A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Impact of Transformation Expectations on Impulse Buying and Conspicuous Consumption

Building on expectation states theory, our study proposes a model to investigate cross-cultural differences between eastern (Thai) and western (American) consumers in terms of the relationships between transformation expectations (TEs) and the behaviors of (1) conspicuous consumption and (2) impulse buying. We operationalized TEs as a second-order construct, consisting of four first-order constructs, namely “self-,” “relationship,” “hedonic,” and “efficacy” transformations. Through a sociological lens, we postulated positive relationships between TEs and the two behavioral constructs. By applying multi-group structural equation analyses, we gained support for our hypotheses. The relationships, however, are stronger in the case of Thai consumers. We also discussed the results and provide implications for international marketers.