Consumer Ethnocentrism and Its Antecedents: An Exploratory Study of Consumers in India

Abstract

With dismantling of trade barriers as part of liberalisation and globalisation processes initiated during the last two decades, it is no longer a daunting task for the foreign firms to make an entry into international markets. However, what still continues to remain a major challenge is gaining consumer acceptance of foreign products. International marketing literature posits consumer ethnocentrism as a key factor affecting adversely consumer evaluation and purchase of foreign products. Present study is an attempt to investigate consumer ethnocentrism and its antecedents in the Indian context. Though the surveyed consumers in overall terms are found to be only moderately ethnocentric, significant differences are discernible in their ethnocentric tendency across socio-psychological and demographic characteristics. Based on study findings, the paper spells out strategy implications to the international marketers in gaining acceptance of their products among different consumer segments and provides directions for future researches.