Domestic Country Bias, Country-of-Origin Effects and Consumer Ethnocentrism: An Integrative Approach

One of the oldest concerns of international marketers is whether the "foreignness" of a product makes it less preferable to consumers (Schooler 1965, 1971). A number of studies have documented that a bias against foreign products and in favor of domestic ones does in fact exist (for reviews see Bilkey and Nes 1982; Ozsomer and Cavusgil 1991; Papadopoulos and Heslop 1993; Peterson and Jolibert 1995; Verlegh and Steenkamp 1999). This type of bias (referred to as “domestic country bias” (DCB) from now on) is manifested in both product perceptions and buying intentions (Peterson and Jolibert 1995). The prevailing explanation for DCB is based on individual differences in terms of a “trait-like property” of an individual's personality called “consumer ethnocentrism” (CE) (Shimp and Sharma 1987, p.280). Holders of this property tend to exhibit higher levels of DCB and, hence, are less favorably disposed towards foreign products (Shimp and Sharma 1987; Sharma, Shimp and Shin 1995).