‘Face consciousness’ and ‘culture of embarrassment’ as stimulators to consumption: Exploring consumption decisions in the Jordanian context.

Culture impacts individuals in various ways as it sets guidelines in social situations and behavioural justifications. Fear of judgement and protecting ‘face’ are outcomes of collective cultures and this may impact consumption decisions. This research investigates the influence of ‘face-consciousness’ on consumption decisions in a collective culture, the Kingdom of Jordan. An investigative and flexible methodology was adopted to explore consumption habits over two stages, by which 18 participants were divided into three focus groups in the first stage and individual responsive interviews for stage two. The generation of themes is simultaneously done with the process of data generation to clarify meanings and interpretation throughout the hermeneutic spiral. Results reveal an original concept that tends to impact consumptions decisions as participants describe ‘culture of embarrassment’ as a primary stimulator to consumption. Future studies would be to specifically explore ‘Face Consciousness’ and ‘Culture of embarrassment’ on decision-making styles amongst individuals of collectivist and individualistic countries. Such an effort will definitely expand the set of cultural dimensions and will enhance the understanding of consumer decision behavior across cultural contexts.