The relationship between independent and interdependent self-concepts and reasons for purchase

Theory from cross-cultural psychology is applied to identify several factors that are related to a consumer's reasons for planned and impulsive purchase decisions. At the country level, the study found that people from more collectivist countries (Malaysia and Singapore) had more strongly correlated independent and interdependent self-concepts than people from more individualist countries (US and Australia). At the individual level, across all countries, a person's independent self-concept was positively related to purchase reasons associated with uniqueness, but not with group affiliation. In contrast, a person's interdependent self-concept was positively related to purchase reasons that depicted group affiliation and, to a lesser extent, uniqueness.