Abstract
Research conducted primarily in the United States has shown that interpersonal influence arising from opinion exchange behavior is an important factor in consumers' product adoption and brand choice decisions. An important managerial question in the international arena is whether information-giving and seeking behaviors depend on culture. In a study representing eleven nationalities, we explore the role of culture in moderating consumers' opinion exchange behavior. Results indicate that the cultural characteristics of power distance and uncertainty avoidance [Hofstede 1980] influence the focus of consumers' product information search activities, but not their tendencies to share product-related opinions with others. Following earlier opinion leadership studies, we find that individual characteristics such as product category interest and involvement are most indicative of active opinion leadership behavior.
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*Niraj Dawar is Assistant Professor of Marketing, Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, on leave from INSEAD. His research interests are in the areas of brand management, cross-cultural consumer behavior and consumers' use of quality cues.
**Philip M. Parker is Associate Professor of Marketing at the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD) in Fontainebleau, France. His research interests include international new product diffusion, cross-cultural research, and studies of non-competitive market strategies.
***Lydia J. Price is Assistant Professor of Marketing and Management Technology in the School of Business and Management at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Her main research interests are in consumer decisionmaking and information processing behaviors.
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Dawar, N., Parker, P. & Price, L. A Cross-Cultural Study of Interpersonal Information Exchange. J Int Bus Stud 27, 497–516 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490142
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490142