Nowadays, many consumers travel abroad regularly, and the world is flatter than before. Critically discuss the notion of global consumer culture and its influence on consumer behavior using academic research and examples.

This world is interconnected in ways that had never been possible decades ago. There are individuals traveling between hemispheres on a daily basis, and, additionally, many companies are spreading manufacturing and service functions throughout a myriad of different countries with different cultures.
Because of this, consumption trends have changed drastically—the same products are available in different countries for wildly different prices, and it is possible to purchase and send them across time zones with ease. Because of this, many companies are not able to get higher prices simply due to name recognition alone—if a company in China is offering a comparable product for half the price, people will flock to it because it is now readily available.
In addition to this, people who are traveling are engaging in different cultural trends much more frequently. With greater exposure, these trends are traveling back and forth, making foreign countries more Westernized and vice versa. A cultural melange is developing wherein every country is absorbing different aspects of other cultures.
In less wealthy countries, many travelers typically expect luxuries that are common to them in Westernized countries. Because of this, luxuries are either becoming more common throughout other countries, or high-traffic areas are developing into compounds that cater to Western travelers to offer those high-end benefits that are expected.