The globalization of the marketplace and how this process is shaping the
cultural characteristics of people around the world is arguably the most
critical issue facing international marketing managers today, and is the
subject of intense discourse in the social sciences. Are global forces
making everyone (and every place) more and more alike, or are they
causing local resistances which serve to more solidly entrench cultural
differences? Or is globalization simultaneously making individuals
increasingly dissimilar within countries, while making individuals
progressively similar across national frontiers? This work articulates a
theoretical framework for assessing the selective, contextual nature of
both global and local cultural influences on consumer values and
behaviors. The theoretical framework and associated hypotheses were
tested empirically, with data gathered in eight countries on four
continents. This book is addressed to international marketing managers
and researchers alike. It is also directed towards researchers in social
psychology, cultural anthropology, and political science.