Consumer ethnocentrism under the circumstances of the COVID-19 virus pandemic

Abstract

Background: The new circumstances of life due to the proclamation of the COVID 19 virus pandemic have caused numerous changes both in general people's lives and in consumption. Purpose: The aim of this paper is to identify changes in the degree of consumer ethnocentrism when choosing products during the COVID 19 virus pandemic, compared to the period before its occurrence. In addition, differences in consumer preferences for certain domestic products and services before and during the pandemic were analyzed. The paper also deals with differences in ethnocentric tendencies during the pandemic between different socio-demographic consumer segments. Study design/methodology/approach: The primary data were collected from 176 respondents by using the survey method. A paired samples t test is used for hypotheses testing. Independent samples t test and Anova, post hoc Scheffe test, were conducted for analysing differences in ethnocentric tendencies between observed consumer segments during the pandemic. Findings/conclusions: Higher level of consumer ethnocentrism is confirmed in period during the pandemic, especially when it comes to choice of domestic medical products. On the other hand, lower level of consumer ethnocentrism is observed for fashion products and insurance during the pandemic. Older consumers and pensioners exhibit stronger ethnocentric tendencies during the pandemic. Limitations/future research: The main limitation of the paper relates to the use of only a few of the 17 statements within the CET scale for measuring ethnocentric tendencies before and during the pandemic. Also, the research did not cover all categories of domestic products and services. According to the limitations, future studies are recommended to fully apply the CET scale for measuring consumer ethnocentrism. Also, the recommendation is to observe higher number of categories of products and services, and to break down the categories into several subcategories. Finally, future studies can also include some of the determinants of consumer ethnocentrism in the research model.