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A Cross-Cultural Analysis of
Ethnocentrism in China, India,
and Taiwan
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Journal of International
Consumer Marketing
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A Cross-Cultural Analysis of
Ethnocentrism in China, India,
and Taiwan
a b c
Arun Pereira , Chin-Chun Hsu & Sumit Kundu
a
Department of Marketing, John Cook School
of Business, St. Louis University, 3674 Lindell
Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63108, USA
b
John Cook School of Business, St. Louis University,
3674 Lindell Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63108, USA
c
Department of International Business, John Cook
School of Business, St. Louis University, 3674 Lindell
Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63108, USA
To cite this article: Arun Pereira, Chin-Chun Hsu & Sumit Kundu (2002): A
Cross-Cultural Analysis of Ethnocentrism in China, India, and Taiwan, Journal of
International Consumer Marketing, 15:1, 77-90
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A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Ethnocentrism
in China, India, and Taiwan
Downloaded by [Indian School of Business] at 00:27 14 July 2011
Arun Pereira
Chin-Chun Hsu
Sumit Kundu
INTRODUCTION
LITERATURE REVIEW
Consumer Ethnocentrism
Since first introduced and applied by Sumner (1906), and Levinson (1950),
“ethnocentrism” has been defined in several different ways. Adorno, Frenkel-
Brunswik, Levinson and Sanford (1950) defined ethnocentrism as a tendency
in the individual to be “ethnically centered” and to be rigid in his or her accep-
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tance of the culturally “alike” and in his or her rejection to the culturally “un-
like.” Drever (1952) defined ethnocentrism as an “exaggerated tendency to
think the characteristics of one’s own group or race superior to those of other
groups or races.” LeVine and Campbell (1972) proposed that ethnocentrism
possessed a general connotation of provincialism or culture narrowness. Brislin
(1993) defined ethnocentrism as people viewing their own in-group as central,
as possessing proper standards of behavior, and as offering protection against
apparent threats from out-groups. In-groups are those groups with which the
individual identifies him of herself. Out-groups are those groups with which he
or she does not have a sense of belonging. Out-groups are considered as anti-
thetical to the in-groups. From the perspective of ethnocentrism, in-groups are
the recipient of uncritically supportive and positive attitudes and opinions,
while the out-groups are the targets of negative, and sometimes hostile, atti-
tudes and opinions.
The term “Consumer Ethnocentric Tendencies” was first applied by Shimp
and Sharma (1987) to represent the beliefs held by consumers regarding the
appropriateness and morality of purchasing foreign-made products. Consumer
ethnocentric tendencies play a significant role when products are perceived to
be unnecessary and when consumers believe that either their personal or na-
tional well-being is threatened by imports (Sharma, Shimp, and Shin 1995,
Shimp and Sharma 1987). Ethnocentric consumers view purchasing foreign
products as wrong because it hurts the domestic economy, causes a loss of
jobs, and is simply unpatriotic. For non-ethnocentric consumers, foreign prod-
ucts should be evaluated on their own merit, rather than based on where they
are produced (Shimp and Sharma 1987).
THE CETSCALE
products and also tend to perceive those products as lower in quality than do-
mestic products. However, as cautioned by Shimp and Sharma (1987):
Hui and Triandis (1985) also suggest that a key concern in extending theories
and their associated constructs to other countries is whether the instruments
designed to measure the relevant constructs are cross-nationally invariant.
Moreover, Parameswaran and Yaprak (1987) and Mullen (1995) identified a
lack of concern for measurement invariance in cross-national consumer re-
search. To answer this request and numerous calls for the cross-national vali-
dation of measures, Netemeyer, Durvasula, and Lichtenstein (1991) assessed
the nomological validity of the CETSCALE across four different westernized
countries (i.e., the United States, France, Japan, and Germany). Strong support
for the CETSCALE’s unidimensionality and internal consistency was found
across the four countries. Durvasula, Andrews, and Netemeyer (1997) tested
the cross-cultural reliability of CETSCALE and provide general support for its
validity across samples from two culturally distinct countries, the United
States and Russia.
As a next step, this study focuses on non-westernized countries by examin-
ing CETSCALE among the consumers in China, India, and Taiwan.
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
Dimensionality
nese respondents.
centric. They think about the effect of their behavior on society and feel re-
sponsible for others. In support of this, Sharma, Shimp, and Shin (1995) found
that consumer ethnocentrism is positively related to collectivist tendencies
among Korean consumers. India is sometimes described as a pluralistic soci-
ety, i.e., India has many different, interacting ethnic and religious groups
within it. Thus, the boundaries and distinctions between self and foreigners
may be more blurred in India than in say, the Chinese culture. In addition, the
India (IDV of India = 48) is a comparatively individualistic culture whereas
Chinese (IDV of Taiwan = 17) is comparatively collectivistic culture (Hofstede,
1980).
Thus, Indian consumers are likely to have comparatively lower ethno-
centric tendencies than Chinese consumers because Indian people are more
heterogeneous and individualistic than the Chinese. In other words, Chinese
should exhibit greater consumer ethnocentrism, as measured by CETSCALE.
H3a: People of Chinese culture (China and Taiwan) are more ethno-
centric than Indians.
Even though mainland China and Taiwan share the same Chinese culture,
there are substantial differences in the level of industrialization and the degree
of western influence among the two countries. While Taiwan has become rela-
tively advanced and can be considered an industrialized country, open to the
west and its culture, mainland China is still considered a developing nation,
largely closed to the western world. Huff and Alden (1998) point out that in
newly industrialized countries, consumers tend to be the strongly affected by
advertising and promotion. Thus, one can expect the people of Taiwan (in
comparison to the people of mainland China) to be exposed to the western
world and its culture, and affected by the advertising and promotion efforts of
western multinationals, producing an erosion of ethnocentric tendencies.
METHODOLOGY
Sampling
Sekaran (1983) indicated that the two major concerns to achieve sample
comparability are: (1) to select matched samples for homogeneity on the basis
of some set of characteristics of interest, and (2) to draw nationally representa-
tive samples. To enhance the homogeneity of the samples and to be consistent
with Shimp and Sharma (1987), Netemeyer, Durvasula, and Lichtenstein
(1991), and Durvasula, Andrews, and Netemeyer (1997), university students
served as the population of interest in China, India, and Taiwan. Using stu-
dents in all three countries ensured respondent homogeneity, an important
issue in cross-cultural research (Douglas and Craig 1983). To match the re-
spondents in terms of age and area of study in samples across countries, all stu-
dents from Taiwan, India, and China were university students studying business.
The sample for Taiwan consisted of 100 junior and senior accounting ma-
jors at a university in central Taiwan. The India sample consisted of 89 MBA
students enrolled at a university in North India. The sample for China con-
sisted of 109 senior students majoring in different fields of business at a uni-
versity in Beijing. Bentler and Chou (1987) indicate that in structural equation
modeling, a ratio of 5 subjects per variable is sufficient in the case of normal
and elliptical distributions and a ratio of at least 10 subjects per variable would
be sufficient for other distributions. In our study, the PRELIS software shows
clear evidence of normality for each of our three samples. Given that there are
18 variables in CETSCALE, we have 5.56 subjects per variable for Taiwan,
6.06 subjects per variable for China, and 4.94 (approximately 5) subjects per
variable from India.
Craig 1983, and Parameswaran and Yaprak 1987). Additionally, two other bi-
lingual professors (one from Taiwan and one from China) provided independ-
ent checks on the back-translation.
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RESULTS
Dimensionality
Table 2 provides the results for hypotheses 2a, 2b, and 2c, all of which tests
the internal consistency reliability of CETSCALE. Four statistics are utilized
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χ2null136 970.02 803.93 778.71 930.57 N/A N/A 2421.94 514.12 948.72 1283.25 1205.3
χ2119 210.98 312.92 281.45 284.06 376.61 311.72 439.20 271.27 333.55 338.54 591.93
χ2/d.f. 1.77 2.63 2.36 2.39 3.16 2.62 3.69 2.28 2.79 2.84 4.97
GFI N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.79 0.80 0.70 0.66 0.72 0.69 0.59
AGFI N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.73 0.75 0.62 0.56 0.64 0.60 0.47
CFI 0.89 0.71 0.75 0.79 N/A N/A 0.86 0.60 0.75 0.73 0.56
RMSR N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.05 0.11 0.087 0.08 0.13
85
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86
TABLE 2. Internal Consistency (LISREL Estimates)
U.S. France Japan West U.S. Canada U.S. Russia Taiwan India China
Germany
(N = 71) (N = 70) (N = 76) (N = 73) (N = 184) (N = 154) (N = 144) (N = 60) (N = 100) (N = 89) (N = 109)
Cronbach’s N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.89 0.92 0.88
Alpha
Composite 0.95 0.92 0.91 0.94 0.97 0.94 0.97 0.88 0.912 0.905 0.90
Reliability
Variance 0.55 0.43 0.41 0.49 N/A N/A 0.64 0.30 0.45 0.51 0.42
Extracted
Pereira, Hsu, and Kundu 87
across the three countries, ranging from a value of 0.88 for the China sample to
0.89 for the Taiwan sample and to 0.92 for the India sample.
Composite Reliability is a principle measure used in assessing the measure-
ment model and testing the internal consistency of the construct indicators.
The Composite Reliability (CR) and Variance Extracted (VE) for a latent con-
struct must be computed separately for each multiple indicator construct in the
model. Although the LISREL 8.30 and other programs, such as EQS or
AMOS, do not compute CR and VE automatically, all the information neces-
sary to compute both statistics is readily provided. The CR of a construct is cal-
culated as: CR = [(Σ standardized loading)2]/[(Σ standardized loading)2 + Σεj].
The standardized loadings are obtained directly from the LISREL output and εj
is the measurement error for each indicator (Fornell and Larker, 1981). Each
indicator measurement error is 1.0 (standardized loading)2 and can be ob-
tained from the theta-delta matrix in the LISREL output. The Composite Reli-
ability estimates are high for all the Taiwan (0.91), India (0.95), and China
(0.90) and are similar to reliability estimates reported by Shimp and Sharma
(1987), Netemeyer, Durvasula, and Lichtenstein (1991), Hadjimarcou, Hu,
and Bruning (1993), and Durvasula, Andrews, and Netemeyer (1997) in the
case of Westernized countries.
Variance Extracted is another measure of reliability. This measure can reflect
the overall amount of variance in all the items accounted for by CETSCALE,
the latent construct. Higher variance extracted values occur when the items are
truly representative of the CETSCALE. In this study, Variance Extracted mea-
sure is applied as a complementary measure to the Composite Reliability. The
VE of a construct is calculated as: VE = [Σ (standardized loading)2]/[Σ (stan-
dardized loading)2 + Σεj]. The VE measure is quite similar to the CR measure
but differs in that the standardized loadings are squared before summing them
(Fornell and Larker, 1981). It has been suggested that a level of 0.05 or greater
supports the internal consistency among items in a scale. The Variance Ex-
tracted estimate for the India sample (0.51) exceeds the advocated level.
Though the Variance Extracted estimates for both the Taiwan sample (0.45)
and the China sample (0.42) are a bit lower, they are greater than those seen in
previous studies, such as France (0.43), Japan (0.41), West Germany (0.49),
and Russia (0.30). Taken collectively, Cronbachs Alpha, Composite Reliabil-
ity, and Variance Extracted provide supports for the internal consistency and
support for H2a, H2b, and H2c.
88 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING
states that among the Chinese peoples, the consumers from mainland China
are more ethnocentric than those from Taiwan. Table 3 shows the results of the
ANOVA that was run to test these hypotheses. The results indicate that indeed
the Chinese are more ethnocentric than the Indians (mean for Taiwan and
China are 3.3 and 3.4 respectively, whereas the mean for India is 2.9). Further,
it is clear that the consumers from mainland China are more ethnocentric than
those from Taiwan. Thus hypotheses H3a and H3b are supported.
CONCLUSION
Economic integration through the formation of trade blocs is spreading to
all parts of the world, including Asia, as countries attempt to band together to
better compete in global trade. These developments present specific chal-
lenges to multinationals as they confront large markets that are not necessarily
“single” markets with regards to consumption patterns and consumer behav-
ior. As such, research is needed to examine the degree of similarity (or dissimi-
larity) of different peoples and cultures that make-up large trade blocs. This
study addresses this need by focusing on ethnocentrism in the countries of
China, India, and Taiwan. As such, this research complements the existing lit-
erature by focusing on non-westernized cultures and examines many of the hy-
potheses that have been tested only in the west. Results indicate that consistent
with studies done in the west, the CETSCALE has an unidimensional factor
structure when tested in China, India, and Taiwan. Also we see strong internal
consistency (an important measure of scale reliability) in these countries,
much like those established in the westernized countries. Further, this research
uses Hofstede’s (1976, 1980) “Country Individualism Index” to examine
China, India, and Taiwan on the individualistic-collectivistic continuum and
test hypotheses on the level of ethnocentrism among the peoples of China, In-
dia, and Taiwan. Results indicate that the people of Chinese culture (i.e., China
and Taiwan) are more ethnocentric than the Indians, and that people of main-
land China are more ethnocentric than the Taiwanese.
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