Global consumer behavior Business & Marketing Essay

Global Consumer Behavior
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Global Consumer Behavior
Country: Switzerland
Switzerland, originally, the Swiss Confederation, was founded in 1291 as three cantons that were nearby sought to form a strategical allegiance. The boldness of this act enticed the neighboring localities to join the allegiance to create a stronger and solid community. It is not until 1499 that their colonialists, the Holy Roman Empire, decided to vacate these shores implying independence for the Swiss Confederation. The independent administrative function drafted their first constitution in 1848, which was modified in 1874. Henceforth, the nation’s citizens gained voting rights meaning that they had the powers to initiate or call for referenda on proposed laws. Further, the document allowed the implementation of a centralized federal government resulting in the abandonment of the confederation.
Nevertheless, the most unique feature of the country, which is located in South Central Europe is its unwavering stand on sovereignty and neutrality. It has distanced itself from international organizations as well as participation in associated activities. Switzerland has grown to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world. On the other hand, there is a widely-held phenomenon that its culture has remained conservative over a longer period with minimal external interruptions. Even then, cultural plurality has remained a primal aspect of its identity with other unique cultural perspectives extending to its consumerist and materialistic aspirations and eventually, in the global marketplace.
Cultural Plurality
Pluralism, regardless of whether it is philosophical, political, or cultural, advocates for some level of irreducible social adversity. On the other hand, it “offers an account of social interaction, understood as an interplay of conflicting and competing positions that cannot be seamlessly reduced to one another, ranked in one single order permanently, or reduced to a single institutional arrangement” (Yumatle, 2014, p. 2724). Pluralism recognizes that society is a factor of diverse or multiple social groups could possess different social position as well as uphold varying interests. The acceptance of this possibility paves way for equal valuation of the different groups and more importantly, they bear the right to be represented in the relevant governing system for the society (Kantzara, 2012, p. 235). This is the system that focuses on the division, distribution, and sharing of social power. In essence, pluralism appreciates the differences that are exit among different social groups, but then these groups have to coexist for the collective well-being.
A cultural pluralist society relates to the dynamism that exists among many minority groups who are participating in their optimal best in the dominant society and the course, maintain their cultural differences. Therefore, different groups are interacting daily and yet, tolerating one another. This relationship is one that has no major conflicts and even better, there is much advocacy for different minority groups in upholding their customs. In Switzerland, cultural pluralism is among the primary symbols of the country. It is one of the major factors that has gained recognition since the country’s independence. Nevertheless, it has evolved with time considering the impeccable forces of globalization and increased travel around the globe. Also, cultural pluralism comes from different perspectives including digital technology, language, and value orientations.
Digital Technology
The advancement of technology from a global perspective has made a significant impact on the development of many economies in the world including Switzerland. The change thereof is imminent in the prevailing consumer behavior among Swiss nationals and more so, its retail business over a previous couple of years. In this case, many customers and enterprises are shifting to the internet to conduct their product purchases and sales. Lately, this relatively new phenomenon has become the norm in many business practices generating high growth rates. Currently, there is a very thin line between offline and online because the application of digital services and online channels has affected the traditional brick-and-mortar purchases (offline sales). In this regard, Swiss nationals have adopted this strategy with most of them using the internet and digital devices to ascertain goods and services information. This service takes into account the prices, reviews, and stock availability. A Deloitte study indicates that 83% of Swiss nationals are conversant and using digital devices to conduct their shopping-related activities. These services are used before, during, or even after their physical shopping trips. The role that digital services play in the present Swiss economy is phenomenal, which is a representative of the entire technology perspective that is roaming globally.
This procedure shows that the role of e-commerce is gaining significance by the day. Nevertheless, there is a commitment from most of the Swiss nationals to ascertain the origin of products and more importantly, fresh products. The prices thereof will also be taken into consideration by most of them. The Swiss nationals will give preference to local products than those that lack a label of their origin. They are much more likely to place value on the respective products rather than the design or the brand’s reputation.
Language
The language spoken in the country is regarded as the epitome aspect of cultural pluralism in Switzerland. There are different connotations directed at the multi-lingual aspect of the country. First and foremost, when the constitution was amended in 1938, four languages were integrated as the official languages that could be used for administrative purposes (Kuzelewska, 2016, p. 125). These included Romansch, Italian, French, and Swiss German. Equal respect is offered to all these languages with none offered preferential treatment. The justification behind this position is apparent in the country’s official name which is derived from Latin, Confoederatio Helvetica, which is translated to mean “Swiss Confederation.” This direction implies that the administrative figures promote their official languages vigorously and will endear to enact measures guaranteeing their credibility is never at stake. As Vargas Llosa (2001) would say, this move is keen to avoid “the naïve pretense of vaccinating them against the menace of English.” Even though modernization trends such as the emergence of technology will have its influence in the foreseeable future, vital cultural aspects must be never forgotten.
The difference in linguistic groups signifies differences in various economic elements such as taxation or financial practices, demand for social insurance behavior, and work attitudes (Eugster Lalive, Steinhauer, & Zweimuller, 2017, p. 1057). One of the most underlying behaviors among Swiss consumers is their relative behavior to savings and indebtedness. For instance, the French-speaking nationals are much more likely to have fewer savings than their colleagues from the German-speaking regions. Similarly, the same group is more likely to resort to both formal credits and informal ones (these include payments from their friends and family members) when they are faced with overdue payments and other financial challenges. The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) confirms this assertion whereby they claim that the French-speaking regions have the most indebtedness compared to the German- and Italian-speaking Swiss nationals. Certainly, the trend to borrow from friends and family is apparent among French households than German speakers.
A similar trend is evident among the younger population between 18 and 30 years. It appears as though it is a learned behavior and one that bound to continue in the foreseeable future. This pattern indicates that French-speaking students have fewer savings compared to their German-speaking colleagues (Guin, 2017). Nevertheless, the latter leaver their parental homes from where they are fortunate with greater incomes and exposed to less intense financial difficulties. In this regard, they have an opportunity to increase their savings taking into account they have fewer overdue payments and financial difficulties (Wernli & Henchoz, 2015, p. 311). Economists have remarkable efforts in explaining the discrepancy in financial practices relative to cultural differences.
First, there are varying conceptions on each of the states. The German-speaking Swiss have a more liberal vision, which coerces them to be self-reliant on their resources resulting in elevated meaning towards individual saving (Eugster, Lalive, Steinhauer, & Zweimuller, 2011, p. f413). On the other hand, there is a varied and conceived theory on time preferences. Time and how various elements are addressed are quite influential. For instance, the French-speaking people fail to align with the concept of delayed gratification meaning that they are impatient and thus, unable to delay their consumer choices to a more appropriate time in the future. Chen (2013, p. 711) argues that the syntax of the language is to blame for some of these economic decisions. The French speakers have a habit of favoring the application future tense, which affects their subconscious decisions on various financial matters. Their German counterparts have minimal usage of the future tense. Zurich is the economic leader and the single most powerful canton in the nation (Kużelewska, 2016, p. 132), which could also have a bearing on many of the financial practices most Swiss nationals adopt. Similarly, this aspect gives the German-speaking group a greater desire to work hard and maintain their position as the wealthiest group of them all.
As mentioned earlier, high rates of movement and globalization will have a trickle-down effect on languages. This assertion justifies the changing language map in the country as a result of the growing immigration. Ratajczak (2014, p. 9) provides estimations that approximately 9% of the total populous rarely uses any of the official languages. This position serves to justify the fact that multi-linguicism in the country is taking a new shape. The country has stipulated its official language count as four although, in reality, the number of languages rises to over forty taking into account the dialects used daily (p. 9). Therefore, there are a couple of dynamics that are continuously affecting the ordinary language state in the country, which could translate to various economic indifferences in the future. Some languages may inspire others to be more cautious in their wealth-creating scheme. The factors thereof extend beyond immigration and globalization.
Value Orientations
Another aspect from which to view cultural plurality in Switzerland is their value orientations. The value orientations presented in this discussion adhere to an investigative study conducted by the Swiss Research Institute with 1,004 participants. The study categorized Swiss nationals into three ‘value types’ or value orientations. These include Swiss-conservative, Swiss-modern, and outward-oriented modern. Also, it is worth noting that the value types varied significantly relative to the language regions. In this regard, 50% of the French-speaking participants considered themselves as outward-oriented-modern representing the rest of the figures splitting between Swiss-modern and Swiss-conservative. On the other hand, a significant majority of the German-speaking citizens (36%) regarded themselves as Swiss-modern. Finally, 45% of the Italian speaking group considered themselves Swiss-modern as well. In the final value-orientation category, Swiss-conservative, the greatest percentage, which was 31% consisted of German-speaking Swiss nationals. The preconceived identities have a bearing on the consumerist implications in the quest that each group maintains its status quo.
The three value orientations are derived from four bipolar references, which include strong versus weak army, open-mindedness versus closure, equal opportunities for its nationa...