The European Consumer: United in Diversity?

33 Pages Posted: 20 Sep 2005

See all articles by Aurelie Lemmens

Aurelie Lemmens

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Christophe Croux

Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) - European Center for Advanced Research in Economics and Statistics (ECARES); Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) - Department of Applied Economics

M. G. Dekimpe

Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) - Department of Applied Economics; Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM)

Date Written: April 7, 2005

Abstract

The ongoing unification which takes place on the European political scene, along with recentadvances in consumer mobility and communication technology, raises the question whether theEuropean Union can be treated as a single market to fully exploit the potential synergy effectsfrom pan-European marketing strategies. Previous research, which mostly used domain-specificsegmentation bases, has resulted in mixed conclusions. In this paper, a more generalsegmentation base is adopted, as we consider the homogeneity in the European countries’Consumer Confidence Indicators. Moreover, rather than analyzing more traditional staticsimilarity measures, we adopt the concepts of dynamic correlation and cohesion betweencountries. The short-run fluctuations in consumer confidence are found to be largely countryspecific. However, a myopic focus on these fluctuations may inspire management to adopt multicountrystrategies, foregoing the potential longer-run benefits from more standardized marketingstrategies. Indeed, the Consumer Confidence Indicators become much more homogeneous asthe planning horizon is extended. However, this homogeneity is found to remain inversely relatedto the cultural, economic and geographic distances among the various Member States. Hence,pan-regional rather pan-European strategies are called for.

Keywords: consumer confidence, dynamic correlation, European Unification

JEL Classification: M, C44, M31

Suggested Citation

Lemmens, Aurélie and Croux, Christophe and Dekimpe, Marnik, The European Consumer: United in Diversity? (April 7, 2005). ERIM Report Series Reference No. ERS-2005-022-MKT, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=797945

Aurélie Lemmens (Contact Author)

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam ( email )

3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands

Christophe Croux

Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) - European Center for Advanced Research in Economics and Statistics (ECARES) ( email )

Ave. Franklin D Roosevelt, 50 - C.P. 114
Brussels, B-1050
Belgium

Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) - Department of Applied Economics ( email )

Leuven, B-3000
Belgium

Marnik Dekimpe

Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) - Department of Applied Economics ( email )

Leuven, B-3000
Belgium
+32 16 326 957 (Phone)
+32 16 326 732 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.econ.kuleuven.ac.be/tew/academic/market/members/MarnikDekimpe.htm

Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM) ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands
+31 10 408 1715/9576 (Phone)
+31 10 408 9011 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://web.eur.nl/fbk/dep/dep3/about/members/people/mdekimpe

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
207
Abstract Views
2,120
Rank
266,425
PlumX Metrics