American rationality and Chinese reality: A study of regret, dissonance, and the self

Regret is a motivator of consumer behavior in purchasing situations and a consumer's future commitment to decision is influenced more by factors that encourage private or public justification of an action after the fact than by choice itself.; A large proportion of the psychological and consumer behavior theories have been developed from a Euro-American perspective. One of the key imperatives facing researchers today is the "re-interpretation" of theories concerning cognition, emotions and motivation from the perspectives of different cultural and social realities. A cross-cultural understanding of the regret and dissonance constructs from the perspectives of different self-concepts would have important implications on post-consumption attitudes, satisfaction and future purchase decisions cross-culturally.; The objectives of this study are twofold. First, to test the emotions of guilt and shame as antecedents to regret and dissonance. Secondly, to test the effects of different self-concepts on regret and dissonance in both guilt and shame cultures. By capitalizing on this well established dichotomy between American and Chinese cultures, the study provides a direct test of culture's influence on the arousal of regret and dissonance.; The study begins by testing the influence of antecedent emotions on action accountability, regret and dissonance in both cultural samples. This is followed by testing the relationships between the antecedent and outcome measures to dimensions of self-monitoring, self-consciousness and individualism-collectivism in both cultural samples. A general model on culture's influence in shaping individuals' perception of action accountability, and its relationship to feeling of regret and dissonance is proposed.