Consumer Ethnocentrism, National Identity, and Consumer Cosmopolitanism as Drivers of Consumer Behavior: A Social Identity Theory Perspective

Author(s)
Katharina Zeugner-Roth, Vesna Zabkar, Adamantios Diamantopoulos
Abstract

Consumers' preferences for domestic over imported products have been investigated in various isolated studies, but never in a single model incorporating several in-group and out-group consumer orientations at the same time. Building on social identity theory, this study develops and tests—in two countries—a conceptual model that assesses the relative influence of consumer ethnocentrism, national identity, and consumer cosmopolitanism on consumers' product judgments and willingness to buy domestic and foreign products. Furthermore, the study develops an empirically based typology of consumer segments using these sociopsychological traits and subsequently profiles them on consumption-relevant variables. The findings reveal several undiscovered patterns regarding the interplay of consumer ethnocentrism, national identity, and consumer cosmopolitanism as drivers of consumer behavior and offer managerial guidance on their relevance as segmentation variables.

Organisation(s)
Department of Accounting, Innovation and Strategy
External organisation(s)
Vlerick Business School, Universität Bern, University of Ljubljana
Journal
Journal of International Marketing
Volume
23
Pages
25-54
No. of pages
30
ISSN
1069-031X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1509/jim.14.0038
Publication date
2015
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
502052 Business administration
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Marketing, Business and International Management
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/e9874de2-e30e-4704-945b-57174420dca0