Rooted in loyalty: How consumer ethnocentrism shapes consumer satisfaction with homegrown brands.

Abstract

Grounded in Stimulus-Organism-Response and Expectation-Confirmation theories, this study examines how experiential marketing-mix cues shape consumer-based brand equity (CBBE), satisfaction, and loyalty toward home-grown non-alcoholic beverage brands, and how these effects vary with consumer ethnocentrism. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 515 shoppers in 12 Indian hypermarkets across six cities and analyzed the data using covariance-based structural equation modelling with moderation. Results show that the combined salience of product availability, in-store accessibility, value-oriented pricing, and promotional communications significantly raises CBBE, which in turn increases satisfaction. Satisfaction then drives both brand advocacy and repurchase intention. The CBBE→satisfaction→loyalty pathway is stronger for highly ethnocentric consumers, whereas low-ethnocentric consumers are comparatively less responsive to domestic-origin cues. Conceptually, the study embeds expectation-confirmation within the S-O-R sequence and positions consumer ethnocentrism as a boundary condition linking cognitive appraisal to behavioural response, enriching accounts of nationalist consumption Managerially, domestic brands should pair transparent, value-based pricing with seamless distribution and sustained promotion to build equity and satisfaction, while global brands should co-create indigenous flavors and foreground credible sustainability innovations to engage both ethnocentric and cosmopolitan segments.