Consumer Values Shifting in Cross Generation Javanese Consumers in Indonesia: Do Young Consumers Still Uphold Local Wisdom?

Abstract

This study aims to examine local wisdom of consumer values, and classify and compare consumer values between or across generations of Javanese Baby Boomers, X, Y, and Z. The study employed a mixed-method approach. The data were gathered by conducting in-depth interviews with four Javanese families, and online surveys. All respondents were Javanese consumers, with 103 from Generation Z, 154 from Generation Y, 257 from Generation X, and 17 from Baby Boomers. The total respondents were 531 persons. Data analysis was performed using the one-sample t-test, factor analysis, ANOVA, and the Kruskal-Wallis test. The shift in consumption values did not occur in the Baby Boomer, nor in the X, Y, and Z generations. Most values of Javanese consumers are thriving and are still being held by all generations. The shifting values are about ambition, patience, social recognition, ngalah [to yield or to succumb], ethok-ethok [having an indirect opinion or pretending]. This study provides follow-up implications for further research to link consumer values with other aspects of consumers such as national culture, consumer decision-making style, entrepreneurship, and other socioeconomic aspects.