Effects of National Pride and National Attachment on Consumer Ethnocentrism

Purpose - In the major global markets, such as US and China, consumer ethnocentrism has been strengtened and there is a growing need for related study. This research aims to investigate the effects of national pride and national attachment on consumer ethnocentrism, using a nationally representative dataset from 2013 Korean General Social Survey. Based on the reviews of literature in social and political sciences, two dimensions of national pride were considered: national society pride which is based on positive evaluations on the nation’s democracy condition or social security system, and national achievement pride which is based on positive evaluations regarding the country’s achievements in the areas of technology, art, sports, and so on. Research design, data, and methodology - The authors developed a structural model in which two types of national pride, national society and achievement pride, are proposed to affect national attachment, thus influencing consumer ethnocentrism. 1,294 surveys were used for empirical analysis. The hypotheses were tested by utilizing SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 21.0. The unidimensionality of each construct and the nomological validity were supported from the results of factor analyses and correlation analysis . Results – It was found that both national society pride and national achievement pride have significant and positive effects on national attachment. Consumers who show stronger pride on the social systems or the global achievements of Korea are more likely to remain being a citizen of the country and support the country even in wrong. Also, there was a significant and positive relationship between national attachment and consumer ethnocentrism. Korean consumers who have stronger attachment to Korea tend to express higher ethnocentrism to protect Korean labor market and to promote economic development of the country. Conclusions – The findings of this study showed that companies and government need to emphasize the c