IMPACT OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN AFFECT VALUATION ON CUSTOMER DECISION MAKING

Abstract

Businesses go to great lengths to create positive emotional experiences for their customers, often applying the same affective or emotional practices in communication with a culturally diverse customer base. This dissertation argues that culture-specific emotional norms and display rules shape consumers' responses to marketers' attempts to use positive emotions as a persuasion tool. Simply put, an emotional campaign that works in Boston may not work in Beijing. Through two essays, this dissertation investigates the cultural effect on consumers' affect valuation by focusing on two issues that have important managerial implications. Essay One examines the effectiveness of one ubiquitous marketing tactic--employees' (positive) affective display (EAD) in customer interactions. Departing from the prevailing view that "service with a smile" is always desirable, this research shows that the relative impacts of EAD dimensions (authenticity and frequency) on customer outcomes (positive mood, negative mood, interaction quality, and customer satisfaction) depend on the affective content associated with the service and customer/employee cultural group membership. Under certain circumstances, positive EADs may even boomerang. The identification of boundary conditions of EAD efficacy reconciles the conflicting findings in prior literature and provides more consistent practical guidelines. Essay Two investigates people's preferences and pursuit of different types of positive emotions--high arousal emotions (excitement, elation, and enthusiasm) and low arousal positive emotions (peacefulness, quiescence, and relaxation). Findings demonstrate that westerners and younger adults, compared to easterners and older adults, value HAP emotions more and LAP emotions less. Moreover, drawing on regulatory focus theory and primary/secondary control framework, this research sheds light on the motivational mechanisms underlying the cultural effect on people's emotion valuation.