A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Expatriates' Shopping Behavior

Abstract

Explored is how shopping centre attributes can be adapted to culture-relatedshopping behaviour of expatriates. While awareness of consumer ethnicity and effectivenessof culture-based market segmentation are on-going and relevant topicsin retailing, there is only limited information available on consumer behaviour ofexpats, as well as on the translation of market segmentation strategies to shoppingenvironment. An online survey among British, Japanese, and American expatriatesin the Amstelveen/Amsterdam region (the Netherlands) points out the importance ofboth lifestyle and ethnicity for the shopping behaviour. Managerial implications forretailers, shopping centre developers, and operators are also discussed.