ARE THE TURKISH CONSUMERS

ETHNOCENTRIC?
PORTRAIT OF THE
RELATIONS: TURKEY’S
DECLINING IMPORTS FROM
THE U.S.

STUDENT NAME AND SURNAME

STUDENT ID #
ARE THE TURKISH CONSUMERS ETHNOCENTRIC?

Prepared for Prof. Dr. Mahir NAKIP

Chairperson of International Trade Department
Instructor of PSI 207 Course
Cankaya University

Prepared by Student Name and Surname

Department of Political Science and International Relations
Student ID #
Cankaya University

May 29, 2020

1
 ABSTRACT

In this study, I have analyzed whether Turkish consumers are ethnocentric or not.And
when I do this analysis, I have observed that people attribute ethnocentric properties to
many different reasons.In each of my observations,I also gained the opinions of what
Turkish consumers think about consuming the foreign products.I used some
supportive academic articles for a better understanding and transfer of the topic.
Moreover, I prepared a questionnaire to state Turkish consumers opinion about foreing
goods and also to determine whether they are ethnocentric or not.This report also
includes figures, statistics and graphs.

Key Words: Etnocentricsm, Turkish consumer attitude, Etnocentricsm in Turkey,

Foreing Products in Turkey, Foreing Goods,Consuming Foreign goods

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to offer my special thanks to my instructor of INTT-309 course,

Prof. Dr. Mahir NAKIP because of his patience and sharing his experiences with us.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………….…..2
Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………….……..3
Table of Contents..…………………………………………………………………......4
List of Figures and Tables..………………………………………………………….…5
1.Introduction………………………………………………………………………......6
1.1.History of Ethnocentrism….…………....…………………………….……6
2.Literature Review…..………………………………………………………………...7
3.Regulations and Consequences………………………………….…………………...9

3.1.Demographic Structure……… ……………………….…………………...9

3.2.Country of Origin Effect…….…………………………..

………………...10

3.3.Brand
Equity……………………………………………………………....11

4.Methodology…………………………………………………………...…………...11

4.1.Research Design…………………………….…………………………….11

4.2.Research Details……………………………………………………….….12

5.Evaluation and Results of the Survey………………...

……………………………..12

6.Conclusion………………………………………………………………………......16

7.References…………………………………………………………………………..17

8.Appendix……………………………………………………………………………20

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Table 1- Cross-Tabulation of Ethnocentrism and Country of Origin…………..…....10

Table 2- Gender Status………………………………………………………………..13

Table 3- Education Level……………………………………………………………..13

Table 4- Results in terms of Age……………………………………………………...13

Table 5- Results in terms of Income Level…………………………………………..14

Table 6- Results in terms of Gender…………………………………………………..14

Table 7- Results in terms of Education Level………………………………………...15

Table 8- Results in terms of Marital Status…………………………………………...15

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 1. INTRODUCTION

Consumer ethnocentrism, According to Kaynak & Kara (2002), affetcs buying

behavior to perceive the products produced in home country and the products
produced in other countries differently.

Businesses' desire to reach out to consumers other than consumers in their own
country markets has led to an increase in cross-cultural research. Cultural differences
and value judgments of consumers are important in international marketing. Because
the products of international companies are not always positively welcomed by
consumers. Therefore, the study's aim was to reveal the ethnocentric tendencies of
Turkish consumers. In this study, consumers divides into two groups: those who don't
accept foreign products under any circumstances and in some cases partially accept. In
three main topics we can examine whether Turkish consumers are ethnocentric or not:
regulations and consequences, effects of demographic structure and country of origin,
importance of brand equity. Considering and evaluating the study, Turkish consumers
prefer products of Turkish origin. Consumers who are prone to ethnocentrism think
that foreign(exported) products consuming is not true. And They even think that
preferring foreign products contradicts the nationalism and that people who love their
country and nation should buy domestic products. Another part of the consumer is not
to prefer the Turkish product if it is not quality and safe.

1.1. History of Ethnocentrism

The ethnocentrism’ concept was first used by sociologist William Graham

Sumner and it has long been used as a basis for social analyzes. According to the
sociologist, ethnocentrism refers that feeling one's own culture and lifestyle better than
other people and feeling the values and norms of one's own culture as having universal
accuracy and validity.This leads to the belief that one's own culture is better to all
other cultures. People who live with this belief that define their culture or lifestyle as a
center and consider this center as a reference point when evaluating other cultures.
They even reject people from different ethnic groups or culture.Ethnocentrism discuss
the ethics of consuming foreign products. In the simplest form, Consumers’

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ethnocentrism affects their purchasing and preferring behavior. This concept
constitutes the idea that consumers believe in the excellence of the products of their
own countries. Ethnocentrism-prone consumers support the purchasing domestic
products and question the accuracy of importing products of foreign origin. Recently,
Altintas and Tokol (2007) defined that consumer ethnocentrism 3 main
headings.These are xenophobia, negative prejudices against foreigners, and
conservatism. In Turkey, also it is stated that due to the level of xenophobia and
conservatism ethnocentrism affected but it did not specified the effect of a negative
prejudices against foreigners.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

This section includes studies on whether the Turkish consumers are

ethnocentric or not and the perspectives of their while they are consuming foreign
products. This literature is obtained from academic articles.

Hakan Altintas & Tokol (2007) examined the history of consumer

ethnocentrism to attitudes of Turkish consumers products from another countries. This
study showed us that consumer ethnocentrism is measured by the well‐tested Cetscale.
Results are analyzed by structural equality modelling, a path diagram created and six
hypotheses tested. All of the hypotheses were accepted but one of them except.
Ethnocentrism is found to have the greatest effect consumer ethnocentrism among
Turkish consumers, and it is also a one of the leading factor in the interactions among
the antecedents. Conservatism is the second‐most efficiency part of the study.

Akın (2016) states that some factors affect the tendency of ethnocentrism. They
are ; patriotism, collectivism and cultural openness. All of them among the antecedents
considered within the extent of this study. Showed analyses indicate that ethnocentric
tendencies of consumers are positively affected by patriotism and collectivism
factors.By the way, it is found that cultural openness is a negatively factor.

Shankarmahesh (2006) states which the antecedents of ethnocentrism of

consumers (CET), provided an integrative framework. In other words, it is reviewed
the current research on CET and presented a summary. And stated information about
gaining new perspectives for developing goods and services in international trade.

7
 Bahhouth, Mensah & Ziemnowicz (2011) showed people's culture, traditions
and consumer behavior in Ghana. At the same time, this article deals with the
ethnocentric aspects of Ghanaian consumers and makes an assessment according to it.
This study, which shows how culture and lifestyle affects ethnocentric tendency,
answers the question of what are the factors affecting ethnocentrism.

Barutcu, Saritas & Adiguzel (2016) refer to Turkish students' attitude towards
imported products to Turkey. It is evaluated the attitudes and perspectives of Turkish
students in buying foreign products. In addition, the ethnocentric levels of the young
mass, which was observed to have a high intention to purchase foreign products, and
levels of ethnocentrism were found to be low.

Acikdilli, Ziemnowicz & Bahhouth (2018) argue that lifestyle and buying
behaviors directly affect consumer ethnocentrism. This study took place in Turkey in
2016 after some of the changes adopted ethnocentrism people's behavior and
purchasing behavior changed. Also it is added that after this change, Turks started to
take a negative approach towards buying foreign products.

Kaynak & Kara (2002) stated that Turkish consumers pay attention to the
country in which the product is produced. It is attributed this purchase behavior
directly to the Ethnocentrism and stated that the consumer prefers the product with
which they are familiar with the product country image when consuming the product.
Also it is discussed the lifestyle cultures of Turks and made suggestions to marketers.

Kucukemiroglu (1999) states that a study that measures the level of

Ethnocentrsim with CETSALE. It is also found the ethnocentric tendency of Turkish
consumers to be moderate. In this study, there is a relationship between socio-
demographic characteristics of Turkish consumers and consumer ethnosentrism levels.

Cilingir & Basfirinci (2014) explored the ways in which and what extent
country of origin affects Turkish consumers. It is showed that consumer ethnocentrism
(CE) was affected by product information and knowledge of the country in which the
product was produced.

Zafer Erdogan & Uzkurt (2010) examined that this study the consumer
behavior of the Turkish young generation with an integrated model. In this review,
Also it is noted the level of ethnocentrism as well as what Turkish youths pay attention

8
to when buying foreign products. This study, which evaluates consumer ethnocentrism
and young people's perspectives on foreign product, will help marketers find their
target customers.

3. REGULATIONS AND CONSEQUENCES

The aim of the research is to determine the validity and reliability of the scale of
consumer ethnocentric tendency and to give an idea about the levels of ethnocentric
tendency of Turkish consumers. Consumers have to make choices between the low
prices,superiority in terms of quality, confidence, safety, prejudices about foreign
countries or consumer ethnocentrism. Especially when Turkish consumers are focused
on, their proud for their country’s historical past, natural beauties and traditional tastes
can be easily observed. Positive relationships between these strong patriotic tendencies
and consumer ethnocentrism are expected. (Akın, 2016). Turkish consumers are
basically rational buyers and do not discriminate against imported products, but have a
preference for local goods that are of equal quality to the imports because buying them
assists the economy and employment in the nation. (Acikdilli, Ziemnowicz &
Bahhouth, 2018). A review by Shankarmahesh (2006) of the antecedents and
consequences of consumer ethnocentrism concluded that mixed empirical evidence
exists on the influence of national attachment on consumer ethnocentrism.

As a result, The participants support the purchase of products of Turkish origin, as

well as the barriers against the entry of foreign products into their countries. They
strongly supported the judgment of 'Purchase of goods from other countries should not
be made unless it is very necessary'. Actually, Turkey's economy is encouraged import
growth based on 1980, but today Turkish people support domestic production and
domestic products.

3.1. Demographic Structure

In this part of study, the relationship between demographic characteristics and

consumers’ ethnocentrism is examined. Demographic factors explained in the study
as; age, gender, education and income level, marital status, working status. In the
literature, most of the studies on the determinants of consumer ethnocentrism
emphasize demographic differences.

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 Reported studies have found the presence and strength of relationships among
the consumer ethnocentrism, product attitude, and demographic variables to vary in
different countries. (Zafer Erdogan & Uzkurt, 2010). Demographic characteristics of
consumers constitute the point of view towards foreign product.

3.2. Country of Origin Effect

Ethnocentric tendency of consumers in the target market and thoughts and

feelings about the country of origin must be analyzed so as to select most efficient
marketing strategies and/or adapt them to local conditions. (Barutcu, Saritas &
Adiguzel, 2016). For more daily to explain; When buying a product, people all look at
the origin. The country of origin they see affects their decision whether buy or not to
buy the product. Without exception, While they prefer a technological equipment from
the technology giant country with confidence , they give up buying the technological
equipment produced by the another country that has no development in the field of
technology.The first studies in the field defined COO a stereotypical “made in”
perception of the product from a specific country by individuals (Kucukemiroglu,
1999). Second, If consumers feel familiar product, a summary establish model creates
in which consumers deduce a country’s image from its product informations, which
then mediately effects brand behavior. In both situations COO is used in the consumer
decision-making process as an indicator of risk reduction and quality and defined as an
external cue. (Cilingir & Basfirinci, 2014)

Table 1: Cross-Tabulation of Ethnocentrism and Country of Origin

NOTE: Table indicates that pearson χ2 significant (χ2=4.235,p<.026)

10
Source: Researchgate

It can be seen by looking at Table 1 that there is a strong link between the
products produced in America and the consumer ethnocentrism.So,consumers with
low levels of ethnocentrism have positive opinions about products produced in
America, whereas consumers with higher levels of ethnocentrism have less positive
views about products produced in America.

3.3. Brand Equity

The brand value, defined as the added value added by the brand name to the
products, creates value for both the consumer and the company. The brand equity,
which it may called the attraction of the product, changes whether to be ethnocentric
or not to be ethnocentric. For example, sometimes products are consumed just for
brand equity without looking at the origin of that product. The brand value of brands
perceived as high quality by consumers will also be high. Therefore, it is very wise to
ensure customer satisfaction with brand value. This can easily change the mind of a
person who does not normally buy products other than Turkish products. In other
words, when all other things are equal, consumers think that a high quality product
will be more successful. And this thought discourages the answer to the question of
whether the person is ethnocentric or not. Because what is based on is the brand value
and quality, not whether the product is foreign or domestic.

4. METHODOLOGY

In this part, it is described that methodology used in the research. Also explained
all the methods used to collect data.

Research design and details are explained below.

4.1. Research Design

A total sample size of 38 people was analyzed with quantitative approach as a

survey. In the research, 5-point likert scale was used to measure consumer
ethnocentrism as ; strongly agree (5), agree (4), neither agree nor disagree (3),disagree

11
(2), strongly disagree (1). This research was conducted face to face interviews and by
phone.

This method was used to better conclude the survey.

4.2. Research Details

This study began on 30 November 2019 and ended on 12 December 2019 during
this process survey questions were applied to 38 people. 28 of the
participants(respondents) answered by a face to face and the 10 of the participants
(respondents) answered via phone.

5. EVALUATION AND RESULTS OF THE SURVEY

This questionnaire administered to respondents over the telephone and some

respondents were interviewed face-to-face in public areas. I have questioned 38
individuals and each of them responded properly. I used Excel software package for
understanding the results and creating tables. Respondents’ opinion about the
consuming Turkish made products according to ethnocentrism with the survey
regarding to their similar sex, age, marital status, income level, educational level and
employment status. Considering this information;

 37 % of respondents are female and 63 % of respondents are male

 73.7 % of respondents are aged between 18 and 30 years, 2.7 % of
respondents are aged between 31 and 40 years, 2.7 % of respondents are
aged between 41 and 50 years, 21 % of respondents are aged 51 years and
over.
 73.7 % of respondents are single and 26.3 % of respondents are married.
 63.1 % respondents have an income 3.000TL or below, 13.2 % of
respondents have an income between 3.000TL and 6.000TL, 23.7 % of
respondents have an income 6.000TL and above per month.
 10.5 % of respondents were graduated from high school or below, 73.7 %
of respondents studied undergraduate, 15.8 % of respondents studied
postgraduate.
 56.7 % of respondents are working and 43.3 % of respondents are not
working.

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 Table 2: Gender Status
80 Education Level Gender Table 3: Education Level
70

60

50
The first question was

1
inquired into and reported
40 37%
2 whether respondents think
30
Turkish people should
20 63%
prefer Turkish made
10
products or not.
0
Table 4: Results in terms
of Age

23.6 % of the respondents are aged between 18 and 30 years strongly agree with
preferring Turkish made products.

15.7 % of the respondents are aged between 51 and above years strongly agree with
preferring Turkish made products.

42.1 % of all respondents strongly agree with preferring Turkish made products.

The second question was inquired to understand to prefer Turkish made products
by consumers even if it is more insecure and poor quality.

Table 5: Results in terms of Income Level

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28.9 % of the respondents are earning 3000 TL and below that strongly disagree with
their prefer for insecure amd poor quality Turkish made products.

10.5 % of the respondents are earning between 3000 TL and 6000 TL that disagree
with their prefer for insecure amd poor quality Turkish made products.

7.8 % of the respondents are earning 6000 TL and above that strongly disagree with
their prefer for insecure amd poor quality Turkish made products.

The third question was inquired about preferences of consumers for Turkish made
product even if it is costly.

Table 6: Results in terms of Gender

15.7 % of the respondents are female who have no idea with paying attention to using
Turkish made products even if it is costly.

15.7 % of the respondents are male who strongly disagree with paying attention to
using Turkis made products even if it is costly.

The fourth question was inquired into understand the respondents(consumers)

opinion about import for products if we can not find in Turkey.

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Table 7: Results in terms of Education Level

5.2 % of the respondents studied undergraduate who strongly agree with prefer
imported products only for items not found in Turkey.

26.3 % of the respondents studied undergraduate who strongly agree with prefer
imported products only for items not found in Turkey.

10.6 % of the respondents studied postgraduate who agree with prefer imported
products only for items not found in Turkey.

The fifth question was inquired about consumers perspectives to purchase of good
from other countries.

Table 8: Results in terms of Marital Status

26.3 % of the respondents are single who agree to purchasing of goods from other
countries should not be made if it is not necessary.

18.4 % of the respondents are married who strongly agree to purchasing of goods from
other countries should not be made if it is not necessary.

All of the individuals responded questions considering only shopping goods.

While answering the questions, individuals considered and thought daily buying or

15
personal consumption, not as government purchases or bulk buying. The first question
expressed clearly that the most of the respondents are using Turkish made products
and half of them are aged between 18 and 30 years. This means that, the young
generation highly involved in prefer Turkish made products. However, according to
the fifth table, most of the respondents (78.9%) rejected that prefer to poor quality and
insecure Turkish products. Thus, respondents stated that they would always prefer
Turkish made product which is a quality and safe over the imported product.

6. CONCLUSION

To sum up,The concept of consumer ethnocentrism, which is increasingly being

discussed in different dimensions, is measured with the help of the scale called
CETSCALE, as is well known in the literature. There are many factors that determine
the effect level of consumer ethnocentrism. In developed countries, the degree of
ethnocentrism is generally low because they think that the products produced in their
countries are reliable and of good quality. On the contrary, underdeveloped countries
have a high degree of ethnocentrism because they prefer products produced in their
own countries to support their poor economies. It located in countries emerging class
of Turkey. Thus, Turkish consumers have a moderate to high degree of ethnocentrism.
Consumers do not think that their products are of very low quality, nor do they think
that the national economy and the domestic workforce need significant assistance. For
these reasons, the level of ethnocentrism of Turkish consumers is expected to be at a
moderate level. Also taking place in the middle of the countries from many different
cultures as Turkey's geographical location affect consumers culture, ethnocentrism
levels of consumer, their habits and behaviors.Foreign products in Turkey is very high
availability of all kinds of products. Consumers can easily access both domestic and
foreign products in Turkey. While this increases the potential of purchasing foreign
products, it is understandable that consumer ethnocentrism is still at a medium-high
level when consumers actually turn to produced in Turkey products in order to support
the economy and labor force.

Consumer ethnocentrism is a sense of loyalty to the country of birth and a sense

of belonging to that country and it may affects purchasing attitude. They believe that

16
purchasing imported products is not true; it may damages the economy and causes the
unemployment. ( Bahhouth, Mensah & Ziemnowicz 2011)

7. REFERENCES

1. Hakan Altintas, M. and Tokol, T. (2007), "Cultural openness and consumer

ethnocentrism: an empirical analysis of Turkish consumers", Marketing
Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 308-
325. https://doi.org/10.1108/02634500710754565, from
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/02634500710754565/fu
ll/html

2. Akın, M. (2016). The Relationship between Ethnocentric Tendencies of

Turkish Consumers and Socio-Psychological Factors. International Review of
Management and Business Research, 5(4), 1394-1405, from
https://www.academia.edu/30314435/The_Relationship_between_Ethnocentric
_Tendencies_of_Turkish_Consumers_and_Socio-Psychological_Factors

3. Shankarmahesh, M. N. (2006). Consumer ethnocentrism: an integrative review

of its antecedents and consequences. International Marketing Review, 23(2),
146-172, from https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-04510-002

4. Bahhouth, V., E. Mensah, and C. Ziemnowicz. 2011. Ethnocentrism and

purchase decisions among Ghanaian consumers. Journal of Applied Business
and Economics 12 (4):20–28, from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262731971_Ethnocentrism_and_Purc
hase_Decisions_Among_Ghanaian_Consumers

5. Barutcu, S., E. Saritas, and D. U. Adiguzel. 2016. Attitudes towards the foreign

products from animosity, boycott and ethnocentrism perspectives: The case of

17
 Turkish students. European Scientific Journal 12 (10):106–118, from
https://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/view/8114

6. Gaye Acikdilli, Christopher Ziemnowicz & Victor Bahhouth (2018) Consumer

Ethnocentrism in Turkey: Ours are Better than Theirs, Journal of International
Consumer Marketing, 30:1, 45-57, DOI: 10.1080/08961530.2017.1361882,
from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08961530.2017.1361882?
journalCode=wicm20

7. Kaynak, E. and Kara, A. (2002), "Consumer perceptions of foreign

products", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 36 No. 7/8, pp. 928-
949. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090560210430881,from
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/03090560210430881/fu
ll/html

8. Kucukemiroglu, O. (1999), "Market segmentation by using consumer lifestyle

dimensions and ethnocentrism", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 33 No.
5/6,pp.470-487. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090569910262053,from
https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/iuisletme/issue/9257/115807

9. Zuhal Cilingir & Cigdem Basfirinci (2014) The Impact of Consumer

Ethnocentrism, Product Involvement, and Product Knowledge on Country of
Origin Effects: An Empirical Analysis on Turkish Consumers’ Product
Evaluation, Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 26:4, 284-
310, DOI: 10.1080/08961530.2014.916189,from
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Impact-of-Consumer-
Ethnocentrism%2C-Product-and-%C3%87ilingir-
Basfirinci/f2fafdf4dba56d9da4a5832a90a981a14f841e3d

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 10. Zafer Erdogan, B. and Uzkurt, C. (2010), "Effects of ethnocentric tendency on
consumers' perception of product attitudes for foreign and domestic
products", Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, Vol. 17 No.
4,pp.393-406. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527601011086595,from
https://www.academia.edu/15399994/Impact_of_firms_reputation_and_ethnoc
entrism_on_attitude_towards_foreign_products

8. APPENDIX

SEARCHING ETHNOCENTRISM OF CONSUMER IN TURKEY AND THE

PUBLIC OPINION FOR FOREIGN GOODS

19
 This questionnaire is designed for International Business Research Methods
which I have taken the course at Cankaya University Department of International
Trade. Please answer the questions. Thanks for your contributions.

Ekin Yaren BAŞKONAK

PART I

1. Gender ( ) Female ( ) Male

2. Age ( ) 18-30 ( ) 31-40 ( ) 41- 50 ( ) 51 and
above
3. Marital Status ( ) Married ( ) Single
4. Income Level ( ) 3000TL and below ( )3000TL-6000TL
( )6000TL and above
5. Education Level ( )High school or below ( )Undergraduate
( ) Postgraduate
6. Employment Status ( ) Working ( ) Nonworking
PART II

AgreeStrongly

DisagreeStrongly
Agree
No Idea
Disagree
No Please state your participation level by marking with ‘‘X’’ next
to related expression.

1 Turkish people should always prefer Turkish made products

instead of imported. (foreign product)

2 I prefer to support Turkish products, although costly in the long

run.

3 Purchase of goods from other countries should not be made

unless it is very necessary.
4 I take care to buy Turkish product even if it is more insecure
and poor quality than imported product. (foreign product)
5 Only the products that we cannot find in Turkey are foreign I
should buy from those countries. (foreign countries)

20