Consumer ethnocentrism and attitudes towards domestic and foreign markets

Résumé du document

We had asked a specialized group to read an article titled: "Consumer ethnocentrism and attitudes towards domestic and foreign markets" written by John J. Watson and Katrina Wright and summarize it later. The basis of this case study was to investigate the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and consumer attitudes towards certain products where there is not a domestic alternative available. When referring to consumer ethnocentrism Triandis says that it is what is seen in our culture as being "Natural" and "correct" and what goes on in other cultures as being "unnatural" and "incorrect". So, with regards to the article, the authors are trying to find out whether people will buy foreign products from countries which have a similar culture to their own. This could be anything from an Irish consumer of chocolate buy a Chinese brand of chocolate (whose culture is very different from the Irish Culture) when there is a chocolate bar from England (whose culture is very similar to Ireland's) in the same shop.

Extraits

[...] Secondary Research Before getting into their full research on this topic Watson and Wright first studied similar topics to what they wanted to research to get a broad idea on what perceptions were in relation to this topic. The first thing they looked at was country of origin effect and consumer ethnocentrism”. This effect was also referred to as the “made in concept” and focused on whether the country of origin of a product had a positive or negative effect on the consumer's decision process and how they behaved after finding out about the country of origin. [...]

[...] Lantz and Loeb (1996) helped to prove this through their study. They found that highly ethnocentric consumers were more favorable towards products from culturally similar countries. All this research was done where there was a domestic alternative available. The author also studied a report on the same topic but this time domestic alternatives were not available. Since this Case study, which we were given, was taken place in New Zealand the authors decided that they needed to research whether it would be affected when there is no domestic alternative. [...]

[...] When trying to find out about whether consumer ethnocentrism existed in regards of this question which the report hoped to answer the authors focused on asking about three main areas which were: 1. Product perception: respondents were asked to rate products on technical advancement, prestige, workmanship, reliability, price and value of each product from each country Willingness to buy: this was changed to “intention to purchase” as some products were not available from each country. Again rated on seven point scale. [...]

[...] Consumer ethnocentrism and attitudes towards domestic and foreign markets For the purpose of this report our group was asked to read this article entitled “Consumer ethnocentrism and attitudes towards domestic and foreign markets” written by John J. Watson and Katrina Wright, and then do a summary and a critic on this article. The basis of this case study was to investigate the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and consumer attitudes towards certain products were there was not a domestic alternative available. [...]

[...] Conclusion of Article After reading this article our group has to agree with the findings and believe that consumer ethnocentrism is present in regards to the purchasing of products. Everything which was found out through the primary research was supported fully by secondary research which the authors had found. The report set out to explore into consumer ethnocentrism as well as explain what consumer ethnocentrism was and this was shown to us throughout clearly explaining all relevant facts. This article fully helped to clear up the meaning of consumer ethnocentrism and how it is present in everyday life. [...]