The purpose of this chapter is to explore some unique perspectives of young consumer misbehavior within the context of developing countries. The challenges of marketing to young consumers are explored by first deconstructing the needs of young consumers in developing countries. In doing so, the growing effect of technology and social media are considered. In particular, the chapter directs its attention on the meaning of consumer misbehavior within developing countries. Second, the triggers of consumer misbehavior are highlighted. Of these, multiculturalism and materialism have proved to be among the greatest triggers of young consumer misbehavior in emerging economies' markets. A major contribution of this chapter is that it brings to light the discourse of young consumer misbehavior from non-Western settings, which is largely underreported in the mainstream marketing literature.
TopIntroduction
More often than not, marketing strategies are designed for the ideal consumer. This ideal consumer is one that plays by the book – responds positively to advertisements, pays for his or her groceries, respects other consumers, and more importantly pays taxes on time. In real life, however, such a consumer hardly exists. On a daily basis, marketers encounter deviant consumers including shoplifters, fraudsters, and vandals (Shambare, Muswera, & Shambare, 2018). While deviant behaviours in consumption settings are hardly of recent vintage, they traditionally have been viewed from a criminal perspective. Marketing researchers generally have shied away from such topics. Recently, however, marketers have begun to recognise such phenomena as bona fide consumer behaviour; more precisely, consumer misbehavior (Akbari, Abdolvand, & Ghaffari, 2016; Jacobsen & Barnes, 2020; Shambare et al., 2018). Consequently, the consumer misbehavior literature is steadily growing; in spite of this, experiences from developing countries particularly those in Africa is still underreported.
This chapter, therefore, seeks to contribute to the knowledge about young consumer misbehavior in developing countries’ markets. The chapter argues that youths [in developing countries] constitute one of the many non-traditional market segments, which is not always catered for in traditional marketing strategies (Epps & Demangeot, 2013). Because youths tend to be the most multicultural segment, young consumers present a unique opportunity for understanding the association of multiculturalism, multicultural marketing, and consumer misbehavior. Multiculturalism in this case refers to youth’s tendency to belong to and to represent various cultural groups and identities (Longley, 2020). For instance, a young consumer in Bindura, Zimbabwe could be a fan of the English Premier League Soccer and at the same time a connoisseur of Chinese foods. This one consumer, thus, can be persuaded by many different cultural persuasions – the European, Chinese, and her own Zimbabwean culture. Longley (2020) recognises various market segments that exhibit this diverse and divergent multicultural disposition, which is best served using multicultural marketing strategies. Consequently, multicultural marketing – devising marketing campaigns targeted at non-traditional markets, minorities, people of different ethnicities and cultures – may provide useful insights into young consumer misbehavior.
To present these arguments, the chapter is structured as follows. The next section conceptualises consumer misbehavior. Following on, the unique aspects of consumer misbehavior in African markets is discussed. Thereafter, young consumer characteristics including multiculturalism and excessive consumption are discussed within the context of antecedents of young consumer behaviour. Finally, the chapter closes by providing some strategies for addressing consumer misbehavior.