Happily (mal)adjusted: Cosmopolitan identity and expatriate adjustment

Amir Grinstein and Luc Wathieu

International Journal of Research in Marketing, 2012, vol. 29, issue 4, 337-345

Abstract: As an increasing portion of the world's population identifies itself as cosmopolitan, we examine whether cosmopolitan identity involves openness and adaptability to new environments or instead favors maintaining a global lifestyle that persists across environments. Based on a field study of expatriates, we find that the expected duration of sojourn is a crucial moderator of cosmopolitan behavior. In short-duration sojourns, cosmopolitans adjust more to new environments than non-cosmopolitans. In long-duration sojourns, non-cosmopolitans adjust more to the host country while cosmopolitans tend to retreat into a global lifestyle. We find that these adjustment choices are correlated with well-being, contrary to the claims in existing literature on expatriates that adjustment should be the preferred behavior regardless of consumer identity.

Keywords: Consumer identity; Cosmopolitanism; Expatriate adjustment; Horizon effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ijrema:v:29:y:2012:i:4:p:337-345

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2012.03.003

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