A less‐developed country perspective of consumer ethnocentrism and “country of origin” effects: Indonesian evidence

Abstract

Purpose -This paper seeks to examine the concept of ''consumer ethnocentrism'' (CE) and its impact on product evaluation and preferences among Indonesian consumers. Design/methodology/approach -The survey involved interviewing a representative sample of Indonesian consumers who had previously purchased the products in question, namely colour television and who had travelled by international airlines. A total of 547 usable questionnaires were completed in face-to-face interviews in Indonesia. Conjoint analysis was employed to study the relative importance and part-worth estimates of country-of-origin (COO) effects across high and low CE groups. Findings -Results of a sample survey of Indonesian consumers are discussed. They show, firstly, that the overall level of CE of Indonesian consumers, compared with published results for a range of countries, is notably high. Secondly, results of conjoint analysis showing the relationship between CE and consumer evaluations of ''COO'', product quality perceptions, and purchase intentions, for both tangible goods and intangible services, are discussed.Research limitations/implications -The actual sample was heavily biased to upper socioeconomic groups because of its focus on international airlines as one of the subject products. This will inevitably distort the average Consumer ethnocentric tendency scale score, but was felt to be unavoidable. Originality/value -In the past, research on country-of-origin effects has been carried out mostly in more developed countries considering products made in less developed countries (LDC's). In the present research, attention has been given to understand the effects of consumer CE on perceptions of product quality, price, perceived value, and product choice from the point of view of consumers from LDC's. In addition, the study of COO effects in relation to intangible services is noteworthy.

Industrial Purchase among Saudi Managers: Does Country of Origin Matter?

“…Recently, Tse and Gorn (1992), by investigating the power of the information for both COO and the brand, investigated the tacit COD country of design and COM country of manufacture, with an empirical research included consumers' evaluation of stereo equipment. These findings meet with Hamin and Elliott (2006), when investigating the power of effecting COO on the quality perceptions of different products, state that most consumers use country of origin as a symbol reflecting product attributes.…”

Consumer preference for electronic consumer durable goods in India: a conjoint analysis approach

“…In the era of consumer oriented market the probable reason for this seems to be the inclination of Indian consumers towards the home country brand and consideration of purchasing decision in favour of home made goods considered being morally appropriate (Hamin and Elliott, 2006;Li et al, 1997). Another reason may be the perceived easy availability of service centres and wide distribution channels of locally manufactured products including cheaper service facility too.…”

“…Simultaneously high level of consumer ethnocentrism is found in some countries like China and Indonesia in their purchasing behaviour (Hamin and Elliott, 2006;Lee et al, 2003). Evidence show that foreign brand are not preferred in China (Cui and Liu, 2001;Zhu et al, 2003).…”

Consumers Become More or Less Ethnocentric? A Meta-Analysis on Level of Consumer Ethnocentrism

“…Such insecurity perception can prompt consumers to take some actions so that other countries cannot get rich of them. Thus consumers in a developing country are more likely to be influenced by some patriotic events such as "buy local" promotional campaigns (Hamin & Elliott, 2006), as a result, they may hold high level of ethnocentrism (Bandyopadhyay et al, 2011). In light of these arguments, we propose the following: H 2 : Consumers in developing countries are more ethnocentric than consumers in developed countries.…”