Consumer Ethnocentrism in 21st Century: A Review and Research Agenda

Abstract

Owing to the Industrial revolution, fading communist era and the relative convergence of economic ideologies across the globe as a consequence of liberalization and globalization leading to exponential growth in the world trade, formal tariff barriers have been reduced considerably. In such circumstances, if projected inclusively, the thrust for exploring informal tariff barriers can be beneficial for retaining the home market base besides attracting consumers from outer groups This new ‘forms of protectionism’ of the national businesses, called ‘cross-currents’ of globalization to dilute the international competition are emerging to discourage international competition and consumer ethnocentrism is one such non-tariff barrier. Researchers have explored the possibilities of reviving the segmentation and positioning strategies by employing ethnocentrism as a strategic tool. The objective of this paper is to explore the body of knowledge and literature gap confronting the subject area of consumer ethnocentrism and to deliberate upon the antecedents and consequences of the consumer ethnocentrism besides the roles of mediating and moderating variables. The paper presents the integrative framework and comprehensive summary tables with wide deliberations providing holistic view of consumer ethnocentrism in globalized world. Besides enriching the marketing knowledge, the paper also offers broad avenues for further research.