‘Karma shapes consumer satisfaction in India’

WASHINGTON - The concept of ‘karma’ shapes consumer satisfaction in India, suggests a new study. It says it is important for companies to understand cultural differences between markets if they wish to reach consumers in a globalised marketplace.

Significantly, it found that 64 percent of Indians believed in karma as against 10.5 percent of the Chinese.

Study authors Praveen K. Kopalle and John U. Farley of Dartmouth College and Columbia University’s Donald R. Lehmann describe the doctrine of ‘karma’ as having three main tenets.

First is the notion of rebirth where actions in a particular life may bear fruit either in this life or the next.

Second, actions can be broadly classified into appropriate (good) or inappropriate (bad). Finally, good actions in the present lead to good outcomes in the future.

“The doctrine of karma links current conduct to future consequences either in this life or the next,” write the authors. “Thus, a belief in ‘karma’ entails, among other things, a focus on long-run consequences.”

“Individuals with a long-term orientation are likely to be less inclined to lower expectations in the hope of temporarily feeling better,” write the authors.

“With a long-term orientation, even those individuals who are most unhappy when a product fails to live up to their expectations of it, have a limited incentive to artificially lower their expectations and hence have higher (and more accurate/ realistic) expectations,” write the study authors.

It is important for companies to understand these types of cultural differences to reach consumers, according to Dartmouth and Columbia release.

“Perhaps most importantly, the findings are also encouraging concerning the feasibility of explicitly measuring cultural factors and assessing their impact on consumer behaviour,” it says.

The study “Consumer Expectations and Culture: The Effect of Belief in Karma in India,” is slated for publication in the Journal of Consumer Research in August.