Regional ethnocentrism: Antecedents, consequences, and moderating effects

Abstract

This study presents the construct of consumer regional ethnocentrism, which relates to consumer opinions over whether or not it is acceptable and ethical to purchase products from other regions. Although the majority of previous studies consider the analysis of consumer ethnocentrism as an international marketing subject affecting the purchase of domestic and foreign products, we consider it necessary to discuss this influential factor in an inter-regional context. Based on the social identity theory, we put forward an antecedents and consequences of regional ethnocentrism model and we also analyze the effect of three moderating variables on some of the relationships contained in the model.Our results, obtained from a representative sample of 138 consumers from Galicia (Spain), support the aforementioned model and show that consumer ethnocentrism is an important factor regarding the intention to purchase not only foreign products but also non-regional products. Other studies should verify the reliability of the Consumer Ethnocentric Tendencies Scale (CETSCALE) in other regional contexts. Companies operating within different regional contexts need to be made aware that consumers with greater ethnocentric tendencies will be more likely to buy their products if they know that they have been produced in their own region or by a regional company. This exploratory paper contributes to existing literature as it is the first of its kind to analyze the construct of consumer ethnocentrism at a regional level, using a representative population sample.