Patterns Of Consumer Interest Across Developed And Emerging Markets

Abstract

In this study, we consider online search term volume as a measure of consumer interest and investigate the patterns of consumer interest across various international markets. Prior research has suggested that online search term volume, or the number of times a particular term is submitted to a search engine, can indicate aggregate or market-level interest in that term. As such, we consider the top terms in the US (most searched for) for one calendar year and look at the patterns of interest in those terms over time in the US, as well as in foreign developed and emerging markets. As globalization continues, consumers are likely to become more culturally integrated, particularly with the rapid spread of information. We explore one approach in measuring this phenomenon. We consider five dimensions of culture for eight foreign markets – four developed and four emerging. We find high levels of cultural integration for terms related to technology products and social networks. Our results suggest implications for international marketing strategy.