Cultural antecedents to contrast effects in consumer evaluation of brands and brand affiliations (Philippines)

The twenty-first century brings an era of market globalization. How does global integration influence business-to-business and business-to-consumer relationships? The Marketing Science Institute (MSI) identifies this question as a priority topic for 1999–2000. This dissertation aligns with MSI's quest to understand how consumers from different cultures respond to diverse marketing stimuli by presenting a model integrating cultural dimensions proposed to affect the contrast-assimilation process of consumer judgement.; Contributions of this research cover methodological, theoretical, and practitioner domains. Although a great deal of work has been done on contrast-assimilation, to date there is no published meta-analysis in the area and no investigation of the effect culture has on the decision processes of consumers across the globe. In addition, the selection of the Philippines as a research site adds to the uniqueness of the present research. From a cultural standpoint, the Filipino offers a virtual antithesis to the American in terms of Hofstede's (1980; 1991) five cultural dimensions and Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars' seven cultural dilemmas. Despite a long, common history, marketing scholars and practitioners know little about the Philippines or the Filipinos.; This study emanates from these suggested gaps. In particular, this study addresses multiple facets of culture as antecedents to the processes by which consumers incorporate prior decisions into current judgments.