AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR

By: Katherin Herrera & Andrés Capacho

Consumer behavior is "The study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they
use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs
and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society." Although it is not
necessary to memorize this definition, it brings up some useful points:Behavior occurs either for
the individual, or in the context of a group (e.g., friends influence what kinds of clothes a person
wears) or an organization (people on the job make decisions as to which products the firm should
use).

American customer behavior

Truly understanding American consumer behavior is vital for any international company that
wants to succeed in the American market. American consumer behavior is radically different, even
from other Western markets like the U.K.; the American consumer behavior can be traced to
American culture’s historic roots and impacts attitudes, beliefs, principles, and ultimately buying
behavior. These qualities are drawn from the recalcitrance of a handful of British citizens to free
themselves from a regime which they perceived as restricting their ability to openly practice their
faith. From these roots, the cultural cornerstone of rugged individualism was born.

What drives the American consumer behavior is a complex issue. How these uniquely American
traits and opinions impact the sales process by foreign businesses is powerful, and the manner in
which the consumer or B2B relationships develop has far reaching ramifications. Failure to
understand these characteristics puts companies wishing to do business with Americans or
companies wishing to reach American consumers at a huge disadvantage.
It may seem that Western cultures are very similar and that European or other Western
companies should have no problems developing and promoting their products without knowledge
of American consumers, but this is a dangerous assumption. Another dangerous assumption is
that simply hiring an American agency and American staff is an efficient way to mitigate cultural
differences.

European customer behavior

Consumer behavior within European Community involves the use and disposal of products as well
as the study of how they are purchased. Product use is often of great interest to the marketer,
because this may influence how a product is best positioned or how we can encourage increased
consumption. Since many environmental problems result from product disposal (e.g., motor oil
being sent into sewage systems to save the recycling fee, or garbage piling up at landfills) this is
also an area of interest.

Nowadays, consumer behavior in EU involves services and ideas as well as tangible products.

The impact of consumer behavior on society is also of relevance. For example, aggressive
marketing of high fat foods, or aggressive marketing of easy credit, may have serious
repercussions for the national health and economy. With the unifying of EU the impact is even
bigger.

North American versus European consumer culture

Global brands today know that consumer cultures and online shopping behaviors differ greatly
between North America and Europe. North American consumers absolutely demand personalized
experiences from brands, and are comfortable with receiving tailored messages,
recommendations and related products or content based on their personal data. The majority of
these consumers have no problem pulling out their smartphones to shop on the go, while
watching TV or during lunch hours at work.

Alternatively, only 55 percent of European adults purchase products online. Data protection and
privacy concerns are always present, and Europeans prefer to remain anonymous online. Typical
American advertising calls-to-action such as “Shop now” or “Buy today” are perceived as too
aggressive, thus making them ineffective in the European market. The European consumer seeks
education with complete transparency as to what exactly he is viewing or consuming. For instance,
the content discovery company Outbrain recently received a ban from the UK’s Advertising
Standards Authority because the articles it recommended to the consumer based on his previously
read content were not identified as advertisements.