THE ASIAN CONSUMER - Institute on Asian Consumer Insight

ACP 2012 in Singapore: The Asian Consumer
Asian consumers, in particular Asia’s emerging middle class, will be the growth engine of the world economy in the 21st century.
Thus, it is paramount for businesses and consumer psychologists to understand Asian consumers’ attitudes, preferences, and
behaviors. However, at this point, our knowledge of Asian consumer psychology is at best sketchy.
We are honored to be given the opportunity to host the ACP 2012 conference under the umbrella of the Society for Consumer
Psychology (SCP). This first SCP conference to be held in Asia will be supported by ACI–the new <strong>Institute</strong> on Asian Consumer
Insight, hosted by Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Specific goals of the conference include:
• Facilitate the exchange of ideas on cross-cultural issues (comparing consumer behavior from the “East” and “West”);
• Stimulate detailed research on Asian consumers to assess similarities and differences among Asian consumers (e.g.,
Chinese, Indians, Japanese, Koreans, South-East Asians, and others);
• Include the Asian research community more broadly into ACP and SCP.
Besides plenary sessions for researchers to present and discuss the latest academic research findings, ACP 2012 features a
roundtable of consumer-insight practitioners to share their experience and perspectives on the application of cross-cultural
research and consumer insights to Asian consumers.
Other conference highlights include a tour of the state-of-the-art psychophysiology labs at NTU, as well as a number of optional
consumer-experience tours on the final day of the conference to foster Asian-consumer immersion. These optional tours include a
retail tour to diverse shopping destinations in Singapore (Orchard Road, the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, and Mustaffa Center),
a history-and-culture tour to the main cultural sites in Singapore (Chinese temples and the Chinese Heritage Center in Chinatown,
Little India, and Malay artifacts in Kampong Glam), and a wellness-and-lifestyle tour of traditional health products and services
(traditional Chinese medicine, reflexology, and ayuverda).
Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Bernd Schmitt, Professor, Columbia Business School, Visiting Professor, NTU and Executive Director, ACILeonard Lee,
Associate Professor, Columbia Business School