Urbanites walk line between two cultures
Urbanites walk line between two cultures
By Solita Sarwono
WASSENAR, The Netherlands (JP): The development process has
brought change to the lifestyle of many people in Indonesia.
Exposure to modern and Western lifestyles and to imported
consumer goods has resulted in a change in the consumption
pattern of the population.
The youth are particularly receptive to and affected by this
changing lifestyle. Urban children no longer play with their
peers as modern toys and games are designed for solitary players.
Every day children spend hours playing computer games, watching
videos or reading books, which encourages an individualistic
attitude.
It seems that modern Western values and norms have been
unconditionally adopted by the majority of the population. These
value orientations fit with the description of modernizing
societies which are characterized by materialism, individualism
and receptiveness to change.
Another characteristic of modernizing societies is the
dualistic pattern of consumer behavior. In spite of the strong
influence of Western lifestyle, people still purchase and consume
local products such as batik, kain and kebaya, ayam goreng Suhar
ti, sate ayam Madura, cendol, jamu, and wayang.
It is apparent that people in Indonesia, particularly Java,
live in two different cultures. They tend to follow the modern
Western lifestyle while still retaining their traditional values.
At times these two cultures come into conflict with each other.
This situation forces individuals to make a choice or compromise
in order to keep a balance between the two cultures.
Studies show that consumer behavior patterns differ by gender,
age and economic situation. Food is the most significant item in
the family budget. As income rises, food's importance declines
and other luxuries like consumer durables and educational,
recreational and other services tend to increase.
Food purchase is often a female decision. Male adolescents
have greater motivation for consumption and display more
favorable attitudes toward materialism than female adolescents.
Bachelors make expenditures for personal consumption items such
as clothes, entertainment and automobiles.
The main motivation for the increasing consumption of goods is
a desire to emulate those of higher social rank in order to keep
up with appearances. People hope to increase their social status
through the display and ownership of various goods. So they buy
plenty of low quality products for a lower price. Consideration
of the quality and durability of the products is often neglected.
This is an example of an emotional decision whereby the
consumer does not recognize the impact of current consumption on
future taste. These types of consumers do not realize that their
preferences shift over time.
Buying cars and computers and continuing to change these to
the latest model is another emotional decision. Consumers form
habits in a rational way if he takes into account the
consequences of current decisions on future preferences.
Emotional choices are usually based on anxiety, guilt, self-
image, and competition. These emotional aspects are often used by
advertising agencies to persuade consumers to buy the products
they promote.
Consumptive behavior is accelerated by the use of credit
cards. The fact that consumers need not pay the merchandise in
cash, makes it easier to spend money. For practical and safety
(as well as prestigious) reasons, many consumers prefer the use
of credit cards to cash, despite the high interest rate.
In Indonesia, the annual interest rate for credit cards is
between 39 percent and 45 percent which is the highest in the
world. Similarly, people with lower incomes use the credit system
to purchase expensive goods, such as televisions, motorbikes or
cars, leaving the family in debt.
Consumer behavior is acquired through a learning process. The
ideas in consumer's mind come from personal experiences with
"unbiased" specialist sources of information such as the
Indonesian Consumers' Foundation, advertisements or information
from potentially biased sales personnel.
Socialization agents also play a significant role in consumer
behavior, namely parents, peers, teachers, and the media.
Consumer behavior may also be learned as a result of frequent
interaction with market places.
Peer pressure is a strong external drive, not only among
adolescents but also among adults. Individuals perceive the value
of each product according to their needs. There are biological or
basic and social needs.
Buying food and clothes can be considered meeting the basic
needs of the individual but it can also be seen as meeting the
need to conform to the social norms and the need for identity and
social recognition.
This consumptive behavior trend is inevitable since it is part
of the society's modernizing process. This phenomenon is
happening in Eastern European countries like Albania and Croatia
and was observed many years ago in industrialized countries like
the United States, England and Singapore.
The consumption demand increases especially after war or after
a nation has been liberated from a suppressive way of life.
Fortunately, not every one follows this consumptive trend.
Many do make rational decisions in purchasing the goods and
refuse to buy things just for the sake of following fashion.
Producers and manufacturers of goods and advertising agencies
benefit from this consumptive lifestyle. The increased
consumption of local products helps strengthen the Indonesian
economy. A high consumption of imported goods will only promote
the economy of industrialized countries.
The shopping strategy chosen by a consumer is dependent on
perceived competence, confidence and self-control. A person's
state of confidence is very dependent on how well he can predict
the consequence of his decisions.
Experience is another important factor. Through experience one
will come to see that some actions are preferable to others. For
example, after spending a lot of money on buying nondurable goods
which can no longer be used after a year or two, a person would
decide to buy only one or two pieces of goods but of high quality
and durability.
As consumer behavior is formed through socialization and as
parents play a crucial role in the socialization process, it is
important for parents to teach good consumer skills to young
children and teach them how to make rational decisions.
And as women are more sensitive to fashion and appearance and
make most decisions in family consumption, they are the prime
target for advertisement.
Therefore, consumer information needs to be made more
available for women. Publishing and disseminating consumer guide
books to the general public is a good approach to increase
consumers' awareness.
The Indonesian Consumers Foundation would be a very good
institution to publish such a guide book, informing consumers on
the quality of various products sold in the market. Accurate
information can protect consumers in responding to aggressive
advertisement. Besides quality orientation, consumers can learn
to control their shopping desires by setting up a list of
priorities according to their necessities and careful
consideration.
As the development process continues, it is hoped that
Indonesians will become more mature and more careful in their
consumer behavior. Maturity brings confidence and self-control.
Maturity also helps strengthen the ability to make a
compromise between modern and traditional values and lifestyles,
leading to a new identity of modern Indonesians.
The modern culture should complement, rather than replace, the
traditional culture. Do we want to retain our Indonesian identity
or are we happy to become cosmopolitan people with no national
characteristics?
The writer is a psychologist and a sociologist.