A study of Japanese consumers' cognitive hierarchies in formal and informal gift-giving situations

In recent years, academicians have shown an increasing interest in Asian gift‐giving behavior. Yet studies investigating Asians' cognitive hierarchical structures in the gift‐giving context have been limited. Additionally, the literature suggests that Asian consumers' cognitive structures...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology & marketing 2003-01, Vol.20 (1), p.59-85
Main Authors: Lotz, Sherry L., Shim, Soyeon, Gehrt, Kenneth C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Behavior
Cognition & reasoning
Consumer behavior
Consumer spending
Consumers
Decision making
Gifts
Marketing management
Self esteem
Studies
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Summary:In recent years, academicians have shown an increasing interest in Asian gift‐giving behavior. Yet studies investigating Asians' cognitive hierarchical structures in the gift‐giving context have been limited. Additionally, the literature suggests that Asian consumers' cognitive structures are particularly affected by situational contingencies. Thus, this study examines Japanese consumers' cognitive hierarchies, in a gift‐giving context, in formal and informal situations utilizing a most‐ to least‐ cognitive hierarchical framework. Data were collected through a mail survey of Japanese consumers in the greater Tokyo area and six other major metropolitan cities. As hypothesized, structural‐equation modeling results revealed that the Japanese consumer's cognitive hierarchical flow from most‐ to least‐ cognitions remained intact regardless of the situation. In contrast, as expected, differing situations were found to influence intercognitive dimensional relationships. Implications of these findings are discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ISSN:0742-6046
1520-6793
DOI:10.1002/mar.10059