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.