Proceedings of World Business and Social Science Research Conference 25-25 October, 2013, Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square, Bangkok, Thailand, ISBN: 978-1-922069-33-7
Ethnocentrism and Cosmopolitanism in Consumer Evaluations of Japanese Brands: Chinese vs. Korean Consumers C. Min Han* and Gao Lei** This study is designed to assess the effects of ethnocentrism and cosmopolitanism in consumer evaluations of Japanese brands in East Asia. Specifically the effects will be compared between Chinese and Korean consumers who are known to have animosity toward Japanese products. It is hypothesized that Chinese consumers are more ethnocentric and less cosmopolitan than Korean consumers are. It is because the Koreans with a higher standard of living are more westernized and individualistic than the Chinese are. In addition, we hypothesize that ethnocentrism and cosmopolitanism have greater effects in Chinese consumers’ evaluations of Japanese brands than in Korean evaluations of Japanese brands since purchasing foreign products in China is not as widespread as it is in Korea. Specific hypotheses are as follows: H1: The Chinese consumers are more ethnocentric than the Korean are H2: The Korean consumers are more cosmopolitan than the Chinese are. H3: The effect of consumer ethnocentrism on evaluations of Japanese brands will be greater in China than in Korea. H4: The effect of consumer cosmopolitanism on evaluations of Japanese brands will be greater in China than in Korea. Surveys were conducted with 161 Chinese and 150 Korean students from two major universities from Beijing and Seoul. We selected Sony and Toshiba notebook PCs as the Japanese brands because our respondents are major consumers of notebook PCs and many local and foreign brands are available. As for evaluations of Japanese brands, we assessed consumer perception of quality, attitudes, and purchase intentions. First, our findings show that Chinese consumers were more ethnocentric and less cosmopolitan than the Koreans were. In addition, cosmopolitanism was found to have a significant influence on consumer evaluations of Japanese brands for both Chinese and Korean consumers, but the influence was greater with Chinese consumers than with the Koreans. On the other hand, ethnocentrism did not have significant effects on evaluations of Japanese brands for both Chinese and Korean consumers. Our findings suggest that cosmopolitanism may play a reduced role with Chinese consumers in the future as they become more cosmopolitan. In addition, in contrast to the literature, consumer ethnocentrism may be not a significant factor in Chinese and Korean consumers towards Japanese brands. Finally, marketing implications are discussed.
Track: Marketing ___________________ *Professor C. Min Han, College of Business, Hanyang University, Sungdong-gu Hangdang-dong 17, Seoul, Korea, 133-791, Ph: 82-2-2220-1066; Fax 82-2-2291-1066, Email:
[email protected] ** Graduate student, Hanyang University