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QRCA VIEWS
SPRING 2016
www.qrca.orgYou’re probably wondering what hap-
pens to the rest of the budget. Spending
on various areas of life, goods, and ser-
vices vary from country to country. Did
you know that Russians are true fashion
lovers? Russians can afford their love of
fashion because they carry the lowest
housing costs within the region. This
results from the communist policy of
offering everyone the right to housing,
even if very modest. Later, these flats
were provided to residents at a heavily
discounted rate. Consequently, home
ownership is very high in Russia, and
energy costs are subsidized by the state.
In effect, Russians have very small house-
hold maintenance costs.
Researchers in Eastern Europe place
strong emphasis on these economic
aspects because they are easily overlooked
by Western clients. Most of them misper-
ceive the region as fairly similar to
Western Europe, which it is not. The
qualitative researcher needs to under-
stand these economic circumstances
when pondering screening criteria.
The immense social change, which all
Eastern European countries experienced not
so long ago, means that traditional classifi-
cation methods, such as Socio Economic
Classifications (SEC), do not really work.
Affluent people don’t always have sophisti-
cated needs if they have a working-class
background. University professors are not
among the new middle class.
Going Deeper Beneath the Numbers
For qualitative researchers, the most
interesting insights come when we look
for the reasons behind differences in eco-
nomic indicators, and these reflect differ-
ent values and attitudes across the region.
One of the best starting points to com-
pare different cultures is the Hofstede
model (Geert Hofstede,
Culture’s
Consequences: Comparing Values,
Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations
Across Nations
). The model is based on
six indicators: Masculinity/Femininity,
Individualism/Collectivism, Indulgence/
Restraint, Power Distance, Long-Term
Orientation, and Uncertainty Avoidance.
If there is a characteristic that applies to
almost the entire Eastern European region,
it is mistrust toward strangers and toward
new or unexpected situations. Therefore,
Uncertainty Avoidance is high (with
Slovakia as a notable exception). That
means Eastern European consumers are
slower to adopt new trends (in particular
technology) and need time to accept new
situations. Most societies are fairly conser-
vative and, as the recent immigrant crisis
Consumers in Eastern Europe: After 25 Years, Their Different Ways to Enjoy Freedom
CONT INUED
Source: Trading Economics, 2014
Germany
37,717 USD
Slovakia
15,726 USD
Ukraine
2,081 USD
Bulgaria
4,915 USD
Latvia
9,973 USD
Russia
6,843 USD
Poland
11,304 USD
Gross Domestic Product per capita
2007: Shopping mall in Bucharest with indoor ice skate park and waterfalls
2014: Opening of Europe’s largest shopping
mall in Moscow
“The immense social change, which all Eastern European countries
experienced not so long ago, means that traditional classification methods,
such as Socio Economic Classifications (SEC), do not really work.”