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Abstract

Abstract Even though persuasion has been a widely researched topic in consumer behavior, the great majority of these studies have involved American consumers and focused on persuasion itself, with very few addressing resistance to persuasive attempts. None has addressed resistance to persuasion in a cross-cultural context. We aim to contribute to closing this gap in the literature with this paper. Specifically, we aim to expand knowledge of the persuasive process by applying the cultural dimensions of self-construal and face negotiation theories to Gopinath and Nyer’s (2009) work conducted on American consumers about the effect of public commitment on resistance to persuasion. Our research focus is on why people from different ethnic/cultural backgrounds will receive or resist persuasive messages differently. We anchor this notion in face negotiation theory (Ting-Toomey, 2005). This perspective addresses different types of facework behaviors that people choose in a multicultural environment, thus shedding light on processes underlying persuasion and resistance to persuasion mechanisms as influenced by culture. Understanding the effects of cultural differences on a person’s reception of, or resistance to, counter-attitudinal persuasion should be valuable to managers who make decisions about cultural adaptations and target audience changes.

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