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Measurement of Consumer Ethnocentrism Social Oass ; - 17.7^ Zdf, p <• .00 Ethnocentrics r e f l c t t lower social
class attammtnt ttian ncn-^fhna-
centnca.
Operationalizing consumer ethnocentrism was complicated by
the absence of a suitable measurement scale. The famous F
and E scales constructed by Adorno et al. (1950) to measure
class attainment. In particular, consumer ethnocentrics
the general construct of ethnocentrism and related con-
reflect significantly lower education, income, and social
structs were considered inappropriate for the present re-
class levels. The social class finding is based on analysis
search because of excessive generality and datedness. More
of only the three major classes In Hollingshead's (1949)
recent ethnocentrism scales have been developed, but these
classification, due to the paucity of respondents classified
are domain specific and too specialized for the present
as upper or lower class. Analysis of the three mass classes
undertaking (cf. Chang and Ritter 1976; Warr, Faust, and
indicates an identical proportion, 43 percent, of ethnocen-
Harrison 1967). Failure to locate an acceptable ethnocen-
trics and non-ethnocentrics in the middle class. However,
tricity scale necessitated a specialized measure. An open-
31 percent of the ethnocentrics are upper middle class and
ended question was designed: "Please describe your views
26 percent lower middle class, whereas the proportions for
of whether it is right and appropriate for American con-
non-ethnocentrics are 44 and 13 percent, respectively.
sumers to purchase products that are manufactured in foreign
countries." The question was posed in a projective fashion
Differences Between Ethnocentrics and Non-Ethnocentrics
("American consumers") and was directed at respondents' per-
Toward Foreign Gars
ceptions of the morality of purchasing foreign-made products
("is it right and appropriate?"). The choice of an open-
A series of tests examined the general hypothesis that con-
ended question is justified, as the issue of consumer ethno-
sumer ethnocentrics are fundamentally different than non-
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The first findings in Table 2 reveal that consumer ethno- Friends and
centrics' perceptions toward foreign automobiles were uni- neighbors: -.40 .94 .05 .83 -5.69 .000
formly less favorable—they were significantly more likely Spouse: .05 1.64 .35 1.39 -2.15 .032
to agree that owning a foreign car would require high car Family other
payments (the only negative consequence) but significantly than spouse: -.43 1.25 -.01 1.16 -3.88 .000
less likely to acknowledge all but one (status) of the Work associates: -.78 1.07 -.41 1.04 -3.82 .000
eight possible positive consequences attendant with foreign
car ownership. Warshaw Variables
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Ihe findings in Table 3 reveal that social class was in- An obvious and legitimate concern regarding this study is
significant in every analysis. Sex had significant effects the issue of measurement quality: Was the measure used
on the cognitive structure (i;b.e.) variable, with males (a single open-ended question) too crude, and was consumer
possessing more favorable structures. Age was statistically ethnocentrism in fact measured? It is undeniable in re-
significant for only the Aact variable; younger consumers sponse to the first issue that a single open-ended question
had more favorable attitudes. Finally, the ethnocentrism lacks precision, is less desirable than a multi-item scale,
variable attained statistical significance In all three and that a psycbometrically-sound scale to measure consumer
analyses; ethnocentric consumers were uniformly less ethnocentrism would unquestionably be preferable. However,
favorably disposed toward foreign cars. the fact remains that such a scale is unavailable. It is
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Additional work obviously is needed before it can be con- Gaedeke, Ralph (1973), "Consumer Attitudes Toward 'Made In'
cluded with assurance that consumer ethnocentrism is a use- Developing Countries," Journal of Retailing, 49 (Summer),
ful concept. A valid scale adhering to accepted psycho- 13-24.
metric procedures is a needed next step. Such a scale
would transform consumer ethnocentrism from a dichotomous Hage, Jerald (1972), Techniques and Problems of Theory Con-
or "specific nonvariable," as operationalized in this re- struction in Sociology, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
search, to a continuous or "general variable." The latter
is always superior due to greater discriminatory ability Holbrook, Morris B. (1978), "Beyond Attitude Structure:
and because it permits more powerful statistical analysis Toward the Informational Determinants of Attitude," Journal
(Hage 1972). of Marketing Research, 15 (November), 545-56.
Although incidental to the present paper, it may be of in- Hollingshead, August B. (1949), Elmtown's Youth: The Impact
terest to note that efforts have recently been undertaken of Social Class on Adolescents, New York: John Wiley &
to construct a psychometrically-sound scale to measure con- Sons, Inc.
sumer ethnocentrism and related phenomena. The proposed
Consumer Orientation toward Foreign Products Scale is con- Jacoby, Jacob (1978), "Consumer Research: A State of the
ceptualized as a multifaceted construct that includes cog- Art Review," Journal of Marketing, 42 (April), 87-96.
nitive, affective, and normative elements. The construct's
domain spans consumers' object-based beliefs and attitudes Levine, Robert A. and Donald T. Campbell (1972), Ethnocen-
(i.e., perceptions of foreign product quality, value, etc.), trism: Theories of Conflict, Ethnic Attitudes, and Group
normative-based beliefs and attitudes (i.e., perceptions of Behavior, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
whether one should or should not purchase foreign-made pro-
ducts) , and personalistic-based considerations centering
Markin, Rom J. (197A), Consumer Behavior: A Cognitive
on consumers' personal interests and welfare.
Orientation, New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.
The proposed scale and the study presented herein are based Mazis, Michael B. and Olli T. Ahtola (1975), "A Comparison
on the belief that this global form of consumer choice be- of Four Multi-Attribute Models in the Prediction of Con-
havior (domestic versus foreign products) has strategic sumer Attitudes," Journal of Consumer Research, 2 (June),
implications. In terms of private policy, knowledge of the 38-52. ~
number and identifying characteristics of consumer ethno-
centrics would be useful in formulating market segmentation
Miniard, Paul W. and Joel B. Cohen (1979), "Isolating
and promotional strategies. For example, knowing the mag-
Attitudinal and Normative Influences in Behavioral Inten-
nitude of ethnocentric attitudes within a targeted market
tions Models," Journal of Marketing Research, 16 (February),
segment would indicate whether appeals to patriotism are
102-110. ~ ~ ~
appropriate. Moreover, the application of a psychometri-
cally-sound scale in companies' periodic consumer research
studies would enable a determination of the role played by (1981), "An Examination of the Fishbein-Ajzen
ethnocentric attitudes in influencing product choice be- Behavioral Intentions Model's Concepts and Measures,"
havior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 17, 309-339.
Ajzen, Icek and Martin Fishbein (1980), Understanding Atti- (1967), "Attitude Changes Toward Foreign Pro-
tudes and Predicting Social Behavior, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: ducts ," JoircnaJ^_of_^larketl^ig_Research, 4 (November), 385-
Prentice-Hall, Inc. 87.
Anderson, W.T. and William H. Cunningham (1972), "Gauging Schooler, Robert D. (1971), "Bias Phenomena Attendant to the
Foreign Product Promotion," Journal of Advertising Research, Marketing of Foreign Goods in the U.S.," Journal of Inter-
12 (February), 29-34. national Business Studies, 2 (Spring), 71-80.
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