FEATURE4 July 2018

Customising traditions

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Kelly McKnight

Asia Pacific Behavioural science Features Impact Youth

Caught between individualism and family expectation, self-expression is a strategic balancing act for young people in Indonesia, a new study from Join the Dots has found. By Kelly McKnight

Young indonesians_Crop

Across the world we are seeing a rise in individualism. This might feel like a recent phenomenon, driven by millennials, the ultimate ‘me generation’, yet individualism has been increasing for several generations. Recent figures put growth in individualistic practices at around 12% since 1960 (Santos and Grossman, 2017 ).

As international market researchers, we recognise greater individualism is impacting different markets. We carried out research in Indonesia to explore how it was affecting this traditionally collectivist and conservative culture, combining quantitative research with cultural contextualisation to unearth new insights.

Collectivist culture  

Indonesia is a strongly religious society, with a Muslim majority and inherent conservatism. Affiliation and togetherness are important, expressed in the shared values of gotong royong (mutual cooperation) and bhinekka tunggal ika (unity in diversity). 

Our quantitative survey of 1, 000 ...