Consumer Ethnocentrism in the Online Purchasing Process

Abstract

A conscious shift from internationally to locally produced products especially in the food trade can be observed since the turn of the millennium but has so far not been considered for the online purchasing process. The present study deals with a preference for locally manufactured consumer goods in the online purchasing process measured by a willingness to pay more for those products. The work is based on an online survey which verifies the importance of local product offers on the Internet and demonstrates demographic characteristics of a target consumer group for these products and their buying motives. The results of the survey confirm the desire for a higher proportion of locally manufactured products for the market Austria across all consumer segments. In general, two thirds of all consumers interviewed are willing to buy locally manufactured products instead of international alternatives when purchasing online. This preference for locally manufactured products can be measured through the willingness to pay an average of 24 percent more for those products. A particularly strong focus is evident for families with children and people with high values of consumer ethnocentrism, which leads to an increased perception of the quality of locally manufactured products. The current work analyses the meaning associated with the importance of the quality of products based on their country of origin in a price-sensitive environment and discusses the conflicting economic and ethnocentric interests of consumers.