A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Expatriates' Shopping Behavior

Abstract

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