CONSUMER VALUES IN WEST-GERMANY UNDERLYING DIMENSIONS AND CROSS-CULTURAL-COMPARISON WITH NORTH-AMERICA

Data on social values from a West German survey are presented, interpreted, and then compared with results from surveys in the United States, Canada, and Norway. In all surveys, values were measured by the List of Values (Kahle, 1983). The results reveal considerable cross-cultural differences, which can only in part be ascribed to differences in the political, economic, and sociocultural development of the countries observed. Another reason is that the connotations linked with the wording of the values differ from country to country. Hence, the differences found between West German and North American respondents are of a substantial as well as a semantic nature. It would be intriguing to develop value measures that are based on connotations that are identical cross-culturally. © 1990.