Reactionary Consumer Ethnocentrism in Urban China

Abstract

Chinese consumers enjoy a greater choice of domestic and imported products than ever before. Consumer choices are based on, among other things, consumer ethnocentrism. This is a tendency to reject or boycott imported products, and it has long been of interest to both scholars and practitioners. As regional and global economies have evolved, the antecedents underlying consumer ethnocentrism have also changed, as has the relevance of product country of origin in influencing consumer decisions. Based on the findings of a quantitative survey conducted among young urban Chinese, this paper explores the influence of the antecedent's patriotism, nationalism and internationalism. This demographic of the Chinese population represents a vast potential consumer market. Strong consumer ethnocentric tendencies, driven primarily by patriotism and in reaction to political threats to Chinese sovereignty or perceived lack of corporate social responsibility, threaten to depress sales of certain brands or products from particular countries. The research findings have both theoretical and practical implications. They contribute an up-to-date insight into the consumer ethnocentric tendencies of cosmopolitan young urban Chinese and point towards steps that international corporations should take to reduce consumer ethnocentric tendencies and enhance consumer empathy towards, and interest in, their products.

Islamic religiosity and consumer ethnocentrism in post-Arab Spring countries

“…Geopolitics is seen to be a very influential factor on consumption mass behaviour, especially in the aftermath of socio-political events or natural disasters (Iacobucci, 2019; Yao, 2017). Some events can raise sympathy towards national products, consequently intensifying the ethnocentric feeling; others may lead to “boycotting” campaigns due to animosity over some specific countries (Lee et al , 2017).…”