivinski

Journal of Global Marketing, volume 32, issue 4, pages 219–238, 2019 (online 17 June 2019)

  • 426 immigrants in the UK
  • 35 nationalities
  • Structural equation modelling
  • Moderation analysis
  • United Kingdom
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Keywords
  • acculturation to global consumer culture (AGCC)
  • impulsive buying
  • attitudes towards advertising
  • beliefs about advertising
  • global consumer culture
  • impulse purchases
  • consumer acculturation
  • immigrant consumers
  • advertising attitudes
  • advertising beliefs
  • hedonic value of advertising
  • deceptive advertising
  • advertising and materialism
  • globalization and consumption
  • sustainable consumption
  • consumer protection
  • global consumer culture theory
  • acculturation theory
  • congruity theory
  • AGCC scale (Durvasula and Lysonski)
  • impulse buying scale (Ridgway et al.)
  • beliefs about advertising scale (Tan and Chia)
  • United Kingdom
  • migrants
  • cross-cultural consumer behaviour
  • structural equation modelling (SEM)
  • second-order factor model
  • latent moderated structural equations
  • bootstrapping
  • confirmatory factor analysis
  • robust maximum likelihood (MLR)
  • Mplus
  • survey research
  • global advertising strategy
  • consumer segmentation
  • advertising literacy

People who are more immersed in global consumer culture buy more on impulse and like advertising more. In a survey of 426 immigrants living in the UK, the rise in impulse buying was steepest among people who disliked advertising, so negative views of advertising did not protect them.

Key findings

  1. Global consumer culture goes with more impulse buying. In a survey of 426 immigrants from 35 countries living in the UK, acculturation to global consumer culture (AGCC) increased impulsive buying (β = 0.24, p = .004) (Czarnecka & Schivinski, 2019).
  2. It also makes people like advertising more. More acculturated consumers held more positive attitudes towards advertising in general (β = 0.37, p < .001); together with age, gender and income, the model explained 16% of the variance in impulsive buying and 17% in attitudes towards advertising (Czarnecka & Schivinski, 2019).
  3. Disliking advertising does not protect against the pull of global culture. The effect of AGCC on impulsive buying was strongest among people with less favourable attitudes towards advertising (interaction unst. β = −1.49, p = .01) and with weaker beliefs that advertising is entertaining (−2.53, p = .001), informative (−1.15, p = .04) or good for the economy (−2.16, p = .01); those who already liked advertising bought impulsively at every level of AGCC (Czarnecka & Schivinski, 2019).
  4. Seeing advertising as deceptive did not slow the effect either. Believing that advertising is misleading strengthened, rather than weakened, the link between AGCC and impulsive buying (unst. β = 3.42, p = .009), while beliefs that advertising promotes materialism had no moderating effect (p = .66) (Czarnecka & Schivinski, 2019).
  5. Younger consumers and women bought more on impulse. Age reduced impulsive buying (β = −0.30, p = .001), women bought more impulsively than men (β = 0.16, p = .001), and income had a marginal positive effect (β = 0.09, p = .06) (Czarnecka & Schivinski, 2019).

At a glance

Design
Online survey in English; confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modelling with a second-order AGCC factor, and latent moderation analyses with 5,000 bootstrap samples in Mplus 7.2 (MLR)
Participants
426 immigrants living in the UK, from 35 nationalities (Nigeria 24.4%, Poland 21.2%, Germany 12.7%, Pakistan 7%), recruited through online immigrant communities and e-mail; 61% women, mean age 31.2, on average 11 years in the UK
Predictor
Acculturation to global consumer culture: 21 items in seven dimensions (Durvasula & Lysonski, 2015), modelled as a second-order factor
Moderators
Attitude towards advertising in general and six beliefs about advertising (information, social image, hedonic, economy, deception, materialism; Tan & Chia, 2007)
Outcome
Perceived impulsive buying (3 items; Ridgway et al., 2008)
Controls
Age, gender and income
Model fit
CFA: MLR χ²(288) = 343.92, CFI = 0.98, TLI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.02. Structural model: MLR χ²(390) = 584.25, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.03

Figure 1. Model of AGCC, impulsive buying, and attitudes towards and beliefs about advertising

λ = 0.19**Cosmopolitanismλ = 0.19*Exposure to marketingactivitiesλ = 0.22**English languageusage and exposureλ = 0.32***Social interactionsλ = 0.68***Global mass mediaexposuren.s.Openness to and desireto emulate GCCλ = 0.50***Self-identificationwith GCCβ = 0.24**β = 0.37***unst. β = −1.49**Beliefs (unst. β):hedonic −2.53***social image −0.77*information −1.15**economic −2.16**deceptive 3.42**materialism n.s.age −0.30***gender 0.16***income 0.09*age −0.11*gender n.s.income −0.09*R² = 0.16***R² = 0.17***AGCCImpulsivebuyingAttitude towardsadvertising in generalBeliefs aboutadvertisingControls:age, gender,income
AGCC is a second-order factor of seven dimensions (λ = second-order loadings). Dashed arrows show the moderating effects of attitude towards advertising and of the six beliefs about advertising on the AGCC to impulsive buying path (unstandardised interaction coefficients). As printed in the article: * p < 0.1, ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.001; n.s. = not significant.

Figures C–H. The moderating role of attitudes towards and beliefs about advertising on impulsive buying

C. Attitude towards advertising in general−0.6−0.4−0.20.00.20.4Low AGCCHigh AGCCD. Beliefs: hedonic attributes−0.6−0.4−0.20.00.20.4Low AGCCHigh AGCCE. Beliefs: role in creating social image−0.6−0.4−0.20.00.20.4Low AGCCHigh AGCCF. Beliefs: information role−0.6−0.4−0.20.00.20.4Low AGCCHigh AGCCG. Beliefs: advertising is good for the economy−0.6−0.4−0.20.00.20.4Low AGCCHigh AGCCH. Beliefs: deceptive role−0.6−0.4−0.20.00.20.4Low AGCCHigh AGCCMean impulsive buyingMean impulsive buyingLevel of the moderator:HighAverageLow
Redrawn from Appendices C to H of the article (line end points read from the published plots). In every panel impulsive buying rises with AGCC, and the rise is steepest for people who think least of advertising (for the deceptive-role belief, for those who see advertising as least deceptive).

How acculturation to global consumer culture works

Effects of AGCCOn attitude towards advertising0.37On impulsive buying0.24What AGCC is made of (second-order loadings)Global mass media exposure0.68Self-identification with GCC0.5Social interactions0.32English language usage0.22Cosmopolitanism0.19Exposure to marketing activities0.19
Standardised coefficients from Table 1 and Figure 1 of the article (n = 426). The seventh dimension, openness to and desire to emulate global consumer culture, did not load significantly and is not shown.

Tables

Table 1. Standardized structural coefficients of the conceptual model

Path β t p
H1. AGCC → impulsive buying 0.24 2.87 0.004
H2. AGCC → attitudes towards advertising 0.37 4.64 0.001
Control variables
Age → impulsive buying −0.30 −6.11 0.001
Gender → impulsive buying 0.16 3.10 0.001
Income → impulsive buying 0.09 1.85 0.06
Age → attitudes towards advertising −0.11 −1.67 0.09
Gender → attitudes towards advertising −0.08 −1.54 0.12
Income → attitudes towards advertising −0.09 −1.76 0.07

AGCC = second-order factor from acculturation to global consumer culture; MLR χ²(390) = 584.25, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.03 [90% CI 0.02–0.04]. Gender reference: 1 = female; n = 426. p values as printed (0.001 means p ≤ .001).

Table 2. Moderation analysis outcomes

Path Unst. β t p
AGCC → impulsive buying, moderated by
H3. Attitudes towards advertising in general −1.49 −2.75 0.01
H4A. Beliefs about advertising’s hedonic attributes −2.53 −3.34 0.001
H4B. Beliefs about advertising’s role in creating social image −0.77 −1.79 0.07
H4C. Beliefs about advertising’s information role −1.15 −2.03 0.04
H4D. Beliefs about advertising’s economic role −2.16 −2.79 0.01
H5A. Beliefs about advertising’s deceptive role 3.42 2.76 0.009
H5B. Beliefs about advertising promoting materialism 0.36 0.44 0.66
Direct effects on impulsive buying from the moderation analysis
Attitudes towards advertising in general 0.26 3.50 0.001
Beliefs about advertising’s hedonic attributes 0.22 2.07 0.04
Beliefs about advertising’s role in creating social image 0.10 1.43 0.15
Beliefs about advertising’s information role 0.18 2.15 0.03
Beliefs about advertising’s economic role 0.32 2.99 0.001
Beliefs about advertising’s deceptive role −0.50 3.50 0.001
Beliefs about advertising promoting materialism −0.06 −0.55 0.58

Unstandardised coefficients of the latent interactions (5,000 bootstrap samples). Information criteria: AIC = 51,444.02, BIC = 51,902.17, sample-size adjusted BIC = 51,543.58; n = 426. Values as printed in the article.

Table A. Scale items: loadings, explained variance, descriptive statistics and reliability
Construct and item λ R² t Mean (SD) Skew. Kurt. Reliability
AGCC – Cosmopolitanism (Cleveland & Laroche, 2007) α = 0.89; CR = 0.86; FD = 0.96; AVE = 0.67
I am interested in learning more about people who live in other countries. 0.78 0.61 29.60 5.81 (1.25) −1.51 2.79
I like to learn about other ways of life. 0.79 0.63 21.85 5.98 (1.09) −2.03 6.02
I enjoy being with people from other countries to learn about their views and approaches. 0.89 0.80 52.49 5.99 (1.16) −1.79 4.50
AGCC - Exposure to marketing activities α = 0.79; CR = 0.78; FD = 0.90; AVE = 0.55
In my city, there are many billboards and advertising signs for foreign and global products. 0.68 0.32 12.05 3.57 (2.20) 0.23 −1.46
It is quite common to see ads for foreign or global products in local media. 0.73 0.42 15.26 3.55 (2.19) 2.31 −1.58
When I read a newspaper, I come across many advertisements for foreign or global products. 0.81 0.58 19.84 3.55 (2.18) 2.20 −1.45
AGCC - English language usage and exposure α = 0.75; CR = 0.78; FD = 0.90; AVE = 0.55
I feel very comfortable speaking in English. 0.79 0.62 22.68 5.93 (1.83) −1.95 2.46
I often speak English with family or friends. 0.63 0.40 16.45 5.12 (2.29) −0.88 −0.87
I speak English regularly. 0.80 0.64 21.39 5.91 (1.88) −1.86 2.03
AGCC – Social interactions α = 0.75; CR = 0.76; FD = 0.89; AVE = 0.51
I prefer spending my vacations outside of the country that I live in. 0.58 0.34 12.74 5.26 (2.09) −1.38 1.45
Visiting foreign countries is one of my favorite things. 0.81 0.67 25.74 5.45 (2.04) −1.05 −0.33
I often think about going to different countries and doing some traveling. 0.75 0.56 19.39 5.43 (2.16) 2.04 0.27
AGCC – Global mass media exposure α = 0.80; CR = 0.79; FD = 0.98; AVE = 0.56
I enjoy watching Hollywood films at the theater. 0.71 0.50 22.14 4.42 (2.33) −0.36 −1.48
I enjoy watching Hollywood movies that are in English. 0.78 0.61 29.43 4.96 (2.29) 2.29 −0.93
Some of my favorite actors/actresses are from Hollywood. 0.77 0.59 27.18 4.67 (2.30) 2.30 −1.27
AGCC – Openness to and desire to emulate GCC α = 0.76; CR = 0.75; FD = 0.98; AVE = 0.50
I think people my age are basically the same around the world. For example, a 20-something in Nigeria is basically the same as a 20-something in the US, Germany, or anywhere else. 0.58 0.34 9.59 2.51 (1.61) 1.10 0.50
I think that my lifestyle is almost the same as those of my age group in other countries. 0.86 0.74 14.82 2.57 (1.01) 1.00 0.28
I think my lifestyle is almost the same as those of people of my social class in other countries. 0.67 0.37 10.61 1.81 (0.78) 0.78 −0.54
AGCC – Self-identification with global consumer culture α = 0.75; CR = 0.78; FD = 0.89; AVE = 0.56
The way that I dress is influenced by the advertising activities of foreign or global companies. 0.75 0.56 19.27 2.99 (1.97) 0.68 −0.84
Advertising by foreign or global brands has a strong influence on my clothing choices. 0.87 0.77 29.62 3.07 (1.97) 0.62 −0.94
I pay attention to the fashions worn by people in my age group who live in other countries. 0.60 0.35 14.93 3.03 (2.01) 0.66 −0.92
Impulsive Buying (Ridgway et al., 2008) α = 0.77; CR = 0.77; FD = 0.88; AVE = 0.53
I consider myself an impulse purchaser. 0.70 0.49 17.38 3.14 (1.86) 0.47 −1.05
I buy things I don’t need. 0.72 0.52 18.96 3.08 (1.67) 0.65 −0.67
I buy things I did not plan to buy. 0.77 0.60 22.57 3.83 (1.68) 0.09 −1.04
Attitude towards advertising in general (Tan & Chia, 2007) α = 0.79; CR = 0.80; FD = 0.96; AVE = 0.58
Overall, I consider advertising a good thing. 0.88 0.78 30.57 3.43 (0.88) −0.61 0.35
My general opinion of advertising is unfavorable. (reverse scored) 0.52 0.27 11.12 3.23 (0.94) −0.11 −0.25
Overall, I like advertising. 0.85 0.72 35.03 3.40 (0.92) −0.69 0.26
Beliefs about advertising’s information role α = 0.87; CR = 0.88; FD = 0.95; AVE = 0.71
Advertising is a valuable source of information about sales. 0.80 0.64 38.54 3.78 (0.99) −0.80 0.31
Advertising tells me which brands have the features I am looking for. 0.88 0.78 57.55 3.67 (0.98) −0.84 0.39
Advertising helps me keep up to date about products/services available in the marketplace. 0.86 0.73 51.20 3.77 (0.93) −1.06 1.15
Beliefs about advertising’s role in creating social image α = 0.86; CR = 0.86; FD = 0.94; AVE = 0.68
From advertising, I learn about fashions and about what to buy to impress others. 0.87 0.75 49.49 3.1 (1.17) −0.22 −0.84
Advertising tells me what people with lifestyles similar to mine are buying and using. 0.84 0.71 44.77 3.22 (1.09) −0.35 −0.61
Advertising helps me know which products will or will not reflect the sort of person I am. 0.77 0.59 32.30 2.95 (1.14) −0.09 −0.92
Beliefs about advertising’s hedonic attributes α = 0.80; CR = 0.81; FD = 0.93; AVE = 0.59
Quite often, advertising is amusing and entertaining. 0.69 0.48 23.50 3.65 (0.90) −0.62 0.37
Sometimes I take pleasure in thinking about what I saw or heard or read in advertisements. 0.86 0.73 42.55 3.33 (1.09) −0.55 −0.38
Sometimes advertisements are even more enjoyable than other media contents. 0.75 0.57 29.30 3.25 (1.15) −0.41 −0.64
Beliefs about advertising’s economic role α = 0.75; CR = 0.75; FD = 0.93; AVE = 0.50
In general, advertising helps our nation’s economy. 0.71 0.40 16.78 3.44 (0.95) −0.65 0.37
Mostly, advertising is wasteful of economic resources. 0.69 0.38 15.83 3.37 (1.00) −0.20 −0.47
In general, advertising promotes competition, which benefits the consumer. 0.73 0.46 19.43 3.62 (0.94) −0.62 0.198
Beliefs about advertising’s deceptive role α = 0.77; CR = 0.77; FD = 0.89; AVE = 0.52
In general, advertising is misleading. 0.77 0.60 22.85 3.36 (0.93) −0.18 −0.09
Most advertising insults the intelligence of the average consumer. 0.73 0.53 21.66 3.28 (1.00) −0.16 −0.45
In general, advertisements present a true picture of the product advertised. 0.68 0.35 17.53 3.43 (0.99) −0.18 −0.50
Beliefs about advertising promoting materialism α = 0.79; CR = 0.80; FD = 0.90; AVE = 0.58
Advertising promotes undesirable values in our society. 0.57 0.33 15.42 3.07 (1.00) −0.05 −0.36
Advertising makes people buy unaffordable products just to show off. 0.86 0.74 33.25 3.44 (1.06) −0.50 −0.30
Advertising makes people live in a world of fantasy. 0.83 0.70 31.80 3.40 (1.03) −0.38 −0.30

λ = completely standardised loading; R² = explained variance of the item; CR = composite reliability; FD = factor determinacy; AVE = average variance extracted. AGCC and impulsive buying items anchored from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree; attitude and belief items from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Items and values as printed in Appendix A of the article.

The question

Globalisation spreads a consumer culture of global brands, media and consumption, and impulsive buying is rising in developed and developing economies alike. Earlier work had linked acculturation to global consumer culture with materialism and other dispositions, but not with impulsive buying, and had not asked how people's views of advertising, a main carrier of that culture, shape the link. We asked whether consumers more acculturated to global consumer culture buy more impulsively and like advertising more, and whether attitudes towards and beliefs about advertising strengthen or weaken the effect.

Implications

Practical implications

Global brands can expect consumers who are more immersed in global consumer culture to respond well to advertising, and can build on that by keeping advertising ethical, truthful, entertaining and non-intrusive. For consumer groups, regulators and responsible retailers the warning is that sceptical views of advertising do not shield people from impulse buying driven by global consumer culture; advertising literacy programmes, public service advertising that frames impulse buying as a global issue and showing its personal cost are possible ways to encourage more mindful purchasing.

Theoretical implications

The study links acculturation to global consumer culture with impulsive buying and with attitudes towards advertising, supporting acculturation theory. It also tests congruity theory: when acculturation and views of advertising are in line, impulse buying is highest, but when they clash, the effect of acculturation is strongest, which congruity theory does not fully explain and invites longitudinal work on how attitudes and behaviour realign.

Limitations and future research

  • The AGCC measure assumes a largely American-driven global consumer culture; future work could capture European or Asian influences, consumer ethnocentrism and other identities.
  • An online, English-language survey of a self-selected sample of immigrants in one country limits generalisability; studies in respondents' native languages are needed.
  • Impulsive buying was self-reported rather than observed, and the data are cross-sectional; longitudinal research could follow how acculturation changes buying over time.

Questions this paper answers

Does global consumer culture make people buy more on impulse?

In this study, yes. Among 426 immigrants in the UK, those more acculturated to global consumer culture reported more impulsive buying (β = 0.24) (Czarnecka & Schivinski, 2019).

Do people who dislike advertising buy less impulsively?

They start lower, but the pull of global consumer culture is strongest for them: as acculturation rose, impulse buying increased most among people with less favourable attitudes towards advertising (interaction −1.49) (Czarnecka & Schivinski, 2019).

Which parts of global consumer culture matter most?

Exposure to global mass media loaded most strongly on acculturation to global consumer culture (λ = 0.68), followed by self-identification with global consumer culture (0.50) and social interactions such as travel (0.32) (Czarnecka & Schivinski, 2019).

Does believing advertising is misleading reduce impulse buying?

Directly, yes (β = −0.50 on impulsive buying), but it did not weaken the effect of global consumer culture; the interaction was positive (unst. β = 3.42) (Czarnecka & Schivinski, 2019).

Key concepts

Global consumer culture (GCC)
Consumption-related symbols, values and behaviours, such as global brands and media, that people around the world perceive as global.
Acculturation to global consumer culture (AGCC)
How far a person has acquired the knowledge, skills and behaviours of global consumer culture, measured on seven dimensions such as cosmopolitanism, global media exposure and self-identification with GCC.
Impulsive buying
Unplanned, compelling purchasing in which the speed of the decision precludes thoughtful consideration of alternatives.
Attitude towards advertising
A learned tendency to respond favourably or unfavourably to advertising in general.
Beliefs about advertising
Specific views of what advertising does: informs, creates social image, entertains, helps the economy, misleads and promotes materialism (Tan & Chia, 2007).
Congruity theory
The idea that people strive for consistency between their attitudes, beliefs and behaviours.

Open science and materials

Study materials

Scale items
All 39 items for AGCC, impulsive buying, attitude towards advertising and the six beliefs about advertising, with loadings, means and reliability, are in Table A below (AGCC and impulsive buying on 1 to 7, advertising items on 1 to 5).
Eligibility
Respondents qualified as UK residents if they had lived in the UK for more than six months of the year or intended to stay for more than six months.

How to cite

Czarnecka, B., & Schivinski, B. (2019). Do consumers acculturated to global consumer culture buy more impulsively? The moderating role of attitudes towards and beliefs about advertising. Journal of Global Marketing, 32(4), 219–238. https://doi.org/10.1080/08911762.2019.1600094

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