Purpose

Drawing on cue utilization theory and the theory of motivated reasoning, we investigate the impact of consumer xenocentrism on product preferences in a situation where domestic products objectively outperform their foreign counterparts.

Design/methodology/approach

We develop and test a model linking xenocentrism to consumers’ preference towards domestic vs. foreign products by (1) examining the mediating role of consumers’ ability to identify the superior product and (2) assessing the role of product involvement in potentially moderating this relationship. An experimental design was employed, whereby respondents (Thai consumers, N = 579) were asked to compare two products in the same product category, one foreign and one domestic. In one condition, the foreign product outperformed the domestic one on a range of relevant product attributes, whereas in a second condition, the opposite was the case.

Findings

Our findings provide clear evidence that xenocentric consumers often cannot recognize the superiority of domestic products and, even if they do, they still exhibit preferences toward (inferior) foreign products. Thus, for xenocentric consumers, it seems that the country of origin (COO) overrides other cues and often results in suboptimal product choices.

Originality/value

Our study adds to our theoretical understanding of the functioning of the consumer xenocentrism construct and has important implications for foreign companies targeting xenocentric consumers as well as for local firms seeking to counteract xenocentric tendencies.

中文翻译：

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当国内产品更好时消费者的异国中心主义

目的

借鉴线索利用理论和动机推理理论，我们研究了在国内产品客观优于国外同类产品的情况下，消费者异国中心主义对产品偏好的影响。

设计/方法论/途径

我们开发并测试了一个将异国中心主义与消费者对国内产品和外国产品的偏好联系起来的模型，方法是：（1）检查消费者识别优质产品的能力的中介作用；（2）评估产品参与在潜在调节这种关系中的作用。采用了一项实验设计，要求受访者（泰国消费者，N  = 579）比较同一产品类别中的两种产品，一种是国外的，一种是国内的。在一种情况下，外国产品在一系列相关产品属性上优于国内产品，而在第二种情况下，情况恰恰相反。

发现

我们的研究结果提供了明确的证据，表明以外国人为中心的消费者往往无法认识到国内产品的优越性，即使认识到，他们仍然表现出对（劣质）外国产品的偏好。因此，对于以异国为中心的消费者来说，原产国 (COO) 似乎凌驾于其他线索之上，常常导致产品选择不理想。

原创性/价值

我们的研究增加了我们对消费者异国中心主义结构运作的理论理解，对于针对异国中心消费者的外国公司以及寻求抵消异国中心倾向的本土公司具有重要意义。