The Role of the Filipino Consumer Culture to Filipino Self and Identity

By

Kathreen R. Dimalibot

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science

Ms. Gisselle V. Averion

October 8, 2018
 The concept of self has been considered by many social scientists as an important
variable that influences a perceptions, emotions, and behaviour. The Filipino concept of
self reflects a collectivistic perspective, which manage to emphasize interdependence
and group’s interest predominate the goal s of the individualism (Triandis, 1995). Filipinos
tend to emphasize values and traits that promote intrapersonal cooperation, social
acceptance and reciprocity. In addition, the Filipino concept defined as Juan masipag,
‘dalagang Filipina, parang tala sa umaga’, with their brown skin and ‘mano pos’.
Obedience and respect to parents and elders are highly valued and individual interests
are secondary to those of the family (Edman & Kamecka, 2000). However, one of the
unique behaviour of the Filipinos are their consumer buying behaviour that influenced by
various factors such as family, friends, relatives, and colleagues. Filipinos usually listen
for the advice of people around them in choosing the brand that will suit their needs and
wants. This unique buying habits of the Filipinos became a culture which can be called
its own.

According to Castillo, (2018) in his journal article entitled Consumer Buying

Behavior: The Multicultural Influence in the Philippines, Filipino consumer buying
behaviour are already affected by modern philosophy as influenced by Asians, Americans
and Europeans which brought to the Filipinos to have an international standards in terms
of its buying habits and lifestyle. Moreover, he further discussed the major components
of Filipino consumer attitudes proposed by Perner (1999) which represent forces that
influence how the consumer will react to the object. The three major components
mentioned are the beliefs, affect or feelings and the behavioural intention. He elaborated
that old beliefs influenced by western principles comprises the culture of Filipino and
these beliefs are interconnected to the certain feelings of the consumers toward to brands
or other objects. However, he also introduced that Filipinos want products that will last
even if the product is expensive because they believe that in the long run, they will save
a lot than buying more cheaper or alternative things as compared to the original.

However, the Filipino consumer behaviour as one of the most influential buyers
today do not behave consistently with their attitudes because of several reasons. First,
the ability of the Filipinos to purchase object or services as long as it is with their budget.
Due to the Western influences, Filipino consumers prefer to buy branded things as they
know it came from a reputable brand of quality. Filipino always wanted to expose the
brand of their bags they carry or shoes they are wearing in order to show people how
proud they are to have such expensive and class A products. Second, many products
and services are out in the market today but it is the consumer’s choice that will prevail
the most. Consumers have different reasons why they buy products. They might be their
needs, wants, wishes, or desires and they are all part and parcel of why people buy.
Lastly, social influence is widely spread for most Filipino consumer in taking their buying
decisions (Castillo, 2009).

Moreover, according to Wang & Waller (2006), in their journal article entitled
Measuring consumer vanity: A cross-cultural validation, the society gained an obsession
driven by money as it permitted extravagances and signified prestige. Money has made
it easier to focus one’s image and social status by obtaining materialistic goods that would
appeal to the sensory and symbolic desires instead of usual basic necessities. They also
emphasized that the consumer vanity includes the underlying consumer value orientation
wherein consumer behaviour is influenced by a fixation with physical appearance and
success, thus making consumers spend more for aesthetics than for function or need.
Thus, the Filipino consumer buying behaviour is mostly influenced by advertisements that
puts an emphasis on vanity and materialistic pleasure (Chang et al., 2011).

Therefore, the consumer buying behavior of Filipino give rise to the Filipino self
and identity because it reflect the culture, beliefs, and practices of the Filipino. The high
focus on vanity and the wide-variety of branded products in the Philippines could have
shaped the overall behaviour of Filipinos towards the consumption of goods. Moreover,
the Filipino consumer behaviour influenced by colonial and foreign consumerism. This
phenomena may be caused by the large influence of Western culture brought by the
period of Western colonization and the rising globalization (Frith & Frith, 1990). In the
consumer attitudes and practices presented above, Filipino presented not just as a
consumer that will find the product they want wherever and whatever it takes but also the
identity that this culture is typical to Filipino and only for Filipino.
 REFERENCES:

Castillo, F. (2009). Consumer Behavior: The Unique Filipino Way. APQO , 50-55.
Castillo, F. J. (2018). Consumer Buying Behavior: The Multicultural Influence in the
Philippines . The International Journal of Business Management and Technology,
71-75.
Chang, W., Lu, L., Su, H., Lin, T., & Chang, K. (2011). Mediating effect of buying
motives between physical vanity and online compulsive buying. African Journal
of Business Management, 3289- 3296.
Edman, J., & Kameoka, V. (2000). Intracultural variations in the concept of self: A
comparison of educated and less educated Filipino women. South Pacific Journal
of Psychology, 8-11.
Frith, K., & Frith, M. (1990). Western advertising and Eastern culture: the confrontation
in Southeast Asia. Current Issues and research in advertising, 63-73.
Perner, L. (2008, October 7). USC Marshall. Retrieved from Consumer Behavior: The
Psychology of Marketing : https://www.consumerpsychologist.com/
Triandis, H. (1995). Individualism and Collectivism. Canada: Westview Press.
Wang, P., & Waller, D. (2006). Measuring consumer vanity: A cross-cultural validation.
Psychology & Marketing, 665-687.