Assessing the Impact of Ethnocentrism in the Food Buying Decisions of International University Students

Abstract

This study assesses the influence of ethnocentrism on food buying decisions by a specific group of sojourners-namely, international university students-by distinguishing the results observed in relation to gender differences from those detected without any consideration of gender differences. On the basis of an exhaustive review of relevant literature, this study offers several research hypotheses pertaining to the influence of ethnocentrism on evaluations of alternatives, choices, and post-purchase stages. To test these hypotheses, the authors collected data from a sample of university foreign students enrolled in a Spanish university, and then submitted these data to diverse principal components factorial analyses and linear parametric regressions. The results show that a consideration of gender makes a great difference, in that the influence of ethnocentrism is much greater in the food buying decision process for male sojourners. These results have major implications for key stakeholders such as food manufacturers, importers, retailers, and universities.

The Effect of Ethnocentrism on Product Evaluation and Purchase Intention: The Case of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

“…Concerning age, younger consumers have lower levels of ethnocentric tendencies than older consumers (e.g., references [25,72,86]). Furthermore, previous studies (e.g., references [31,62,82]) have conducted their research on young people. Therefore, young people completing their first university courses and preuniversity students were enrolled for the present study.…”

“…In the case of the food market (see [13,82] for reviews), CE continues to represent one of the strongest import blockades and so could be considered an important factor to predict consumer attitudes and perceptions toward imported and foreign food products [83,84]. The background assumption is that food can be considered as a cultural element, and people do not eat the same food across different cultures [53].…”

Selected Predictors of Consumer Ethnocentrism in the Food Market (Gender Differences)

“…It is worth noting not only the differences in predictors between men and women (as in some other consumer attitude and behavior studies, e.g., [55,56]), but also it should be underlined that some variables which were significant predictors in the whole sample lost their significance in separate regressions for either gender. These were universalism and conformity values, attaching importance to the natural content of food, and being a student.…”