Uncertainty Avoidance or Collectivism to Explain the Preference for Conventional Products: Triangulation Approach

Characteristics of Asians are often used as examples of collectivists’ mind and behaviors. This practice warrants further investigation, as it may obscure subtle, yet important differences across Asian societies. Here, we conducted 3 studies to test the impact of uncertainty avoidance relative to collectivism in explaining cultural variations in the preference for conventional products. In doing so, we adopted a triangulation approach showing how Japan, Singapore, and the U.S. differ in terms of uncertainty avoidance (Japan vs U.S. and Singapore) and collectivism (U.S vs Japan and Singapore). In Study 1, using archival data across 10 years, we found that Japanese consumers tended to purchase from more conventional consumer electronics brands compared to American or Singaporean consumers, supporting the impact of uncertainty avoidance over collectivism. In Study 2, 847 participants in the three target countries viewed images of conventional and innovative products. Participants’ preference of products conceptually replicated the Study 1 findings. In Study 3, we tested whether word-of-mouth communication mediated the variations in preference for conventional products. Singaporean and Japanese participants completed the same product choice task as Study 2 and reported their willingness to recommend each product with others. Results showed that Japanese participants reported higher willingness to initiate word-of-mouth recommendations about conventional products than did Singaporean participants, which explained cultural variations in their preference for conventional products. This paper advances extant literature by using diverse methods to highlight the effect of uncertainty avoidance as an alternative framework to understand Asian cultures.