There is a world of marketing that is build on the way consumers respond to a certain product or the way it is marketed. It comes as no surprise, then, that companies and marketing firms look at social patterns and consumer psychology to understand better how and what affects consumers to the greatest degree and what ushers them to go out an purchase whatever they end up spending their money on.
Another agreed upon fact is that one of the most important contributing factors to consumer decision making is the culture that they have internalized as what defines them. Fact of the matter is that consumers are more affected by their culture than they care to admit. Other factors include location, peer group influence, income group etc. However, all these factors determine what one needs or wants to spend money on. Culture is something that subconsciously makes you need or want a particular thing. A colder location indicates to a consumer the need or want for heavy garments that will make them warm. Their culture automatically defines what that garment is going to look like. The women in Canada will wear jeans, leggings and tshirts, while women in India will be dressed in their traditional saaris. Therefore, all over the world, some indications of what the consumer wants or needs can be the same, however the purchase descisions all over the world are not the same. They vary because the culture varies, and since the culture varies, the consumers response to the same demands vary as well.
A McDonalds in China