THE EFFECT OF ECONOMIC TRANSITION ON CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR:
THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL VALUES ON PRICE PERCEPTION

By
Eunyoung (Christine) Sung

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Retailing

2012

ABSTRACT

THE EFFECT OF ECONOMIC TRANSITION ON CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR:
THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL VALUES ON PRICE PERCEPTION
By
Eunyoung (Christine) Sung

This study, based on Generational Cohort Theory, investigated Germans price perception
by comparing the transitional (East) and long-standing market (West) economies, and examined
the influence of social values on these price perceptions. The study investigated whether young
adult consumer behavior during the transitional period has converged between former East and
former West German consumers. Collective self-esteem and social connectedness were
proposed as social values that differentially affect young German consumers’ price perceptions.
As Generational Cohort Theory (Inglehart, 1976, 2000) explains, a significant national
event results in a new generational cohort. This study applies Generational Cohort Theory to the
cohorts from the former East and West Germany that emerged following German reunification.
The generation that has grown up over the approximately twenty year-long transitional period is
now a significant consumer group. Although the young consumer cohort in the Eastern region
grew up in the transitional economy, they have been influenced by their parents who exposed
them in their formative years to a set of values associated with the former East Germany’s
socialist economic system , while at the same time being exposed to their Western counterparts.
This newly emerged cohort is now becoming a main consumer group, along with their postreunification Western counterparts.

The findings of this study indicated that collective self-esteem associated with social
connectedness operates differently for the East and West German cohorts, in turn influencing
their price perceptions differently. In the Eastern region, Germans who have high collectiveself-esteem are less likely to prefer prestigious brands, instead valuing the functional aspects of
products. This finding does not mean that they are merely looking for low prices. Rather, they
consider the quality of a product in tandem with the price of that product, and consequently are
willing to pay a slightly higher price for a product if its quality is high.
At the same time, the results of this study indicate that young adult consumers in the
Eastern region tend to use coupons to take advantage of sales. These findings imply that they
care about the quality and price of a product, as mentioned above, but that they are also trying to
be practical and focus on the functional aspects of products. On the other hand, West Germans
who have high collective self-esteem, but do not share price information with others.
This study made a significant contribution to the literature regarding the Generational
Cohort Theory, social values, such as regional social connectedness and regional collective selfesteem, and price perception, specifically in the case of (reunified) Germany. This study also
yielded implications for marketing, i.e. for developing marketing strategies in the transitional and
long-standing market economies, which are discussed in the concluding chapter.

Copyright by
Eunyoung (Christine) Sung
2012

To My Parents

v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is a pleasure to thank the people who have supported me and helped me to reach
this point. Throughout my doctoral program and the completion of this dissertation, I
have been indebted to those people around me who gave me both resources and support.
First and foremost, I cannot begin to express my deepest appreciation to my advisor, my
mentor, and my teaching advisor, Dr. Patricia Huddleston. Dr. Huddleston has been a
light for me to follow and has helped me, not to get lost along the way through this
doctoral program. Her direction has guided me here today. Her advice and comments
have been my strongest motivation to become a researcher as well as a teacher. It was
impossible to not hang on her very comment and advice. Searching for answers to her
comments has been the joy of my graduate school life.
I would also like to thank to my amazing committee—Dr. Linda Good, Dr.
Sternquist, and Dr. Von Eye. Dr. Linda Good found a way to support me at anytime and
in any way for funding, teaching resources and advice, and scholarships, all of which
enabled me to diligently focus on my PhD program and teaching without any worries.
Dr. Sternquist has also guided me to become a researcher. Her direct advice and energy
have always inspired me and motivated me to become a researcher. Her theory classes
were so enjoyable. Dr. Von Eye’s valuable and genuine advice and guidance on
statistical SEM models and analysis have been wonderful. I am lucky to have him on my
committee, as he is the one who grew my love for LISREL.
These are the most genuine people that I have ever met. They were able to support
me without any conditions academically and have shown me what it means to be a great

vi

educator and researcher. I would like to become a great educator and research like each
of them.
I would also like to thank my parents for their unconditional and steadfast love
and support. They have shown me what is possible with the love and encouragement of
parents. I have discovered who I am and what I am capable of because of their faith in
me. They have been my strongest motivation to complete this PhD and dissertation.
They have made it possible for me to reach this point of my life. This is for you.
I would also like to give special thanks to my German friends, German
colleagues, and German supporters who inspired me to complete this dissertation: Martin,
Matthias, Martin2, Kai, Jan and his wife, Dietrich, Julianne, Vincent, Sebastian, Dr.
Sebastian Uhrich, Dr. Peter Noack, Dr. Martin Klarmann, Dr. Dominic Gastes, Dr.
Michel.clement, Maik, Anika, and Andreas. I would also like to thank my former
Canadian roommate Elise, who allowed me to use her beautiful condo for writing in
lovely Newfoundland during the summer as well as Leslie and Karla. In addition, my
gratitude goes to Amber, Bette, and Mark as well as Larry, all of whom shared
information and offered valuable comments through my graduate school life. Every
single one of these people had a part in my completion of this dissertation.
I was privileged to have such positive influences from Michigan State University
during this doctoral program to become a teacher and researcher. I love all my former
and beloved Michigan State students. During my teaching here at MSU, I have shared
life with you all and you all provide me with great motivation. I have had the most
enjoyable time here at MSU. I am indebted to you all and hope that you each have a
wonderful future and life.

vii

This is the beginning of a new chapter of my life. It is my hope that someday, I
will be able to repay all of these great people who have had such a great impact on my
life.

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………………..xi
LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………………...xii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION……………...…………………………………………………………………1
Historical Background: Post-socialism and Economic Transition………………..………2
Justification for the Current Study………………………………..……………………....6
Purpose and Significance of Study……………………………………………………….7
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………………………..…12
Generational Cohort Theory……………………………………………………………..13
Social Connectedness……………………………………………………………………16
Collective Self-Esteem………………………………………………………………......19
Positive and Negative Dimensions of Price Perception…………………………………23
Positive Dimensions of Price…………………………………………………….23
Prestige Sensitivity………………………………………………………24
Price/quality Schema…………………………………………………….28
Negative Dimensions of Price…………………………………………………...30
Value Consciousness………..…………………………………………...30
Price Consciousness……………………………………………………..32
Sales Proneness………………………………………………………….35
Price Mavenism…………………………………………………….........36
Coupon Proneness……………………………………………………….39
CHAPTER III
METHODS………………………………………………………………………………………41
Construct Measures..………………………………………………………………...........41
Study Background and Scale Adjustment Procedures……………………………………43
Interview—Stage One…………………………………………………………...43
Preliminary Study Test—Stage Two…………………………………………....44
Face Validity for the Main Study—Stage Three………………………………..44
Social Connectedness…..……………………...……………………………......45
Collective Self-esteem….………….……………………………………………46
Price Perception………...……………………...……………………………......48
Positive Price Perception..………………………………………………………48
Negative Price Perception ...…………………...……………………………......49
Data Collection of the Main Study…………...…………………………………52
Data Collection Method…………………………………………………………52
Sample Description……………………………………………………………...53

ix

CHAPTER IV
RESULTS………………………………………………………………………………………..57
4.1.Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)…………………………………………57
4. 2. CFA Equivalence Test for the Group Comparison………………………......70
4.3. Analysis of the Structural Equation Model (SEM)…………………………...72
4.3.A. SEM Equivalence Test for the Group Comparison…………….72
4.3.B. Comparison of Path Coefficients and Hypothesis Tests………..76
CHAPTER V
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………...84
Effect of Social Connectedness on Collective Self-Esteem…...…………………84
Effect of Collective Self-Esteem on Price Perception……...……………………86
Prestige Sensitivity…………………………………………………….86
Price/quality Schema…………………………………………………..88
Price Mavenism………………………………………………………..90
Coupon Proneness……………………………………………………..92
Theoretical Implications….……………………………………………………..94
Marketing Implications.…………………………………………………….......98
Limitations of Study…..………………………………………………………100
Future Research…………..…………………………………………………...101
APPENDICIES
Appendix A: Summary of Hypotheses Tests…..………………………………..104
Appendix B: Survey Consent Form…...………………………………………...106
Appendix C: Survey Instrument……...…………………………………………109
REFERENCES..……………………………………………………………...…………….......124

x

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Social Connectedness Items…………………………………………………….………46
Table 2. Collective Self-Esteem Items………………………………………………….………..47
Table 3. Positive Price Perception Items………………………………………………………...49
Table 4. Negative Price Perception Items………………………………………………….…….51
Table 5. Demographic Characteristics of the Sample……………………………………………56
Table 6. Measurement Properties……………………….……………………………………….61
Table 7. Comparison of Reliabilities for Price Perception……………………………………....69
Table 8. CFA Constrained at Several Levels…………………………………………………….71
Table 9. Result of Structural Equation Model Estimation……………………………………….75
Table 10. Multiple Group Path Comparison…………………………………………………......77
Table 11. Key Results of the Study……….…………………………………………………......83
Table 12. Summary of Hypotheses Tests.………….………………………………………......105

xi

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Conceptual Model: Social Values on Price Perception……………………………..…11
Figure 2. Comparison of Path Coefficients (East Germany)………………………………….…74
Figure 3. Comparison of Path Coefficients (West Germany)……………………………………74

xii

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Since the end of World War II and the subsequent Cold War, the economies in postsocialist countries (e.g., Poland, Russia, Romania, the former East Germany, Hungary,
Czechoslovakia) have been transitioning from planned to market systems. There are three types
of economic systems: (a) re-distributive state socialist economies (e.g. planned economy), which
distribute goods primarily through plans constructed by government officials, (b) market
systems, which function with buyers and sellers bargaining directly over prices, and (c)
transitional economies, in which the market system gradually takes the place of the state socialist
system (Walder, 1996). Prior to 1989, most countries in Eastern Europe used a socialist
economic model that emphasized government/state controlled monopolistic companies and
centrally-controlled production and distribution systems (Fischer & Gelb 1991). In the planned
economy, consumers were faced with (a) chronic shortages of desirable products, (b) an
inefficient retail distribution system that often required hours of time to buy necessities, and (c) a
thriving “second economy” (i.e. black market) that provided products unavailable in the official
system (Ericson 1982). After the collapse of the Soviet Union, former post-socialist countries
began to reform their political and economic systems by turning away from the inefficient and
ineffective socialist command economies to democratic market-based economies (Fischer &
Gelb 1991; Ericson 1982).

1

Historical Background: Post-socialism and Economic Transition
Significant national events often provide an environment in which national economic
system changes take place, which in turn reshape socioeconomic elements, alter peoples’ value
structures, and create new generational cohorts (Inglehart 1976, 2000). For example, Inglehart
proposed Generational Cohort Theory to explain the emergence of generational cohorts as a
result of political or economic upheaval. The current study treats the changes of political and
economic systems in Eastern Europe, due to the end of Cold War and World War II-era
socialism, as significant national events. While systems of government changed after the Cold
War and World War II, it is economic changes and their subsequent outcomes that lead to
changes in social values, especially for people who experience changes during their youth
(McKenzie & Merrilees 2008; Inglehart 2000).
Among countries that transitioned from a planned to a market economy after 1990, the
former East Germany represents a unique context to study the effects of an economic transition
on consumers. For the proposed study, the transformation of the German political and economic
systems due to the German reunification is treated as a significant national event. Following
World War II, Germany was divided into two nations—East and West Germany. Prior to the
1990 German reunification, West and East Germany operated under two different systems of
government and had separate economies. While the West was a democracy with a market
economy, the East was under the control of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) and
operated under a planned economy that featured state-run, centrally controlled, monopolistic
companies (Fischer & Gelb, 1991). As the two governmental systems combined, the German
reunification also represented the gradual conflation of the two economic systems of the former
East and West Germany into a united economic system, or a single market economy.

2

Just after the reunification, East Germany experienced mass layoffs after West Germany
shut down or acquired formerly state-run industries (Spiegel, 2010a), resulting in an
unemployment rate in the Eastern region of 25% in 1991 (Sinn, 1992). Immediately following
the German reunification, approximately 14,000 companies in the Eastern region closed or
became privatized within the proceeding five years. This dramatic transition in the Eastern
region caused the loss of 4 million jobs in this area as the economic system transitioned from a
planned to market economy system (Herbst, 2009).
According to Spiegal (2010a), the gap in the standard of living between the East and the
West has narrowed since the German reunification. For example, German national statistics
show that the unemployment rates in the Eastern region were at 11.5% in August 2010 compared
to the Western region’s rate at 6.6%, but an economic gap still exists despite the infusion of
billions of Euros since the fall of the Berlin Wall (Spiegel, 2010a). Nevertheless, the
unemployment rate in the East has improved considerably since the reunification (Herbst, 2009).
Eastern German households possessed a net income of €10,900 ($13,870) after the fall of the
Berlin Wall, which was only 35 % of Western households’ net income. In 2008, the net income
of Eastern German households was €19,500, which was 53% of the Western households’ net
income (Spiegel, 2010a). By 2012, unemployment had significantly slowed and the economic
gap in terms of income, purchasing power, and car ownership decreased (Spiegel, 2010a). On
the twentieth anniversary of the German reunification, Brandenburg’s governor, Matthias
Platzeck, suggested that diminishing gap between the two regions was a clear demonstration of
the Eastern Germans’ determination to expand their economy (Spiegel, 2010a).
However, one survey found that over 80% of East Germans still felt that they were
second-class citizens (Spiegel, 2010b), because much of the money spent in the Eastern region

3

has gone to social benefits such as welfare and rebuilding downtown areas and historical districts
(Neubacher & Sauga, 2010) instead of contributing to direct and tangible benefits to individuals.
Moreover, due to different levels of development within the Eastern region of Germany,
economic and business success varies greatly (Herbst, 2009). Although developed cities in the
Eastern region such as Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, and Jena have developed into areas
characterized by technologically advanced and entrepreneurial cultures, many areas in the former
East Germany have suffered from depopulation and high rates of unemployment (Herbst, 2009).
This demonstrates that economically prosperous and developed cities like Jena, Dresden, and
Berlin distinctly contrast with other rural and undeveloped areas of the Eastern region of
Germany (Herbst, 2009). This has led some Eastern Germans to become nostalgic for life as it
existed before the fall of the Berlin, with 50% agreeing that: “GDR [German Democratic
Republic] had more good sides than bad sides. There were some problems, but life was good
there” and with 8% agreeing that "The GDR had, for the most part, good sides. Life there was
happier and better than in reunified Germany today” (Herbst, 2009, p1). This represents another
aspect of the transitional process that Eastern Germans experienced and continue to experience
in the reunified environment.
Furthermore, based on recent interviews with the young adult cohort, Sung et al. (2011d)
found that:
[Joe: West]: After the reunification, politicians said it would take 10 years to be
the same in the Eastern and Western regions of Germany, but it will take 60 years
after that (reunification).
[Rosette: East]: Yes (Rosette agreed with Joe).
[Rosette: East]: For the same job, we get less salary than West Germany. When I
grew up...I realized that there is (still) progressive change. After the war, we did
not have money…The church destroyed…They did not have money to rebuild in
GDR. They did not care about Church…Now they have money, I think the whole
city is getting prettier now.
4

Additionally, the fact that most areas in the East, aside from metropolises like Leipzig,
Dresden and Jena, have experienced economic depression has exacerbated feelings of economic
divergence (Neubacher & Sauga, 2010). Symptomatic of this is the fact that none of the 100
largest industrial companies and none of the 100 largest service providers in Germany is
headquartered in the East, and the population in the former East Germany has decreased by
approximately 2 million people since 1990 (Neubacher & Sauga, 2010).
Germans from the Eastern region have adapted to the transformation of the economic
system, changes in work life, and occupational socialization and unemployment (Noack et al.,
2001). An empirical study on people’s perceptions of society during the transitional process
found that in former Soviet-bloc countries, the most influential factor on these perceptions was
the availability of financial resources (Noack et al., 2001). Since the reunification, families that
have better financial resource availability have been able to adapt more effectively to the new
environment (Noack et al., 2001). Thus, families with higher income or financial resource
availability are more likely to perceive opportunities in the reunification instead of threats, and
are better able to psychologically adapt to this transitional environment (Noack et al., 2001).
Furthermore, while Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) of the Western region was $1.6
trillion in 1997, PPP of the Eastern region was $144 billion after the Reunification (“Economy of
Germany,” n.d.). Recently the gap between the PPPs decreased (Goebel et al., 2010). While
Eastern German households had a net income of €10,900 ($13,870) following the fall of the
Berlin Wall, it represented only 35 % of Western households’ net income (Spiegel, 2010a). In
2008, the net income of Eastern German households was €19,500 and represented 53 % of
Western Germans’ household incomes (Spiegel, 2010a).

5

Therefore, because a gap in PPP and net income exists between the two regions, families’
financial resources after the German reunification also differ. East German families are more
likely to have experienced economic hardship than West German families. This difference in
financial resources may affect young consumers’ perceptions of product prices in the transitional
environment in these two regions (e.g. former East and West Germany). Thus, price perception
between these two regions is explored in the current study.

Justification for the Current Study
The current study attempts to investigate whether social values differ between young
adult East and West German consumers in the transitional environment, which was shaped by
the German reunification of the Eastern and Western regions. Furthermore, this study also
investigates whether these social values between the two regions influence consumer
perceptions, specifically price perception, resulting from the financial resource availability
during the young consumers’ formative years during the transitional period.
Therefore, the current study focuses on whether young consumers, who began their
consumer path in the market economy, but had different family social backgrounds in their
youth, perceive price and value differently. Because price perception is distinguished into two
dimensions—positive and negative perceptions—some consumers perceive high prices as a
standard of prestige and quality, while other consumers perceive high prices as economic
sacrifice and are concerned that prices are reflective of product quality (Erickson & Johansson,
1985; Lichtenstein, Netemeyer, & Burton, 1990; Lichtenstein, Ridgway & Netemeyer, 1993;
Monroe & Krishnan, 1985). Because of their divergent backgrounds, it is unclear whether
young consumers in the Eastern and Western regions have similar or divergent consumer

6

behaviors. It is unknown how young former Eastern and Western German consumers perceive
themselves, and whether they feel that the gap between the two regions is diminishing. By
understanding the differences/similarities in price perception drawn from young consumers’
social values due to an historical event (e.g. social and economic system changes), marketers can
gain insight into price-driven purchase motivations. Because price perceptions include
consumers’ perceptions of high and low prices, prestigious brands, values and quality of
products, the sharing of discount price information, and coupon and sales proneness
(Lichtenstein et al., 1993), marketers could draw a wealth of information that would help them to
develop effective marketing strategies in post-socialist contexts.

Purpose and Significance of Study
The financial situation is still unbalanced between the Eastern and Western regions of
Germany. While there have been improvements in the East’s economic situation since
reunification, the process of economic integration is ongoing. In order to better understand the
consumer milieu in this transitional environment, an examination of the resulting social values of
the emerging generation of consumers must be performed, and how these social values affect
price perception must be understood. The current study investigates the relationships between
consumer price perceptions, social connectedness, how people perceive themselves (e.g.
collective self-esteem), and place of origin (e.g. East vs. West) following the German
reunification.
Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to investigate the influence of social values
(e.g., social connectedness, collective self-esteem) on price perception across regions (East,

7

West) and cohorts (20s) (see Figure 1 for the proposed study model). Specifically, the proposed
study will:
1.

Examine the relationship between social connectedness and collective self-esteem;

2.

Investigate the relationship between collective self-esteem and positive price

perceptions; and
3.

Identify the relationship between collective self-esteem and negative price

perceptions.

Results are expected to show to what degree consumer behavior has converged or
diverged between the East and the West and will make several contributions to the literature.
First, this analysis will provide a deeper insight into the price perceptions of German consumers.
According to previous studies (Lichtenstein et al., 1993), price perception is divided into positive
(e.g. price/quality schema, prestige sensitivity) and negative (e.g. value & price consciousness,
sales proneness, coupon proneness, price mavenism) perceptions. Scholars discovered that price
perception is contingent upon the culture under study (McGowan & Sternquist, 1998; Moore,
Kennedy & Fairhurst, 2003; Sternquist, Byun, & Jin, 2004) and not all price dimensions are
relevant across cultures. For example, one analysis found that Japanese consumers think in terms
of price relative to quality; thus, a high price equates to high quality in Japanese consumers’
minds (McGowan & Sternquist, 1998). Another study found that Korean consumers perceive
price mavenism as both a positive and negative price perception, while price quality and prestige
sensitivity were perceived as positive price perception, and value and price consciousnesses were
perceived as negative price perception (Sternquist, Byun, and Jin, 2004). Further, Chinese
consumers perceived value and price consciousness, sales proneness, and price mavenism as

8

negative price perception, but did not hold positive price perceptions (Sternquist, et al., 2004).
Therefore, cultural differences in consumer price perceptions exist. One contribution that this
study makes to the literature is whether German consumer price perception is consistent with, or
diverges from, the standard Western price perception model.
Second, in order to determine whether young German consumers in the Eastern and
Western regions have different levels of social connectedness and how they perceive themselves
in each region, this study will investigate these social values and whether these social values
influence price perception. As previously mentioned, differences in the environments after
reunification, purchasing power parity, and levels of net incomes and unemployment rates,
differentially influence Germans’ level of social connectedness in each region. Thus, the results
will increase understanding of how the unique social values of Germans living in the Eastern and
Western regions influence price perceptions. Social values correspond to particular cohorts,
which are generated by a significant national event. This study investigates how and to what
extent the German reunification has served as a formative agent for the development of social
values of Germans living in the East and is integral to a more complete understanding of this
consumer cohort. Furthermore, this understanding will be further elucidated by an investigation
of the effect of the aforementioned social values of price perception of the young adult cohorts
from the transitional and long-standing market economies.
Third, studying this consumer cohort will not only be useful in the context of German
consumer behavior, but also in regards to economic settings of other post-socialist countries (e.g.
Russia). An investigation of this new “market generation” is important, because this group was
the first exposed to complex transitional environments influenced by (1) their parents “preunification” behavior, and (2) their contemporary Western German counterparts from the

9

transitional market economy. The purpose of the research, in part, is to determine whether there
is a unified young German adult cohort or whether residual differences exist as a result of
growing up in the Eastern and Western regions during the economic transition. The result of this
comparison will be of interest to global retailers and manufacturers who are concerned with
young adult consumer behavior corresponding to emerging transitional markets. Thus, the results
will be helpful for marketers to utilize standardization, adaptation, or mixed price strategies that
target these transitional young consumer cohorts. These findings may also be extended across
the European Union by creating more efficient consumer targeting strategies in post-socialist
countries. Figure 1 is an illustration of the constructs included in the study.
The rest of the chapters are organized as follows: Chapter 2 is a summary of the literature
relevant to consumers’ social values and consumers’ positive and negative price perception for
socially visible consumption behavior, and hypotheses of the proposed relationships as presented
in the conceptual model above. Chapter 3 contains a summary of the methodology of the study.
Chapter 4 includes the analysis and the results of the study, and Chapter 5 contains a discussion
of the results and responses to the research questions.

10

Figure 1. Conceptual Model: Influence of Social Values on Price Perception

11

CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter is intended to summarize (a) how social values (e.g., social connectedness,
collective self-esteem) affect socially visible perceptions across regions and cohorts, and (2) how
these aforementioned values are related to consumer behavior.
Modernization theorists argue that economic, cultural and social changes work together
in a consistent pattern to alter society in predictable and consistent ways (Inglehart, 1976).
While some societal changes are predictable, Inglehart asserts that the relationship between the
formation of social values and a political and economic environment is more elaborate than this
because of the inherent complexity of human behavior. This complexity involves a number of
unaccounted for factors.
The following subsections in the literature review contain an overview of psychological
and psychosocial human behavior theories related to the change of social systems that influence
consumers’ attitudes and perceptions of shopping. This study will focus on young adult German
consumers mainly in their 20s and early 30s, who have lived the vast majority of their lives
during the transitional period. If the regional division has truly evaporated into history, their
consumer behavior should reflect that. The transitional process is complicated for this young
Eastern German cohort due to influences stemming from their parents and their Western German
contemporaries. Comparing the young Eastern German cohort to their Western German
contemporaries may elucidate a further level of understanding of societal change and the
repercussions of the transitional environment.

12

Generational Cohort Theory
A cohort is any group of people with a specific shared life experience that has taken place
over a defined period of time (Smola & Sutton 2002). Generational Cohort Theory attempts to
explain the change in a society, its value structure, and the emergence of new generational
cohorts as an outcome of significant national events (Inglehart, 1976, 2000). Significant national
events often cause the socioeconomic setting to change. This, in turn, fundamentally alters the
formative environment for social values for the cohort emerging during this time. Furthermore,
economic growth tends to have the most significant effect on these social values, as well as on
attitudes and lifestyles across cohorts (Abramson & Inglehart, 1995).
There are two aspects of a society’s culture or cultural values that are especially related to
economic growth: the presence of materialists and the values imparted to children by society
(Inglehart, 1976). Economic development leads to cultural changes that make people more
skillful in obtaining material things and pursuing democracy, and if socioeconomic status (e.g.
education, income) is increasing, this may induce predictable cultural consequences, such as the
desire to acquire more material things. Thus, economic growth, along with cultural and political
changes in the form of significant national events, facilitates the change of social and cultural
traits (Inglehart, 1976, 2000).
Although the new environment may differ from the formative socioeconomic
environment that the parents’ generation experienced, the emerging cohort is also influenced by
the social values of the parents’ generation, thereby complicating the development of their
children’s social values by providing basic values that tend to remain dominant into adulthood
(Inglehart, 1976). Therefore, in the German case, especially in the Eastern region during the
transitional environment, young adult Germans are likely to have been influenced by their family

13

experiences (e.g. parents), as well as by their contemporary Western counterparts which may
have complicated their social values.
Applying the Generational Cohort Theory to the case of consumers in a reunified
Germany will help to explain how the transition from socialism to democracy, and from a
planned to a market-based economic system, has shaped the social values of the young adult
cohort living in the East. Following the reunification, this cohort grew up in a value system that
differed from their parents’ generation, who lived under the socialist system during their
formative years. Thus, this cohort’s basic values should reflect the transitional environment
experienced during their youth, as well as the changes in the socioeconomic environment that
have led to the shift in values over the transitioning years.
In the ongoing transitional environment, individual perceptions of change and uncertainty
in society can influence other family members’ perceptions of change and uncertainty in society,
interpersonal relations (e.g., closeness) and psychological adaptation to the new society (Kracke,
Oepkek, Wild, & Noack, 1998; Noack, Hofer, Kracke, & Klein-Allermann, 1995; Noack &
Kracke, 1997; Noack et al., 2001). For individuals, families are the first social groups with whom
they interact and share information; family members support each other and exert social pressure
upon each other (Moore, Wilkie, & Lutz, 2002). In addition, members of families influence each
other’s decision making, interaction style, and lifestyle choices (Sillars, 1995), as well as their
beliefs and attitudes toward society in general (Sears, 1983). For example, an older generation
may teach a younger generation to be skeptical or vice versa, thus representing an intergenerational influence (Brim, 1968; Ziegler & Child, 1969).
However, during the transitional period the Western German youth cohort may have
influenced the Eastern German youth cohort because of the long-standing market economy that

14

existed in the West prior to reunification. Some argue that the younger generation is more
individualistic and is more likely to prefer the free market economic system than their parents’
generation (Horowitz, 2010). The younger generation in the Eastern region has been exposed to a
greater variety of products and media information in the market economy than their parents in
the socialistic economic system of former East Germany. In the former GDR, like Russia, there
was no advertising to create “wants” or to provide product information. While the older
generation in the Eastern region may believe that their financial situation was better off under
socialism, the younger generation may believe that democracy is a better system to solve the
problems that Eastern European countries face (Horowitz 2010). What contributes to this
conflict is the fact that the parents’ generation grew up under a socialist government and
command economy and continued to deal with these factors directly until reunification, while
their children possess only a second-hand experience with a socialist government. These
differential experiences result in a generational gap between adults and the younger cohort,
resulting in distinctive attitudes toward capitalism and democracy (Horowitz, 2010). Compared
to the young adult generation living in the West, the young adult generation in the East may hold
views and values that are more reflective of both the influences from their parents and their
Western counterparts in the transitional economic environment.

15

Social Connectedness
Social connectedness is how close or secure one feels with oneself or with others in one’s
social setting (Kohut, 1984; Lee & Robbins, 1998). Strong connections with family, friends,
acquaintances, and other social groups are linked to high levels of trust and emotional
involvement (Granovetter, 1973; 1982). Conversely, social disconnectedness is described as
mistrustful interpersonal ties and passive behavior (Lee & Robbins, 1998).
Due to the structural and systemic social changes (e.g., loss of state-generated jobs and
housing) the older generation experienced in Germany (Diewald & Lüdicke, 2006), Eastern
Germans’ social relationships (networks) were vulnerable to change after reunification. In the
former GDR, these were vital and established networks that allowed Eastern Germans to
purchase merchandise and acquire material items that were not available in formal channels. In
general, these social networks were a more critical component of Eastern Germans’ lives because
they allowed them to survive in the state-run economy, whereas Western Germans were able to
obtain merchandise and material goods through an open market system. Consequently, these
system changes due to the reunification in the Eastern region have led to the loss of friendships
and acquaintances that were created during the communist period because these relationships
were derived from institutional settings which dissolved during the transition (Diewald &
Lüdicke, 2006). In the reunification environment, the new social network requires highly
differentiated role expectations compared to what was expected in the previous Eastern German
networks (Diewald & Lüdicke, 2006)
Interviews revealed that parents in the East had lower feelings of social connectedness
compared to the feelings present before the reunification (Kopf & Wolf, 2007). In addition,
another study revealed that as family members gained experience through their parents’

16

secondhand stories, the younger generation in the Eastern region of Germany had lower feelings
of social connectedness compared to those feelings present before the reunification (Sung &
Huddleston 2011c). This study also revealed that Eastern Germans in their 20s still sensed
socioeconomic differences between the Eastern and Western regions, even though they have
grown up in the unified environment (Sung & Huddleston 2011c). However, it is unknown how
regional social connectedness differs within each regional social group for the new generational
cohorts in each region. Parents’ feelings of social disconnectedness derived from their social
milieu may influence feelings of social connectedness for East German youth.
Sung & Huddleston (2011c) also found evidence to suggest that nonmonetary exchange
increased social connectedness during the planned economy, but, as the transitional environment
made various products more widely available for purchase, people relied less on their social
networks. For example, one interviewee explained how social networks have changed following
reunification, but these experiences were based on the interviewee’s parents’ stories that he was
told:

Do you feel you catch yourself losing a sense of connectedness with society? If so, why do
you feel that way?
[Tobias: East] If it means that part of the society get less connected I might say yes, but
only because my “older” family told me there was more connectedness before the fall of
the Wall. If the question means I lost a connection to society then I can say yes.
One of problems in the East Germany was the planned economy. They didn’t produce
enough houses or many other things. They didn’t produce enough materials. You (people)
needed to apply for it and waited for the long time. People started to trade each other, in
an illegal way. The government did not allow it officially, but I think they knew, because
of the secret party. Black market—it is a trading market. For example, if you wanted to
build a house, there was not enough wood or soil. If people satisfy with it, uh, some ways,
they obtain bath tubs—it was very rare at the time. Or you can have a small house. They
did not produce things to build a house. For example, if you have three bath tubs, like my
dad had, then you could trade two of them for wood or stone to build a house.

17

[Interviewer] So you mean that before the reunification, a network is very important to
get some stuff?
[Bryon: East] Yes. Having a network is very important.
[Interviewer] What is important after the reunification?
[Bryon: East] After the reunification, money is important. My mom said once, “the
difference between before the reunification and after the reunification now…before (the
reunification) there was not enough (stuff) to buy, even though we had money; but now
there is enough to buy many things, but we don’t have enough money. Just a big
difference is we had a connection (before the reunification), but the other one (after the
reunification) that we don’t have a connection (now). That is why people said it is loss of
connection. These days, the matter is money, not connection.

Consumer Culture Theory hypothesizes that barter activity and nonmonetary exchange
increases social relationships (Kopf & Wolf, 2007) and these relationships “encourage the
mutuality that builds a sense of caring and sharing” (Kozinets 2002, p. 29). In a market system,
given that bartering is not essential in obtaining crucial goods, the need for social connections is
decreased (Kopf & Wolf, 2007). After the reunification, especially in the Eastern region, people
were encouraged to simply work harder in order to earn more money. This, in turn, nurtures a
sense of individualism within the new capitalist culture. Now people saw themselves not as a
part of a larger community, but rather as individuals defined by how much money they earn.
Economic status and access to resources causes social change (Abramson & Inglehart 1995; Fam
et al., 2008; McKenzie & Merrilees 2008), thus, the increasing importance of money caused a
social change that is a natural outcome of a market economy. This change in the socioeconomic
environment while transitioning to a market economy is what young East German consumers
have faced as they mature.

18

Collective Self-esteem
Self-esteem refers to one’s evaluation of one’s own worth based upon specific personal
characteristics (Leary & Baumeister 2000; Rosenberg, 1965, 1979; Gray-Little et al., 1997).
Because a person’s self-esteem develops from social interactions, self-esteem can be used to
measure a person’s sense of social inclusion or belonging to a group (Leary et al. 2000).
Personal self-esteem is defined as the feelings of self-worth one obtains from one’s personal
characteristics (Rosenberg, 1965, 1979; Gray-Little et al., 1997) while collective self-esteem is
defined as the feelings of self-worth one derives from one’s group membership (Luhtanen &
Crocker 1992). This kind of self-esteem affords an individual a prescribed social identity
associated within a particular group.
Furthermore, Social Identity Theory explains that the relevance of social group
memberships contributes to an individual’s self-concept and social behavior (Tajfel, 1982; Tajfel
& Turner, 1979, 1986; Turner, 1982). In addition, the theory posits two distinguishable
characters of self-concept—personal identity and social (or collective) identity (Tajfel & Turner,
1979; Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992). Between the two aspects of the self-concept, the first,
personal identity, explains individuals’ attributes (e.g. competence, talent, and sociability)
(Tajfel, 1982). The latter aspect of self-concept—social identity (or collective identity)—
explains “an individual’s self-concept, which derives from his knowledge of his membership in a
social group (or groups) together with the value and emotional significance attached to that
membership” (Tajfel, 1982, p.255). Many previous studies emphasize self-esteem measures that
focus on an individual’s evaluation of personal identity, while few studies measure social
identities (or collective self-esteem) (Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992). Luhtanen and Crocker (1992)

19

found that collective self-esteem in relation to well-being is contingent upon race (Caucasian,
African, Asian college students in the U.S.)
In the current study, social identity is investigated and the term “collective self-esteem” is
used, which is the American terminology for social identity. Thus, collective self-esteem
measures individual differences in the perspective of the ‘collective’, rather than individual
personal perspectives of self-esteem (Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992). Collective self-esteem can be
evaluated through how a person evaluates one’s group and how others evaluate that group (Tajfel
& Turner, 1986). Thus, collective self-esteem can be positive or negative as a result of the
assessment of one’s social groups, rather than an individual’s attributes or achievement in these
groups (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). Thus, the function of collective self-esteem between Eastern
and Western Germany could be different, since these regional groups have different historical
backgrounds and because of the way that young Germans perceive their regional social groups.
Collective self-esteem is identified by four dimensions: a) membership esteem, b) public
collective self-esteem, c) private collective self-esteem, and d) importance to identity (Luhtanen
and Crocker, 1992).
Social connectedness and self-esteem have a positive relationship; that is, higher social
belongingness leads to higher self-esteem (Marcia, 1980). Since identification with others is
related to self-esteem and encourages social interaction (Brown et al., 1986), peer affiliation or
social belonging is important for engendering collective self-esteem. Thus, high-quality
interaction with others is related to high levels of self-esteem (Denissen et al., 2008). Since
collective self-esteem is related to the groups to which a person belongs (Lee & Robbins, 1998),
individuals with high self-esteem may be more influenced by people in their social groups than
are those with low self- esteem. In addition, self-esteem is treated as a barometer that can

20

measure the degree to which people feel they belong to a social group, or their sense of social
inclusion (Leary & Baumeister, 2000). Moreover, according to Social Identity Theory, a social
group is defined as a collection of individuals that perceive themselves as members in the same
social category (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). According to the theory, collective self-esteem (or
social identity) results from various group memberships such as race, gender, and occupation,
among other factors (Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992). Although Germany has been united since the
German reunification in 1990, in the current study, a social group is defined as a regional social
group such as hometown or community.
A person’s level of social belonging is positively related to self-esteem (Denissen et al.,
2008). In previous studies, a significant effect of social connectedness on self-esteem was
shown, such that individuals with high levels of connectedness exhibited high levels of selfesteem in social situations (Lee & Robbins, 1995, 1998). Lee and Robbins (1995) found that for
female college students in the U.S., high social connectedness was related to high social
identification. Thus, lower levels of social belongingness may result in lower levels of selfesteem (Leary & Baumeister, 2000).
Previous studies have found that after the reunification between the two regions, former
East Germans, especially older citizens, had lower feelings of social connectedness (Kopf &
Wolf, 2007). In interviewing elderly Eastern Germans, Kopf and Wolf (2007) found that after
the reunification, for obtaining products or materials, bartering and gift-giving were no longer
important in the market system, thus the need for social networks/connections was lower,
compared to the pre-unification need for them. Twenty years after the reunification, young
adults from the Eastern region also expressed a lower feeling of social connectedness. These
feelings of social connectedness were derived from their secondhand experiences that their

21

parents’ provided (Kopf & Wolf, 2007; Sung & Huddleston, 2011c; Veenis, 1999). However,
higher connectedness has been traditionally reported in post-socialist countries because of the
way that the system worked to accomplish daily living tasks such as the ability to obtain
merchandise (Sung & Huddleston, 2011c).
For the new young generational cohort, the current study investigates how youth perceive
regional social connectedness in the East and West, and whether this regional social
connectedness leads to its regional collective self-esteem for members. Thus, compared to the
Western region, social connectedness may still be higher in the Eastern region. Social
connectedness may also affect collective self-esteem, as regional group members may have
strong perceptions of their regional group. Although the Eastern region experienced a dramatic
change from the bartering culture in the planned economy to the new capitalistic culture in the
market economy, belonging to their regional social group may still result in higher collective
self-esteem compared to the Western region because of the nature of social networks and the
purposes that they served prior to reunification. Thus, it is expected that the feeling of regional
social connectedness will lead to Eastern Germans’ higher regional collective self-esteem.
Based on these results, it is proposed:

Hypothesis 1a: Social connectedness is positively related to collective self-esteem.
Hypothesis 1b: The influence of social connectedness on collective self-esteem will be greater
for the Eastern cohort than the Western cohort.

22

Positive and Negative Dimensions of Price Perceptions

Price is a key factor during the process of deciding to make a merchandise purchase
(Lichtenstein et al., 1993). Price is treated as an extrinsic cue for quality (Gerstner, 1985;
Huddleston & Good, 1998; Peterson & Wilson 1985). Price perception is the process a
consumer undertakes to assess the value of products or services based on the price (Lichtenstein,
Bloch & Black, 1998; Lichtenstein et al., 1993; Lichtenstein et al., 1990).
Price perception is divided into positive and negative price dimensions: the former
includes prestige sensitivity and price/quality schema and the latter includes price consciousness,
value consciousness, sales proneness, price mavenism, and coupon proneness (Lichtenstein et al.,
1993).

Positive Dimensions of Price

The positive perception of price occurs when consumers perceive that a high price is an
indicator of quality and prestige (Erickson & Johansson, 1985; Monroe & Krishnan, 1985;
Lichtenstein et al., 1990). Thus, consumers who perceive price as a positive cue may increase
their number of purchases because of higher prices. Using price as a signal for quality saves
time (Peterson & Wilson, 1985), where prestigious brand preference is more likely a socially
visible consumption behavior (McGowan & Sternquist, 1998).

23

Prestige Sensitivity
Conspicuous consumption involves the purchase of goods and services in order to display
wealth and status (Veblen, 2005). It also indicates high price as a cue for prestige (Chung &
Pysarchik, 1997; Yu, 1996). Consumers who equate high prices with product quality are more
likely to be brand conscious and prestige sensitive (Sproles & Kendall, 1986).
In the current study, the term prestige sensitivity is defined as “a favorable perception of
the price cue based on feelings of prominence and status that higher prices signal to other people
about the purchaser” (Lichtenstein et al, 1993, p. 236). Previous studies have found evidence to
suggest that Korean consumers were very prestige sensitive (Yu 1996; Chung & Pysarchik,
1997; Sternquist et al., 2004) while Chinese consumers were less prestige sensitive (Lowe &
Corkindale, 1998; Sternquist et al., 2004). Additional analyses have also found evidence to
suggest that Japanese and American consumers also perceived prestige sensitivity as positive
price perception (McGowan & Sternquist, 1998) and that Polish consumers used price as a
positive cue to evaluate high quality and prestige (Moore, Kennedy, & Fairhurst, 2003). In
general, prestige sensitivity is explained as visible consumption behavior in the social world.
In evaluating a product’s quality and prestige, consumers perceive brand and packaging
as key pieces of non-price information and these factors can affect the price-quality relationship
(Chang & Wildt, 1996). However, consumers tend to use price as the main indicator of quality
when they are not familiar with products (McGowan & Sternquist, 1998).
To understand Germany’s purchasing environment since reunification, it is necessary to
understand the relationship between brand preference and price for young adult German
consumers. Prior to 1990, limited numbers of East German consumers had access to Western
brands, and then only through “Intershops” (Ardagh, 1991). While the former West Germany’s

24

market was open to a large host of brands, former East Germans’ experiences with Western
brands were more limited than their Western German counterparts. However, during the
transitional period, young adult German consumers (i.e. those in their 20s) in the Eastern region
had open access to Western brands as a result of the progressive overhaul of the retail system and
supply chain in the Eastern region.
Following the reunification, the former East Germans faced a swift transformation of
their social systems, significant changes in occupation and work environment, and the threat of
increasing unemployment (Andress, 1996). Currently, it is more likely that a family in the
former East Germany is under financial duress than a family in the former West Germany.
Because of this discrepancy in financial stability and the apparent economic uncertainty of the
ongoing transitional period, it is likely that former East German consumers would be more price
sensitive than their Western counterparts.
A previous study found that brand preference accompanied by a high price was more
important for young adult Germans in the Western region compared to those in the Eastern
region (Sung, Huddleston & Uhrich, 2011a).

For example, Sung and Huddleston (2011b)

reported on brand preference for laptop computers and found that young adult consumers from
the Western region and young adult consumers from the Eastern region owned different brands,
with the former owning more expensive (prestigious) brands (e.g. Apple). It was also reported
that young adult Germans in the Eastern region most commonly owned the brands Acer (20%),
Samsung (19%), Toshiba (15%), and Dell (15%), while young adult Germans in the Western
region most commonly owned Apple (26%), Samsung (14%), Toshiba (8%), and Dell (8%)
(Sung & Huddleston, 2011b). This finding corroborates the assertion that young adult German
consumers in the Eastern region are still price-sensitive in a similar way to their parents’ cohort.

25

This may be explained by the economic disparity caused by the restructuring process and that
parity in socioeconomic status has not yet been accomplished.

Moreover, the following

interviews with young Germans demonstrate the differences in prestigious brand preference
between the Eastern and Western region based on the last durable/expensive item they bought
(Sung & Huddleston, 2011d):
Interview #1:
What was it?
[Rosette: East]: Engagement ring
[Tobias: West]: Samsung LCD TV screen
Which factors (color, quality, brand, etc.) made you purchase this product?
[Rosette: East]: look pretty (design)! Then price range
[Tobias: West]: Brand (Samsung) is the most important, then price and size of TV screen.
Samsung built the best screen in the world at the moment. I will not buy LG. (For me),
quality, not the price. For me quality is important.
How important was the brand name of the product you bought?
[Rosette: East]: Not important at all. I forgot
[Tobias: West]: Brand is important. Any brands are important.
Interview #2:
What was it?
[Joe: East]: Notebook (laptop)
Which factors (color, quality, brand, etc.) made you purchase this product?
[Joe: East]: The most importance is performance of data (lap-top). Processor..speed..
So functional factor?
[Joe: East]: Yes. The second one is reliability which is connected to brand name.
Which brand that you have?
[Joe: East] Acer
Are you willing to spend more money on better brands?
[Joe: East]: …. I definitely don’t buy APPLE (laptop) because people have to pay double,
but there is no other use of this, but there is no (great) function. I never do that (function
has to be better).
So you focus reliability or function, not only brand name itself?
[Joe: East]: yes

26

These interviews provide evidence that East Germans tend to engage in shopping with a
focus on function and quality rather than prestigious brand names compared to Western
Germans. Therefore, what motivates a German consumer living in the East may be how well a
product fits his or her particular need, rather than whether owning a certain brand will raise his or
her social status in a group.
Investigation of the relationship between self-esteem and prestige brand preference (i.e
sensitivity) has concluded that consumers are concerned with how they portray themselves to
others around them, and express this concern through the products they purchase (Sirgy, 1982).
Self-concept theorists have espoused the notion that consumers buy products that match their
self-concept. This allows them to project an ideal self in interactions with individuals in their
social group (Dolich, 1969; Sirgy, 1982).
Furthermore, due to a scarcity of financial resources in the Eastern region, prestige
sensitivity of consumers may diverge from the prestige sensitivity of consumers in the Western
region. Sung and Huddleston (2011b) found that twenty years after the reunification, young
Germans preferred Samsung to other laptop brands. However, when analyzing the regions in
greater depth, young Germans living in the West preferred a higher prestige brand such as Apple,
while those living in the East preferred Acer, which was functional with affordable price (Sung
& Huddleston, 2011b).
Collective self-esteem is implicated in this preference, insofar as it is likely to motivate
greater preference for prestigious brands in the Western region compared to the Eastern region.
Thus, high collective self-esteem might affect socially visible consumption behavior, otherwise
known as prestige brand preference. Thus, the hypotheses for this section are:

27

Hypothesis 2a-1: Collective self-esteem is negatively related to prestige sensitivity for the
Eastern cohort.
Hypothesis 2a-2: Collective self-esteem is positively related to prestige sensitivity for the
Western cohort.
Hypothesis 2b: The influence of collective self-esteem on prestige sensitivity will be greater for
the Western cohort than the Eastern cohort.

Price/quality Schema
Price/quality schema is defined as “the generalized belief across product categories that
the level of the price cue is related positively to the quality level of the product” (Lichtenstein,
Ridgway & Netemeyer, 1993, p. 236). However, depending on the context, price cues can be
seen as surrogates of quality as well (Monroe & Krishnan, 1985). This effect can be modified by
the presence of alternative consumer cues (e.g. attractive packaging and well-known brand
names) (Chang & Wildt, 1996; Sternquist, Byun, & Jin, 2004).
In former command economies, price was not an indication of quality, and thus
consumers had little experience in assessing the relationship between the two. Price did not
indicate quality because the state determined product prices (Bryson, 1984). Nine months after
the fall of the Berlin Wall, Johnson and Johnson (1993) investigated several dimensions of
consumer behavior (e.g., price and quality issues) in the former East and West Germany. Their
study results revealed that East Germans more readily believed that price did not reflect the
quality of the product received (Johnson & Johnson, 1993).
In general, there is ample evidence suggesting a positive relationship between price and
quality evaluations. Some consumers evaluate price as a standard of product quality and thus
associate higher price with higher quality (Erickson & Johansson, 1985), while others associate

28

high price with prestige (Chung & Pysarchik, 1997; Sproles & Kendall, 1986; Yu, 1996).
Equating high price with prestige is often manifested by socially-visible consumption behavior
which might be affected by high collective self-esteem.
One study found that consumers who possess a high price/quality schema are inclined to
purchase products with a high price (Lichtenstein, Bloch & Black, 1988). Moreover, the results
of a cross-cultural study suggested that price/quality perception was a marketing universal across
countries such as Japan and the U.S. (McGowan & Sternquist, 1998). Specifically, the study
reported that Japanese consumers believed that there is always a reason when a price is
expensive, thus a high price product is also perceived as high quality. In addition, a European
study found that Polish and Russian consumers used price as an indicator for quality (Huddleston
& Good, 1998) and Polish consumers indicated that price is a positive price perception to assess
high quality (Moore et al., 2003). Chinese consumers also responded in the same manner (Veek
& Burns, 1995). Therefore, since there is strong evidence that price is a positive cue for high
quality, it is proposed that both Eastern and Western Germans who have high regional collective
self-esteem may also perceive that price is an indicator of quality.
As mentioned in the prestige sensitivity section, Apple was the favorite brand for the
young adult German in a quantitative study (Sung & Huddleston, 2011b), while it was not for
those in the Eastern region. As discussed in the prestige sensitivity section, a prestigious brand
with a high price does not automatically indicate high quality in the Eastern region. It is
expected that price/quality schema might be stronger for the young cohort in the Western region
than those in the Eastern region. Therefore, it is posited that a relationship between price/quality
schema exists that is similar to the relationship between collective self-esteem and prestige
sensitivity because price/quality schema is a part of the positive price perception domain.

29

Hypothesis 3a: Collective self-esteem is positively related to price/quality schema.
Hypothesis 3b: The influence of collective self-esteem on price/quality schema will be greater
for the Western cohort than the Eastern cohort.

Negative Dimensions of Price

The negative perception of price pertains to the attitude that high prices cause economic
sacrifice, where higher prices would lead to a decrease in the number of purchases that
consumers make (Lichtenstein et al., 1990). In this study, I will examine how these price
perception categories manifest in the German consumer realm.

Value Consciousness
Value consciousness is explained as “concern for price paid relative to quality received”
(Lichtenstein et al., 1993, p. 235). Monetary value is described as a tradeoff between the money
that consumers spend and the benefits they acquire through these exchanges (Sirohi, McLaughlin
& Wittink, 1998). As consumers attempt to maximize the value of products, and expect to
obtain high quality products at lower prices (Hutton, 1995), the perceived value becomes an
important element for consumer decision-making (Chang & Wildt, 1994; Lee, 1995).
Consumers become value-conscious in stores and make product selections by leveraging
between price and value (McGowan & Sternquist, 1998; Leibman, 1996). Thus, value-oriented
consumers increase and shape the performance of retail channels (Germeroth-Hodges, 1993).

30

In previous studies (Dodds, Monroe & Grewal 1991; Grewal, Monroe & Krishnan,
1998), perceived value is linked to negative price perception where a higher price is perceived as
being related to lower product value. Higher perceived value makes consumers more willing to
adopt new products (McGowan & Sternquist, 1998). One study found Asian consumers are
expected to be value-driven, even in a better economy, as they have more options between price
alternatives (Germeroth-Hodges, 1993). However, Polish consumers’ price perception as a
negative cue (expressed through dimensions such as value consciousness) was not well
developed (Moore et al., 2003). In contrast, Korean consumers indicated that value
consciousness had the strongest relationship with the negative price dimension (Sternquist et al.,
2004).
Based on different historical backgrounds and the transitional environment that exists
between the Eastern and Western regions of Germany, the effect of collective self-esteem on
value consciousness could be different for each cohort because of the differences in the ways that
young Eastern and Western Germans perceive their regional social groups and values. Because
value consciousness is described as the ability of consumers’ to obtain their money’s worth
relative to product value and quality (Lichtenstein et al., 1993), value consciousness is perceived
as a negative cue and the strongest negative dimension (Sternquist et al., 2004). Therefore,
Eastern and Western regional collective self-esteem might be negatively related to value
consciousness. Thus, based on previous studies (Moore et al., 2003; Sternquist et al., 2004), the
effect of collective self-esteem on value consciousness could be stronger for the Western cohort
than the Eastern cohort consumers. Given this background information, the following hypotheses
related to collective self-esteem and value consciousness are proposed:

31

Hypothesis 4a: Collective self-esteem is negatively related to value consciousness.
Hypothesis 4b: The influence of collective self-esteem on value consciousness will be greater for
the Western cohort than the Eastern cohort.

Price Consciousness
As one of the negative price dimensions, price consciousness indicates “the degree to
which a consumer focuses exclusively on paying low prices” (Lichtenstein et al., 1990, p. 235).
According to Grunert and Scherhorn (1990), differences in value systems across cultures can
cause differences in the perspectives of consumer behavior. In the current study, the two groups
of young German consumers grew up under different market systems and their
behavior/attributes may be different as a result. Since collective self-esteem explains how
individuals view the social groups to which they belong (Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992), consumer
attributes such as negative price perception toward shopping behavior may be influenced by how
young Germans perceive their regional social groups. This would determine whether young
Germans are concerned about their socially visible shopping behavior demonstrated by the
products/brands they purchase with high or low prices.
Concerns about paying low price for products/brands can be related to ones’
economic/financial condition. For example, previous studies explain that price consciousness
has been affected by consumer behavior, especially in the U.S. recession in the early 1990s
(Moore et al., 2003). Other studies explain that Korean consumers might be more price
conscious in an economic downturn, leading to increased concerns about price and an
unfavorable attitude towards high prices and high price consciousness (Sternquist, Byun & Jin,
2004). Polish consumers also perceived price consciousness as a negative cue (Moore et al.,
2003).
32

Germans’ concerns about paying a low price for products/brands could be related to their
socio-economic status. In the former East Germany, governmental and economic changes may
have drastically influenced a family’s financial status. Currently, the unemployment rate in the
Eastern region is nearly double the rate in the former West Germany (Spiegel, 2010a). For
example, marketers already recognize economic differences between the two regions in
Germany. GfK reported that prices remain lower in Eastern Germany because of the perceived
price sensitivity in those areas, especially for food, compared to the Western region (“GfK Group
Press,” 2012). Due to the discrepancy in financial stability between regions, it is likely that
German consumers living in the East would be more price sensitive than their Western
counterparts.
Thus, due to the ongoing reconstruction process in the Eastern region and the financial
discrepancy between the East and the West (Spiegel, 2010a), consumption behavior in the
Eastern region may be more limited than in the Western region. The domestic GDP indicates this
discrepancy, i.e. 2,210 (billion euro) in the Western region vs. 288 (billion euro) in the Eastern
region in 2010 (“Statista,” 2012). Therefore, fewer financial resources in the Eastern region may
impact consumers’ price-value consciousness in a way that departs from price-value
consciousness in the West.
According to Tajfel and Turner (1986), in order to enhance collective self-esteem,
members try to elevate their objective position in their social groups. However, the Eastern
cohort, who has shared transitional life experiences within the same region, will not try to
enhance their social identity (collective self-esteem) by paying a high price for brands in order to
fit within their regional social group since they share similar financial backgrounds. However,
by the same token, Eastern Germans may express greater concerns over paying a low price for

33

merchandise. Therefore, regional collective self-esteem will be positively related to price
consciousness in the Eastern region. In other words, consumers in the Eastern region focus on
budgeting their money instead of spending on high price brands for socially visible consumption
in their region.
However, since individuals living in the Western region are more likely to prefer brands
compared to those living in the Eastern region, Western regional collective self-esteem may be
influenced by socially visible consumption, which translates into paying higher prices for certain
brands. Thus, Western regional collective self-esteem will have a negative association with price
consciousness.
Based on Sternquist et al. (2004), Korean consumers, especially during the economic
down turn, expressed increased concerns about price and had an unfavorable attitude towards
high prices. Since economic distress makes consumers more price-conscious, the effect of
regional collective self-esteem on price consciousness will be stronger for the Eastern cohort
than the Western cohort. Therefore, the hypotheses for this section are as follows:

Hypothesis 5a-1: Collective self-esteem is positively related to price consciousness for the
Eastern German cohort.
Hypothesis 5a-2: Collective self-esteem is negatively related to price consciousness for the
Western German cohort.
Hypothesis 5b: The influence of collective self-esteem on price consciousness will be greater
for the Eastern cohort than the Western cohort.

34

Sales Proneness
Another behavior associated with negative price perception is sales proneness, which
indicates an increased propensity for purchasing products on sale because of their reduced price
(Lichtenstein et al., 1993). Therefore, when this behavior is present, consumers become
exceptionally responsive to sales promotions (Price et al., 1988; Lichtenstein et al., 1990;
Schneider & Currim, 1991), indicating an increase in the rate of purchase caused by sales
incentives. Research shows that sales price advertisements with comparative prices increased
consumer perceptions of value compared to advertised prices without sales promotions (Monroe
and Chapman, 1987). Therefore, sales proneness is strongly correlated with price consciousness
(Lichtenstein et al., 1993). Lichtenstein et al. (1993) report that discounts from the regular
prices, or sales proneness, is related to increased sensitivity to price.
Different cultures have perceived sales proneness differently. For example, sales
proneness of Polish consumers was not significant for negative price perceptions, while sales
proneness was significant among Americans’ price perceptions (Moore et al., 2003). The
reasoning provided for this finding was that the sales concept for Polish consumers might not be
as well developed in the transitional economy compared to the well-established U.S. marketbased economy.
In the case of South Korean consumers, sales proneness was perceived as bargain seeking
behavior (“Bargain Hunters”, 1997) and South Korean consumers reported stronger preference
for sales (Jin & Sternquist, 2003). However, sales proneness of these consumers was not
significant for negative price perceptions. Prior to the Asian economic recession, pre-existing
laws in South Korea allowed the government to restrict the number and duration of sales, which

35

allowed consumers to know the time and duration of sales (Sternquist & Jin, 1998). Thus, it was
not necessary to shop for sales as this information was readily available.
Since sales proneness is defined as an increased propensity to purchase products on sale
due to their reduced price (Lichtenstein et al., 1993), there might be differences between the two
regions of Germany related to sensitivity to price. Therefore, based on the deal proneness
concept (Lichtenstein et al., 1990), young Germans in the Eastern region might have stronger
preference for sales because of their sensitivity to price compared to those in the Western region.
Looking for a good deal could be perceived as a smart consumer behavior even if regional social
groups have high collective self-esteem in the Eastern region. For the Western region, sales
proneness could be perceived as being sensitive to price among the Western cohort. The
discussion in the previous section posited a negative relationship between price sensitivity and
collective self-esteem. Thus, the direction between collective self-esteem and sales proneness
for the Western German cohort should also be negative.

Hypothesis 6a-1: Collective self-esteem is positively related to sales proneness for the Eastern
cohort.
Hypothesis 6a-2: Collective self-esteem is negatively related to sales proneness for the Western
Cohort.

Hypothesis 6b: The influence of collective self-esteem on sales proneness will be greater
for the Eastern cohort than the Western cohort.

Price Mavenism
Consumers deemed price mavens tend to gather and share information about shopping
tips and the best prices available (Lichtenstein et al., 1993). Market mavens are described as
36

consumers who share shopping information with others (Feick & Price, 1987). These consumers
tend to be aware of new products and brands on the market, and they are frequent coupon users
(Feick & Price, 1987). The price maven is traditionally concerned about shareable low price
information, thus Lichtenstein et al. (1993) distinguished price mavenism into the negative price
perception domain, but later studies suggest that this dimension could be a positive dimension.
For example, Sternquist et al. (2004) found that Koreans perceived this dimension as both a
positive and negative price perception because these consumers actively share high price
information with others.
As the results of previous literature suggest, South Korean consumers are not likely to
share discount price information with others even though they tend to engage in high levels of
word-of-mouth information sharing (Jin & Sternquist, 2005). Rather, South Korean consumers
tend to provide information about high prices instead of low price information, which are
perceived as both positive and negative price perception (Jin & Sternquist, 2005). In addition,
Polish consumers perceived price mavenism as non-extensive and weak compared to price
mavens in the U.S. (Moore et al., 2003).
Therefore, like South Korean consumers who have lived under the long-standing market
economy, Western Germans may not share price discount information with others when they
have high collective self-esteem, instead preferring to engage in conspicuous consumption when
interacting with others. Perhaps this behavior could be explained by Hoarding Theory and the
Self-Image Congruence Concept. Hoarding Theory refers to emotional buying, resulting in these
consumers seeking to acquire a gratuitous number of products, because these consumers consider
not holding on to a product to be risky, insofar as other consumers might buy the product before
they can (McKinnon, Smith, & Hunt, 1985). Therefore, Western Germans might consider price

37

mavenist behavior to be undesirable, because it could lead to others acquiring products that they
might need in the future. In addition, the self-image congruence concept refers to consumption
that is in line with how people see themselves (Dolich, 1969; Sirgy, 1982; Sirgy et al., 1997).
Consumers with high self-image congruence try to project an ideal self-image, seeking associate
products/brands and themselves in their social groups (Dolich, 1969; Sirgy, 1982; Sirgy et al.,
1997). In the case of Western German consumers who have high self-image congruence,
attempts are made to hide the fact that discounted prices are paid, in order to maintain this
correlation between self-image and the ability to purchase expensive products, and consequently
to prevent devaluation of their image.
Before the German reunification, social relationships or networks were very important for
the older Germans in the Eastern region in order to obtain consumer products (Sung &
Huddleston, 2011a). Thus, price mavenism might be positively related to collective self-esteem
for the older generation in the East. The same idea applies for their children, as price mavenism
may have a positive relationship with collective self-esteem for the young cohort in the Eastern
region, but the effect of collective self-esteem on price mavenism may not be as strong as their
parents’ networks because social relationships are less important for the new generational cohort
after the reunification. Thus, East Germans who have high collective self-esteem may not share
discount price information with others within the same region because of the decreased necessity
of the network. Furthermore, the effect of price mavenism might be stronger for the Western
region given the findings of previous literature on Polish and U.S. consumers that found that
price mavenism of Polish consumers was non-extensive and weaker than for U.S. consumers.
Therefore, the relationship may operate in different directions for the two regions and the effect
of collective self-esteem and price mavenism may be stronger for Western Germans.

38

Hypothesis7a-1: Collective self-esteem is positively related to price mavenism for the Eastern
cohort.
Hypothesis7a-2: Collective self-esteem is negatively related to price mavenism for the Western
cohort.
Hypothesis 7b: The influence of collective self-esteem on price mavenism will be greater for
the Western cohort than the Eastern cohort.

Coupon Proneness
It has been argued that price reduction offered by a coupon may increase consumer
purchases (Lichtenstein et al., 1990; Cotton & Babb, 1978; Schindler, 1990). According to these
authors, coupon proneness plays a negative role in the price perception because sales increase
when a discount price is offered in conjunction with a coupon compared to sales without
coupons. Therefore, increased sales in this context are due to increased sensitivity to price.
Coupon proneness is defined as “an increased propensity to respond to a purchase offer because
the coupon form of the purchase offer positively affects purchase evaluations” (Lichtenstein et
al., 1990, p.56).
Germans’ coupon usage has been called insignificant compared to other European
countries (e.g. Belgium, Portugal, Greece, France, Spain), the U.S., and some Asian countries
(e.g. China, Hong Kong, South-Korea) (“Nielsenwire,” 2011). However, as one of the sets of
price perception, coupon proneness is investigated to compare differences between the Eastern
and Western regions of Germany in this study. This is because coupon proneness is related to
increased sensitivity to price (Lichtenstein et al., 1990), so there might be differences between
the two regions.

39

Based on previous research on price perception, among the total seven total price
perceptions coupon proneness was omitted for cross cultural research on Polish, U.S. (Moore et
al., 2003) and Asian consumers (Sternquist et al., 2004). The justification provided for this
omission in these studies was that coupon proneness was not active enough for Polish and South
Korean consumers.
Although Germans’ coupon usage is not highly recognized, the current study still
investigates coupon proneness to demonstrate a set of price perceptions. Since coupon proneness
is linked to market mavens who share shopping information with others through discussion
(Feick & Price, 1987), consumers who have access to market mavens or who are coupon prone
tend to control their spending by using coupons for sales advantages (Price et al., 1988).
Therefore, Eastern Germans may tend to budget their expenditures in order to be able to
purchase certain quality items and may actively use coupons. For the Western region, using
coupons could be perceived as being sensitive to price. Therefore, the effect of collective selfesteem on coupon proneness will be stronger for the Eastern region than that of the Western
region.

Hypothesis8a-1: Collective self-esteem is positively related to coupon proneness for the Eastern
cohort.
Hypothesis8a-2: Collective self-esteem is negatively related to coupon proneness for the
Western cohort.
Hypothesis 8b: The influence of collective self-esteem on coupon proneness will be greater for
the Eastern cohort than the Western cohort.

40

CHAPTER III
METHODS

In Chapter 3, the study methodology is discussed. This includes the measurement, sample
and data collection procedure. In addition, the methodology of the preliminary study is
examined.

Construct Measures
Construct measures were adopted and modified from existing scales as follows: there were
nine constructs in total, including social connectedness, collective self-esteem, positive price
perception (price/quality schema, prestige sensitivity), and negative price perception (value
consciousness, price consciousness, sales proneness, price mavenism). A 7-point Likert scale
(1=strong disagree to 7=strongly agree) was used to measure all constructs. The survey
instrument is presented in Appendix D. In order to assess measurement invariance in a crosscultural (e.g. national) study, three main components were checked, including calibration,
translation, and metric equivalence tests (Mullen 1995). Before the data collection, calibration
and translation equivalence tests were verified. Calibration equivalence is used to ensure that
units of measure are converted between cultures (Mullen 1995). According to Mullen (1995),
translation equivalence is used for making sure that questionnaire items are translated
appropriately. Thus, questionnaire items are tied to their respective latent constructs after
translation. Typically, the back-translation method is used for the establishment of calibration
and translation equivalence (Mullen 1995).

41

Therefore, for the calibration and translation equivalence, English questionnaires were
translated into German. A total of four German graduate students in the U.S. and Germany who
are fluent in English translated, back-translated, and confirmed the meaning of the items. The
translation process was as follows: 1) the two original German translators translated the English
version of the survey questions into the German version in the U.S.; 2) then, another German
translator acted as a confirmer in Berlin and double-checked the original translators’ work and
made modifications; 3) the back-translator translated the German version into English to ensure
that the meaning of questions was properly delivered; 4) then, all of the versions were discussed
among the translators, in order to compare the original English version, the translated version
from English to German, the modifications from the confirmer, and the back-translator’s version
from German into English. All versions were compared to reach the closest meaning delivery
and results were double-checked. Based on the mutual agreement of the four translators, two
questions from the English version of the questionnaire were adjusted slightly due to the
difficulty of the exact translation between German and English as follows: Question #30: “I am
able to relate to my peers in the region/city (or hometown).” For the translation of “relate to”
from English to German, there were three options to convey the meaning, including “identify”
(sich identifizieren), “build a relationship in a professional way” (Beziehungen aufbauen), and
“get along with” (sich verstehen mit irgendjemandem). Ultimately, “get along with” was chosen
because the expression “relate to my peer” implies interaction with a peer essential “to getting
along” with her or him. Question #45: “I feel good about my hometown or the city/region to
which I belong” is translated as “I am proud of my hometown” based upon an agreement
between the four translators. The scales are discussed in detail in the following sections.

42

Study Background and Scale Adjustment Procedures
Interview—Stage One
Face to face, e-mail, and Internet video interviews were conducted in order to understand
the influence of the German reunification and gain an understanding of this phenomenon on
young German consumers. Many researchers use this method for gaining background
knowledge at the beginning of the research process (Churchill, 1979).
For the current study, a total of ten young Germans ranging from at least 18 years old to
less than 35 years old participated in interviews in the United States and Germany. Respondents
were asked about the German reunification situation and the effects on social connectedness,
price perception, and brand preference a year before the main study was conducted.
First, interview participants were asked about their personal and family experiences and
how they felt about the social connectedness/gap between the Eastern and Western regions. In
addition, they were asked about their shopping experiences for durable/expensive products and
brand preference.
The respondents identified the influence of the German reunification between the Eastern
and Western regions and how it affected them, especially for young Germans in the Eastern
region compared to those in the Western region. The Eastern German youth described social
connectedness through stories from their parents and through their experiences with their
contemporary Western German counterparts. Moreover, most subjects provided information on
their electronic product shopping experiences and about durable/expensive shopping items.

43

Preliminary Study Test—Stage Two
Based on the interviews, a preliminary study was conducted a year before the main study
to identify whether there were statistical differences between the two regions in regards to social
connectedness, collective self-esteem and the price perception constructs, which include prestige
sensitivity, price and value consciousnesses.
In order to empirically test the basic conceptual model, data were collected from
university students in the Eastern and Western regions of Germany in 2011. A sample size of
201 German college students was collected in May through July 2011. A total of 168 responses
out of 201 were usable (East: 112 out of 124 and West: 56 out of 77). Based on the results of the
preliminary study, some revisions to the instrument were made for the main study in order to
clarify questions and confirm that the constructs and concepts were properly presented.

Face Validity for the Main Study—Stage Three
After obtaining the results of the preliminary study and interviews, the measurements
were modified, adjusted and added from the previous studies for each construct for the main
study in order to account for the effects of the regional gap and the German reunification
situation on the constructs (e.g. social connectedness, collective self-esteem). For example, the
modifications to the social connectedness items reflect the regional differences between the
Eastern and Western regions. Based on the preliminary results, items were modified by the four
German translators and back-translators to improve clarity and validity of scales before the main
study was undertaken. Each measure used in the study is discussed below.

44

Social Connectedness
Social connectedness reflects how close a person feels with others in one’s social setting
(Kohut, 1984; Lee & Robbins, 1995). Ten items measuring social connectedness out of a total of
20 items were adapted, adjusted, and modified from previous studies (Lee, Draper, & Lee, 2001;
Kohut, 1984) for the purposes of the current study. For the preliminary study, the alpha value of
the selected items was 87. However, for the main study, these selected items were modified to
reflect regional influences. The modified items adapted from Lee et al. (2001) were culled from
the original list of measures, in order to focus on social groups outside of the family and within
the greater society in reunified Germany. Focusing on this type of social group is salient because
it is easier to make the link between the general social connectedness to the regional social
connectedness/gap (East vs. West). For instance, instead of a question like “Sometimes I feel
myself losing a sense of connectedness with society,” the question was modified to “Sometimes I
feel myself losing a sense of connectedness with the community in the region/city (or hometown)
in which I grew up”. Furthermore, there were some translation issues between German and
English. For example, instead of “I am able to relate to my peers”, this question was changed to
“I am able to get along with my peers in the region/city (or hometown) in which I grew up” in
Germany. In general, the social connectedness measurement in the current study focuses on the
level of social connectedness of the Eastern and Western regions and the effects on German
youth growing up in each area. Thus, the measurement was modified and properly adapted to fit
the purpose of the current study.
Overall, the items for the current study were adapted from the previous German
consumer interview study which found regional differences (Sung & Huddleston, 2011c) and

45

were based on the original social connectedness study (Lee et al., 2001). These items are as
follows:
Table 1. Social Connectedness Items
I feel connected to the people (e.g. friends, relatives, neighborhood, acquaintance, etc) in the
region/city (or hometown) in which I grew up.
I feel like an outsider in the region/city (or hometown) in which I grew up. (Reverse)
I am able to “get along with” my peers in the region/city (or hometown) in which I grew up.
I think I fit in well in new situations.
Sometimes I feel myself losing a sense of connectedness with the community in the region/city
(or hometown) in which I grew up. (Reverse)
Even around people I know, I don’t feel that I really belong/belonged in the region/city (or
hometown) in which I grew up. (Reverse)
I see people as friendly and approachable in the region/city (or hometown) in which I grew up.
I feel distant from people in the region/city (or hometown) in which I grew up. (Reverse)
I don’t feel related to most people in the region/city (or hometown) in which I grew up.
(Reverse)
I don’t feel I participate with anyone or any group in the region/city (or hometown) in which I
grew up. (Reverse)
(1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly agree)

Collective Self-esteem
All 16 questions constituting the collective self-esteem measure were adapted from a
previous study (Luthanen & Crocker, 1992). Luthanen and Crocker’s (1992) scales were used
and modified in order to measure feelings of self-worth that a person derives from one’s group
membership (Eastern and Western regional group membership) for a prescribed social identity.
The original collective self-esteem scale (Luthanen & Crocker, 1992) was composed of four
subscales—“membership,” “private,” “public,” and “identify” collective self-esteem, with a
total of 16 items which were adjusted for the current study in order to distinguish the regional
collective self-esteem between the Eastern and Western regions of Germany. The term “social
group” was modified to reflect regional connections. For example, instead of “The social groups
46

I belong to are an important reflection of who I am,” this question was adjusted to “My
hometown or the city/region to which I belong is an important reflection of who I am” in
Germany. In addition, instead of “I feel good about my social groups to which I belong,” this
question was modified to “I am proud of my hometown or the city/region to which I belong” in
Germany. The scale of the original items was reported with most alpha coefficient items over
.70. The alpha coefficient was .78 for the preliminary study for collective self-esteem in
Germany. For the current study, all of these items are modified in order to reflect the regional
collective self-esteem between the East and West.
Table 2. Collective Self-Esteem Items
Membership
I am a worthy member of my hometown or the city/region to which I belong.
I feel I don’t have much to offer to my hometown or the city/region to which I belong. (Reverse)
I am a cooperative participant in my hometown or the city/region to which I belong.
I often feel that I’m a useless member of my hometown or the city/region to which I belong.
(Reverse)
Private
I often regret that I belong/having belonged to my hometown’s community.
In general, I’m glad to be/have been a member of the community in my hometown.
Overall, I often feel that my hometown or the city/region of which I am a member is not a
worthwhile place to be. (Reverse)
I am proud of my hometown or the city/region to which I belong.
Public
Overall, my hometown or the city/region to which I belong is considered good by others.
On average, most people consider my hometown or the city/region to which I belong, to be of a
lower status than other cities/regions. (Reverse)
In general, others respect my hometown or the city/region of which I am a member.
In general, others think that my hometown or the city/region of which I am a member isn’t a
worthwhile place to live. (Reverse)
Identity
Overall, my hometown or the city/region to which I belong has very little to do with how I feel
about myself. (Reverse)
My hometown or the city/region to which I belong is an important reflection of who I am.
My hometown or the city/region to which I belong is unimportant to my sense of what kind of a
person I am. (Reverse)
In general, belonging to my hometown or the city/region is an important part of my self-image.
(1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly agree)
47

Price Perception
Price perception is the process of interpreting price and assigning value to products or
services based on the price (Lichtenstein et al., 1988, 1990, 1993). Price perception is measured
in two ways: positive and negative dimensions.

Positive Price Perception
This dimension of price perception measures how consumers perceive high price as an
indicator of quality and prestige (Erickson & Johansson, 1985; Lichtenstein et al., 1990; Monroe
& Krishnan, 1985). Two constructs comprise price perception—prestige sensitivity and
price/quality schema. Nine item measures in total were derived and adjusted from existing
scales for prestige sensitivity (Lichtenstein et al., 1993). The original scales were used for
grocery shopping, so they were adjusted for the purposes of the current study. The alpha
coefficient of prestige sensitivity originally used by Lichtenstein et al. (1993) was reported as .89
by Sternquist et al. (2004). In the preliminary study of Germany, the alpha coefficient of
prestige sensitivity was .86. All nine items comprising the prestige sensitivity measure whether a
customer perceives price as a positive cue, which indicates feelings of prominence related to
conspicuous consumption.
In addition, price/quality schema measures whether consumers perceive price as
consistent with the quality of the product. For these consumers, price is a significant indicator of
quality (Peterson & Wilson, 1985) and these consumers therefore tend to purchase expensive
products (Lichtenstein, Bloch & Black 1988). Some schema, as well as their past experiences,
are important in helping them to make sound decisions (Rao & Monroe, 1988). Four items in
48

total were derived and adjusted from existing scales (Lichtenstein, Ridgway & Netemeyer 1993)
and the alpha coefficient of this scale ranged from .69 to .85 (Sternquist et al., 2004).

Table 3. Positive Price Perception Items
Prestige (Brand) Sensitivity
People notice when I buy the most expensive brand of a product.
Buying a high price brand makes me feel good about myself.
Buying the most expensive brand of a product makes me feel classy.
I enjoy the prestige of buying a high price brand.
It says something to people when you buy the high price version of a product.
Your friends will think you are cheap if you consistently buy the cheapest version of a product. I
I have purchased the most expensive brand of a product just because I knew other people would
notice.
I think others make judgments about me based upon the kinds of products and brands I buy.
Even for a relatively inexpensive product, I think that buying the most expensive brand is
impressive.
Price/Quality Schema
Generally speaking, the higher the price of a product is, the higher the quality of that product will
be.
The old saying ‘‘you get what you pay for’’ is generally true.
The price of a product is a good indicator of its quality.
You always have to pay a bit more for the best.
(1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly agree)

Negative Price Perception
This dimension of price perception is indicative of the perspective that high prices cause
economic sacrifice with the consequence that price is perceived as a negative cue (Lichtenstein et
al., 1990). Thus, high prices would cause consumers with this perspective to decrease the
number of purchases they make (Lichtenstein et al., 1990). There are four constructs in total
derived from an existing scale—price consciousness, value consciousness, sales proneness and
price mavenism (Lichtenstein et al., 1993).

49

Value consciousness measures a consumer’s concern for the price paid for an item
relative to the quality of this item (Lichtenstein et al., 1993). All seven items were adapted from
a previous study (Lichtenstein et al., 1993) and the alpha coefficient of this scale ranged from .84
to .88 as reported by Sternquist et al. (2004). Only a small adjustment was made to the original
scale (i.e. taking out the term “grocery shopping”). In the preliminary study of Germany, the
alpha coefficient of prestige sensitivity was .57.
Price consciousness measures the degree to which a consumer is concerned with paying
lower prices (Lichtenstein et al., 1993). All five items were adapted from an existing scale and
the alpha coefficient of this scale was .84, as originally reported by Sternquist et al. (2004), with
the aforementioned adjustment (e.g. taking out the term “grocery shopping”). In the preliminary
study of Germany, the alpha coefficient of prestige sensitivity was .82.
Sales proneness measures whether a customer’s purchase of products on sale increases
because of reduced prices (Lichtenstein et al., 1993). This construct indicates a customer’s
response to sales promotions (Price et al., 1988; Lichtenstein et al., 1990; Schneider & Currim,
1991). All six items were adapted from an existing scale and the alpha coefficient of this scale
was .90 as reported by Sternquist et al. (2004).
Price mavenism measures how consumers tend to gather information regarding shopping
tips and how the best prices available affect the behavior of other consumers (Feick & Price,
1987). Six items in total were adapted from an existing scale to measure this dimension and the
alpha coefficient of this scale was .90, as reported by Sternquist et al. (2004).
Coupon proneness measures consumers’ “propensity to respond to a purchase offer”
because of the availability of a coupon (Lichtenstein et al., 1990, p.56). Five items in total were
adapted from an existing scale (Lichtenstein et al., 1993) to measure this dimension. Previous

50

studies (Moore et al., 2003; Sternquist et al., 2004) excluded this construct due to the lack of
coupon usage in targeted countries.
Table 4. Negative Price Perception Items:
Value Consciousness
I am very concerned about low prices, but I am equally concerned about product quality.
I compare the prices of different brands to be sure I get the best value for the money.
When purchasing a product, I always try to maximize the quality I get for the money I spend.
When I buy products, I like to be sure that I am getting my money’s worth.
I generally shop around for lower prices on products, but they still must meet certain quality
requirements before I buy them.
When I shop, I usually compare the price information for brands I normally buy.
I always check prices at the store to be sure I get the best value for the money I spend.
Price Consciousness
I am willing to go to extra effort to find lower prices.
I will shop at more than one store to take advantage of low prices.
The money saved by finding low prices is usually worth the time and effort.
I would never shop at more than one store to find low prices. (Reversed Score)
The time it takes to find low prices is usually not worth the effort. (Reversed Score)
Sales Proneness
If a product is on sale, I would buy it for this reason.
When I buy a brand that is on sale, I feel that I am getting a good deal.
I have favorite brands, but most of the time I buy the brand that is on sale.
One should try to buy the brand that is on sale.
I am more likely to buy brands on sale.
Compared to most people, I am more likely to buy brands that are on special (sales).
Price Mavenism
People ask me for information about prices for different types of products.
I am considered somewhat of an expert when it comes to knowing the prices of products.
For many types of products, I would be better able than most people to tell someone where to
shop to get the best price.
I like helping people by providing them with price information about many types of products.
My friends think of me as a good source of price information.
I enjoy telling people how much they might expect to pay for different kinds of products.
Coupon Proneness
Redeeming coupons makes me feel good.
I enjoy clipping coupons out of the newspapers.
When I use coupons, I feel that I am getting a good deal.
I enjoy using coupons, regardless of the amount I save by doing so.
Beyond the money I save, redeeming coupons gives me a sense of joy.
(1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly agree)
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Data Collection of the Main Study

Data Collection Method
The online survey was conducted through a survey website. Data were collected via 1)
German university contacts established from the preliminary study conducted in 2009 and in
2011 and 2) consumers from an online market website, called ‘Crowdsourcing Internet
Marketplace’.
To obtain university participants, four German universities from the Eastern and Western
regions (e.g. Rostock, Jena, Passau, and Ingolstadt) were chosen because they include
populations of individuals belonging to the target age range for this study. The universities were
contacted to receive their permission to distribute the survey to students. German university
professors introduced the online links to the German students and explained the survey
procedure in German. Two incentives were provided to all German participants who completed
the survey. The first incentive was a 7 Euro Amazon gift card to all survey participants and the
second incentive was a raffle opportunity though a drawing conducted on July 4th, 2012 for two
100 Euro Amazon gift cards per university.
Secondly, the group of consumers from an online market website ‘Crowdsourcing
Internet Marketplace’ (e.g. Amazon Mechanical Turk) was chosen. This kind of website
provides access to a large group of consumers at a relatively low cost (Lohse, Bellman &
Johnson, 2000). In the online market website ‘Crowdsourcing Internet Marketplace,’
participants can choose to participate in any ‘Human Intelligence Tasks’ and a monetary reward
was offered (“Amazon,” 2012). Survey participants who agreed to participate in the online
market research website received a monetary reward of $7 for the current study. To qualify to
52

participate in this online market research website, consumers had to be located in Germany,
which was identified by the Internet IP address. Thus, only consumers who reside in Germany
could see the survey and participate. Participants were asked to provide their age, which was not
to exceed 35 years old before they were directed to the main survey link. The monetary reward
was given to participants who met all qualifications and verified their tasks within 48 hours.

Sample Description
Subjects include young German consumers because this cohort has been raised in a
milieu consisting of both a transitional economy (Eastern region) and a long-standing market
economy (Western region). The current study recruited young consumers ranging from at least
18 years old to 35 years old as of 2012, who spent their formative years in the transitional
economy compared to young consumers who spent their formative years in the long-standing
market economy. This age range was chosen because consumers may start to actively buy
products after 12 years of age. Previous research suggests that, while children's consumer
behavior trajectory continues during adolescence, by age 12 children have been fully exposed to
all aspects of their consumer behavior (Valenborg & Cantor, 2001). Valenborg & Cantor (2001)
conclude that “they are able to (1) feel wants and preferences (as early as infancy and
toddlerhood); (2) search to fulfill them (as early as the preschool period); (3) make a choice and
a purchase (from the early elementary school period on); and (4) evaluate a product and its
alternatives (as early as the later elementary school period)" (p. 69).
Since 22 years have passed since the German reunification in 1990, children that were 12
years old during this time period are now 34-35 years old (Fall of Berlin Wall in 1989). Thus,

53

the current study includes consumers who range from at least 18 years old up to 35 years old as
of 2012.
Participants in the survey were asked to identify their place of birth and hometown in
order to determine which cohort (transitional: East vs. market: West) to which they belonged.
These questions were as follows: “Where were you born (city and state)?”, “Where did you live
(most of the time: city and state)”, “How many years have you been in this region/city?”, and
“Where have you lived since you were 12 years old?”. The purpose of these questions was to
determine which participants were raised in the Eastern region of Germany, and which were
raised in the Western region of Germany. Respondents had to meet the following criteria: (a)
grew up in either the Eastern or Western region of Germany and were able to distinguish
between the two regions, and 2) are a German national.
A total of 605 responses were completed. Of this, 442 responses were usable (E=196,
W=246) after data cleaning (e.g. outliers, age limitation, German nationality, mean differences).
Table 5 shows the demographic characteristics of the sample in the Eastern and Western regions
of Germany. About 93.4% (East) and 86.9% (West) of the sample had or were currently
enrolled in a university. Of the sample, 93.4% (East) and 70.3% (West) were between 20 and 29
years old. The average annual income of the East sample was reported between 19,000€ and
26,999€ and that of the West sample was reported between 27,000€ and 38,999€. Of the
participants in the sample, 42.9% were male and 57.1% were female for the Eastern region while
64.2% were male and 35.8% were female for the Western region.
According to Statistisches Bundesamt in Germany, the total German population consisted
of 81.8 million people (“Destatis.de,” 2011). Of these, there were 17.4 million people (21% of
81.7 million) between 18 and 35 years of age in 2009. With a per capita income of 29,750 €,

54

Statistisches Bundesamt indicates that Germany is classified as a middle class society
(“Destatis.de,” 2009) while the net income of Eastern German households was 19,500€ in 2008
(Spiegel, 2010a). Compared to the annual income of the German population, the annual income
of the sample in the Eastern and Western regions was similar to the annual income of the
German population in each region.
According to Statistisches Bundesamt in Germany, 75% of people ranging from 20 to
under 30 years of age possessed an education certificate, including 33% that possessed a German
“intermediate school leaving certificate” (i.e. Realschulabschluss—similar to a two-year
technical school in the U.S.) and 42% that possessed a university or college entrance certificate
(“Destatis.de,” 2009). The average educational degree of this population of young Germans is at
least the “intermediate school leaving certificate”. Compared to the education level of the
German population, the sample of the current study has higher education level in both in the
Eastern and Western regions.
Statistisches Bundesamt also showed that 41,396 (50.8%) of Germans are female and
40,112 (49.2 %) are male. Specifically, for young Germans 18 to 35 years of age, 50.76% are
male and 49.24% are female (“Destatis.de,” 2009). Compared to this distribution of gender in
this age range, the sample of the current study in the Eastern region was similar, but the sample
of the Western region had a slightly higher percentage of male participants. This can be
explained by the greater number of respondents taken from the online survey participants (mturk web-site)—a platform that draws more male users in general (Krantz & Dalal, 2000)—in the
Western region than those taken in the Eastern region.

55

Table 5. Demographic Characteristics of the Sample (N=442)

Age

18- 20
21-24
25-29
30-35

Education School-leaving certificate
Currently at a college or
university or similar
Bachelor’s degree
Master’s degree or higher

East N=
(196)
19
107
57
13

Percent (%)

West N=
(246)
33
104
74
35

Percent
(%)
13.4%
42.3%
30.1%
14.2%
100%

13
156

6.6%
79.6%

32
135

13%
55%

10
17

5.1%
8.7%
100%

37
42

15%
17%
100%

9.6%
54.6%
29.2%
6.6%
100%

Income

Under 7500€
7,500€ – 18,999€
19,000€ – 26,999€
27,000€ – 38,999€
39,000€ – 49,999€
50,000€ – 61,999€
62,000€ – 76,999€
Above 77,000€
Don’t Know

48
32
15
17
20
7
4
9
44

24.5%
16.3%
7.7%
8.7%
10.2%
3.6%
2.0%
4.6%
22.4%
100%

43
34
11
23
24
22
11
21
57

17.5%
13.8%
4.5%
9.3%
9.8%
8.9%
4.5%
8.5%
23.2%
100%

Gender

Female
Male

84
112

42.9%
57.1%
100%

88
158

35.8%
64.2%
100%

56

CHAPTER IV
RESULTS

In this chapter, I will discuss the process by which the hypotheses posited in Chapter 2
were tested. The equivalence tests of CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis) and SEM (Structural
Equation Modeling) are reported including the reliability and validity of the measurement.
Finally, the findings of the current study are discussed.

4. 1. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)
The model was estimated using the two-step process recommended by Anderson and
Gerbing (1988). First, CFA was used to evaluate the reliability and validity of the measurement
to find an acceptable measurement model for the two groups using the equivalence test. Then,
the modified measurement model was analyzed using path analysis with latent constructs for the
suggested theory model test (Hatcher, 1994). LISREL 8.8 with the maximum likelihood
estimation was used.
The CFA test was conducted separately for the two groups (Germans living in the Eastern
region and Germans living in the Western region) to examine the initial result before the CFA
equality comparison test was conducted to impose the invariance constraints. The initial results
2

of separate CFA tests without any purification of scales were as follows: Chi-square (χ )=
3615.97, df=2144, p<.001, IFI=.89, CFI=.89, RMSEA=.06 in the Eastern region and Chi-square
2

(χ )= 3692.14, df=2144, p<.001, IFI=.92, CFI=.92, RMSEA=.05) in the Western region. First,
through separate CFA tests for each region, several items with factor loadings below .60 and
insignificant t-values were excluded to purify the measures (Anderson and Gerbing, 1998).

57

After the separate CFA test for each group was performed and several items with factor loadings
below .60 were deleted, the equivalence test for the two groups was conducted simultaneously
with the constrained measurement model (e.g. constrained factors) to test the same measurement
before comparing the study model between the two groups (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988). After
the CFA measurement equivalence test for both regions, the final results, including retained
items and excluded items, are shown in Table 6 below. Among four sub-scales of collective selfesteem, two sub scales were retained for the CFA test, but only one sub-scale—privately
perceived collective self-esteem—converged for the final SEM model. Although the final CFA
equivalence test for these private collective self-esteem items showed that one of these collective
self-esteem items was below .50 (.46 for the East and .42 for the West), it was retained in order
to maintain at least three items for an acceptable SEM model to converge (Hair, Anderson,
Tatham, and Black, 1988). With these three items of the private collective self-esteem construct,
this sub-scale made a contribution to the overall structural model fit, the relationship between
social connectedness and collective self-esteem was significant (p<.05) in the SEM model. In
addition, the rest of the constructs include at least three items per construct for an acceptable
SEM model (Hair, Anderson, Tatham, and Black, 1988) (See Table 6). Overall, the CFA
2

equivalence measurement model fit is good (Chi-square (χ )= 2720.22, df=1486, p<.001,
2

2

IFI=.93, CFI=.93, RMSEA=.06). Although the result of the χ test was significant (χ = 2720.22,
df=1486, p<.001), the rest of the fit indices indicated good fits of the CFA equivalence model to
the data (IFI=.93, CFI=.93, RMSEA=.06). Moreover, one of alternative tests is the “Normed
2

Chi-square” test (χ /df ) (Hooper, Coughlan, & Mullen, 2008), which is less sensitive to sample
2

size. An acceptable value resulting from χ /df could be less than or equal to 2 (Tabachnick &

58

Fidell, 2007). The result of the “Normed Chi-square test” ( χ2/df) for the CFA equivalence
model is less than 2. Therefore, it can be concluded that this CFA equivalence model is
acceptable for the two group (East and West) analysis.
Just as calibration and translation equivalences were verified in the method section, there
is also a metric equivalence test used to assess measurement invariance in multiple group
analysis (Mullen 1995). Metric equivalence has two important aspects—consistency of scoring
and equality of responses (Craig & Douglas 2000; Mullen 1995). For the Eastern and Western
regions, skewness and kurtosis of all variables were within the acceptable range of +2. Both
German groups living in the East and in the West responded 1 through 7 on the scales (7-point
Likert scale) of all variables. According to Hult et al. (2008), scoring consistency can be also
checked by comparing reliabilities between multiple groups or by examining factor loadings.
Scoring consistency can also be checked by excluding items that did not have significant loading
values and low loading coefficients (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988). Thus, reliability for each
construct was tested using Cronbach’s alpha. A Cronbach’s alpha above .70 is recommended
(Nunnally, 1978). All constructs in the two groups (East vs. West) were above .70 except the
construct labeled ‘privately perceived collective self-esteem, which was .65 in the Western
region group, but still acceptable (See Table 6 below). The comparison of reliabilities between
previous studies and the current study for price perception is shown in Table 7.
Construct validity was measured by convergent and discriminant validity tests. Since
convergent validity was evaluated by showing that the significance of the lamda (λx) loadings
(Anderson & Gerbing, 1988), λx values per each indicator to each respective latent construct
were significant (p<.05). Moreover, all λx loadings coefficients were greater than .50 (Anderson

59

& Gerbing 1988) except one collective self-esteem item. Thus, most items in the current study
strongly support the theoretical constructs and demonstrate convergent validity.
To verify discriminant validity, each item loading on one latent construct should be
within the same latent construct as distinguished from any other latent construct (Kline 2005).
All items belonging to the nine latent constructs were loaded and each item loaded on its
respective underlying latent construct, Ksi (ξ), without cross loadings. In addition, in order to
2

verify discriminant validity, χ indicates that the correlation Phi (ϕ) between two constructs was
significantly different from 1 (Anderson, 1987).
Table 6 shows the final items that were both selected and dropped after separate CFA
tests and the equivalence test for the measurement were conducted, as well as Cronbach’s alpha
for each construct. These variables made a contribution to the overall structural model fit.
Therefore, the equivalence CFA test is explained in detail in the following section.

60

Table 6. Measurement Properties after constrained factors: Equivalence Test for the two groups
Table 6. (Cont’d)
2

Chi-square (χ )= 2720.22, df=1486, p<.001, IFI=.93, CFI=.93, RMSEA=.06

Items

Social Connectedness
SC1: I feel connected to the people
(e.g. friends, relatives, neighborhood,
acquaintance, etc) in the region/city
(or hometown) in which I grew up.

East
Std.
Loadings

East
Cronbach’s
alpha

West
Std.
Loadings

.90

.55

SC2_R: I feel like an outsider in the
region/city (or hometown) in which I
grew up. (Reversed Score)

.71

.69

SC5_R: Sometimes I feel myself
losing a sense of connectedness with
the community in the region/city (or
hometown) in which I grew up.

.90

West
Cronbach’s
alpha

.52

.843

.864

SC6_R: Even around people I know, I
don’t feel that I really belong/belonged
in the region/city (or hometown) in
which I grew up. (Reversed Score)

.60

.60

SC7: I see people as friendly and
approachable in the region/city (or
hometown) in which I grew up.

.87

.53

SC8_R: I feel distant from people in
the region/city (or hometown) in
which I grew up. (Reversed Score)

1.03

.91

SC9_R: I don’t feel related to most
people in the region/city (or
hometown) in which I grew up.
(Reversed Score)

.71

.68

61

Table (Cont’d)
Table 6. 6. Cont’d
2

Chi-square (χ )= 2720.22, df=1486, p<.001, IFI=.93, CFI=.93, RMSEA=.06

Items

East
Std.
Loadings

East
Cronbach’s
alpha

West
Std.
Loadings

West
Cronbach’s
alpha

Excluded items:
SC3: I am able to “get along with”
(relate to) my peers in the region/city
(or hometown) in which I grew up.
SC4: I think I fit in well in new
situations.
SC10: I don’t feel I participate with
anyone or any group in the region/city
(or hometown) in which I grew up.
(Note: These items were also deleted
in the preliminary study)
Collective Self-Esteem
CSEP1_R: I often regret that I
belong/having belonged to my
hometown’s community. (Reversed
Score)
CSEP2: In general, I’m glad to
be/have been a member of the
community in my hometown.
CSEP4: I feel good about my
hometown or the city/region to which
I belong.

.46

.42

.735

.653

.88

.91

.65

.66

Excluded items:
CSEM1: I am a worthy member of my
hometown or the city/region to which I
belong.
CSEM2_R: I feel I don’t have much to
offer to my hometown or the
city/region to which I belong.
(Reversed Score)

62

Table 6. (Cont’d)
Table 6. (Cont’d)
2

Chi-square (χ )= 2720.22, df=1486, p<.001, IFI=.93, CFI=.93, RMSEA=.06

Items

East
Std.
Loadings

CSEM3: I am a cooperative
participant in my hometown or the
city/region to which I belong.
CSEM4: I often feel that I’m a useless
member of my hometown or the
city/region to which I belong.
CSEP3_R: Overall, I often feel that my
hometown or the city/region of which I
am a member is not a worthwhile
place to be. (Reversed Score)
CSEPB1: Overall, my hometown or
the city/region to which I belong is
considered good by others.
CSEPB2_R: On average, most people
consider my hometown or the
city/region to which I belong, to be of
a lower status than other
cities/regions. (Reversed Score)
CSEPB3: In general, others respect
my hometown or the city/region of
which I am a member.
CSEPB4_R: In general, others think
that my hometown or the city/region
of which I am a member isn’t a
worthwhile place to live. (Reversed
Score)
CSEID1_R: Overall, my hometown or
the city/region to which I belong has
very little to do with how I feel about
myself. (Reversed Score)
CSEID2: My hometown or the

63

East
Cronbach’s
alpha

West
Std.
Loadings

West
Cronbach’s
alpha

TableTable 6. (Cont’d)
6. (Cont’d)
2

Chi-square (χ )= 2720.22, df=1486, p<.001, IFI=.93, CFI=.93, RMSEA=.06

Items

East
Std.
Loadings

East
Cronbach’s
alpha

West
Std.
Loadings

West
Cronbach’s
alpha

city/region to which I belong is an
important reflection of who I am.
CSEID3_R: My hometown or the
city/region to which I belong is
unimportant to my sense of what kind
of a person I am. (Reversed Score)
CSEID4: In general, belonging to my
hometown or the city/region is an
important part of my self-image.
Prestige Sensitivity
PSN2: Buying a high price brand
makes me feel good about myself.
PSN3: Buying the most expensive
brand of a product makes me feel
classy.
PSN4: I enjoy the prestige of buying
of a high priced brand.
PSN5: It says something to people
when you buy the high price version
of a product.

.79

.78

.88

.85

.84

.83

.869

.879

.61

.60

PSN7: Your friends will think you are
cheap if you consistently buy the
lowest price version of a product.

.62

.64

PSN9: I have purchased the most
expensive brand of a product just
because I knew other people would
notice.

.62

.62

64

TableTable 6. (Cont’d)
6. (Cont’d)
2

Chi-square (χ )= 2720.22, df=1486, p<.001, IFI=.93, CFI=.93, RMSEA=.06

Items

East
Std.
Loadings

East
Cronbach’s
alpha

West
Std.
Loadings

West
Cronbach’s
alpha

Excluded items:
PSN1: People notice when you buy the
most expensive brand of a product.
Price/Quality Schema
PQS1: Generally speaking, the higher
the price of a product is, the higher the
quality of that product will be.

.83

.90

.756

.786

PQS2: The old saying ‘‘you get what
you pay for’’ is generally true.

.56

.62

PQS3: The price of a product is a good
indicator of its quality.

.73

.79

.81

.70

Excluded items:
PQS4: You always have to pay a bit
more for the best.
Value Consciousness
V2: I compare the prices of different
brands to be sure I get the best value
for the money.
V5: I generally shop around for lower
prices on products, but they still must
meet certain quality requirements
before I buy them.

.69

.65
V7 : I always check prices at the store
to be sure I get the best value for the
money I spend.

65

.717

.63

.57

.773

Table Table 6. (Cont’d)
6. (Cont’d)
2

Chi-square (χ )= 2720.22, df=1486, p<.001, IFI=.93, CFI=.93, RMSEA=.06

Items

East
Std.
Loadings

East
Cronbach’s
alpha

West
Std.
Loadings

West
Cronbach’s
alpha

Excluded items:
V1: I am very concerned about low
prices, but I am equally concerned
about product quality.
V3: When purchasing a product, I
always try to maximize the quality I
get for the money I spend.
V4: When I buy products, I like to be
sure that I am getting my money’s
worth.
V6: When I shop, I usually compare
the price information for brands I
normally buy.
(Note: These items were also deleted
in the preliminary study)
Price Consciousness
PC1: I am willing to go to extra effort
(e.g. using coupons, comparing prices
online) to find lower prices.

.79

.73

PC2: I will shop at more than one
store to take advantage of low prices.

.67

.64

PC3: The money saved by finding low
prices is usually worth the time and
effort.

.90

.86

.80

.73

PC5_R: The time it takes to find low
prices is usually not worth the effort.
(Reversed Score)

.836

Excluded items:
PC4_R: I would never shop at more
66

.852

TableTable 6. (Cont’d)
6. (Cont’d)
2

Chi-square (χ )= 2720.22, df=1486, p<.001, IFI=.93, CFI=.93, RMSEA=.06

Items

East
Std.
Loadings

East
Cronbach’s
alpha

West
Std.
Loadings

West
Cronbach’s
alpha

than one store to find low
prices.(Reversed Score)
(Note: This item was also deleted in
the preliminary study)
Sales Proneness
SAP3: I have favorite brands, but most
of the time I buy the brand that is on
sale.
SAP4: One should try to buy the brand
that is on sale.

.67

.69

.78

.81
.820

.827

SAP5: I am more likely to buy brands
on sale.

.70

.72

SAP6: Compared to most people, I am
more likely to buy brands that are on
special (sales).

.75

.74

.78

.82

.86

.90

Excluded items:
SAP1: If a product is on sale, I would
buy it for this reason.
SAP2: When I buy a brand that is on
sale, I feel that I am getting a good
deal.

Price Mavenism
PM1: People ask me for information
about prices for different types of
products.
PM2: I am considered somewhat of an
expert when it comes to knowing the

67

Table 6. Table 6. (Cont’d)
(Cont’d)
2

Chi-square (χ )= 2720.22, df=1486, p<.001, IFI=.93, CFI=.93, RMSEA=.06

Items

East
Std.
Loadings

East
Cronbach’s
alpha

West
Std.
Loadings

West
Cronbach’s
alpha

prices of products.
PM3: For many types of products, I
would be better able than most people
to tell someone where to shop to get
the best price.
PM4: I like helping people by
providing them with price information
about many types of products.

.89

.89

.924

.908
.75

.74

PM5: My friends think of me as a
good source of price information.

.92

.93

PM6: I enjoy telling people how much
they might expect to pay for different
kinds of products.

.73

.73

Coupon Proneness
COU1: Redeeming coupons makes me
feel good.

.73

.63

COU2: I enjoy clipping coupons out
of the newspapers and magazines.

.72

.62

COU3: When I use coupons, I feel that
I am getting a good deal.

.71

.63

.81

.83

.80

.82

COU4: I enjoy using coupons,
regardless of the amount I save by
doing so.
COU5: Beyond the money I save,
redeeming coupons gives me a sense
of joy.

.845

68

.866

Table 7. Comparison of Reliabilities for Price Perception

Prestige
sensitivity
Price/quality
schema
Value
consciousness
Price
consciousness
Sales
proneness
Price
mavenism
Coupon
proneness

Reliabilities (Cronbach’s alpha)
Lichtenstein Moore et al. (2003)
Sternquist et al.
et al. (1993)
(2004)
U.S.
Poland
Korea
China
.88
.78
.91
.78

Current study
(Germany)
East
West
.87
.88

.86

.85

.69

.76

.79

.86
.78~.90 for
all
constructs

.84
.84

.84

.88

.72

.77

.55

.50

.87

.82

.84

.85

.82

.75

.83

.80

.82

.83

.91

.86

.93

.85

.91

.92

Omitted
construct

Omitted
construct

Omitted
construct

Omitted
construct

.85

.87

69

4. 2. CFA Equivalence Test for the Group Comparison
LISREL 8.8. with Maximum Likelihood Estimation was used to compare the
measurement model for the equivalence test for the Eastern and Western groups. For the
equivalence test of the two groups, a group comparison analysis was used simultaneously to
impose invariance constraints on the parameter estimates (e.g. factor loading) across the Eastern
2

and Western models (See Table 6). The model demonstrates a good fit (Chi-square χ = 2720.22,
df=1486, p<.001, IFI=.93, CFI=.93, RMSEA=.06).
Moreover, measurement equivalence was conducted at several levels. There were no
2

2

significant χ differences (∆χ ) between the unconstrained model and the constrained models on
the factor loadings and the factor correlations, which are presented in Table 8. Therefore, factor
covariances were found to be equal across both groups by constraining the ϕ to be equal. In
addition, the two groups have equal factor loadings. However, the most restrictive test—equal
2

error variances—across the groups was significant (∆χ =128.08, ∆df=41, p<.001). Thus,
allowing errors to be non-invariant could improve the fit of the models across the groups.
Overall, the equivalence tests at several levels are acceptable.

70

Table 8. CFA Constrained at Several Levels: Chi-square Results and Goodness of Fit Indices for
the Measurement Model for the Equality of the two-group comparison
2

Model

χ

1. Two groups-Unconstrained

2720.22 1486

2. Two groups-ϕ Constrained

df

∆χ

2

CFI

RMSEA

.00

.93

.060

2720.22 1486

.00

.93

.060

3. Two groups-λ Constrained

2720.22 1486

.00

.93

.060

4. Two groups-ϕ, λConstrained

2720.22 1486

.00

.93

.060

5. Two groups-ϕ, λ, θδConstrained

2848.30 1527

128.08*** .93
( ∆df=41)

.061

2

Model Comparisons (∆χ ) between an unconstrained baseline model and constrained
models to be equal across the East and the West groups.
(Note: *** indicates p<.001)

71

4.3. Analysis of the Structural Equation Model (SEM)

4.3.A. SEM Equivalence Test for the Group Comparison
LISREL 8.8. with Maximum Likelihood Estimation was used to compare the structural
model for the equivalence test for the Eastern and Western groups. For the SEM equivalence
test of the two groups, a group comparison analysis was used simultaneously to impose
invariance constraints (e.g. factors, factor loadings, paths) on the parameter estimates across the
Eastern and Western models.
In interpreting the equivalence test for comparison analysis, variance constraints were imposed
2

on the parameter estimates for factors in order to test χ for significance and to evaluate an
2

equivalent structural model fit. When the result of χ test is not significant, the structural model
is interpreted as a good fit for the equality constraint test, but this test is sensitive to sample size
(Bentler & Bnonet, 1980; Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1993). Although the result of the structural
2

equality test is significant for the two groups (χ =3217.01, df=1503, p<.01), the model fit indices
show a satisfactory fit to the data in the equivalence test for the two groups (CFI=.91, IFI=.91,
2

RMSEA=.074) and “normed chi-square test” (χ /df) is less than 2, which is acceptable
(Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007). In order to converge the current model and improve the model fit,
some error correlations and starting value adjustment in LISREL were conducted in order to
converge the structural model for the equality test. In order to correlate error terms, theoretical
justification is required (Jöreskog & Long, 1993). For example, the constructs price
consciousness and value consciousness are theoretically treated as negative price perceptions
(Lichtenstein et al., 2993) and a high correlation was found between these two in the preliminary
72

study. Thus, error correlations between these two for the current structural model are
theoretically logical. Although these two constructs are distinct from one another, they both
belong to the domain “negative price perception.” The correlation of error terms within this
particular domain (negative price perception) is called “domain specificity.” For this study, error
terms did not cross between different domains.
Error terms were correlated as follows: 1) between the price consciousness and value
consciousness constructs within the negative price perception domain; and 2) between withinfactor error (Hooper et al., 2008). Therefore, the overall model fit was improved. Based on the
result of imposing invariance constraints in order to establish equality for the equivalence test of
the model comparison, the two groups have the same measurement and structural models. Thus,
the values from the structural model can be compared. The equivalence test of the structural
invariance for the two groups is shown in Figure 2 and 3, and in Table 9. Consequently, I
conclude that the structural model specified for the study is a good fit, that the equality
constraints are acceptable, and that there are nine factors (social connectedness, collective selfesteem, prestige sensitivity, price/quality schema, value consciousness, price consciousness,
sales proneness, price mavenism, coupon proneness) for the Eastern and Western groups under
evaluation.

73

Figure 2: Comparison of Path Coefficients (East Germany)

Figure 3: Comparison of Path Coefficients (West Germany)

74

Table 9. Results of Structural Equation Model Estimation of the Eastern and Western regions of
Germany
East
West
Path
Standardized
Hypothesized Standardized Hypothesized
Estimates
direction
Estimates
direction
Social
Connectedness
.97*
.65*
+
+
Collective
Self-Esteem
Collective SelfEsteem
-.20*
-.14
+
–
Prestige
Sensitivity
Collective SelfEsteem
.20*
.00
+
+
Price/Quality
Schema
Collective Self-.07
.10
–
–
Parameter Esteem Value
Estimates Consciousness
Collective Self-.07
–
.12
Esteem Price
+
Consciousness
Collective Self.06
-.11
–
Esteem Sales
+
Proneness
Collective Self-.09
-.18*
–
Esteem Price
+
Mavenism
Collective SelfEsteem
.17*
.02
–
+
Coupon
Proneness
Fit Indices

2

χ = 3217.01, df=1503, p<.01, IFI=.91, CFI=.91, RMSEA=.074
2

Note: (1) Shaded areas indicate a significant χ difference in the path coefficient comparison
between the East and the West.
(2) * indicates p<.05.
(3) + indicates a positive relationship between two constructs while – indicates a negative
relationship.

75

4.3.B. Comparison of Path Coefficients and Hypothesis Tests
After the measurement invariance test for the equivalence across the East and West German
groups, a structural equivalence test was conducted across the two groups. Based on the
equivalence test between the two groups, path coefficients were constrained to be equal for the
two group comparison (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988). When the baseline and constrained path
models are not significantly different, the model is invariant across the two groups (Anderson &
2

Gerbing, 1988). Thus, in order to compare the strength of the path coefficients, a χ difference
test was run by constraining each structural path to be equal across the Eastern and Western
regions and then freeing each path one at a time (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). Results are
presented in Table 10. All path coefficients are measured in a common metric for all groups
(Jöreskog & Sörbom, 2001). As proposed in Hypothesis 1a, the path coefficient shows that there
is a significant positive relationship between social connectedness and collective self-esteem
(standardized estimates=.97, p<.05) in the Eastern region. The relationship for the Western
region was also significant and positive (standardized estimates=.65, p<.05). Thus, hypothesis
1a was supported for both groups. In addition, there were statistically significant differences
2

between the path coefficients (∆χ =146.93, ∆df=1, p<.05). Therefore, hypothesis 1b was
supported, as the effect of social connectedness on collective self-esteem was stronger in the
Eastern region than those in the Western region.

76

2

Table 10. Multiple Group Path Comparison: Results of χ Difference Test
(Common metric completely standardized solution was reported)
χ
Unconstrained baseline model

2

df

∆χ

2

3266.73

1497

Social Collective SE

3413.66

1498

146.93*

Collective SE Prestige

3270.41

1498

3.68

Collective SE Price/Quality

3266.73

1498

.00

Collective SE Value

3268.32

1498

1.59

Collective SE Price

3267.45

1498

.72

Collective SE Sales

3269.09

1498

2.36

Collective SE Mavenism

3273.15

1498

6.42**

Collective SE Coupon

3266.76

1498

.03

Equality Constrained Path

2

Model Comparisons (∆χ ) between an unconstrained baseline model and constrained
models to be equal across the East and the West groups.
(Note: * indicates p<.05; ** indicates p<.01)

Hypothesis 1a: Social connectedness is positively related to collective self-esteem. (Supported)
Hypothesis 1b: The influence of social connectedness on collective self-esteem will be greater
For the Eastern cohort than the Western cohort. (Supported)

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In testing Hypothesis 2a-1, collective self-esteem was significantly and negatively related
to prestige sensitivity for the Eastern region (standardized estimates=-.20, p<.05). Thus, as the
results indicate, the inverse relationship between collective self-esteem and prestige sensitivity
for the Eastern region was supported. In testing Hypothesis 2a-2, there was a negative nonsignificant relationship between collective self-esteem and prestige sensitivity for the Western
region (standardized estimates=-.14, p>.05). Therefore, H2a-2 was not supported. In addition,
the effect of collective self-esteem on prestige sensitivity was stronger for the Western region
than in the Eastern region, but there was no statistically significant χ2 difference between the
path coefficients between the unconstrained and constrained models across the two groups
(∆χ2=3.68, ∆df=1, p>.05). Thus, H2b was not supported.

Hypothesis 2a-1: Collective self-esteem is negatively related to prestige sensitivity for the
Eastern cohort. (Supported)
Hypothesis 2a-2: Collective self-esteem is positively related to prestige sensitivity for the
Western cohort. (Not supported)
Hypothesis 2b: The influence of collective self-esteem on prestige sensitivity will be greater for
the Western cohort than the Eastern cohort. (Not supported)

As proposed in Hypothesis 3, collective self-esteem was positively related to
price/quality schema in the Eastern region (standardized estimates= .20, p<.05), but this
relationship was not significant in the Western region (standardized estimates= .00, p>.05). The
effect of collective self-esteem on price/quality schema was not stronger for the Western region
2

2

than the Eastern region based on the ∆ χ test (∆χ =0, ∆df=1, p>.05). H3a was statistically

78

2

supported for the Eastern region, but not for the Western region. In addition, as a result of the χ
difference test, H3b was not supported.

Hypothesis 3a: Collective self-esteem is positively related to price/quality schema. (Supported
for East, not Supported for West)
Hypothesis 3b: The influence of collective self-esteem on price/quality schema will be greater
for the Western cohort than the Eastern cohort. (Not supported)

In testing Hypothesis 4a, there was a negative non-significant relationship between
collective self-esteem and value consciousness (negative price perception) in the Eastern region
(standardized estimates=-.07, p>.05), but there was a positive non-significant relationship in the
Western region (standardized estimates=.10, p>.05). However, Hypothesis 4a was not
supported, since there were no statistically significant relationships. In addition, there is no
statistically significant χ2 difference between the unconstrained and constrained models on the
equality constrained path between collective self-esteem and value consciousness across the
2

groups (∆χ =1.59, ∆df=1, p>.05). Thus, hypothesis 4b was not supported.

Hypothesis 4a: Collective self-esteem is negatively related to value consciousness. (Not
supported)
Hypothesis 4b: The influence of collective self-esteem on value consciousness will be greater for
the Western cohort than the Eastern cohort. (Not supported)

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In testing Hypothesis 5a-1 and 5a-2, there was a positive non-significant relationship
between collective self-esteem and price consciousness in the Eastern region (standardized
estimates=.12, p>.05), while this relationship was negative for the Western region (standardized
estimates=-.07, p>.05). However, Hypothesis 5a-1 and 5a-2 were not supported for either group,
since there were no statistically significant results. In addition, there was no statistically
2

significant χ difference between the unconstrained and constrained models on the equality
constrained path between collective self-esteem and price consciousness across the groups
2

(∆χ =.72, ∆df=1, p<.01). Thus, hypothesis 5b was not supported.

Hypothesis 5a-1: Collective self-esteem is positively related to price consciousness for the
Eastern German cohort. (Not supported)
Hypothesis 5a-2: Collective self-esteem is negatively related to price consciousness for the
Western German cohort. (Not supported)
Hypothesis 5b: The influence of collective self-esteem on price consciousness will be greater
for the Eastern cohort than the Western cohort. (Not supported)

In testing Hypothesis 6a-1 and 6a-2, collective self-esteem was positively related to sales
proneness in the Eastern region (standardized estimates=.08, p>.05), while a negative
relationship existed for the Western region (standardized estimates=-.11, p>.05). However,
Hypotheses 6a-1 and 6a-2 were not supported for either group because the relationship between
collective self-esteem and sales proneness was not statistically significant. In addition, there was
2

no statistically significant χ difference between the unconstrained and constrained models on the

80

equality constrained path between collective self-esteem and sales proneness across the groups
2

(∆χ =2.36, ∆df=1, p>.05). Thus, hypothesis 6b was not supported.

Hypothesis 6a-1: Collective self-esteem is positively related to sales proneness for the Eastern
cohort. (Not supported)
Hypothesis 6a-2: Collective self-esteem is negatively related to sales proneness for the Western
Cohort. (Not supported)

Hypothesis 6b: The influence of collective self-esteem on sales proneness will be greater
for the Eastern cohort than the Western cohort. (Not supported)

In testing Hypothesis 7a, there was a positive non-significant relationship between
collective self-esteem and price mavenism in the Eastern region (standardized estimates=-.09,
p>.05) and there was a significant and negative relationship in the Western region (standardized
estimates=-.18, p<.05). Hypothesis 7a-1 was not supported for the Eastern region, but
2

Hypothesis 7a-2 was supported for the Western region. In addition, the χ difference comparison
indicates that freeing of the equality constraints between collective self-esteem and price
2

mavenism significantly improved the model fit (∆χ =6.42, ∆df=1, p<.01). Thus, the Western
Germans indicated a significantly stronger relationship between collective self-esteem and price
mavenism than Eastern Germans, which supports Hypothesis 7b. Interestingly, this path was the
only one that had a significant relationship with collective self-esteem among the price
perception paths for the Western region but this path was not significant for the Eastern region.
Thus, the Eastern and Western regions demonstrated a significant difference between collective
self-esteem and price mavenism.

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Hypothesis7a-1: Collective self-esteem is positively related to price mavenism for the Eastern
cohort. (Not supported)
Hypothesis7a-2: Collective self-esteem is negatively related to price mavenism for the Western
cohort. (Supported)
Hypothesis 7b: The influence of collective self-esteem on price mavenism will be greater for
the Western cohort than the Eastern cohort. (Supported)

In testing Hypothesis 8a-1, collective self-esteem was significantly and positively related
to coupon proneness in the Eastern region (standardized estimates=.17, p>.05), but this
relationship was not significant for the Western region (standardized estimates=.02, p>.05).
Thus, Hypothesis 8a-1 was supported and Hypothesis 8a-2 was not supported. In addition, there
2

was no statistically significant difference between the path coefficients (∆χ =.03, ∆df=1, p>.05).
Thus, hypothesis 8b was not supported.

Hypothesis8a-1: Collective self-esteem is positively related to coupon proneness for the Eastern
cohort. (Supported)
Hypothesis8a-2: Collective self-esteem is negatively related to coupon proneness for the
Western cohort. (Not Supported)
Hypothesis 8b: The influence of collective self-esteem on coupon proneness will be greater for
the Eastern cohort than the Western cohort. (Not Supported)

In conclusion, hypotheses proposed at the beginning of the study were tested utilizing the
SEM equivalence test for multiple group analysis. The key findings of these tests are in listed in
Table 11 below, and a summary of these tests is in Appendix A. In the next chapter, these results
will be discussed in greater detail.

82

83

Table 11. Key Results of the Study
Eastern Region

Western region

Social connectedness is significantly related to Social connectedness is significantly related to
collective self-esteem (.97).
collective self-esteem (.65).
The relationship between social connectedness and collective self-esteem is stronger for the
Eastern region than the Western region.
Collective self-esteem is significantly and
inversely related to prestige sensitivity (-.20).
Collective self-esteem is significantly related
to price/quality schema (.20).
Collective self-esteem and price mavenism are
significantly and inversely related (-.18)
The relations hip between collective self-esteem and price mavenism is stronger for the Western
region than the Eastern region.
Collective self-esteem and coupon proneness
are significantly related (.17).

84

CHAPTER 5

DISSCUSION AND CONCLUSION

This study, based on Generational Cohort Theory, investigated young adult Germans’
price perceptions by comparing the transitional (East) and long-standing market (West)
economies, and examined the influence of social values on these price perceptions. The goal of
the study was to investigate whether young adult consumer behavior during the transitional
period has converged between former East and former West German consumers. Collective selfesteem and social connectedness were proposed as social values that differentially affect young
German consumers’ price perceptions. Findings demonstrated that higher regional social
connectedness leads to higher regional collective self-esteem. Generation Cohort Theory, Social
Connectedness, Collective Self-Esteem, and Price Perception along with Hoarding Theory and
Self-Image Congruence Concept were used as theoretical frameworks to explain these
relationships.
The findings of the study support the proposed conceptual model in explaining the two
German cohorts’ sets of social values and price perceptions after the reunification. The
following section discusses the current study’s findings in detail for each construct including
social connectedness, collective self-esteem, and price perception.

Effect of Social Connectedness on Collective Self-Esteem
The current study is the first academic effort to investigate and compare the generation of
young East and West German cohorts who are now becoming Germany’s adult consumer cohort

85

twenty years after the German reunification. Young German consumers in the Eastern and
Western regions were investigated because the reunification of East and West Germany
represented a significant national event, which is a phenomenon, posited by Generational Cohort
Theory, that influences social values and behaviors. This theory indicates that these events
engender new consumer cohorts, which possess the aforementioned social values and behaviors.
Thus, the German Reunification will have influenced the social values and behaviors of
Germans, especially those in their formative years during this time. In the Eastern region, this
young generational cohort has grown up in the market economy during the transitional period,
unlike their parents’ cohort who spent their formative years in the socialist system. This young
cohort, influenced by their parents, has emerged to become primary consumers, along with their
contemporary Western counterparts. The results of this study found that both of these cohorts
have divergent social values and price perceptions.
I proposed that there is a positive relationship between social connectedness and
collective self-esteem. Overall, the results showed that social connectedness significantly
influenced collective self-esteem in both the East and West German social groups. Higher levels
of social connectedness in hometowns, cities, or states contributed to higher levels of collective
self-esteem in the city/region. Therefore, the findings of these analyses are consistent with the
findings of previous studies, in which greater feelings of belonging led to higher self-esteem
(Denissen et al., 2008; Marcia, 1980). Specifically, the current findings suggest that the higher
the regional social connectedness is, the higher the regional collective self-esteem is for both
Germans living in the East and in the West.
Furthermore, this effect of social connectedness on collective self-esteem was stronger in
the Eastern region than in the Western region. A partial explanation of this could be that the

86

young Eastern German cohort has been influenced by their parents’ pre-reunification values and
behavior, i.e. Eastern Germans relied on networks to obtain merchandise and household items
(Veenis, 1999; Sung & Huddleston, 2011c). Thus, due to the influence of this regional preunification behavior from their parents, young Germans living in the East might experience
greater social connectedness regionally than their Western contemporaries.
As a contribution to the current literature, the results of the study also imply that social
connectedness, especially resulting from the regional differences due to the German
reunification, increased the collective self-esteem in each region. This indicates that, regardless
of where these young adults grew up, it is important for them to experience feelings of belonging
to a social group. In turn, region is an important consideration, as it represents part of who they
are and where they belong.

Effect of Collective Self-Esteem on Price Perception
The influence of collective self-esteem on several price perception constructs differed
among young consumers in the Eastern region and young consumers in the Western region of
Germany. As a result of this statistical divergence, collective self-esteem had different
implications for these individuals according to their respective region.

Prestige Sensitivity
First, for the Eastern cohort, high collective self-esteem had a significant, negative
relationship with prestige sensitivity. For the Western cohort, high collective self-esteem had a
negative relationship with prestige sensitivity, but was not significant. Since there is a

87

statistically significant inverse relationship in the Eastern region between prestige sensitivity and
collective self-esteem, several interpretations could be made.
As hypothesized, Germans living in the Eastern region expressed that functional and
affordable products are more important than prestigious brand names. This sentiment has been
demonstrated through previous research (Sung, Huddleston, & Uhrich, 2011b; Sung &
Huddleston, 2011d), which suggests that prestigious brands do not automatically indicate high
quality in the Eastern region. This divergence in attitudes toward prestigious brands between the
Eastern and Western regions can be partially explained by the scarcity of financial resources in
the Eastern region compared to the Western region for German youth. Additionally, based on
the Ostalgie literature (Bach 2002; Berdahl 1999, 2010; Wicke 1998), Germans living in the east
may have acquired a loyalty for former East German products from the parental generation, as
well as a consequent dislike for Western products, a large percentage of which are prestige
brands. Furthermore, these consumers believe that some former East German products (e.g.
Rotkaeppchen sparkling wine, Spreewald pickles, etc.) have a high quality, even though they
might not be prestige brands like their Western analogs.
Furthermore, this finding is consistent with the findings of previous studies, which
indicate that prestige sensitivity is related to economic growth. For example, according to
Sternquist et al. (2004), South-Korean consumers had higher prestige sensitivity than Chinese
consumers. In the economic system comparison, South-Korea has had a long-standing market
economy, while China has more recently shifted to a transitional economy. Previous research
also demonstrates that Korean consumers were prestige-oriented, indicating that high price was
perceived as an indicator of prestige (Yu 1996; Chung & Pysarchik, 1997) and Chinese
consumers were less prestige sensitive (Lowe & Corkindale, 1998; Sternquist et al., 2004)..

88

Therefore, one could surmise that, even though young Germans in the Eastern region have high
collective-self esteem, it is not necessarily true that those with a strong sense of belonging to
their Eastern social groups prefer to have prestigious brands. Rather, they may value the
functional aspects of products that are affordable (Sung, Huddleston, & Uhrich, 2011b; Sung &
Huddleston, 2011d). Thus, belonging to their regional social group in the East decreases the
need for purchasing prestigious brands.

Price-Quality Schema
The finding regarding the influence of collective-self esteem on price/quality schema
shows that there is a significant relationship for those living in the East, but that this is not
significant for those living in the Western region. Thus, in the Eastern region, people who have
higher collective self-esteem in their social groups perceive price as an indicator of quality.
Compared to prestige sensitivity, which is also linked to collective self-esteem, Germans living
in the East who have higher collective self-esteem still perceive that high price indicates good
quality, whereas collective self-esteem does not indicate preference for prestigious brands for
this cohort. The difference between the prestige sensitivity and price-quality schema for
Germans in the Eastern region is that they may perceive that prestigious brands are primarily for
demonstrating conspicuous consumption behavior, or the desire to show off material items to
others in order to cause people to notice them, “to feel classy,” “[to improve what] friends think
of one,” or “[to produce positive] judgments.” Even though young Eastern Germans think that
high price is an indicator of high quality, prestige brand products, which have high prices, are not
necessarily evaluated in the same way (Sung & Huddleston, 2011d). That is, the relationship
between price and quality is not determined to be proportional in regards to prestige brand

89

products, such as Apple’s laptops, indicating a distrust of utilizing prestige as a measure for
quality (Sung & Huddleston, 2011d).
Young Germans in the Eastern region would not purchase products based solely on low
prices. Rather, they also consider the quality of products. For example, although in a previous
study Germans in the Eastern region stated that they preferred the laptop brands Acer and
Samsung, which offer lower prices than more prestigious brands, such as Apple , this does not
mean that the quality of Acer or Samsung products are lower than Apple (Sung, Huddleston, &
Uhrich, 2011b; Sung & Huddleston, 2011d). One of the respondents to the study from the
Eastern Region explained that he would not buy Apple products because their prices are too high
and that he would instead consider aspects of laptop computers related to function and quality in
conjunction with competitive prices. With similar features of all laptops, the prices of Apple
products are perceived as excessively high by East Germans compared to the prices of the
products of other brands.
There are other findings that indicate that young East Germans focus on the quality of
products, as well as their prices. A recent interview exemplifies this perspective (Sung &
Huddleston, 2011d):

Aldi (German retailer store –cheap price items)..it is called Media that sells electronic
products.. Many people bought computers from Aldi,..cheap parts (of computer) and
cheap price, so we did not have to pay so much… that we wanted…. but Aldi made one
mistake. The problem was computers from there were very very bad...so people stopped
buying computer. These days, nobody almost bought computers from there
anymore..Aldi sells low brands and cheap items (without concerning quality).

Moreover, these findings are in line with other findings that stem from post-socialist
countries, e.g. Poland, Russia (Huddleston & Good, 1988) and China (Veeck & Burns, 1995),
90

which suggest that consumers perceive price as an indicator of quality. In the case of Poland, for
instance, price did not indicate the quality of products, because the state determined these prices
(Boyes 1990). Several years after emerging into a market economy, Polish consumers began to
experience price as an indicator of quality, as under this system, the prices of products are
contingent upon many market variables (Huddleston & Good, 1998).

Price Mavenism
The influence of collective self-esteem on price mavenism was different between the East
and the West. As hypothesized, the findings show that there is a significant inverse relationship
between the collective self-esteem and price mavenism for young Germans living in the Western
region. These individuals, who have higher collective self-esteem, prefer not to offer shopping
tips related to low price. In contrast to this, the result indicated that collective self-esteem had no
significant influence on price mavenism for young Germans in the Eastern region. Thus, the
negative influence of collective self-esteem on price mavenism was stronger for Germans in the
Western region than the Eastern region.
That those living in the Western region, who had higher collective self-esteem, preferred
not to offer tips or information for prices, could be interpreted in the following ways: 1) perhaps
the sense of self-esteem conferred by group membership overrides the need to share price
information. Furthermore, these individuals might not feel it necessary to share price/shopping
information if there are no benefits that are provided by their regional social group. Thus, they
might feel that they do not need to share this kind of information due to the consumer ethos of
their region. 2) Another reason might be that these consumers want to project their ideal image in
their social groups by purchasing supposedly expensive products, but at the same time try to hide

91

the fact that they pay discounted prices to confer the prestige of purchasing an expensive product
to themselves. This corresponds with the self-image congruence concept. Self-concept theory
explains that consumers with high self-image congruence try to project an ideal self-image via
their consumer behavior into their social group interactions, in order to enhance that self-image
(Dolich, 1969; Sirgy, 1982; Sirgy et al., 1997). Thus, Western Germans might think that
discounted products might devalue their self-image. 3) A third reason could be explained by
Hoarding Theory, which alludes to emotional or impulsive buying, in that hoarders consider not
holding on to a product a risk, resulting in these consumers seeking to acquire a gratuitous
number of products (McKinnon, Smith, & Hunt, 1985). Thus, Western Germans might not want
to share discount price information, because they fear that, given this information, others will
acquire products that they might need. This suggests that these consumers might consider price
mavenist behavior to be risky.
This finding is in accordance with previous literature indicating that while South Korean
consumers use word-of-mouth communication, they do not seek and share price discount
information with other consumers, but rather tend to provide information about high prices (Jin
& Sternquist, 2005). Like South Korean consumers, Germans in the Western region do not focus
on sharing shopping tips or discount price information with others when they have high
collective self-esteem.
However, there was no significant relationship between collective self-esteem and price
mavenism for the Eastern cohort. This indicates that there are regional differences in regards to
the sharing of price information between those living in the Eastern region and those living in the
Western region of Germany. The result shows that the effect of collective self-esteem and price
mavenism was stronger for Germans in the Western region than those in the Eastern region.

92

Influence from the parental generation complicates this picture of consumer behavior of young
individuals living in the East. Due to the nature of East German commerce before the
reunification, the parents’ generation did not share much market information, mainly as a result
of the lack of product availability. In previous studies (Veenis, 1999; Sung & Huddleston,
2011c), it was discovered that the parents’ generation exchanged household items with each
other frequently. It would not be necessary to share information with others since they needed to
obtain these items opposed to others. Moreover, due to the limited access to advertisement,
media and product availability, this parental generation during the pre-unification era might not
have developed the habit of sharing market information (Sung & Huddleston, 2011a).
Consequently, this pre-unification behavior of this generation might have influenced their
children’s generation, causing the latter to believe that sharing consumer information with others
might not be that important.

Coupon Proneness
The results show that the higher the level of collective self-esteem, the higher the coupon
proneness in the Eastern region. In this region, Germans who had higher levels of collective
self-esteem tended to use coupons for benefits. In contrast to this, this relationship was not
significant for the young consumer cohort in the Western region.
Coupon proneness is related to market mavens, who are similar to price mavens, insofar
as they are described as consumers that initiate discussions about shopping with others (Feick &
Price, 1987). Market mavens are more likely to budget their expenditures and use coupons in
order to take advantage of sales (Price et al., 1988).

93

Young Germans living in the Western region indicated that they had a lower propensity
for price mavenism than their contemporaries in the Eastern region, implying that they do not
share discount price information with others when collective self-esteem is high. Thus, those
living in the Western region might not behave like market mavens with high regional collective
self-esteem. Furthermore, this implies that West Germans with high regional collective selfesteem may not be more likely to budget their expenditures and use coupons to take advantage of
sales. Young individuals living in the Eastern region who have high collective self-esteem,
though, are more likely to use coupons. Thus, it explains that Germans in the Eastern region are
more likely to be practical shoppers who buy quality products with reasonable prices by taking
advantage of coupons. This finding is in line with the relationship found between collective selfesteem and price/quality schema in this current study. The young consumer cohort in the East,
who recognizes the relationship between price and quality, may use coupons to acquire high
price and high quality products.
In regards to the other three constructs of price perception, value consciousness, price
consciousness, and sales proneness, there were no significant differences between them and
collective self-esteem. In addition, there were no significant differences between the Eastern and
Western regions. Thus, the finding that the direction of the relationships differs for these two
groups warrants further investigation.
In summary, the findings indicated that collective self-esteem associated with social
connectedness operates differently for the young consumer cohort living in the Eastern region
than for those living in the Western region, which, in turn, influences price perception
differently. In the Eastern region, Germans who have high collective self-esteem are less likely
to prefer prestigious brands, instead valuing the functional aspects of products. This finding does

94

not mean that these consumers are merely looking for low prices. Rather, they take into
consideration the quality of products as well, and are thus willing to pay a slightly higher price if
the quality of the product is high. At the same time, they tend to use coupons in order to take
advantage of sales. These findings imply that they care about quality and price, but are trying to
be practical and focus on the functional aspects of products with good quality and reasonable
prices. Lastly, West Germans who have high collective self-esteem do not prefer to share price
information with others.

Theoretical Implications
As Generational Cohort Theory (Inglehart, 1976, 2000) explains, a significant national
event results in a new generational cohort. Significant national events often cause the
socioeconomic setting to change (Inglehart, 1976, 2000). This, in turn, fundamentally alters the
formative environment for emerging cohorts’ social values during this time. Furthermore,
economic growth tends to have the most significant effect on these social values, as well as on
attitudes and lifestyles across cohorts (Abramson & Inglehart, 1995).
Applying Generational Cohort Theory to the German context, the German reunification
may be regarded as a significant national event, thus leading to changes in society in the Eastern
region, its value structures in the reunified environment, and the emergence of a new
generational cohort. Young Eastern Germans have been influenced by their parents, who were
exposed in their formative years to social values associated with the former East German
socialist economic system, while at the same time being exposed to their contemporary Western
counterparts. As a cohort, young Eastern Germans share consumer experiences and values in the
transitional environment that have taken place over the past twenty years after the reunification.

95

Thus, the transition in economic systems, from the planned to market economies, has had a
significant effect on social values (social connectedness and collective self-esteem), as well as
attitudes (Abramson & Inglerhart, 1995). As a result, young Eastern Germans have shown
different social values and different consumer attributes (i.e. price perception) compared to their
contemporary Western counterparts. The generation that has grown up in the approximately
twenty year-long transitional period has become a significant consumer group. This newly
emerged cohort in the Eastern region is now becoming a main consumer group, along with their
post-reunification Western contemporaries.
By applying the Generational Cohort Theory as a theoretical model, the current study
extends the understanding of social values of the newly emerged young German cohort in each
region of the reunified environment. That is, as a result of the significant national event of
German reunification and the subsequent transition to a market economy in the Eastern region,
the social values and consumer perception of the newly emerged young German cohort were
shaped accordingly.
Regional social connectedness had a positive relationship with regional collective selfesteem. Moreover, the study found that this effect is stronger for the Eastern region than for the
Western region. This study also supports the premise that the greater the feeling of belonging in
and with the Eastern region, the greater their regional collective self-esteem. Young consumers
in the Eastern region are more sensitive to a feeling of social belonging associated with regional
collective feeling of self-esteem in the transitional reunified environment than their Western
contemporaries, who have subsisted in a long-standing market environment. The findings of this
analysis indicate that these social values influenced collective self-esteem differently in the

96

Eastern and Western regions, with this relationship manifesting more strongly in the Eastern
cohort.
Second, the study contributed to the Generational Cohort Theory literature by analyzing
the influence of social values on price perceptions between young consumer cohorts from the
Eastern and Western regions. That is, price perceptions were different in each region because
the regional social values differ. Thus, the reunification appears to have fundamentally
influenced the formative environment for social values for these cohorts. The literature
demonstrates that economic growth is more likely to have a more significant effect on social
values, attitude, and lifestyle (Abramson & Inglehart, 1995).
Third, the findings can be extended to other post-socialist contexts for newly emerged
cohorts in transitional environments. Generational Cohort Theory could be used to provide
insight into price perception among new cohorts in these post-socialist countries. For example,
findings indicated that social values influence the price perception of newly emerged young
consumers differently between the transitional (East) and long-standing market (West)
economies. This indicates that the newly emerged young consumers in the post-socialist
countries, such as Poland and Russia, might have been similarly influenced by their parents, who
experienced the socialist system, while, on the other hand, additionally having been influenced
by market media and advertising in the transitional economy. Thus, other post-socialist
environments might have affected new cohorts’ social values as well as price perception.
Fourth, this study contributed to extending the scope of the social values literature by
investigating the effects of regional differences on social connectedness and collective selfesteem of newly emerged cohorts. The findings showed that the second-hand experiences from
parents might significantly influence social values (e.g. social connectedness and collective self-

97

esteem) for the new cohort in the Eastern region. Thus, the effect of regional social
connectedness and regional collective self-esteem was stronger for the young Eastern cohort.
This is in line with findings for other post-socialist countries, in which networks of individuals
were deemed valuable and necessary (Kopf & Wolf, 2007; Sung & Huddleston, 2011c; Veenis,
1999). Furthermore, while a previous study (Moore et al., 2003) focused on price perception, the
current study was extended to explain price perception as influenced by social values.
Self-concept theory could be employed to extend the findings concerning Germans’
consumer behavior related to price mavenism in the Western region. That those living in the
Western region, who had higher collective self-esteem, preferred not to offer tips or information
for prices, indicates that Western Germans might think that discounted products might devalue
their image, as mentioned above. This behavior is germane to consumers who have high selfimage congruence, and who thus try to reflect an ideal self-image by way of their consumer
behavior in the context of their social group interactions (Dolich, 1969; Sirgy, 1982; Sirgy et al.,
1997). Thus, Western Germans might think that discounted products might devalue their selfimage. In addition, based on Hoarding Theory, Western Germans prefer not to share discount
price information, in order to prevent the risk of other consumers buying products with this
information. As such, this consumer cohort with high collective self-esteem, and thus with a
tendency to express price mavenism behavior, nevertheless abstains from sharing discount price
information, as that would contradict the predilections of this cohort.

98

Marketing Implications
In order to develop pricing strategies, marketing practitioners need to understand how
consumers perceive price. The connection between social values that emerge from an historical
phenomena and price perception is important for the development of pricing strategies in postsocialist contexts. The current study suggests that marketers in Germany modify pricing
strategies according to the type of consumer whom they are targeting, as this study’s findings
demonstrate that Germans in the Eastern and Western regions perceive price differently. For
example, young adult consumers living in the Eastern region, who feel a strong sense of pride in
belonging to their regional group and consider price to be an indicator of quality, do not prefer to
engage in conspicuous consumption. Thus, marketers may emphasize the functional aspect of
products, making the price seem worth the investment to individuals living in the Eastern region.
Furthermore, the association between higher collective self-esteem and higher
price/quality schema in the Eastern region implies that the young Eastern cohort, who possesses
high collective self-esteem, believes that price is positively related to the quality of a product.
Given that information, the Eastern cohort would be willing to seek products equating high price
with high quality. Marketers could retain a quality assortment with a reasonable price.
Additionally, the findings concerning price mavenism indicate that the effect of collective
self-esteem on this construct is stronger for the Western cohort than for the Eastern cohort. This
result implies that the young consumer cohort in the West, who perceives higher collective selfesteem in their hometown/region, does not tend to share price information with others. This
result could be helpful for marketers in developing marketing strategies. For example, marketers
could use customized promotions since consumers in the Western region prefer to keep good

99

deals secret. Using customized promotion, marketers could cause these consumers to conclude
that they received a special advantage over others, and thus will have received the best deal.
Since this cohort tends to keep secrets about discount price information or tips, word-ofmouth marketing strategies for general mass promotion might not be effective. In the case of a
retailer, Safeway (Clifford, 2012) uses variable pricing strategies whereby marketers use
customized loyalty programs to offer personalized discount offers based on consumers’ buying
habits. By using such a strategy, marketers could help young adult consumers in the Western
region feel that they have received unique benefits.
Finally, the Eastern cohort, who has high collective self-esteem, is more likely to use
coupons. Coupon proneness is defined as an increased propensity to respond to discount offers
and is a construct that affects positive purchase evaluation (Lichtenstein et al., 1990). Marketing
strategies could include offering coupons to young consumers to stimulate purchases. Since
consumers in this region care about the quality relative to the price of a product, even when they
must pay a higher price, providing coupons would increase purchasing behavior in this region.
Additionally, in order to appeal to consumers with high regional collective self-esteem,
marketers might employ marketing that emphasizing the “local” dimension of product lines.
This would be especially relevant for East German consumers, given the concept of “Ostalgie” (a
portmanteau of the words “Ost”, meaning “east” in German, and “Nostalgie”, which means
nostalgia in German (Bach 2002; Berdahl 1999, 2010; Wicke 1998), which alludes to a yearning
for the past reflected in the purchase of former East German brands, such as Rotkaeppchen
sparkling wine, and Spreewald pickles. Therefore, these regional brands, for example, might be
able to be marketed to young consumers in the Eastern region, who may have been influenced by

100

their parents. These marketing strategies might be advantages for local firms to emphasize local
products in this Eastern region.
In conclusion, the influence of collective self-esteem differs for each regional social
group in regards to price perception. Understanding social values in these two regions will
provide marketers with information needed to understand the differences in consumers’ pricequality perception and purchasing behavior. Marketers can therefore develop different price and
promotion strategies, which could potentially be adapted to other post-socialist contexts.

Limitations of the Study
There are a few limitations of this research. First, a small sample size was utilized, which
would limit the efficacy of generalizing the data and which could cause the model fit indices for
the multiple group comparison in complex SEM model to be low.
Second, in order to compare differences between the East and the West, some items
measuring the variables were eliminated when a region had lower factor loadings compared to
another. Fewer indicators per construct were properly developed, resulting from an attempt to
maintain consistency by eliminating and retaining the same constructs for both regions. In
addition, items with two lower factor loadings for value consciousness were retained to maintain
a set of price perception constructs for the two groups for comparison purposes. In general, the
lower factor loadings might affect the results of the model fit.
Third, eliminating some indicators due to the lower factor loadings might result in bias,
and not fully measure the construct, especially for collective self-esteem. There were four subscales, but only private collective-self esteem was used. Thus, in order to have strong factor

101

loadings, additional items could be developed. However, it could also be argued that due to
cultural and regional differences, factor loadings have resulted in non-desirable values.

Future Research
Since the current study examined the similarities and differences of new generational
cohorts after the German reunification, future research could be extended to incorporate more
theories to explain these differences. Scale improvement, and additional interesting constructs
could be introduced in order to compare and explain divergences between the transitional and
long-standing market economies. These are discussed below.
First, the current study could be extended to include more influential factors such as trust,
related to people or brands, both in online and offline contexts. Adding constructs might explain
to a greater extent the relationship of social values resulting from a significant national event and
the effect of those values on consumer behavior. The current study focused on social
connectedness and collective self-esteem as social values in order to explain price perception of
the young adult German cohort, but it may be also interesting to examine the resulting
consequences of these values on actual purchase behavior or price tolerance. Moreover, it would
be interesting to see what other factors, such as functional influence and design of products,
could influence young consumer behavior in regards to price between the transitional and longstanding market economies.
Second, based on different social backgrounds between the two economies, online
consumer behavior could be also different. For data collection, the Western cohort more actively
participated in the website. Possible explanations include that there were more active Internet
participants from the Western cohort than from the Eastern cohort in ‘Crowdsourcing Internet

102

Marketplace.’ It would be illuminating to investigate this difference and ascertain if the postsocialist countries have trust issues that would deter them from using online resources.
Third, future studies could be extended to other post-socialist contexts in order to better
understand the influence of social values on price perception in order to ascertain whether more
universal trends exist. Findings may be able to explain whether consumer behavior among
transitional economies is a result of the influence of post-socialist environment.
Finally, young Germans’ values and perceptions may be different in other regions of Germany.
Specifically, since only a few cities (e.g. Jena, Dresden, Leipzig) in the Eastern region have
dramatically flourished over the past twenty years compared to other cities of the Eastern region,
values and perceptions may vary widely in the East. Thus, future research may also be extended
to other cities in the Eastern and Western regions.

103

APPENDICES

104

APPENDIX A.

Summary of Hypotheses Tests

105

Table 12. Summary of Hypotheses Tests
H1a

Social connectedness is positively related to collective self-esteem.

Supported

H1b

The influence of social connectedness on collective self-esteem will
be greater for the Eastern cohort than the Western cohort.
Collective self-esteem is negatively related to prestige sensitivity for
the Eastern cohort.
Collective self-esteem is positively related to prestige sensitivity for
the Western cohort
The influence of collective self-esteem on prestige sensitivity will be
greater for the Western cohort than the Eastern cohort.
Collective self-esteem is positively related to price/quality schema.

Supported

H2a-1
H2a-2
H2b
H3a

H3b
H4a
H4b

H5a-1
H5a-2
H5b
H6a-1
H6a-2
H6b
H7a-1
H7a-2
H7b
H8a-1
H8a-2
H8b

Supported
Not supported
Not supported
Supported for
East,
Not Supported
for West

The influence of collective self-esteem on price/quality schema will be Not supported
greater for the Western cohort than the Eastern cohort.
Collective self-esteem is negatively related to value consciousness.
Not supported
The influence of collective self-esteem on value consciousness will be Not supported
greater for the Western cohort than the Eastern cohort.
Collective self-esteem is positively related to price consciousness for
Not supported
the Eastern German cohort.
Collective self-esteem is negatively related to price consciousness for
Not supported
the Western German cohort.
The influence of collective self-esteem on price consciousness will be Not supported
greater for the Eastern cohort than the Western cohort.
Collective self-esteem is positively related to sales proneness for the
Not supported
Eastern cohort.
Collective self-esteem is negatively related to sales proneness for the
Not supported
Western Cohort.
The influence of collective self-esteem on sales proneness will be
Not supported
greater for the Eastern cohort than the Western cohort.
Collective self-esteem is positively related to price mavenism for the
Not supported
Eastern cohort.
Collective self-esteem is negatively related to price mavenism for the
Supported
Western cohort.
The influence of collective self-esteem on price mavenism will be
Supported
greater for the Western cohort than the Eastern cohort.
Collective self-esteem is positively related to coupon proneness for
Supported
the Eastern cohort.
Collective self-esteem is negatively related to coupon proneness for
Not Supported
the Western cohort.
The influence of collective self-esteem on coupon proneness will be
Not Supported
greater for the Eastern cohort than the Western cohort.
106

APPENDIX B.

Survey Consent Form

107

Research Participant Information and Consent Form in English

1. EXPLANATION OF THE RESEARCH AND WHAT YOU WILL DO:
You are being asked to participate in a research study of your price perceptions and opinions
concerning consumer behavior.
The research study will be conducted via an online survey.
You must be 18 years of age to participate in this research study.
2. YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE, SAY NO, OR WITHDRAW:
Participation in this research project is completely voluntary. You have the right to say no. You
may change your mind at any time and withdraw. You may choose not to answer specific
questions or to stop participating at any time. Whether you choose to participate or not will have
no effect on your grade or evaluation.
3. COMPENSATION FOR BEING IN THE STUDY:
A random drawing of two €100 Amazon gift cards for participants from your university will be
conducted at the end of the study and you may win. You will be notified by email (July 4th) if
you are a winner and a request for shipping email address to receive the e-gift card. You must
complete the survey to be entered into the gift card drawing.

4. CONTACT INFORMATION FOR QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS
If you have concerns or questions about this study such as scientific issues, how to do any part
of it, please contact the researcher Eunyoung (Christine) Sung, 309 Communication Arts and
Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA (sungeuny@msu.edu),
517-353-3299. You may also contact the research supervisor Patricia Huddleston by e-mail at
huddles2@msu.edu.
By clicking "yes" below you acknowledge that you have read this form and voluntarily agree to
participate in this research study:
Your participation in this survey is voluntary. You may withdraw your consent and discontinue
participation in the project at any time. Your refusal to participate will not result in any penalty.
You have given voluntary agreement to participate in this research.
Do you wish to participate in this study?

108

Research Participant Information and Consent Form in German
1. ERKLÄRUNG DES FORSCHUNGSPROJEKTS UND IHRER AUFGABEN
Sie werden gebeten, an einer Studie zur Wahrnehmung von Einzelhandels und Ihren
persönlichen Wertvorstellungen zum Thema Konsumverhalten teilzunehmen.
Die Studie wird mithilfe eines Online-Fragebogens durchgeführt.
Sie müssen mindestens 18 Jahre alt sein, um an der Studie teilzunehmen.
2. IHR RECHT TEILZUNEHMEN, “NEIN” ZU SAGEN, UND AUS DER LAUFENDEN
STUDIE AUSZUSTEIGEN
Die Teilnahme an diesem Forschungsprojekt ist vollkommen freiwillig. Sie haben das Recht, die
Teilnahme zu verweigern. Sie haben außerdem das Recht, jederzeit Ihre Meinung zu ändern und
aus der Studie nachträglich auszusteigen. Zudem haben Sie ebenfalls die Möglichkeit, einzelne
Fragen auszulassen oder eine bereits begonnene Teilnahme auch während der laufenden
Umfrage abzubrechen. Ob Sie an der Studie teilzunehmen, oder nicht, hat keinen Einfluss auf
Ihre Note oder Bewertung.
3. ENTLOHNUNG FÜR IHRE TEILNAHME
Unter allen Teilnehmern Ihrer Universität werden am Ende der Studie zwei 100-Euro
Geschenkgutscheine von AMAZON verlost. Sollten Sie zu den Gewinnern zählen, werden Sie
per E-Mail (4. Juli) benachrichtigt und um die Übermittlung Ihrer Kontaktdaten gebeten, damit
Ihnen der elektronische Geschenkgutschein zugesandt werden kann. Um an der Verlosung
teilnehmen zu können, müssen Sie die Umfrage bis zum Ende ausfüllen.
4. KONTAKTINFORMATIONEN FÜR FRAGEN UND WEITERE ANLIEGEN
Sollten Sie Fragen oder andere Anliegen im Bezug auf diese Studie haben (z.B.
wissenschaftliche Themen oder Fragen zum Ausfüllen des Fragebogens), dann wenden Sie sich
bitte an die Forscherin Eunyoung (Christine) Sung, 309 Communication Arts and Sciences,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA (sungeuny@msu.edu), 001-517-3533299. Zusätzlich erreichen sie Forschungs-Betreuerin Patricia Huddleston per E-Mail unter
huddles2@msu.edu.
Durch das Drücken “Ja”-Buttons am Ende dieses Formulars bestätigen Sie, dass Sie diese
Erklärung gelesen haben und Sie mit der Teilnahme an dieser Studie einverstanden sind:
Ihre Teilnahme an dieser Umfrage ist freiwillig. Sie können Ihr Einverständnis jederzeit
widerrufen und die Teilnahme am Projekt beenden. Ihre Nicht-Teilnahme wird keine Strafe
gegen Sie nach sich ziehen.
Sie haben freiwillig Ihre Zustimmung zur Teilnahme an an diesem Forschungsprojekt gegeben.
Wünschen Sie, an dieser Studie teilzunehmen?
109

APPENDIX C.

Survey Instrument

110

In English

German Consumer Behavior Questionnaire
I. Please answer the following questions in the blank.
1.
2.
3.
4.

What is your gender? ___ Male
___ Female
What is your age? ___________
Where were you born (city and state)? ___________
Where did you live (most of the time) (city and state)?
___________________________
5. How many years have you been in this region/city?
______________________________
6. Where have you lived since you were 12 years
old?______________________________

II. In the following sections, we are interested in your views about your consumer
behavior. Please answer the following questions by clicking the number that
indicates your level of agreement/disagreement with each of the following
statements.

Strongly Disagree

Strongly Agree

1)

I am very concerned about low prices, but I
am equally concerned about product quality.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

2)

I compare the prices of different brands to be
sure I get the best value for the money.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

3)

When purchasing a product, I always try to
maximize the quality I get for the money I
spend.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

4)

When I buy products, I like to be sure that I
am getting my money’s worth.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

5)

I generally shop around for lower prices on
products, but they still must meet certain

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

111

quality requirements before I buy them.
6)

When I shop, I usually compare the price
information for brands I normally buy.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

7)

I always check prices at the store to be sure I
get the best value for the money I spend.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8)

I am willing to go to extra effort (e.g. using
coupons, comparing prices online) to find
lower prices.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

9)

I will shop at more than one store to take
advantage of low prices.

1

10)

The money saved by finding low prices is
usually worth the time and effort.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

I would never shop at more than one store to
find low prices.
12) The time it takes to find low prices is usually
not worth the effort.
13) People notice when you buy the most
expensive brand of a product.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

14)

Buying a high price brand makes me feel
good about myself.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

15)

Buying the most expensive brand of a
product makes me feel classy.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

16)

I enjoy the prestige of buying of a high
priced brand.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

17)

It says something to people when you buy
the high price version of a product.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

18)

Your friends will think you are cheap if you
consistently buy the lowest price version of a
product.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

I have purchased the most expensive brand
of a product just because I knew other people
would notice.
20) I think others make judgments about me by

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

11)

19)

112

2

3

4

5

6

7

the kinds of products and brands I buy.
21)

Even for a relatively inexpensive product, I
think that buying a costly brand is
impressive.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

22)

I feel connected to the people (e.g. friends,
relatives, neighborhood, acquaintance, etc) in
the region/city (or hometown) in which I
grew up.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

23)

I feel like an outsider in the region/city (or
hometown) in which I grew up.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

24)

I am able to “get along with” (relate to) my
peers in the region/city (or hometown) in
which I grew up.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

25)

I think I fit in well in new situations.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

26)

Sometimes I feel myself losing a sense of
connectedness with the community in the
region/city (or hometown) in which I grew
up.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

27)

Even around people I know, I don’t feel that
I really belong/belonged in the region/city
(or hometown) in which I grew up.
(Reversed Score)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

28)

I see people as friendly and approachable in
the region/city (or hometown) in which I
grew up.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

I feel distant from people in the region/city
(or hometown) in which I grew up.
30) I don’t feel related to most people in the
region/city (or hometown) in which I grew
up.
31) I don’t feel I participate with anyone or any
group in the region/city (or hometown) in
which I grew up.
32) I am a worthy member of my hometown or
the city/region to which I belong.
29)

113

33)

I feel I don’t have much to offer to my
hometown or the city/region to which I
belong.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

34)

I am a cooperative participant in my
hometown or the city/region to which I
belong.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

I often feel that I’m a useless member of my
hometown or the city/region to which I
belong.
36) I often regret that I belong/having belonged
to my hometown’s community.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

In general, I’m glad to be/have been a
member of the community in my hometown.
38) Overall, I often feel that my hometown or the
city/region of which I am a member is not a
worthwhile place to be
39) I am proud of my hometown or the
city/region to which I belong.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

40)

Overall, my hometown or the city/region to
which I belong is considered good by others.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

41)

On average, most people consider my
hometown or the city/region to which I
belong, to be of a lower status than other
cities/regions.

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7

42)

In general, others respect my hometown or
the city/region of which I am a member.

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7

43)

In general, others think that my hometown
or the city/region of which I am a member
isn’t a worthwhile place to live.

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35)

37)

Overall, my hometown or the city/region to
which I belong has very little to do with how
I feel about myself.
45) My hometown or the city/region to which I
belong is an important reflection of who I
am.
44)

114

46)

My hometown or the city/region to which I
belong is unimportant to my sense of what
kind of a person I am.

In general, belonging to my hometown or the
city/region is an important part of my selfimage.
48) Generally speaking, the higher the price of a
product is, the higher the quality of that
product will be.
47)

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7

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49)

The old saying ‘‘you get what you pay for’’
is generally true.

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7

50)

The price of a product is a good indicator of
its quality.

1

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5

6

7

You always have to pay a bit more for the
best.
52) If a product is on sale, I would buy it for this
reason.

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53)

When I buy a brand that is on sale, I feel that
I am getting a good deal.

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54)

I have favorite brands, but most of the time I
buy the brand that is on sale.

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55)

One should try to buy the brand that is on
sale.

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56)

I am more likely to buy brands on sale.

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57)

Compared to most people, I am more likely
to buy brands that are on special (sales).

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7

58)

People ask me for information about prices
for different types of products.

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7

59)

I am considered somewhat of an expert when
it comes to knowing the prices of products.

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7

60)

For many types of products, I would be
better able than most people to tell someone
where to shop to get the best price.

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7

51)

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61)

I like helping people by providing them with
price information about many types of
products.

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7

62)

My friends think of me as a good source of
price information.

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7

63)

I enjoy telling people how much they might
expect to pay for different kinds of products
Redeeming coupons makes me feel good.
I enjoy clipping coupons out of the
newspapers and magazines.
When I use coupons, I feel that I am getting a
good deal.
I enjoy using coupons, regardless of the
amount I save by doing so.
Beyond the money I save, redeeming
coupons gives me a sense of joy.

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64)
65)
66)
67)
68)

III: Demographics
Please check the appropriate response for each
question.
69)

What is your present marital status?
o Single

o Married
o Divorced
o Separated
o Widowed
o Other ___________________
70) Please check the category that most
accurately identifies your education:
o High school degree
o Studying in a college or university
o Bachelor’s degree
o Master’s degree or higher
71)

How would you describe your current
employment status?
o Employed full time
o Employed part time
o Unemployed / Looking for work
o Student
o Homemaker
116

o Retired
72)

Please check the category that most
accurately identifies your family’s total
annual income.
o Less than 7500€
o 7.500€ – 18.999€
o 19.000€ – 26,999€
o 27.000€ – 38,999€
o 39.000€ – 49.999€
o 50.000€ – $61.999€
o 62.000€ – $76.999€
o Above 77.000€
o Don’t know
<Thank you for your participation>

117

In German
Umfrage zum Verhalten deutscher Konsumenten
I. Bitte beantworten Sie die folgenden Fragen in den unten angegebenen Feldern.
1. Sind sie ____ männlich oder ____ weiblich (bitte ankreuzen)?
2. Wie alt sind Sie? ____________
3. Wo sind Sie geboren (Stadt und Bundesland)? ___________________________
4. Wo haben Sie die meiste Zeit Ihres Lebens gewohnt bzw. welchen Ort würden Sie als
Ihren Heimatort bezeichnen? (Stadt & Bundesland) ____________________________
5. Wie lange haben Sie in ihrem Heimatort (in Frage 4 angegeben) gewohnt (in Jahren)?
___________________________
6. Wo (Stadt und Bundesland) haben Sie seit Ihrem zwölften Lebensjahr gewohnt?
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

II. Im folgenden Abschnitt sind wir an Ihrer Sichtweise bzgl. Ihres Konsumverhaltens
interessiert. Bitte beantworten Sie die folgenden Fragen durch anklicken der
jeweiligen Nummer, die dem Grad Ihrer Zustimmung bzw. Ablehnung mit den
folgenden Aussagen entspricht.

Starke Ablehnung
1)

Ein niedriger Preis ist wichtig für mich, aber
im gleichen Maße achte ich auch auf die
Qualität.

Ich vergleiche die Preise verschiedener
Marken, um sicher zu stellen, dass ich das
beste Produkt für mein Geld bekomme.
3) Wenn ich ein Produkt kaufe, versuche ich
immer, die bestmögliche Qualität für mein
Geld zu bekommen.
2)

4)

Wenn ich ein Produkt kaufe, dann möchte
ich sicher gehen, dass es seinen Preis auch
wert ist.
118

Starke Zustimmung

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5)

In der Regel vergleiche ich verschiedene
Angebote, um den günstigsten Preis zu
finden. Dennoch müssen die Produkte
bestimmten Qualitätsansprüchen
entsprechen, damit ich sie kaufe.

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2

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5

6

7

6)

Wenn ich einkaufe, vergleiche ich die Preise
von Marken, die ich normalerweise kaufe.

1

2

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7

7)

Ich vergleiche im Geschäft die Preise, um
sicherzustellen, dass ich das beste PreisLeistungs-Verhältnis bekomme.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8)

Ich bin bereit, einen Mehraufwand (z.B.
Online-Preisvergleich, Coupons
Ausschneiden) in Kauf zu nehmen, um
niedrigere Preise zu finden.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

9)

Ich kaufe in mehr als einem Laden ein, um
Preisvorteile zu nutzen.

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2

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7

10)

Das Geld, das ich durch Preisvergleiche und
gezieltes Einkaufen spare, ist mir den
zusätzlichen Aufwand und die Zeit wert.

1

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5

6

7

11)

Ich würde niemals in mehr als einem
Geschäft einkaufen, nur um niedrige Preise
zu finden.

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5

6

7

12)

Die Zeit, die es braucht, um niedrige Preise
zu finden, ist mir den Aufwand
normalerweise nicht wert.

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6

7

13)

Meine Mitmenschen bemerken es, wenn ich
die teuerste Marke eines Produkts kaufe.

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7

14)

Ich fühle mich besser, wenn ich eine teure
Marke kaufe.

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15)

Ich fühle mich nobel, wenn ich die teuerste
Marke kaufe.

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7

16)

Ich genieße das Ansehen, dass das Kaufen
einer teuren Marke mit sich bringt.

1

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5

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7

119

Wenn ich die teure Version eines Produktes
kaufe, sagt das etwas über mich aus.
18) Ihre Freunde würden negativ von Ihnen
denken, wenn Sie ständig die günstigste
Version eines Produktes kaufen würden.
17)

Ich habe in der Vergangenheit schon einmal
die teuerste Marke eines Produktes gekauft,
weil ich wusste, dass andere Menschen dies
bemerken würden.
20) Ich glaube, dass mich andere Menschen
auch danach beurteilen, welche Marken und
Produkte ich kaufe.
19)

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21)

Ich glaube, dass andere Menschen
beeindruckt sind, wenn ich teurere Marken
kaufe – und das selbst bei preiswerten
Produkten.

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2

3

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5

6

7

22)

Ich fühle/fühlte mich mit den Menschen
(z.B. Freunde, Verwandte, Nachbarn,
Bekannte, etc.) in meinem Heimatort/
meiner Heimatregion verbunden.

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2

3

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5

6

7

23)

In meinem Heimatort/ meiner Heimatregion
fühle/fühlte ich mich wie ein Außenseiter.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Ich verstehe/verstand mich mit den
Gleichaltrigen in meinem Heimatort/ meiner
Heimatregion.
25) Ich glaube, dass ich mich gut in neue
Situationen integrieren kann.

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7

24)

Manchmal habe/hatte ich das Gefühl, den
Draht zu den Menschen in meinem
Heimatort/meiner Heimatregion zu
verlieren.
27) Selbst wenn ich Menschen um mich
habe/hatte, die ich gut kenne/kannte,
fühle/fühlte ich mich, als ob ich nicht in
meinen Heimatort/meine Heimatregion
gehöre/gehörte.
28) Die Menschen in meinem Heimatort finde
26)

120

29)

30)

31)

32)

33)

34)

35)

36)

37)

38)

39)
40)

41)

42)

43)

ich aufgeschlossen und freundlich.
Von den Menschen in meinem
Heimatort/meiner Heimatregion fühle ich
mich eher distanziert.
Ich fühle keine Verbindung zu den meisten
Menschen in meinem Heimatort/meiner
Heimatregion.
Ich fühle mich am Leben keiner Person oder
Gruppe aus meinem Heimatort /meiner
Heimatregion beteiligt.
In meinem Heimatort/meiner Heimatregion
bin/war ich ein würdiges Mitglied der
Gesellschaft.
Ich habe/hatte der Gesellschaft in meinem
Heimatort/meiner Heimatregion nicht viel zu
bieten.
Ich nehme/nahm aktiv am gesellschaftlichen
Leben meines Heimatorts/meiner
Heimatregion teil.
Ich komme/kam mir in meinem
Heimatort/meiner Heimatregion oft als
nutzloser Teil der Gesellschaft vor.
Ich bedauere/bedauerte oft, ein Mitglied der
Gesellschaft in meinem Heimatort/meiner
Heimatregion zu sein.
Im Großen und Ganzen bin/war ich froh, ein
Mitglied der Gesellschaft in meinem
Heimatort/meiner Heimatregion zu sein.
Insgesamt betrachtet denke ich, dass mein
Heimatort/meine Heimatregion kein
besonders guter Ort ist, um dort zu leben.
Ich bin stolz auf meinen Heimatort/meiner
Heimatregion.
Insgesamt gesehen wird mein
Heimatort/meine Heimatregion von anderen
Menschen geachtet.
Im Allgemeinen genießt mein
Heimatort/meine Heimatregion bei den
meisten Menschen geringeres Ansehen als
andere Orte/Regionen.
Mein Heimatort/meine Heimatregion ist bei
anderen Menschen im Allgemeinen gut
angesehen.
Für gewöhnlich denken andere Menschen,
121

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44)

45)

46)

47)

48)

49)
50)
51)
52)
53)

54)

55)
56)
57)

58)

dass es nicht erstrebenswert ist, in meinem
Heimatort/meiner Heimatregion zu wohnen.
Im Großen und Ganzen hat mein
Heimatort/meine Heimatregion wenig damit
zu tun, wie ich mich selbst sehe.
In meinem Heimatort/meiner Heimatregion
spiegelt sich ein wichtiger Teil meiner
Persönlichkeit wider.
Mein Heimatort/meine Heimatregion
beeinflusst meine eigene Wahrnehmung
meiner Persönlichkeit nicht.
Im Großen und Ganzen ist die Zugehörigkeit
zu meinem Heimatort/meiner Heimatregion
ein wichtiger Teil meines Selbstbildes.
Generell gilt: Je höher der Preis eines
Produktes ist, desto besser wird die Qualität
sein.
Das Sprichwort “Qualität hat ihren Preis”
stimmt.
Der Preis eines Produktes ist ein guter
Indikator für seine Qualität.
Für das Beste muss man immer etwas mehr
bezahlen.
Wenn ein Produkt im Sonderangebot ist,
würde ich es alleine deshalb schon kaufen.
Wenn ich ein Produkt kaufe, das gerade im
Sonderangebot ist, dann mache ich ein gutes
Geschäft.
Ich habe Lieblingsmarken, aber ich kaufe
dennoch häufig die Marke, die gerade im
Sonderangebot ist.
Man sollte versuchen, die Marke zu kaufen,
die gerade im Sonderangebot ist.
Wenn Produkte im Sonderangebot sind, ist
es wahrscheinlicher, dass ich sie kaufe.
Im Vergleich zu anderen Menschen kaufe
ich häufiger Marken, die gerade im
Sonderangebot sind.
Andere Menschen fragen mich im Bezug auf
Preise für diverse Produkte um Rat.

Ich gelte als eine Art Experte, wenn es
darum geht, die Preise bestimmter Produkte
zu kennen.
60) Ich kann meinen Mitmenschen oft bessere
59)

122

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Preis-Tipps geben (z.B. in welchem
Geschäft ein Produkt günstiger ist), als die
meisten anderen Menschen.
61) Ich mag es, anderen Menschen bei der Suche
nach den günstigsten Preisen zu helfen.
62) Meine Freunde sehen in mir einen guten
Ansprechpartner im Bezug auf
Preisinformationen.
63) Ich genieße es, anderen Menschen zu
erzählen wie viel sie für bestimmte Produkte
vermutlich bezahlen müssen.
64) Gutscheine/Coupons einzulösen fühlt sich
gut an.
65) Ich schneide gerne Coupons aus Zeitungen,
Prospekten oder Werbebeilagen aus.
66) Wenn ich Gutscheine/Coupons einlöse,
mache ich ein gutes Geschäft.
67) Ich löse gerne Gutscheine/Coupons ein, egal
welchen Betrag ich dabei am Ende spare.
68) Gutscheine/Coupons einzulösen, macht mir
Freude – unabhängig vom gesparten Geld.
III: Demographie
Bitte beantworten Sie folgende Fragen durch
Ankreuzen des entsprechenden Feldes.
69)

Was ist Ihr aktueller Familienstand?
o Ledig

o Verheiratet
o Geschieden
o Getrennt
o Verwitwet
o Anderes ___________________
70) Bitte kreuzen Sie diejenige Kategorie an,
welche Ihre aktuellen Bildungssituation am
besten beschreibt:
o Schulabschluss
o Aktuell an einer Hochschule oder
ähnlichem studierend
o Bachelor-Abschluss
o Diplom/Master-Abschluss oder höher
71)

Wie würden Sie Ihre aktuelle
Arbeitssituation beschreiben?
o Vollzeitbeschäftigt
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o Teilzeitbeschäftigt
o Arbeitslos / Arbeitssuchend
o Schüler/Student
o Hausfrau/-mann
o Rentner
72)

Bitte wählen Sie diejenige Kategorie an,
welche das Jahreseinkommen Ihrer Familie
am besten beschreibt.
o weniger als 7500€
o 7.500€ – 18.999€
o 19.000€ – 26,999€
o 27.000€ – 38,999€
o 39.000€ – 49.999€
o 50.000€ – $61.999€
o 62.000€ – $76.999€
o 77.000€ und mehr
o keine Ahnung
<Vielen Dank für Ihre Teilnahme>

Bitte tragen Sie Ihre E-Mail-Adresse ein, wenn Sie den Amazon-Geschenkgutschein im Wert von 7 Euro
erhalten wollen. Und außerdem, Wenn Sie an der Verlosung teilnehmen wollen, geben Sie bitte Ihre
eMail-Adresse an. An Ihrer Universität werden zwei 100-Euro-Geschenkgutscheine von Amazon verlost
(4. Juli). Wenn Sie nicht an der Verlosung teilnehmen möchten und auch keinen 7-EuroGeschenkgutschein erhalten wollen, tragen Sie bitte "Nein" in das folgende Feld ein.

124

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125

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