Contingency and contextual issues of ethnocentrism‐pitched advertisements

Abstract

This study examines whether consumers’ receptivity to ethnocentrism‐pitched advertisements differs by country and product category and, if so, why. The two countries surveyed are Australia and India. Australia was chosen as a country where consumers should perceive a high level of foreign threat because it is quite open to foreign products and has a small economy and population. India was chosen as a country where consumers should perceive a low level of foreign threat because it is still tightly closed to foreign products. Findings show that the effectiveness of ethnocentrism‐pitched advertisements differs significantly not only by consumers’ perceptions of foreign threat, but also by consumers’ quality evaluations about domestic products, compared to corresponding foreign ones. Implications for international marketers and domestic manufacturers are discussed.