MKT 3401 Chapter : MKT 3401 Assignment 3
Jennifer Baer
Activity # 3- Individual Homework
September 16, 2011
Chinese consumers and American consumers behave differently in many ways. One
example in which these consumers behave inversely involves the idea of financial risk. It has
been observed that Chinese consumers are more risk tolerant when it comes to financial risk than
are American consumers. Risk tolerance refers to the attitudes and behaviors people exhibit
toward financial risk. This means that Chinese consumers are more willing to spend their income
extravagantly than American consumers. Americans are much more frugal when it comes to their
money.
This difference in financial risk lies in the information search step of the decision making
process. Different products have different risk levels, and one main reason consumers take part
in the information search process is in order to reduce perceived risk.
One reason this difference in financial risk tolerance exists between Chinese consumers
and American consumers is because China is a collectivistic culture, and the United States is an
individualistic culture. People in collectivistic cultures distinguish financial risk to be lower
compared to those in an individualistic culture; therefore, Chinese consumers are more risk
tolerant that consumers in the United States.
Fan, Jessie X. “A Cross-Cultural Study in Rick Tolerance: Comparing Chinese and Americans.”
December 2005. Take Charge America Institue. 3 September 2011
<http://tcainstitute.org/working_papers/wp53fan.pdf>.
Document Summary
Chinese consumers and american consumers behave differently in many ways. One example in which these consumers behave inversely involves the idea of financial risk. It has been observed that chinese consumers are more risk tolerant when it comes to financial risk than are american consumers. Risk tolerance refers to the attitudes and behaviors people exhibit toward financial risk. This means that chinese consumers are more willing to spend their income extravagantly than american consumers. Americans are much more frugal when it comes to their money. This difference in financial risk lies in the information search step of the decision making process. Different products have different risk levels, and one main reason consumers take part in the information search process is in order to reduce perceived risk. One reason this difference in financial risk tolerance exists between chinese consumers and american consumers is because china is a collectivistic culture, and the united states is an individualistic culture.
