Ethnocentrism and country of origin effects among immigrant consumers

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how country of origin and consumer ethnocentrism pertain to first-generation immigrants, who often identify with two or more countries. Design/methodology/approach – After a pretest to validate the modified consumer ethnocentrism scale, the main study used a series of scenario-based experiments and compiled data from 419 members of four distinct first-generation immigrant communities. Findings – Non-ethnocentric immigrants favor the products of economically advanced countries. Ethnocentric immigrants favor the products of their home and host countries relative to foreign products, regardless of the economic standing of foreign countries. When home and host countries represent significantly different degrees of economic advancement, both ethnocentric and non-ethnocentric immigrants favor the products of the more advanced country. Research limitations/implications – Apart from the individual effects of country of origin and consumer ethnocentrism, the interplay between the two effects can yield important insights. There are other ways to operationalize multicultural identity beyond studying first-generation immigrants. Researchers should go beyond nationality and incorporate other forces of cultural diversity. Practical implications – For both ethnocentric and non-ethnocentric immigrants, the product that benefits from both effects is the most preferred, and the product that benefits from neither of the two effects is the least preferred. Where the product benefits from one but not the other effect, the two effects hold roughly equal power for ethnocentric consumers, but COO dominates CE for non-ethnocentric consumers. Originality/value – The paper presents a critical evaluation and extension of the respective literatures investigating familiar constructs in multicultural settings.