Scale Development For Consumer Cosmopolitanism In Emerging Market: A Study In Vietnam

Abstract

This dissertation has scientifically achieved its objectives in developing a measurement instrument for consumer cosmopolitanism in the Vietnamese young market. To justify the construct’s theoretical operationalization, the dissertation extensively reviewed the concept’s evolution, underlying theories, measurement scale, and nomological networks. The literal investigation has exploited and pointed out academic issues around the concept, which resulted in limitations found across empirical studies employing three available scales adopted for the Vietnamese consumer market, namely (1) the COS scale (Cleveland and Laroche, 2007), (2) the C-COSMO scale (Riefler, Diamantopoulos, & Siguaw, 2012), and (3) the CCOS scale (Lawrence, 2012). The dissertation has highlighted the necessity for a new measurement scale that is appropriate to capture the extent of the Vietnamese consumer cosmopolitan. The CCOMO scale has been formally constructed through indepth interviews with twenty informants. The dissertation has developed and implemented a series of empirical studies to ensure the reliability, validity, and stability of the newly developed scale. The results have confirmed the soundness of the CCOMO scale in reflecting cosmopolitanism among Vietnamese youth. Besides academic contributions on consumer cosmopolitanism, the dissertation has provided insights about this segment. Understanding the cosmopolitan consumer's characteristics, drivers, and behavioral responses in specific purchasing situations would definitely assist marketing managers in designing better strategies for generating robust performance.