An empirical investigation of home buying behavior in a high-context culture: a strategic marketing-oriented approach
International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis
ISSN: 1753-8270
Article publication date: 19 August 2022
Issue publication date: 27 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The housing/real estate sector is one of the most important sectors in any country. However, existing marketing literature on the home buying behavior and the decision-making process is still in the early stage of development. The purpose of this study is to examine the home buying behavior from the consumers’ perspective in a high-context culture, namely, Kyrgyzstan and its managerial and/or public policy implications to other countries which are at a similar level of socio-economic development as Kyrgyzstan.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a questionnaire, data for the study (n = 300) is collected from households in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Personal interviews were used to collect data from the four administrative regions of Bishkek.
Findings
Results of this study show that the physical, environmental and financial dimensions of the homes influenced consumers’ home buying intentions. A few statistically significant differences in terms of preferences for the proximity of the property to schools and shopping districts, having public sewer and water connections, and safety characteristics of the neighborhood were found between the first-time homebuyers and the repeat homebuyers.
Research limitations/implications
The most important limitation of the study is the use of convenience sampling. Although the sample size is reasonably large, the selection of the responses was done based on using convenience and connections. Representativeness of the results may be limited.
Practical implications
Along with the physical, environmental and financial dimensions of the homes, home buying is a high-involvement decision; it is not as much of an emotional purchase but rather a main residence and a good long-term value for Kyrgyz households. Both marketing and social stimuli did not have any statistically significant effect on purchase intentions. Therefore, housing and real estate developers should focus on understanding how their offering meets individual customers’ tangible and intangible expectations and assist them in their highly involved decision-making process.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to conduct an empirical study to analyze the home buying decisions of Kyrgyz households. This study contributes to marketing literature by filling the existing gaps in understanding various facets of the high-context consumers’ home buying decision-making.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The previous version of this paper was presented at the International Management Development Association (IMDA) 27th World Business Congress.
Disclosure statement and funding: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Citation
Kaynak, E., Kara, A. and Maksüdünov, A. (2023), "An empirical investigation of home buying behavior in a high-context culture: a strategic marketing-oriented approach", International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, Vol. 16 No. 6, pp. 1145-1167. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-07-2022-0095
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited