The role of consumer ethnocentrism and consumer xenocentrism on foreign product purchase intentions of the consumers

Consumers' product purchase intentions that stem from the consumers' product involvement is explained as the purchase intentions of consumers whether they intend to buy the product or not. In the consumer behavior literature, it is seen that there are various factors that affect the intentions of consumers to purchase products. It is stated in the studies that individual and cultural variables are effective on purchasing intentions, especially with the effect of cultural interaction (Özden, 2017). The increasing importance of cultural interaction also makes the concepts of ethnocentrism and xenocentrism variables that may be influential in consumers' purchasing intentions. In this context, examining what types of factors and how consumers' purchasing intentions is affected could provide marketers with important clues on developing different strategic alternatives. The main aim of this study is to examine to what extent consumer ethnocentrism and consumer xenocentrism have impact on consumers' foreign product purchase intentions. Thus, a conceptual model has been developed to achieve the purpose of the study. With the developed model, the direct effects of these two biases on foreign product purchase intention and indirect effects through product attitude are examined. The developed model was tested with the structural equation model. The field research of the study was conducted for consumers who intend to purchase in two different product categories. These products are chocolate and jeans. The reasons for choosing different product categories are that these products are consumed by both men and women and that there is a wide variety of domestic and foreign alternatives in the sectors where these products are found. According to the convenience sampling method, 408 consumers were reached through an online survey. As a result of the research, it was seen that consumer ethnocentrism had a negative and significant effect on consumers' intention to purchase foreign brand jeans and foreign brand chocolate, while consumer xenocentrism had a positive and significant effect on consumers' intention to purchase foreign brand jeans and foreign brand chocolate. Product attitude has been observed to mediate between consumer xenocentrism and foreign product purchase intention for both products. However, the mediating role of product attitude between consumer ethnocentrism and foreign product purchase intention could not be determined in either product. In the study, the effect of consumer xenocentrism on consumer ethnocentrism was found to be negatively significant.