Because culture shapes what power means to us, cultural orientation should influence what we perceive as a power threat. Thus, the same interactions between consumers and service providers in the marketplace may implicate power differently for different consumers. Across six studies, consumers??? cultural orientations influenced interpretation of and responses to the negative behavior of service personnel. These interpretations and reactions also depended on whether the service person held a high service rank (e.g., hotel vice-president) versus a low rank (e.g., hotel receptionist). Consistently, consumers whose believe that power was meant for enhancing personal status (i.e., the Vertical Individualists) interpreted rude service by a receptionist (versus vice-president) as a greater threat to their own sense of power, responded with a greater sense of indignation, and were more likely to seek high status products to compensate for this power loss. The responses of consumers with other cultural orientations revealed distinct power associations that did not reflect personal power threat. Together, these findings reinforce the key influence of culture on consumer responses in situations that implicate power.
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