Consumer ethnocentrism and attitudes toward domestic and foreign products

Abstract

Investigates the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and consumer attitudes toward foreign manufactured products in product categories in which domestic alternatives are not available. Such decision situations (i.e. product choice in categories with no domestic alternative) are common for consumers in many smaller countries throughout Europe, and thus important for marketing managers to understand. It was hypothesised that individuals with high levels of consumer ethnocentrism would have more favourable attitudes toward products from culturally similar countries in comparison to products from culturally dissimilar countries. The values classification of culture proposed by Schwartz was used to establish cultural similarity, and the attitudes of a representative sample of New Zealand consumers were assessed using a nation-wide mail survey. Our results suggest that cultural similarity is an important consideration for highly ethnocentric consumers in the evaluation of foreign products. A number of theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Cultural Influences on Consumer Behaviour

“…It is because images and symbolic meanings attached to brands are shaped by a local society/culture where economic and social values of a brand might vary greatly based on collective ideas about the brand (Jung & Sung, 2005). For example, collectivist societies have a tendency to appreciate imported brands more than their own products/brands (Watson & Wright, 2000). English tea, French perfume, German cars, Chinese silk, and Japanese electronics are their interests (Triandis, 1995) because they are expensive and stylish.…”

Satin Alma Kararlarinda Tüketi̇ci̇ Etnosentri̇zmi̇ Ve Menşe Ülke Etki̇si̇: Selçuk Üni̇versi̇tesi̇ İkti̇sadi̇ Ve İdari̇ Bi̇li̇mler Fakültesi̇’nde Bi̇r Uygulama

“…Etnosentrik tüketiciler, yabancı ülke ürünlerini ve hizmetlerini kalite ve değer açısından küçümsemekte, kendi ülke ürünlerini ve hizmetlerini ise kaliteli ve değerli görmektedir (Watson ve Wright, 2000). Bu kapsamda tüketici ne derece etnosentrik eğilime sahipse o derece düşük düzeyde yabancı mal ve hizmet satın alma niyetine ve yüksek düzeyde yerli mal ve hizmet satın alma niyetine sahiptir (Shimp ve Sharma, 1987).…”

Ethnocentric Behaviour and Business Performance of Multinational Enterprises (MNES): Evidence From South-West Nigeria

“…These include customer oriented operational indicators such as delivery performance, lead times, flexibility and quality performance Digalwar & Sangwant, [23] as well as human resource oriented indicators such as employee satisfaction and morale [24,25]. In fact, authors such as [26] as well as [27] highlight the strong, and complex, relationship between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and overall performance. Djordjevic [28] states that a person who assumes that his or her home country is superior to the rest of the world is said to have an ethnocentric orientation.…”