Consumer Behavior Patterns in Emerging Global Markets and their Business Implications

Abstract

The consumer decision-making process in the context of emerging global markets is becoming more influenced by the intersection between the digital transformation, mobile commerce growth, and shifting socio-cultural dynamics. In the current research, the focus is on the investigation of the main factors influencing consumer purchases in five major emerging market regions: Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and the Middle East. The empirical part of the study utilizes the results of a survey involving 1,240 respondents along with information obtained from market intelligence resources. The statistical analysis involves using such methods as Structural Equation Modelling, sentiment analysis, and regression-based clustering, which allows for discovering important relationships between price sensitivity, brand trust development, social influence techniques, and mobile-commerce usage. Mobile commerce becomes the predominant channel in all five geographical locations, with the adoption of digital payments growing very quickly after the pandemic. Most importantly, cultural localization is found to be a mediating variable that influences the relationship between brand message and buying intention. Unlike the previous expectation that globalization plays a prominent role in business practices in emerging markets, the findings provide evidence that cultural localization is crucial. There are significant practical implications for multinational firms, entrepreneurs, and policymakers who want to take advantage of consumer purchasing power in emerging markets, which is estimated to include approximately 4.2 billion people. The study provides a validated model – EMCDM – and research directions to future scholars.