The role of individualism vs. collectivism in the formation of repurchase intent: A cross-industry comparison of the effects of cultural and personal values

As repurchase intent drives profitability and firms are facing culturally diverse customers, managers should know how individualism (vs. collectivism) influences the formation of repurchase intent. This research models individualism as a dimension of both national culture and personal values. Based on HLM of data from six countries and ten industries, study 1 shows that cultural individualism is more influential than personal individualism. Individualism positively moderates the effect of customer satisfaction and negatively moderates the effects of public brand image and relational switching costs on repurchase intent. While the effects of customer satisfaction and relational switching costs are moderated more strongly for services, the effect of public brand image is moderated more strongly for products. Study 2 illuminates psychological processes operating behind these moderating effects: importance of relational switching costs – reliance on salespeople; importance of public brand image – meeting social preferences (impressing others, expressing group identify), but not trustworthiness; importance of customer satisfaction – customization, distinctiveness, but not functional benefits. This research also tests extant theories about the main effect of individualism on repurchase intent. The results provide valuable, novel suggestions for cross-cultural adaptation of marketing strategy.