CONSUMER ETHNOCENTRISM RESEARCH: FIRST FINDINGS1

Slobodan Miladinovi Faculty of organizational sciences, Belgrade, miladinovic@fon.rs Abstract: Consumer ethnocentrism is the tendency to favor the purchase of domestic-made products over imported. Ethnocentric consumers believe that in this way they promote the economic development of their country and thus contribute not only the economic but also the general social and political prosperity. In this paper is analyzed the survey data of consumer ethnocentrism research performed in 2011 on a sample of 2! respondents. "ata were collected through the CE# scale. In this paper is established total scale value $0.!1 and the mean value of the whole scale - %.!$& which is located within the limits of moderate ethnocentrism what corresponds with findings of earlier researches in 'erbia. (e also performed the factor analysis and there are isolated four factors) consumer patriotism& politically motivated consumer ethnocentrism& ethical ethnocentrism and radical ethnocentrism. Key words: Consumer ethnocentrism& CE#scale& consumer behavior& mar*et& domestic-made products

1. INTRODUCTION
One in a series of sociological and psychological factors that influence customers decisions in choosing !hich goods to purchase, !hen enter the mar"etplace, is consumer ethnocentrism. #ltimately, the ethnocentrism, generally, means the point at !hich their o!n national culture, lifestyle based on it and socio$ cultural patterns are superior in regard to others. %t is the value orientation aspect, syndrome of social attitudes !hich has a form of national attachment that characterizes national isolation and e&clusion in the final sum 'Schatz, Staub and (avine )***+, putting their o!n ethnic group in the ,!orld center, !hich produces a conviction of the superiority of their o!n ethnic group and not rarely e&press contempt for the others. -his is especially true if there are grounds for the sense of national vulnerability. -he presence of such attitudes lead to a selective approach in social interactions by the principle of us$them !hich means bias and lac" of trust in relation to everything that comes from other ethnic groups and developing the need for ,compacting ran"s, !hich one s o!n ethnic group is seen as a reference frame!or" for personal identification. Mar"eting perspective, consumer ethnocentrism is the tendency to give priority in purchasing domestic products over imported. .thnocentric consumers believe that in this !ay they promote the economic development of their country and thus contribute not only economic but also the general social and political prosperity. %t is the tendency of the population of a society to purchase domestic products, and it sho!s !hat the consumer behavior is morally acceptable in a given society 'Shimpo Sharma, )*/01 )22+, or the reverse !hat behavior is unpatriotic '3lein, 42241 567+. 8o!ever, it should be noted that the moral attitudes are relative, that they ma"e sense only !hen they are brought in a certain conte&t. Opening of a society means accepting e&ternal influence through various channels. .conomic opening involves the penetration of mar"et competition. -he problem is that most of our companies are not yet ready to adapt to mar"et conditions and the competitive struggle. Of course there are those small numbers, mostly ne!$formed companies that have already embar"ed on the competition. %t is therefore understandable that there is public interest to recognize the limits of consumer ethnocentrism in our region because it is possible to prepare a long term strategy for mar"et penetration based on these findings, not only for individual companies but entire national economy9 it is also important for those !ho !ant to sold their o!n goods sold at our mar"et. -here are many reasons !hy ethnocentrism effect on consumer behavior. :onditions that affect the strength and intensity of its action can not be generalized. %t is a large number of factors that may be the result of historical and cultural specificity but also the global economic situation, level of economic development and the current economic situation, the dominant value system, the degree of openness of society and individuals to e&ternal influences.

2. RESEARCH OF CONSUMER ETHNOCENTRISM

1

-his paper has done under the pro;ect <-radition, Modernization and =ational %dentity in Serbia and in the Bal"ans in process of .uropean integration ')0*206+ !hich is implemented by the :entre for Sociological >esearch, Faculty of ?hilosophy in =i@, and funded by the Ministry of .ducation and Science of >epublic of Serbia.

%t is evident that different segments of the population differ in the e&pression of consumer ethnocentricity. Areater propensity to purchase domestic products sho! senior, those !ith lo!er education, pensioners, unemployed, less traveling 'abroad+, generally those !ith lo!er incomes. On the other hand are not ethnocentric those !ho are younger, better educated and !ith higher income and higher probability of being employed, !ho more travel abroad and have positive attitudes to!ards other nations. -hey are characterized by better assessing imported products than domestic, and that they are better informed about brands and their origin 'Bel;"ovic, 422*1 )22+. -o thin" about consumer ethnocentrism, it should be noted that the concept of domestic consumers is e&tremely !ide so that !e included a narro! segment of the consumer body in the study, i.e. youth specifically urban population of students of management. -his segment of the consumer bodies have chosen considering that they are future business leaders, people !ho !ill be available for several years in positions of business manager, i.e. those !ho !ill have to ma"e important economic decisions. 8ence, it is important to "no! !hat their position is in the determination of the domestic and imported products. -he study included a sample of 64C respondents. De used the internationally recognized :.-scale developed by Shimp and Sharma 'Shimp Sharma, )*/0+. :.- scale is based on seventeen allegations of different aspects of purchasing domestic versus foreign products. :ompliance !ith the claims of the responses is recorded from )$0 !here ) means complete re;ection of ethnocentrism and 0 means its full acceptance. -he values of consistent !ith a given scale are in the range of )0$))* !ith the result )0 !hat represents the theoretical minimum value of the absolute non$ethnocentric consumers and ))* !hat represents the theoretical ma&imum value of absolute ethnocentric consumers. %t !ill be applied factor analysis in the paper to determine !hat dominant factors ma"e consumer ethnocentrism in our sample. Table 1: %tem Statistics Mean ). Serbian people should al!ays buy Serbian$made products instead of imports. 4. Only those products that are unavailable in Serbia should be imported. 5. Buy Serbian$made products. 3eep Serbia !or"ing. 6. Serbian products, first, last, and foremost. C. ?urchasing foreign$made products is un$Serbian. 7. %t is not right to purchase foreign products, because it puts the Serbian people out of ;obs. 0. F real Serbian should al!ays buy Serbian$made products. /. De should purchase products manufactured in Serbia instead of letting other countries get rich off us. *. %t is al!ays best to purchase Serbian products. )2. -here should be very little trading or purchasing of goods from other countries unless out of necessity. )). Serbian people should not buy foreign products, because this hurts Serbian business and causes unemployment. )4. :urbs should be put on all imports. )5. %t may cost me in the long$run but % prefer to support Serbian products. )6. Foreigners should not be allo!ed to put their products on our mar"ets. )C. Foreign products should be ta&ed heavily to reduce their entry into Serbia. )7. De should buy from foreign countries only those products that !e cannot obtain !ithin our o!n country. )0. Serbian consumers !ho purchase products made in other countries are responsible for putting their fello! Serbians out of !or". 6,2C 6,7/ C,CC 5,*6 ),*7 5,)4 4,7* 6,)* 5,4/ 4,** 5,)* 6,5/ 5,*4 4,56 5,)0 6,CC 4,C) Std. Eevia tion ),720 ),05) ),472 ),727 ),)/4 ),672 ),604 ),7)/ ),CCC ),C76 ),574 ),700 ),C)) ),40) ),C67 ),754 ),602 = 64C 64C 64C 64C 64C 64C 64C 64C 64C 64C 64C 64C 64C 64C 64C 64C 64C

-he total value of the scale is 72.C) and the mean value of the !hole scale is 5.C7. -his result is !ithin the limits of previous studies in !hich the recorded value of the scale !as 74.7 '422C+ and C0.2 '422/.+ 'Bel;"ovi, 422*1 )22+. %n a study from 42)2, the value of the scale !as 75.5C and the mean value of the scale !as 5.04 'Marin"ovi, Stani@i and 3osti, 42))1 C5+. -he data sho!s that our respondents e&press moderate consumer ethnocentrism. -here is an evident tendency of its slight increase, !hich can be e&plained by the economic crisis in recent years but it may be the result of campaigns to provide subsidized loans to purchase some local products. Bie!ed individually by variables from the scale, association of purchasing domestic product and employment e&presses the highest acceptance of the variables. -here is the claim,Buy Serbian$made products. 3eep Serbia !or"ing, in the first place !ith the mean score of C.CC. -his claim !as also first$ran"ed in previous studies 'Bel;"ovi, 422*1 )22+. -his is the only claim in our

sample !ith a high grade C and up, in the previous study it !as the only claim !ith an average grade above 6.C. 8igh grade mean above 6.C have a claim ,Only those products that are unavailable in Serbia should be imported, '6.7/+ and ,De should buy from foreign countries only those products that !e cannot obtain !ithin our o!n country, '6.CC +. Similar trends !ere noticed in some previous studies, !hich e&presses the belief that it is necessary to pursue the policy of import regulation to be based on regulation of Guantities and types of imported products and generally to reduce imports and import of those products that !e can not supply in our o!n country or at least not in sufficient Guantity. :laims given for the opposition to the ban on the import or purchase foreign goods as !ell as attitudes about buying local products only are at the bottom of the list of acceptance. %t is particularly re;ected the claim, ?urchasing foreign$made products is un$Serbian, 'Mean ).*7+ but the last ran"ing claim in previous research !as the vie! that foreigners should be completely forbidden to sell their products on our mar"ets '(ovreta, 42))+. Table 2: >otated :omponent Matri& ) :omponent 4 5 $,)75 ,)C* ,)*2 $,)52 ,270 ,C70 ,2*) ,566 ,25) ,7)0 ,7*) ,46) $,205 ,)C) ,2)/ ,57* ,)5/ 6 ,2C5 $,24) $,27* ,277 $,)*C $,)5C $,2*) $,2)7 ,)64 ,4/2 ,)5C ,024 ,5** ,5/) ,C07 ,552 ,425

). Serbian people should al!ays buy Serbian$made ,050 ,457 products instead of imports. 4. Only those products that are unavailable in Serbia ,776 $,2C4 should be imported. 5. Buy Serbian$made products. 3eep Serbia !or"ing. ,040 ,2)7 6. Serbian products, first, last, and foremost. ,7C5 ,5/7 C. ?urchasing foreign$made products is un$Serbian. ,46/ ,05/ 7. %t is not right to purchase foreign products, because ,4/4 ,6C* it puts the Serbian people out of ;obs. 0. F real Serbian should al!ays buy Serbian$made ,647 ,726 products. /. De should purchase products manufactured in ,C65 ,570 Serbia instead of letting other countries get rich off us. *. %t is al!ays best to purchase Serbian products. ,C24 ,50/ )2. -here should be very little trading or purchasing of ,452 ,)5/ goods from other countries unless out of necessity. )). Serbian people should not buy foreign products, because this hurts Serbian business and causes ,)C/ ,5** unemployment. )4. :urbs should be put on all imports. ,)/C ,27C )5. %t may cost me in the long$run but % prefer to ,C04 ,456 support Serbian products. )6. Foreigners should not be allo!ed to put their ,)75 ,762 products on our mar"ets. )C. Foreign products should be ta&ed heavily to ,42) ,6/) reduce their entry into Serbia. )7. De should buy from foreign countries only those products that !e cannot obtain !ithin our o!n ,C62 $,252 country. )0. Serbian consumers !ho purchase products made in other countries are responsible for putting their ,)2/ ,025 fello! Serbians out of !or". .&traction Method1 ?rincipal :omponent Fnalysis. >otation Method1 Huartima& !ith 3aiser =ormalization.

De determine presence of four factors !hich the consumer ethnocentrism consists of by Factorial analysis 'using Huartima& rotation+ !hich cover C0.447I of variance. Table 3: Factors factor ). :onsumer patriotism 4. ?olitically motivated consumer ethnocentrism 5. .thics ethnocentrism 6. >adical ethnocentrism I of Bariance 56,*C6 /,020 0,5C0 7,42/ :umulative I 56,*C6 65,77) C),2)* C0,447

-he first factor is called consumer patriotism. %t covers 56.*C6I of the total variance and it is a real and positive ethnocentrism. -he essence of this factor lies in the fact that, !henever possible, !e should buy local$made products in order to Serbian citizens !ere employed and the country prospered. -his factor is defined by principal claims that it is good to buy local products. -he claim ,Serbian people should al!ays buy Serbian$made products instead of imported, has the largest factorial saturation '2.050+ and it !as follo!ed by the statement that ,Buy Serbian$made products. 3eep Serbia !or"ing ,'2.040+. Fnother factor !e have called a politically motivated consumer ethnocentrism. %t is a negative sharper dimension of consumer ethnocentrism. -he claim ,?urchasing foreign$made products is un$Serbian, has the largest factorial saturation '2.05/+. %t !as follo!ed by the statement that ,Serbian consumers !ho purchase products made in other countries are responsible for putting their fello! Serbians out of !or" , '2.025+. -he re;ection of buying foreign products because this is not the ,national interest, is here an ideology based on consumer ethnocentrism. -he third factor !e have called ethics ethnocentrism. %t is a principled ethnocentrism, !hich is clear from the claim !ith the highest saturation factor ,Serbian people should not buy foreign products, because this hurts Serbian business and causes unemployment, '2.7*)+. -he essence of this factor lies in the fact that imported products do not need to buy because it is harmful to our economy, and domestic products should be bought for the common good because it is the only possible !ay to maintain economic stability. -he last factor is called the radical ethnocentrism. -his is an e&clusive and &enophobic ethnocentrism !hich can lead to economic isolationism. ?ractically, it is the economic chauvinism as an e&treme form of ethnocentrism if it is consistently poured into practice. %t is "no!n for its e&treme refusing import products come to our mar"et in general. -he claim ,:urbs should be put on all imports, has the largest factorial saturation '2.024+ and it !as follo!ed by the statement ,Foreign products should be ta&ed heavily to reduce their entry into Serbia, '2.C07+.

3. CONCLUSIONS
?revious studies of value orientations have found that authoritarianism, dogmatism, ethnocentrism, Machiavellianism and conservatism are interrelated phenomena 'Schramm, 42271 42)9 .ysenc", Dilson, )*0/+ and they build a receptive personality to political and other manipulation in their mutual interacting. -he first point at !hich the manipulation sets is the insistence on the importance of national identity. >esearch has sho!n that national identity is ;ust appearing as one of the most important drivers of consumer ethnocentrism. -ranslated to the sphere of economic relations this !ould mean that national identity is operationalized by ,patriotic consumer behavior,, i.e. buying domestic products 'Bida and Emitrovi, 422/1 557+. :onsumer ethnocentrism is often highly correlated !ith the campaigns of national economic and political entities to buy domestic products in order to achieve economic and social stability i.e. to avoid reducing economic activity and employment. On the one hand, consumer ethnocentrism, from the standpoint of national economy, may be considered as desirable at the time of reduced economic activity, particularly in countries !ith lo! e&ports and high imports. %n this conte&t, emphasizing the ethnocentric behavior ma"es sense considering that demand for domestic products enables maintaining economic activity. 'Aranzin and Olsen, )**/1 5*+. On the other hand, it is possible that imported products are better than domestic. %n this case, vie!ed from the perspective of consumer, ethnocentrism is pointless considering that the consumer does not get the desired Guality for the current price. %n the case of a relatively stable economic relations consumer ethnocentrism appears as a factor that suppresses effects of the mar"et la!s, !hich see"s to balance price and Guality through the free competition. Moderate ethnocentrism established in this study is generally positive phenomenon. On the one hand, domestic producers of consumer goods are protected and, on the other hand it, gives a positive signal to foreign producers that our mar"et is open to imports and ready to compete. :apital and mar"ets do not "no! borders in the global economy. -he penetration of foreign capital and foreign goods on the domestic mar"et may lead to healthy competition and encourage the fight for Guality, lo! cost production and a competitive, lo!, price. Of course, the fear of uncertainty that brings ne! opposes this. (ong$term trends are announcing the victory of global over local. -his means that !e should not oppose the arrival trends of foreign capital and foreign goods, but that their arrival should be used to enhance the Guality and mar"et competitiveness of its products. :onsumer ethnocentrism ma"es sense in periods of crisis and

creating ne! mar"et conditions. %n stable times, it can have negative effects, especially if the centers of social and especially political po!er insist on it. ?olitical campaigns for the purchase of domestic goods can cause resistance of foreign producers and their countries !hich may render the counter$measures on the basis of reciprocity. Of course, !e should al!ays "eep in mind that the foreign companies and brands can become a national if in our region launch e&port$oriented production. -he issue of the e&tent and modalities of the consumer ethnocentrism acceptance is a thing of value positioning bet!een conservatism and liberalism. 8igher ethnocentrism involves higher conservatism and more isolation of the domestic mar"et for the foreign products but also it means a higher closeness of foreign mar"ets for our products. For a society li"e ours, !hich has not yet completed the transition process, turning to consumer ethnocentrism !ould mean a slo!do!n in economic, technical and technological modernization of society and the slo!do!n of connecting !ith the !orld and involvement in .uropean integration. On the other hand, !e should not allo! our mar"et is flooded !ith large Guantities of goods that !e produce too, because it !ould represent an attac" on our production. Aiven the research findings, it can be concluded that the tested population has a reasonable attitude to!ards consumer ethnocentrism and that vie!ed it largely in the conte&t of preserving the functionality of domestic production rather than in the conte&t of national isolation. -his finding seems encouraging, considering that these are people !ho !ill in the near future enter into active social life and start as business leaders to ta"e responsibility for economic decisions that should be a matter of rational choice rather than the emotional and value commitment.

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