Nigerian Shoppers/Consumers Preferences for Foreign and Domestic Products: Case Study of Clothes and Shoes

Abstract

Based on extant literature, studies have shown that consumers adjust their attitudes toward a product according to its country-of-origin. This could be local home country bias or foreign country bias depending on individual orientation. The study compares Nigerian shoppers/consumer preferences for foreign and domestic produced clothes and shoes. The study focus on general product attributes, marketing activities and buying habits as preference indicators. The study also uses survey data of traders and shoppers to explain the issue. The research was conducted in Lagos and the samples selected include 600 respondents of both youth and adult between the ages of 16-60 years. The data were collected based on convenience sample from shoppers and traders in Lagos shopping malls and also Balogun/Tinubu market in Lagos Island-the most popular market for sales of clothes and shoes in Lagos. Collected data for the research was through questionnaire distribution to both youth and adults. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, percentages and t-test analysis. The findings indicated that Nigerian shoppers/consumers show more positive preference to foreign made clothes and shoes than to made in Nigeria, and that they are willing to pay higher price for foreign made clothes and shoes because they know that it is of a superior quality than made in Nigeria ones. Results also suggest that country of manufacture and product quality strongly influence consumer decision of purchasing foreign available clothes and shoes. The study provides insights with respect to Nigerian’s preference of foreign made clothes and shoes to locally-made ones.