Consumer ethnocentrism in the German market

Abstract

Purpose

International marketing researchers have long been concerned with determining whether consumers are predisposed towards a preference for domestic products, as opposed to foreign products. The purpose of this paper is to assess such a domestic‐country bias (DCB) in the German market.

Design/methodology/approach

This study empirically investigates DCB across six countries and 14 product categories in the Germany market. By so doing, it replicates an earlier study conducted in the UK. Ordered logit analysis was employed as well as multidimensional unfolding to present results.

Findings

As in the study conducted in the UK, there is in general a strong DCB in the German market. However, it differs largely across the 14 product categories. Results indicate that consumer preference rankings can best be explained by a combination of demographic variables and country‐of‐origin effects.

Practical implications

Results indicate that domestic firms in Germany can well rely on a safeguarding effect when marketing their products. At the same time, managers from foreign countries cannot rely on consumer ethnocentrism as a reliable indicator of the inclination of consumers to downgrade their products.

Originality/value

This study confirms some findings from the UK. However, results from Germany indicate that at least economic competitiveness of the country‐of‐origin plays a role in determining respondents' judgments. This study underlines the value of replication studies in cross‐cultural settings in particular.

Citation

Evanschitzky, H., v. Wangenheim, F., Woisetschläger, D. and Blut, M. (2008), "Consumer ethnocentrism in the German market", International Marketing Review, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 7-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/02651330810851863