The Impact of Collectivism on East Asian Consumer Behaviour

Collectivism in the West vs East

Differing consumer cultures are shaped by culture, including societal norms. One such example is the impact of collectivism in Asian countries. The idea of individualist-collectivist societies was created by Dutch social psychologist, Geert Hofstede, who characterises societies based on their focus on the individual, or on the group. Individualism, highly associated with the West, depicts societies that focuses on protecting the individual and their immediate family. This can be seen in behaviour such as prioritising personal opinion, taking care of oneself and immediate family, and manifesting in the workplace as focusing on the task rather than the relationship between colleagues.

Figure 1

Note. Nikkei Asia. (2019). Japan steps closer toward accepting more foreign workers.

In contrast to individualism, collectivism focuses on staying within the ‘in-group’. Consequently, the belonging and harmony of the group are prioritised, thus opinions are predetermined by the group and the relationship is seen as more important than the task. Transgressing norms in individualist societies lead to feelings of guilt whilst in collectivist societies, it leads to shame (Hofstede, 2011). This suggests that individualist societies focus inwards and view breaking norms as damaging to personal values of responsibility (Miceli & Castelfranchi, 2018), whilst collectivist societies focus outwards, where breaking norms is seen to reflect badly on oneself, damaging one’s standing in a group.

The Influence of Confucianism on Collectivist Behaviour in Asia

Figure 2

Note. philipus. (n.d.). Statue of Confucius at Temple in Shanghai, China. Adobe Stock.

Collectivism can be seen heavily in Confucianism, a core philosophy with a hold on the societal values of many Asian countries, providing social rules on how to act towards others by conforming to defined roles and obligations in relationships. These include: ren (showing benevolence to others), li (etiquette, such as following social norms and respecting elders), xiao (filial piety, meaning showing respect and obeying elders) and junzi (an ideal person with moral integrity, wisdom and leadership) (Hatching Dragons, 2024) all of which greatly emphasise maintaining social harmony. 

The importance of maintaining this social harmony can be seen in the idea of ‘maintaining face’, illustrated by Ho (1976) as the respect one can gain from others relative to their social standing and adequate fulfilment of their expected role. A study undertaken in Taiwan by Han and Li (2008) shows the lengths people would take to ‘maintain face’, as in to not lose this relational respect. The participants in the study were asked to choose between a family member, friend or stranger to treat them for a venereal disease, where they would ‘lose face’, and a gallstone, where they would not ‘lose face’. For the gallstone, 92% chose ‘family member’ whilst 91% chose ‘stranger’ for venereal disease, with ‘face maintenance’ being the main reason for choosing a stranger (韓貴香 & 李美枝, 2008). This highlights the lengths taken to prevent the loss of respect or ‘face’ in groups.

The Avoidance of Risk in Asian Consumers

Collectivist and Confucian ideas can be seen to have an impact on consumer behaviour, shown by the avoidant stance towards risk in Asian consumers. For instance, eastern countries are generally seen as having a high power-distance belief (PDB), meaning having a high tolerance for hierarchy and inequalities in power (Zhang et al., 2010). Zhang et al. (2010) suggest that high PDB cultures are more risk-averse and thus prefer mass-market brands rather than niche ones. This may be due to the fact that high PDB cultures have stricter rules across social institutions (Carl et al., 2004) to maintain the social order. These ideas could be influenced by the Confucian idea of ‘li’ (etiquette), whereby one has to follow social norms such as respecting superiors (Hatching Dragons, 2024) and adequately maintain the role in one’s own position to not stand out and stay in the group. 

The impact of risk aversion on consumer behaviour can be further seen by the idea that Asian consumers are more persuaded to buy products that prevent negative consequences for their group. Ha (2015) explains this using the idea of prevention and promotion orientation in which those with the former attribute focus on protection and fulfilling responsibilities, whilst the latter focuses on advancement and accomplishment (Higgins, 1997, as cited in Ha, 2015). As Asian consumers have a higher prevention as opposed to promotion orientation, they are more drawn to products addressing prevention needs (Ha, 2015). Ha (2015) further explains that this is particularly true that when consumers are put in a situation that highlights their connection to others, known as interdependent self-construal; they are more likely to be persuaded by prevention-framed information which aligns with values of avoidance (Aaker and Lee, 200, as cited in Ha, 2015). This means that when reminded of their connection to a group, Asian consumers lean towards avoiding negative consequences that will influence their group, reinforcing the idea of group harmony in collectivism.  

Figure 3

Note. Marketplace Pulse. (2017). Why Amazon and eBay Lost in China.

This risk aversion is highlighted as a reason for eBay’s failure in China over its domestic competitor, Taobao, due to the lack of control consumers had over the transaction process and low interaction between the buyer and seller (Huang et al., 2014), highlighting the needs of Chinese consumers for greater assurance on risk. The research conducted by Zhang et al. (2010) further demonstrates this, showing that risk-averse Asian consumers were less impacted by the risk posed by a niche brand compared to a mass-market brand when a money-back guarantee was involved. Karabelnikov et al. (2021) suggested that Chinese consumers are long-term orientated and focus on future benefits. This aligns with the idea that Asian consumers are comparatively less impulsive spenders than their Western counterparts put forward by Ha (2015). McKinsey’s 2024 China Consumer Report agrees with this, demonstrating that Chinese consumers will delay purchases of durable goods if they still work, instead prioritising education in hopes of its future benefits for family well-being (Zipser et al., 2024), depicting prevention orientation. 

Figure 4

Note. Chua, A. (n.d.). The future of commerce: Asia Pacific’s trillion-dollar shoppertainment opportunity. The Edge Singapore.

Overall, collectivist values perpetuated by in-grained societal values brought by Confucianism within Eastern countries has an impact on Asian consumer behaviour. The rigidity and importance of keeping to one’s position in a group creates risk-averse behaviour, prompting Asian consumers to prefer marketing methods that assure them. Examples of this include greater buyer-seller communication as seen in Taobao (Huang et al., 2014), or offering a money-back guarantee (Zhang et al., 2010). Thus, future marketing strategies can focus on increasing transparency and consumer control, as well as creating campaigns that promote the prevention of negative consequences and assure consumers of their standing in groups.

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