engleski

The Influence of Animosity, Xenophilia and Ethnocentric Tendencies on Consumers' Willingness to Buy Foreign Products (The Case of Croatia)

The aim of our research was to investigate Croatian consumers’ preferences toward products originating from the former Yugoslav republics (Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia) on the one hand, and from Western European countries and the USA on the other, on the basis of the influence of affective factors (animosity, xenophilia and consumer ethnocentrism) on consumers’ willingness to buy foreign products. We have included one cognitive factor in our model, in the form of general product evaluation. The sample consisted of 406 respondents selected on the basis of proportional quota sampling procedure among students of the Faculty of Economics and Business in Zagreb. A questionnaire made up of 195 questions was divided into four groups concerning animosity, xenophilia, consumer ethnocentrism, product evaluations, while the fifth group focused on respondents’ willingness to buy products from specific countries. In analyzing the data we used the method of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results were somewhat vague. Xenophilia had positive influence on foreign product evaluation for all regions. Therefore, hypothesis H4 was accepted. Hypothesis H5 (CET has a negative influence on foreign product evaluation) was rejected. Hypothesis H1 (Animosity has a negative influence on the willingness to buy foreign products) H2, (Xenophilia has a positive influence on the willingness to buy foreign products), H3 (Consumer ethnocentrism has a negative influence on the willingness to buy foreign products), and hypothesis H6 (Product evaluation can have a positive or negative impact on the willingness to buy foreign products) were partially accepted. The final conclusion was that several others antecedents could be included in this model in order to get more consistent results which than could be used for international marketing decision-making.

country of origin; ethnocentrism; animosity; xenophilia

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