Are Men More Rational than Women when Purchasing Cars? A Comparison of Cultural Influences on Product Judgment in Brazil and the United States of America

• Autor(a) principal: Castro, Breno Giovanni Adaid
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Torres, Claudio Vaz, Nascimento, Thiago Gomes, Demo, Gisela
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng; por
• Título da fonte: BBR. Brazilian Business Review (English edition. Online)
• Texto Completo: http://www.bbronline.com.br/index.php/bbr/article/view/176
• topic: Human values; Judgment and meaning; Consumer behavior; Cross-cultural; Gender; Valores humanos; Julgamento e significado; Comportamento do consumidor; Pesquisa transcultural; Gênero

The main goal of the study was to identify and to compare the type of judgment used in Brazil and in the United States of America relative to the purchase of automobiles and the relevance of Human Values in the evaluation used. Brazilians (N=542) and North Americans (N=449) filled out the List of Values (LOV) (KAHLE; KENNEDY, 1988) and the Judgment and Meaning Scale (ALLEN, 1997, 2000). The results suggested that in Brazil the judgment for purchasing a car is predominantly affective, while in the United States it is predominantly piecemeal. In both countries women scored higher in piecemeal judgment for car purchase. The values of “Excitement” and “being well respected” are related to affective judgment in both countries while “Personal Achievement” is related to piecemeal judgment in Brazil and the United States. This research contributes to the advancement of studies in Consumer Behavior by analyzing the role of human values in the type of judgment and meaning men and women use to buy cars in Brazil and the US. Furthermore, as practical implications, the results may help company managers in the automobile industry in their decision-making processes in order to better understand how to meet client’s specific needs in order to develop a long-term and profitable relationship.