CONSUMER ETHNOCENTRISM: PROMOTOR OR STUMBLING BLOCK TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF BOSNIA AND HERCEGOVINA

Abstract

In recent times, the concept of consumer ethnocentrism has increasingly occupied the attention of marketing experts and researchers in the field of consumer behaviour. In simple terms, consumer ethnocentrism is a kind of aversion that consumers feel towards all imported products and services. There is a strong link between the development and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises and the demand for domestic products on the one hand, and the increase of consumer ethnocentrism on the other hand, resulting in reduced trade deficit, GDP growth, lower unemployment, as well as progress of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina towards the European Union. One of the main goals of this study has been to determine whether consumer ethnocentrism is present as a feature of consumer attitudes, if it exists to what extent it influences the decision to buy, and what are its implications on the development of the economy. The uniqueness and specificity of the conducted empirical research is reflected in the fact that consumer ethnocentrism has not been investigated nor studied as a factor of economic development of the country, and there are no previous studies that link these two concepts i.e. consumer ethnocentrism and economic development.