Exploring the impact of ethnocentrism on country and brand image: the case of Peugeot

Abstract

Purpose – It is important to determine the ethnocentric tendencies of Turkish consumers and to reveal the effects of these tendencies on a foreign country and its brand. The aim of this paper is to explore the impact of ethnocentric tendencies of individuals trained in Turkish culture affect the image of a foreign country and its products. For this purpose, research has been carried out on the Peugeot brand of France origin, which is one of the best-selling automobile brands in Turkey. Methodology - Data was collected from 400 people by face to face in the city center of Eskisehir. As the research was conducted only in one city, it does not cover all Turkish consumers. In terms of measurement, country image scale, country product image scale and the CETSCALE were used. In this study Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), t test and ANOVA were performed. Findings- The ethnocentric tendency of Turkish consumers and other relationships were tested with the hypotheses H1, H2, H3a, H3b, H4, H5a, H5b, H6a and H6b. According to the findings, H1, H4, H5b, H6a, H6b were supported but, H2, H3a, H3b and H5a were not supported. Conclusion- The ethnocentric tendency of customers affects only the image of the country of origin, in this case, it negatively affects the image of France. However, it doesn’t affect the general image of French products and brand image statistically. Also, general image of country products and France’s image positively and significantly affects brand image.