An Investigation into the Impact of Income, Culture and Religion on Consumption Behaviour: A Comparative Study of the Malay and the Chinese Consumers in Malaysia

The study of consumer behaviour has attracted much attention from researchers.Models have been postulated and re-postulated in many attempts to explain thedecision process of consumers as it changes over time and space, as well as indifferent environments such as culture, race and religion. The growing interest ininvestigating the relation between psychographics and consumer behaviours withregard to their purchase preferences has helped marketers in segmenting the marketmore accurately so as to ensure certainty of profitability. This is especially relevantin the modern market where “crossing culture” (Davies and Fitchett, 2004, p.315)and acculturation, as well as the process of cultural integration, are common as aresult of many factors such as travelling both for leisure and business, emigrationand re-location, etc. Nevertheless, these studies have mainly focussed on a singlecommunity or ethnic group. This current study differs in that it attempts to comparetwo ethnic groups of diverse culture and religious background, i.e. the Malays andthe Chinese, within a single Malaysian community. The political and socialenvironments in Malaysia make the current study unique in that the Malays receivefinancial aids and incentives from the ruling Malay-dominant government while theChinese have little or no assistance at all. Therefore, apart from looking at thepsychographical aspects of consumption habit, the current study also includessource of income as a variable factor in comparing the presume differences inspending between the two ethnic groups – the Malays receive extensive financialaids and benefits from the ruling government while the Chinese work hard and saveas much as possible to ensure a better future.5The current study focuses on University Technologi Mara (UiTM) and UniversityTunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) because of their respective racial composition ofMalay and Chinese youths.The findings in this study elucidate that there seems to be no apparent difference inspending behaviour between the Malays and the Chinese despite their cultural andreligious differences. This could be the result of the many years of co-existence andthe influence of global media and culture on both the Malay and Chinese youths.The current study also does not find any strong basis in supporting the perceptionthat the Chinese would be more frugal in their spending because of unfavourableeconomic support for them in the country. On the contrary, the study shows that theChinese are indeed financially wealthier than the Malays because of their life-longculture of prudence in savings. Another reason for this could be the failure of thegovernment’s New Economic Policy in addressing the economic needs of themasses of the Malay population. Rather, the policy only favoured the selected fewwith strong political link or clout.This study also shows that there are significant differences in the spendingbehaviour between the genders. This study also highlights the differences inspending behaviour of the cluster groups with their respective attached inherentvalue-traits. The study also reveals that the Malays are no longer the homogenousgroup as previously thought. Rather they indicate distinct differences in theirspending behaviour.It is hoped that in future, wider and in-depth studies can be conducted to furtherexamine the consumption behaviour of races according to their value-traits.