THE ROLE OF CONSUMER ETHNOCENTRISM AND COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN EFFECT ON PURCHASING DECISION: A RESEACRH AT BAHÇEŞEHİR UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Consumers can make purchasing decision according to country of origin while preferring for products, and have tendency to value their culture and economy above the others’. In this study, university students’ perceptions towards the role of consumer ethnocentrism and country of origin when making purchasing decision on different product categories were investigated. To measure consumer ethnocentrism, CETSCALE developed by Sharma and Shimp (1987), and to measure country of origin effect, Country of Origin Scale developed by Özmen (2004) was used. The research was conducted between April-May 2018 with 221 MBA (English) students at Bahçeşehir University Graduate School of Social Sciences. %46 of the participants had low-level and %43 had mid-level of ethnocentrism tendency. Tendency for purchasing domestic products and country of origin effect differentiated on behalf of participants with high-level ethnocentrism. There was found positive relation of consumer ethnocentrism with age group, and negative relations with family monthly income status and openness level to foreign cultures. However, there were no significant relations found between consumer ethnocentrism and closeness level to foreign cultures, marital status and gender. Tendency to consume domestic products differentiated in different product categories, however development seeking in country of origin did not differentiate in different product categories.