Int. J. Nonprot Volunt. Sect. Mark. 11: 303317 (2006) Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/nvsm.

286

Ethnocentric tendencies amongst arts audiences

Rita Kottasz* and Roger Bennett
London Metropolitan University, London, UK
*

According to empirical research, the most regular consumers of art are well-to-do, welleducated members of the social elite who, as a socio-demographic group, would not be expected to exhibit ethnocentric tendencies. Yet, curators of arts institutions and art critics have long been concerned that ethnocentrism does exist amongst visitors to museums and art galleries. This paper reports the ndings of a study that investigated the ethnocentric tendencies of arts audiences in Hungary (where, allegedly, individuals are more inclined to exhibit ethnocentric bias) and England (where the opposite is said to be true). The research examined whether ethnocentrism signicantly impacted upon perceptions of artworks from (i) a visitors own country, (ii) a culturally similar and (iii) a culturally dissimilar country. Intentions to attend art exhibitions featuring artists from these countries were then explored. The empirical analysis conrmed that individuals who exhibited ethnocentric tendencies did in fact overvalue the quality of artworks from their home country. Moreover, ethnocentrism within the Hungarian (but not the English) sample had a signicant impact on intentions to visit particular types of exhibition. Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Introduction
Academic research into the relevance of ethnocentrism for arts marketing has been sparse. However, arts managers have, in practice, long been concerned with the issue. Arts establishments have been accused of ethnocentrism, of nationalist bias and an overemphasis on patriotic exhibitions (see, e.g. Lippard, 1990; McDonald, 1998; Triff, 2002; Reynolds, 2004). British and North American galleries in particular have been accused of mounting exhibitions that are patriarchal, colonialist, self-referential and ethnocentric (Lippard, 1990, p. 8). Equally, curators of arts

*Correspondence to: Rita Kottasz, London Metropolitan University, 84 Moorgate, London, EC2M 6SQ, UK. E-mail: r.kottasz@londonmet.ac.uk

institutions and art critics have reported ethnocentric tendencies among arts audiences (see Suina, 1999; Grayling, 2002). Ethnocentrism in an arts context can arise if an individual chooses to attend exhibitions that only reect his or her national and cultural background (and accords these exhibitions a superior status) while avoiding exhibitions that focus on the art of other cultural groups (even to the extent of looking upon these with contempt; cf. Levine and Campbell, 1972). Examples of visitor ethnocentric bias reported in the (largely practitioner) literature extend to the reluctance of North American audiences to visit Moroccan and ArabAndalusian exhibitions (Midgette, 2003), low attendances by white Australians at exhibitions of Aboriginal artists (Weekend Australian, 2003), and the difculty that some curators have had in

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convincing US arts visitors that Latin American art was on an equal footing with the traditions of Europe and the US (Triff, 2002). Ramsey (1987), in particular, asserted that ethnocentrism among arts visitors was widespread. He claimed that a visitors own culture was typically the standard against which others were measured and that quite unconsciously it was accorded a superior status. Such matters are especially interesting in light of the discrepancy between the prole of arts audiences (generally nancially well-off, well educated and members of the social elite; see Sandell, 1998; Hooper-Greenhill, 1999) and the empirical evidence, which suggests that this specic socio-demographic group is unlikely to exhibit ethnocentric tendencies (Herche, 1992; Good and Huddelston, 1995; Sharma et al., 1995). The need to examine ethnocentrism within the arts domain is underlined by the growing number of travelling art exhibitions (see, e.g. Tinari, 2002; Schwan, 2003; Temin, 2004) which expose visitors to international rather than national exhibits. According to the International Travelling Exhibition Database (2001) there were over 1300 travelling exhibitions on show at any moment within Europe and North America, and over 100 museums, arts organisations and independent curators regularly organised touring exhibitions. Furthermore, unlike the situation with many consumer and durable goods where the made in label is often tucked away, given in small print or hidden on a product or a message about a product, the majority of marketing communications messages for art exhibitions focus distinctly and conspicuously on the nationality and/or ethnic culture of the artist(s) concerned. The present study focused on understanding visitor (rather than institutional) ethnocentrism. Its objective was to identify whether ethnocentric bias existed to the same extent and resulted from the same inuences amongst arts visitors as has been noted in consumers for products in other sectors, such as motor vehicles, groceries, toys and fashion wear (see Watson and Wright, 2000 for details of
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relevant literature). It compared art gallery visitors perceptions of national and foreign art exhibitions in Hungary (where, allegedly, individuals have a tendency towards ethnocentric bias; see, e.g. Kristeva, 1993; Lindquist et al., 2001) and England (where the opposite is supposedly true; see Mason, 1995; Buruma, 1999; Ray and Hall, 2004). The investigation examined whether, within the two countries, `-vis national and ethnocentric tendencies vis-a foreign artwork varied with respect to certain socio-demographic and other personal characteristics identied by researchers in the general marketing eld.

The conceptual model

The conceptual model proposed in Figure 1 summarises theories concerning ethnocentrism drawn from models suggested by de Ruyter et al. (1998), Watson and Wright (2000) and Balabanis et al. (2001), and applies them to an arts setting. Accordingly, the study tested the following hypotheses: H1: Ethnocentrism affects (a) the individuals perceptions towards artworks originating from a particular country, and (b) a persons intention to visit an art exhibition featuring artists from that country. H2: A persons perceptions of the quality of the attributes of the artworks from a particular country (home, culturally similar or culturally dissimilar) affect the persons intention to visit an art exhibition featuring artists from that country. H3: A persons attitude towards a particular country affects his or her perception of the quality of the attributes of artworks from that country. H4: A persons level of ethnocentric tendency is inuenced by: (a) the character traits of (i) patriotism, (ii) cultural openness, (iii) conservatism and (iv) individualism; (b) the socio-demographic characteristics of (i) age, (ii) gender, (iii) income, (iv) level of general education and (v) level of art education.

Int. J. Nonprot Volunt. Sect. Mark., November 2006 DOI: 10.1002/nvsm

Ethnocentric tendencies amongst arts audiences

Intention to visit an art exhibition of: (a) home country artists (b) artists from a culturally similar country (c) artists from a culturally dissimilar country Personal traits Patriotism Cultural openness Conservatism Individualism Socio-demographic characteristics Age/gender / income Educational level/ Arts education Product necessity (arts enthusiasm) H5 Ethnocentric tendency H4(b) Attitude towards a particular country H3 H1(a) Perception of the quality of attributes of artworks from a culturally similar country Perception of the quality of attributes of artworks from a culturally dissimilar country H2

305

H1(b) H4(a)

Perception of the quality of attributes of artworks from the home country

Figure 1. A suggested model.

H5: The links between an individuals ethnocentric tendency and his or her perceptions of the quality of the attributes of the artworks from various countries are moderated by the persons level of enthusiasm for the arts. For instance, high ethnocentricism might cause an individual to perceive artworks from a culturally dissimilar country to be of inferior quality, but the actual impact of ethnocentricism on this perception might reduce considerably if the person concerned is an avid arts enthusiast. The various components of the model are discussed below.
Ethnocentrism

The construct of consumer ethnocentrism (CE) originated from the more general concept of ethnocentrism, which Levine and Campbell (1972) dened as the situation occurring when the symbols and values of ones own ethnic or national group become objects of pride and attachment, whereas symbols of other groups may become objects of contempt. From a consumer behaviour perspective, ethnocentrism has been described as the tendency of individuals to be favourably predisposed towards homegrown products. The highly ethnocentric consumer views domestic products as superior while products from other countries are regarded with disdain.
Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The measurement of CE has become possible with the development of the CETSCALE (Consumer Ethnocentric Tendencies Scale) of Shimp and Sharma (1987), which assesses ethnocentric tendencies towards purchasing foreign versus domestic products via 17 items. Research has supported the notion that the CE construct and the CETSCALE are stable phenomena across varied cultural and national samples (see, for example Netemeyer et al., 1991; Hult et al., 1999). Shimp and Sharma (1987) asserted that CE could explain why individuals persistently preferred national rather than foreign products, often without a rational basis. Sharma et al. (1995) reported that ethnocentric individuals had a tendency to overestimate the attributes and overall quality of domestic products and underestimate the quality of foreign products. Ahmed and dAstous (1996) and Lantz and Loeb (1996) went further and suggested that such perceptions also affected the purchase intentions of the consumer. Furthermore, research has determined that products from countries viewed as culturally similar to the home country (in comparison to products from countries that were viewed as culturally dissimilar) were preferred by individuals with ethnocentric tendencies (Heslop et al., 1998; Watson and Wright, 2000). Watson and Wright reported that ethnocentric individuals tended to favour and buy products from culturally similar countries when a domestic alternative was not available.

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In line with the above, ethnocentric visitors may perceive home-grown artworks to be superior and hence prefer to visit exhibitions that reect their own, or culturally similar, backgrounds while avoiding culturally foreign exhibitions. It is important to note in the arts management context that the evaluation of the overall quality of an artwork is complex and is more subjective than the assessment of other consumer products (Polanyi and Prosch, 1975; Bourgeon-Renault, 2000). In the cultural domain, understanding the feelings and emotions of individuals is perhaps as fundamental as understanding their thoughts. Furthermore, the aesthetic reactions (the overall emotional impression that a person gets when looking at a work of art) and the individuals profound experience (the sensation of being deeply moved) need to be accounted for when measuring a persons evaluation of an artworks merits (Holbrook, 1986; BourgeounRenault, 2000). As ethnocentrism is a felt emotion (see Shimp and Sharma, 1987) this reinforces the proposition that it has the capacity to inuence perceptions and behaviour in the arts visitor sphere. The conceptual model depicted in Figure 1 posits that an individuals attitude towards a particular country has a signicant impact on ensuing product evaluations. This relationship has been examined extensively by academics (for reviews of relevant literature see Papadopoulos et al., 1990; Roth and Romeo, 1992; Verlegh and Steenkamp, 1999; Ljubic and Kesic, 2002). Most of the research has concluded that such attitudes do indeed inuence overall evaluations of products, and that these evaluations often lead to behavioural or purchase intentions. The current study sought to examine this same relationship in an arts context.
Prole of the ethnocentric

Herche, 1992), have lower incomes and education levels and belong to lower socioeconomic classes (Herche, 1992; Good and Huddelston, 1995; Sharma et al., 1995). In addition, patriotic people tended to be older than less patriotic individuals (Han, 1988; McLain and Sternquist, 1991), while the younger generation has been reported to have more open and positive perceptions of imported or foreign products (Wang, 1978; Wall et al., 1988). (It is important to note however that certain academic studies have contradicted some of these results, for details, see Han, 1988; McLain and Sternquist, 1991.)
Socio-economic status

Much of the research on the antecedents of ethnocentrism has focused on socio-demographic differences. For instance, studies have established that ethnocentrics were more likely to be female (Netemeyer et al., 1991;
Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

It has often been asserted that the most regular consumers of arts institutions are wealthy, well educated and members of the social elite (Arts Council of England, 1998; Sandell, 1998; Hooper-Greenhill, 1999), who therefore might not be expected to exhibit ethnocentric tendencies. Conversely, Grayling (2002) suggested that members of the social elite were in fact quite likely to be ethnocentric in relation to `-vis art from cultures artworks, especially vis-a regarded as being underdeveloped. Grayling cited the example of people from Europe or North America who perceived large differences in artistic merit between European and Australian Aboriginal painting and who, thereby, were in Graylings view guilty of ethnocentric bias. Such people, according to Grayling, were privileging the culturally parochial productions of dead white western men over other, from their perspective, less wellknown cultures. Grayling argued that valuing the high culture of the west was often tantamount to disparaging other cultures. Individuals from elite well-to-do backgrounds who from an early age had been subjected to high art and could not appreciate the work of self-taught artists, unless they were told explicitly that they should expect the outputs of selftaught artists to be of high quality. Arguably, therefore, members of the social elite are more likely than others to exhibit ethnocentric tendencies.

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Personal traits

Alongwith socio-demographic characteristics the current study explored the potential impact of a number of personal traits on an individuals ethnocentric tendency. Shimp and Sharma (1987), Bond (1988), Triandis (1988) and Sharma et al. (1995) suggested that traits, such as conservatism, individualism, patriotism and cultural openness exerted powerful inuences on ethnocentrism. Schwartz (1996) and Balabanis et al. (2002) argued that individuals who were conservative in their outlook of life were negatively predisposed against foreign products because they viewed them as a threat to the maintenance of existing customs and familiar norms. A study by Triandis (1988) found that people who were low on individualistic tendency showed higher in-group bias and did not accept foreigners or foreign ideas or products. Indeed, Bond (1988) identied such individuals as possessing a sense of cultural superiority. Numerous studies have found that patriotism had a signicant and positive impact on ethnocentrism, whereas cultural openness had the opposite impact on this trait (see Shimp and Sharma, 1987; Sharma et al., 1995; de Ruyter et al., 1998 for details).

the less necessary art is perceived to be in daily life, the more the impact that ethnocentric tendency will exert on perceptions of artworks from national and foreign countries (cf. Huddleseton et al., 2001).

Ethnocentrism across borders

Ethnocentrism has been shown to vary between nations. Individuals from a diverse range of countries have been found to evaluate their own domestic products more favourably than they evaluate the foreign ones (Johansson et al., 1985; Han, 1988; Papadopoulos et al., 1990; Samiee, 1994). However, these studies concluded that the strengths, intensity and magnitude of CE tended to vary from countryto-country (Morello, 1984; Kaynak and Kara, 2000).
Patriotic sentiment

Product necessity

A study by Sharma et al. (1995) concluded that the necessity of a product moderated the inuence of the ethnocentric tendency operative in a purchase situation. The more necessary the product, the lower the degree to which ethnocentric tendency inuenced a persons purchase decision. From an arts perspective, product necessity could equate to whether or not arts and culture are considered to be vital to an individuals mode of living. Thus, art enthusiasts who are intrinsically interested (involved) in art rather than attending exhibitions for social purposes (i.e. simply to be seen to be attending) are likely to regard visiting arts venues as a necessary activity (for details see Bourdieu, 1984; Holt, 1998). Conversely there are people for whom art is not at all an important aspect of their daily lives. Arguably,
Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Central and Eastern European nations with a history of turbulence have often exhibited strong patriotic emotions and national pride (Good and Huddelston, 1995; Mussey, 1995). Hungary, for instance, battled against occupying powers such as the Turks in the 16th century and the Habsburg and the Soviet Empires in the 19th and 20th centuries, respectively (for details see, e.g. Lindquist et al., 2001; Molnar, 2001). It has been alleged that there exists a strong sense of patriotism in Hungary (Lindquist et al., 2001). Kristeva (1993) explained the growth of nationalism among Central and Eastern European people as a boom that expresses itself through the same laudatory phrases such as eternal memory, linguistic genius, ethnic purity and an identifying superego, all the more aggressive as these peoples were humiliated. Although for a few years Western products in the former communist block were considered to be superior to domestically produced goods (Svennevig et al., 1992) the novelty of these products (mainly Western European and North American) has started to diminish in the eyes of the consumer (Huddelston et al., 2001) and some patriotic campaigns by local organisations have been

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highly successful in wooing these consumers back (Milbank, 1994; Woodruff et al., 1998). Balabanis et al. (2002) argued that the fear of capitalism, with its harsh economic realities, had also contributed to a rise in nationalist sentiments in the region. In comparison to the nationalistic and patriotic sentiments in Hungary, the English (rather than the British) have been described as possessing lower inclinations to be patriotic and nationalistic (see Buruma, 1999; Heath et al., 1999; Ray and Hall, 2004) and more likely to be internationalist in outlook (especially the younger generation; Heath et al.). Mason (1995) argued that the apparent denial of the English of their own ethnicity (which was, Mason asserted, more properly seen as an English rather than a British phenomenon) was associated with the historically diverse ethnic and cultural origins of the country (Celtic, Roman, Saxon, Norman, Huguenot, Flemish, Central European and more recently Asian and Afro-Caribbean). These origins had apparently resulted in the English possessing a distinctively individualistic worldview (see also Lindridge et al., 2002). Although most of the empirical research described above has dealt specically with attitudes, perceptions and behaviour towards consumer goods, it seems reasonable to predict that similar patterns would emerge from a study dealing with the arts service sector.

Methodology
The model depicted in Figure 1 was tested on two samples of individuals living in Budapest in Hungary (N 253) and London in England (N 252). A questionnaire was used to collect the data. The original English questionnaire was translated into Hungarian by a native speaker and pre-tested on a sample of 10 Hungarian individuals. Based on these pretests, items that were deemed problematic and ambiguous were reworded and rened. The data for the study were collected by the authors, two research assistants and four postgraduate students in and around the museum districts of the two cities. In London,
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the data were obtained in South Kensington and in Trafalgar Square; in Budapest, data were collected near the Parliament building, around Heroes Square, and in the vicinity of Buda Castle. To minimise bias the interviews were conducted at different hours of the day and on different days of the week. Passers-by were stopped at random and requested to participate only if they perceived themselves to be English/Hungarian and if they stated that they had some interest in art. An adaptation of the CETSCALE proposed by Shimp and Sharma (1987) was used to measure ethnocentric tendency, suitably modied to t the arts context. Examples of the adapted CETSCALE items were: English/Hungarian people should, rst and foremost, visit art exhibitions by English/Hungarian artists rather than foreign artists, I always prefer to support English/Hungarian art over foreign art, A real English person/Hungarian should always place English/Hungarian art above foreign art and Visiting art exhibitions on show by foreign artists is unpatriotic. Intention to visit was assessed via an adaptation of an item suggested by Lumpkin et al. (1985). Thus, respondents indicated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with the statement If an exhibition featuring well-known artists from just my own country were to be mounted in the near future in my local area I would probably visit it. This was followed by the same question but inserting (i) the name of a culturally similar country (see below), and then (ii) the name of a culturally dissimilar country. Patriotism was evaluated through the 12-item scale developed by Kosterman and Feshbach (1989). Examples of the items were I am proud to be English/ Hungarian and Patriotism is the rst and most important requirement of a good citizen. Cultural openness was measured using the seven-item scale of de Ruyter et al. (1998). Examples of these questions were: I take or I would like to take every opportunity to meet people from different countries and I am open-minded towards foreigners and their habits. Individualistic inclination was measured via the nine items of the autonomy and independence section of Banets (1976)

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Inventory of Self-actualising Characteristics instrument. Examples of these items are I feel no pressure to conform to social norms, and My actions are based on my own choices, not those of others. Conservatism was measured with six items from a scale developed by Ray (1983), for example Erotic and obscene literature should be prohibited from public sale and People who want more money should work harder for it instead of trying to get it off the government in one way or another. The study employed USA as a country deemed to be culturally similar to England (see Fallon, 2000; Henderson, 1993; Sadri, 1996), and Poland as a country assumed to be culturally similar to Hungary (Bakacsi et al., 2002; Gupta et al., 2002). Hungary and England were regarded as culturally dissimilar. Perceptions of the quality of the attributes of artworks originating from England, Hungary, Poland and USA were evaluated through ve items based on Han and Terpstras (1988) dimensions, viz; technical merit, prestige, workmanship, international reputation and whether artwork from a particular country would fetch a lot of money at an auction. In the cultural sphere it is vitally important to capture the subjective assessment of individuals (Bourgeoun-Renault, 2000). Thus, Han and Tepstras inventory was supplemented by four further items designed to capture the emotional dimension of perceived artwork quality (delightful, enjoyable, captures my imagination, deeply moving). As recommended by Hung (1989) and Watson and Wright (2000), respondents were asked not to think of particular artworks but rather to rely on their overall perceptions of the artworks from the four countries. Although respondents may not have been familiar with pieces of art from specic countries, it is common in country image research to investigate a countrys image for an unfamiliar product/service (Han et al., 1994). Individuals have impressions about goods and services irrespective of whether or not they have direct experience of them (Andaleeb, 1995). Attitudes towards countries covered by the study were measured through the item
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employed for this purpose by Verlegh and Steenkamp (1999) and Ljubic and Kesic (2002), that is I have a favourable attitude towards the United States/Hungary/Poland/England as a whole. To measure product necessity, adaptations of Sharma et al.s (1995) and Huddelston et al.s (2001) items were used, that is Art/s and culture represent a vital part of my life and All in all, I am a true enthusiast when it comes to attending art exhibitions. Demographic questions about the respondents gender, age, ethnicity, education level and nancial status were included at the end of the questionnaire. Financial standing was evaluated by asking the respondents whether, relative to most other people that they knew they regarded themselves as better-off, worse-off or about the same. Additionally the participants were asked to record the last occasion that they had visited an art exhibition and were requested to indicate on a ve-point scale the extent of their agreement with the statement In general, I am a frequent visitor to museums and art galleries. The items in each of the above-mentioned constructs that were measured by more than three questions were factor analysed. Apart from the nine items concerning perceived quality of artworks, unidimensional solutions occurred in each instance (as expected apriori for these well-established and previously validated scales), with all the dominant eigenvalues accounting for more than two-thirds of the variance in the relevant set of data and all the Cronbachs alpha values exceeding 0.75. Hence, the items for these constructs were averaged to form composite scales. The two items for product necessity were highly correlated (R 0.81) and thus, were averaged. As regards the nine artwork quality items, twofactor solutions emerged in both samples for each of the six nine-item groupings, that is a reputation factor comprising the ve Han and Terpstra items, and an emotional liking factor (normally) composed of the four other items (see above). Hence, the items for each factor were averaged and employed as independent variables (six for each country, e.g. perceived reputation of the artwork of the home country [English sample], of the culturally similar

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country [English sample], etc.) in the main analysis.

Findings
The samples in each country were relatively evenly divided between males and females. However, the median age of the members of the English sample was (at 43 years) higher than in Hungary (38 years), presumably reecting the fact that Hungary has a younger population. Members of the Hungarian sample

were on average signicantly more patriotic ( p 0.01) and ethnocentric ( p 0.00) than the English sample but less individualistic ( p 0.00), conrming the conclusions of previous research regarding these matters. Analysis of the results concerning the ethnocentrism composite revealed that 31% of the responses of the Hungarians fell in the top two categories of the variable as opposed to zero per cent of the English sample. Table 1 gives a breakdown of the socio-demographic characteristics of all the individuals whose responses fell in the top

Table 1. Characteristics of Hungarian and English ethnocentrics Prole of the Ethnocentrica Nationality Percentage of national sample Attendance at arts events Self-reported regular attender Product necessity (arts enthusiasm) Self-reported arts enthusiast Highest level of educational qualications GCSE or equivalent A levels or equivalent Professional qualications or equivalent University degree (undergraduate/postgraduate) Financial standing relative to most other people Worse off About the same Better off Gender Male Female Age 2230 3140 4150 5160 60 plus Last visit to an art exhibition A few days ago A few months ago Within the last 12 months More than a year ago Arts education Self-reported knowledge of art (i.e. compared to other people I have a great deal of knowledge about art and art history) Self-reported knowledge of English art Self-reported knowledge of Hungarian art
a

Prole of the Non-ethnocentricb English (%) 79% (n 199) 57 69 9 10 14 67 3 40 57 69 31 12 21 31 29 7 43 33 12 12 31 31 7 Hungarian (%) 10% (n 25) 0 0 0 0 20 80 0 20 80 80 20 100 0 0 0 0 0 40 40 20 0 0 0

Hungarian (%) 31% (n 78) 38 56 6 31 38 25 25 75 0 44 56 63 12 6 6 13 13 44 12 31 19 24 56

Individuals whose responses fell in the top two categories of the composite CETSCALE measure. Not one of the 252 English respondents satised this criteria. b Individuals whose responses fell in the bottom two categories of the composite CETSCALE measure.

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two categories of the CETSCALE composite (Table 1 labels these individuals as Ethnocentrics) and all those whose responses fell in the bottom two categories (Non-ethnocentrics). It is clear from Table 1 that the previous empirical ndings which have suggested that ethnocentrism is more prevalent amongst the older generation (Wall et al., 1988), and amongst individuals who belonged to lower socio-economic groups, had lower incomes and lower educational attainment (cf. Herche, 1992; Good and Huddelston, 1995; Sharma et al., 1995) did not correspond with the ethnocentric prole of the current (Hungarian) sample. Table 1 reveals that individuals who reported having a preference for artworks originating from Hungary were relatively young (75% were between 22 and 40 years), well-educated (over 60% possessed professional or university qualications), and nancially well-off (75% of ethnocentric Hungarians claimed to have the same nancial standing as most other people). (It is relevant to note that the Hungarians in the total sample were less prosperous than their English counterparts; only 14% of the Hungarian respondents claimed to be nancially better-off than most other people, compared to 59% of all the English respondents). Only 38% of the Hungarian individuals who possessed ethnocentric bias claimed to be regular attendees of arts events. Nevertheless 69% of them had attended at least one art exhibition within the last year and 56% claimed to be arts enthusiasts. Less than a quarter of these ethnocentrics reported having an extensive knowledge of art in general (in the sense that they agreed or strongly agreed with this questionnaire item). Fifty-six per cent of the Hungarian ethnocentrics had good knowledge of Hungarian art. As regards the comparison of Hungarian ethnocentrics with Hungarian nonethnocentrics it can be seen from Table 1 that the ethnocentrics were on the whole more knowledgeable about art than non-ethnocentrics. Moreover, it was subsequently found that knowledge of Hungarian art was positively and signicantly correlated with ethnocentric tendency in the Hungarian sample ( p < 0.001).
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As previously mentioned none of the responses of the members of the English sample fell in the top two categories of the composite CETSCALE measure. Seventy-nine per cent of the English individuals compared to just 10% of all the Hungarian respondents were non-ethnocentric. It seems, therefore, that ethnocentric bias was much lower in England than in Hungary. Overall, the non-ethnocentric English respondents were more likely to be male, well-educated, older, nancially well-off and arts enthusiasts. In Hungary, the nonethnocentrics were also more likely to be male, well-educated and nancially well-off. The most striking differences in the proles of the English and Hungarian non-ethnocentrics were that the latter group was signicantly younger, attended arts events less frequently and had less enthusiasm for the arts.
Test of the model

In view of the modest sample size relative to the number of pathways to be estimated (41 in total) and because some of the variables were not normally distributed, the parameters and standard errors of the relationships shown in Figure 1 were calculated using the method of partial least squares (specically the bootstrapping facility of PLS Graph Version 3). This method of estimation requires a sample size just 10 times the maximum number of structural paths directed at any of the variables in the model (i.e. a minimum sample size of 100 in the current application). Unlike the situation that applies to orthodox structural equation modelling techniques (as used by the LISREL, EQS or AMOS packages, for example) it is not necessary for the variables in a model to be normally distributed prior to the estimation. Table 2 presents the results (only) for pathways with statistically signicant parameters. Sociodemographics were not signicant determinants of ethnocentric tendency in either sample, so the pathway coefcients are not listed in the Table. The insignicance of sociodemographics means that H4(b) is rejected. Attitudes towards specic countries also failed to attain signicance, so H3 is also

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Table 2. Test of the model

Rita Kottasz and Roger Bennett

Hungary

England

Beta T-value Beta T-value coefcient coefcient Ethnocentric tendency (R2 0.64) Patriotism (H4a) Cultural openness (H4a) Conservatism (H4a) Individualism (H4a) Perceptions of artwork quality as determined by ethnocentric tendency in respect of: (i) Emotional liking for artwork from the home country (H1a) (ii) Perceived reputation of artwork from the home country (H1a) (iii) Emotional liking for artwork from a culturally similar country (H1a) (iv) Emotional liking for artwork from a culturally dissimilar country (H1a) Moderating effects of product necessity on perceptions of artwork quality: (ethnocentric tendency) (product necessity) in relation to (i) Emotional liking for artwork from the home country (H5) (ii) Perceived reputation of artwork from the home country (H5) (iii) Emotional liking for artwork from a culturally similar country (H5) (iv) Perceived reputation of artwork from a culturally similar country (H5) (v) Emotional liking for artwork from a culturally dissimilar country (H5) (vi) Perceived reputation of artwork from a culturally dissimilar country (H5) Intention to visit an exhibition by domestic artists (R2 0.33) as determined by (i) Emotional liking for domestic artwork (H2) (ii) Perceived reputation of domestic artwork (H2) (iii) Ethnocentric tendency (H2) Intention to visit an exhibition of artists from a culturally similar country (R2 0.40) as determined by (i) Emotional liking for domestic artwork (H2) (ii) Emotional liking for artwork from a culturally similar country (H2) (iii) Perceived reputation of artwork from a culturally similar country (H2)

0.38 0.34 0.22 0.41

3.96 3.14 2.49 5.05

0.40 0.30 0.40 0.35

4.22 2.97 3.96 3.97

0.22 0.34 0.23 0.30

2.44 3.11 2.44 3.04

0.31 NS 0.24 NS

3.66 2.50

0.30 0.34 0.22 0.30 0.21 0.29

2.77 3.14 2.02 2.75 2.02 2.70

0.21 0.22 0.30 0.20 NS NS

2.09 2.06 3.00 2.05

0.30 0.39 0.29

2.29 4.01 2.78

0.21 NS NS

2.00

0.18 NS 0.22

2.00 2.11

0.25 0.23 NS

2.29 2.12

Intention to visit an exhibition of artists from a culturally dissimilar country (R2 0.36) as determined by (i) Emotional liking for artwork from a culturally dissimilar country (H2) 0.24 (ii) Perceived reputation of artwork from a culturally dissimilar country (H2) 0.41 (iii) Ethnocentric tendency (H1b) 0.19 NS Not statistically signicant at the 0.05 level

2.38 4.41 1.99

0.33 NS NS

3.24

rejected. Apparently, it was quite possible for a person to dislike a particular country yet admire artwork from the same nation. Table 2 indicates that in-line with the outcomes to past research in the CE eld, the personal traits of patriotism, cultural openness, conservatism and individualism exerted signicant inuences on ethnocentric tendency. Hence H4 (a) is accepted. Product necessity was a signicant moderator in both samples (cf. Sharma et al., 1995), conrming H5.
Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This suggests that enthusiasm for art and psychological involvement with art substantially mitigates the effects of a persons ethnocentrism on perceptions of the quality of artwork both from the home country and also from culturally similar and dissimilar nations. A further similarity between the English and Hungarian samples was that emotional liking for the artwork of the respondents own country signicantly increased the persons intention to visit exhibitions both of

Int. J. Nonprot Volunt. Sect. Mark., November 2006 DOI: 10.1002/nvsm

Ethnocentric tendencies amongst arts audiences

313

artists from the home country and of artists of a culturally similar country. Emotional liking for the artwork of a culturally similar country increased the probability of visiting an exhibition of artists from a culturally similar country. The same applied to artwork from a culturally dissimilar country. However, the Hungarians tended to be inuenced by their perceptions of the reputations of the artwork from various countries to a much greater extent than the people in England. The English, conversely, were affected more by their emotional liking for a countrys artwork when reporting their intentions to visit an exhibition involving works from that nation. On no occasion did perceived reputation impact signicantly on intention to visit. Differences between the two samples occurred in relation to some of the consequences of ethnocentrism. In Hungary (where high ethnocentric tendency was more prevalent), ethnocentrism had a direct and signicant impact on the intention to visit an exhibition of domestic artists (beta 0.29), but this was not the case in England. Thus it appears that the Hungarians translated high ethnocentric tendency into an actual behavioural intention, whereas ethnocentric tendency (albeit at lower levels) among the English respondents did not have this consequence. Overall these outcomes are broadly consistent with H1 and H2, although the details differ from one country to the other. Further research is needed into why this was the case. It may be, for instance, that people in London have a wider exposure to international travelling exhibitions than their counterparts in Budapest.

Conclusion
The results conrm the assertions of Ramsey (1987), Triff (2002) and Midgette (2003) that ethnocentrism can exist in an arts environment. As expected, ethnocentric tendency was more prevalent in the Hungarian sample than it was in the English sample (see Kristeva, 1993; Mason, 1995; Lindquist et al., 2001; Ray and Hall, 2004). Ethnocentrism was most common in young Hungarians who were relatively wellCopyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

educated and nancially well-off. Arts knowledge was highly and positively correlated with ethnocentrism in the Hungarian sample ( p< 0.001). These results partially validate Graylings (2002) proposition that individuals from well-off backgrounds and who possess a signicant knowledge of art and art history (in this instance knowledge of Hungarian national art) can exhibit ethnocentric bias. Several variables (patriotism, cultural openness, conservatism and individualism) that previous research in the CE eld has found to have signicant inuences on ethnocentric tendency exerted signicant impacts in the present study. A direct link between ethnocentric tendency and emotional liking of the home countrys artwork was evident in both samples. Ethnocentrism also affected the Hungarian respondents opinions concerning the perceived quality of the artwork of a culturally dissimilar country. Irrespective of the links between ethnocentrism and perceived artwork quality, the latter variable did impact signicantly on intention to visit. It follows that art managers should attempt forcefully to convince the public that a foreign travelling exhibition emanates from a country wherein artwork is generally of a very high quality, i.e. that art in that country is technically advanced, prestigious and so on. Moreover, ethnocentrism was observed to have a direct impact on the Hungarian samples intention to visit exhibitions of home country artists and of artists from a culturally dissimilar country. Clearly, therefore, arts managers in Hungary (and in other countries to which the results might generalise) need to recognise the consequences that ethnocentrism may have on potential visitors to travelling international exhibitions, and tailor their promotional techniques and messages accordingly. In general, arts marketers need to recognise the effects that ethnocentricity might have on visitor numbers and the types of people that are likely to attend an exhibition.

Limitations and future directions

A limitation of the present study was its concentration on just a few of the plethora of

Int. J. Nonprot Volunt. Sect. Mark., November 2006 DOI: 10.1002/nvsm

314

Rita Kottasz and Roger Bennett

variables that have been posited to affect ethnocentric tendency. As well as the constructs depicted in Figure 1, prior research has investigated the possible inuences of, inter alia, universalism, benevolence, attitudes towards fair trade, (numerous) personal and cultural values (e.g. achievement and power), self-esteem and many other personality attributes. The current investigation covered a set of variables that were deemed on a-priori grounds to have particular relevance to artwork. Further research is needed to establish the possible importance of other constructs as determinants of ethnocentrism in the arts domain. Another limitation is the fact that respondents in only two countries were studied. It would be useful to replicate the research in other nations. A further research direction might be to explore ethnocentric tendencies in individuals who do not participate in arts events of a specic nature. Triff (2002), Midgette (2003) and Weekend Australia (2003) have suggested that certain white audiences showed a lack of interest in art exhibitions hosted by non-white culturally foreign artists. Furthermore, arts organisations and governmental bodies alike have voiced their concerns about particular ethnic minority groups that have consistently shown a lack of enthusiasm for consuming art in their adopted countries. Not surprisingly, therefore, increasing attention has been paid, in recent years, upon issues of ethnic representation, participation and access, and a growing body of research has sought to identify the barriers that exclude various audiences (see Sandell, 1998; Hooper-Greenhill, 1999). The possibility that ethnocentric bias plays a signicant role in the decisions of minority individuals not to visit certain exhibitions and venues is undoubtedly worthy of further investigation.

Metropolitan University. The authors main research interests lie in the eld of voluntary sector and arts marketing. Roger Bennett is a Professor in the Department of Business and Service Sector Management at London Metropolitan University. His main research interests are in the eld of nonprot and voluntary sector marketing, particularly in relation to the effectiveness of different forms of imagery used in charity advertising campaigns. Rogers career has included periods in the mining and engineering industries and with a leading UK commercial bank. He is the author of many books and a large number of articles on various aspects of marketing and business management.

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Biographical notes
Dr Rita Kottasz is a senior Lecturer of Marketing in the Department of Business and Service Sector Management and a member of the Centre for Research in Marketing at London
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