Scenario Approach to Simulating Consumer Expenditures: A Cross-Cultural Analysis

Abstract

This study utilized a scenario approach in which black and white university students were awarded “cash points” to be used to purchase brands of merchandise from a list of products. Each group was also asked to allocate the points in the manner they perceived the other race would (the black students predicted expenditures of the white students, and vice versa). The results of the study showed the expenditure pattern for the two groups to be essentially the same. There were no significant differences between product categories, and only minor differences in brand selections. However, when perceptions of other group’s expenditures were analyzed, the results are considerably different. Both perceived their expenditures to be different from the other group, and neither group could accurately predict the brands the other race would purchase. The white students’ predictions were incorrect in all product categories while the black students did accurately predict white brand preferences in two of the six product categories.