The effect of consumer xenocentrism and consumer cosmopolitanism on product evaluation and willingness to buy

When different domestic and foreign product options are available, a consumer who generally sees domestic products as inferior to foreign products (xenocentric consumer) will probably prefer the foreign branded product. In the same situation, preference of a cosmopolitan consumer who has a positive view of foreign products, but does not tend to see domestic products as inferior to foreign products, can go in both directions. The main purpose of this thesis is to examine the effects of consumer cosmopolitanism and c. xenocentrism on product evaluations and willingness to buy domestic and foreign (developed countries) products, where there are similar alternatives in the domestic market (for white goods). According to the research results; consumer xenocentrism had a positive effect on foreign product evaluations and willingness to buy white goods. The "valuing diversity" dimension of consumer cosmopolitanism had a positive effect on the evaluation of foreign products and the willingness to buy these products. Although no dimension of consumer cosmopolitanism had a direct effect on the willingness to buy domestic products, two dimensions that had a positive effect on domestic product evaluation had a positive effect on willingness to buy through the mediating effect of this variable. For domestic white goods, unexpectedly, the effect of consumer xenocentrism on purchase intention was positive through the mediating effect and negative through the direct effect. A positive relationship was found between consumer cosmopolitanism and xenocentrism. Although foreign products were evaluated better, this did not increase the purchase intention at the same rate. The most preferred domestic product category was "food", and the least preferred domestic product category was "mobile phone/tablet and similar". Age was negatively related to all variables related to foreign products. Although there is not much difference in other variables, female consumers' foreign product evaluation and willingness to buy levels were higher than those of men.