Access Type

Open Access Dissertation

Date of Award

January 2012

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Management and Information Systems

First Advisor

Abhijit Biswas

Abstract

Like many other attributes, consumers exhibit varying degrees of preference with regard to foreign and domestic products. Some consumers have preferences for domestic products while other, seemingly similar, consumers prefer the foreign counterpart. Product quality differences aside, we aim to investigate the attitudinal constructs behind the varying preferences among consumers as they relate to foreign and domestic products.

The author created two new scales for the measurement of the consumer xenocentrism and consumer cosmopolitanism constructs. The consumer xenocentrism scale is intended to measure consumers' favorable orientations to products from outside their membership group. The consumer cosmopolitanism scale is designed to measure consumers' openness to new ideas and tendency to address functional needs with the kind of products or services that best deliver the desired function, regardless of tradition or social influence.

Modern, robust scale creation techniques were be used for the scale creation and validation process and the end result was a pair of six-item self-report measures that are valid, reliable and exhibit strong psychometric properties. Such scales will facilitate the proper measurement of the constructs in question by both marketing practitioners and academics alike.

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