Country-of-Origin Perceptions, Consumer Ethnocentrism, and Product Evaluations in the Indian Market

This paper investigates the effects of consumer ethnocentrism and country-of-origin perceptions on product evaluations by consumers in the emerging Indian market. A structural equation model is developed and tested for this purpose. A field study is conducted to measure consumer ethnocentrism and perceived images of India, the United States, Japan, and South Korea as countries, and evaluations of products from these countries. The study indicates that Indian consumers who are ethnocentric tend to have positive perceptions of their own country and domestically-made products. The ethnocentrism, however, does not translate into any negative perceptions of the United States, Japan, and South Korea, or of products originating from these three countries. Managerial implications of the findings are discussed.