The impact of social value orientation on international brand preference

The purpose of this study is to bring the socio-psychological perspective to consumer decision making regarding international brands. Consumers make various decisions while satisfying their needs and wants. Nowadays, consumer decisions often involve brands. Companies utilize brandings to create perception of high quality, protect their innovative products and enter the new market by establishing supply chain. On the other hand, brands also serve as useful resources for consumers, providing shortcuts for reliability, quality, and after-sales services. Thus, brands play an important role in consumer decision-making. Consumer decision making, influenced by economic, cultural, social, technologic, and marketing factors. The internationalization of trade leads companies and brands to become international as well. This situation includes the country of origin and ethnocentrism effect on decision making process. However, impact of the external factors on decision making depends on consumers personal characteristics. With the liberalization of international trade, The Theory of Comparative Advantage has gained significant importance in world trade. However, the value added of products with relative production advantages differs between developed and developing countries. This has created a trade imbalance in favor of developed countries. In this situation, even if countries do not possess comparative advantages, supporting domestic products has led to the emergence of localization as a brand value. Ultimately, consumers can consider long-term social gains when making consumption decisions. The consistent and enduring behavior of individuals evaluating the gains (or losses) of others alongside their own interests is referred to as social value orientation. Therefore, this study is conducted based on the idea that the preference for local or foreign brands will be shaped according to the consumer's social value orientation. Within the scope of the study, 234 individuals were reached through an online survey. The sample consisted of Turkish consumers and was obtained using the snowball sampling method. To conduct the research, participants' social value scores were measured using the Multidimensional Social Value Orientation Scale, while their international brand preferences were measured using the CATSCALE. Both scales are Likert-type scales consisting of five sections. The study's findings revealed a significant relationship between social value orientation scores and international brand preference, indicating that consumers with a pro-social value orientation exhibit more ethnocentric attitude. The study is divided into three sections. The first section presents the conceptual framework related to brand and consumer ethnocentrism, while the second section discusses the theoretical background of decision-making, social dilemmas, and social value orientation. The third section presents the field research conducted on the impact of social value orientation on international brand preference.