Consumer Ethnocentrism

Abstract

The concept of consumer ethnocentrism describes consumers’ feelings, attitudes, and behavior towards domestic products as subjects of pride and identity. As one of the most researched phenomena in the international marketing literature, consumer ethnocentrism is often considered an important informal barrier for international trade. Considering the fact that consumer ethnocentrism is becoming relevant for international marketing practice, the main goal of this chapter is to provide better understanding of this concept based on the analysis of consumer ethnocentrism studies. Implications of empirical studies mostly depend on the capability and range of generalization of their results. Analysis in this chapter is focused on comparability issues as a basic starting point for findings generalization and marketing implication improvements. The purpose of the analysis is to derive the most important guidelines for comprehensive consumer-centric strategies based on the studies of consumer ethnocentrism.