José Rojas-Méndez,
Consumer Xenocentrism: Antecedents and Consequences

Consumer Xenocentrism: Antecedents and Consequences

Principal Investigator: José Rojas-Méndez, International Business
Funder: SSHRC Insight Development

A long tradition on country of origin (COO) effect literature argues that the preference of foreign goods is due to extrinsic cues such as product development, quality and design, but recently researchers have found that this is not always the case. Consumers are buying a variety of foreign products when similar or even better quality, lower priced, local products are available in the domestic market. Therefore, this research proposal intends to shed light on why such apparently ‘irrational’ consumer behavior is taking place. A plausible explanation is the existence of consumer xenocentrism. This attitudinal construct has been defined as “a consumer’s internalized belief of the inferiority of domestic products and a corresponding propensity to prefer foreign products for social aggrandizement purposes”.