Published in the June issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, the paper examines the ways consumers in different societies compare products.

The researchers from Indiana University, SUNY Binghamton and the University of Central Florida found that consumers in individualistic societies - mostly western societies - are less affected by the context in which a product is placed.

For example, when a low-fat cookie was grouped with cereal bars and rice cakes in the health food section, collectivists paid more attention to fat content than when the low-fat cookie was shelved taxonomically among all types of cookies.

In contrast, individualists perceived the fat content uniformly across contexts.

"Collectivists consider context information in their product categorization more than individualists. Individualists ignore the context and focus only on product features," wrote the authors.

In order to conduct their study, the researchers tested categorization tendencies through a series of experiments.

In the first, participants were analyzed for collectivistic or individualistic tendencies before rating similarities among products. In the second and third, participants were manipulated to tend toward collective thinking or individualistic thinking, and the fourth compared undergraduate students originally from North America and East Asia.

"Our findings fill important gaps in both self-construal and categorization research. An implication of the greater category of membership inclusiveness by individualists is that their stereotypes may be more malleable and less resistant to counter-stereotypical information," concluded the researches.

The findings come at a time when the food industry is already making efforts to adjust its products and marketing to appeal to a more individualistic western consumer.

Indeed, according to research published earlier this year by the Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), the concept of products 'made just for me' is set to gain importance with consumers in a general climate of reaction against mass marketing.

"We're beginning to see the accelerated infusion of personalization across a wide range of industries, including foods and beverages, transportation, footwear, technology, media, personal care products, healthcare and financial planning, among others," said NMI managing partner Steve French.

"This 'made for me' mindset enables consumers to tap into a culture of one-of-a-kind goods and services that are tailored to suit their individualistic needs and wants. The result is an increasingly sophisticated consumer base attempting to take greater control of all aspects of their lives."