Consumer Behavior Towards Foreign Versus Local Products and Brands: Future Research Directions

Abstract

This paper reviews five theories explicative of consumer predispositions towards foreign or local products and brands: social identity theory, personal identity theory, cultural identity theory, system justification theory, and categorical cognitive theory. This paper also identifies research questions and adjoining disciplines to propose future directions of research; these directions follow the research stream of consumer culture theory. Moreover, the paper proposes further studies of recent trends in the fourth industrial revolution and the (post-) COVID-19 pandemic setting. These research avenues are particularly noteworthy in the context of developing countries. They may lead to studies of each theory that are sharper, deeper, and more focused and allow the application of adjoining disciplines into consumer behavior studies, especially the consumer culture theory stream.

Anállisis del comportamiento de consumo de productos locales en contextos regionales y turísticos a través de modelos basados en la teoría del comportamiento planificado: el caso del vino canario

“…Sin embargo, existe una brecha de investigación no resuelta en la literatura en lo que respecta a la integración de diversas perspectivas explicativas del consumo de productos locales. Durante la pandemia de COVID-19, ha ido surgiendo una amplia corriente de investigación académica sobre el consumo de productos locales (Brumă et al, 2021;Butu et al, 2020;Castellini et al, 2021;Nemes et al, 2021;Palau-Saumell et al, 2021;Petetin, 2020;Skalkos et al, 2021;Sulhaini, 2021;Zhang et al, 2022). Resulta difícil encontrar estudios que hayan considerado los efectos del contexto, como puede ser la situación de dicha pandemia en el comportamiento de consumo de productos agroalimentarios locales.…”

Are Local Product Consumption Habits Influenced by Extreme Situations? A Case Study of Wine During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…However, the literature lacks different explanatory perspectives on 1 University of La Laguna, Spain the consumption of local products. During the COVID-19 pandemic, an academic research trend emerged looking into the consumption of local products (Butu et al, 2020;Castellini et al, 2021;Nemes et al, 2021;Palau-Saumell et al, 2021;Petetin, 2020;Skalkos et al, 2021;Sulhaini, 2021;Zhang et al, 2022), but it is difficult to find studies that have considered the effects of context, such as that of the pandemic, on local product consumption behavior.…”