Thesis-2006-Tay.pdf (40.19 MB)
A consumer ethnocentrism model of foreign grocery retail store patronage in Beijing: do extrinsic cues and shopping orientation matter?
thesis
posted on 2011-01-26, 10:10 authored by Chee H.K. TayThe most widely used marketing concept to explain consumers' reluctance to patronise
foreign retail stores and to purchase imported products is consumer ethnocentrism (CET).
To date, however, research has mostly concentrated on the antecedents and consequences of
CET, whilst little is known about variables that may offset the impact of CET. This study
represents the first step in addressing this gap by examining shopping orientation,
specifically utilitarian value, as a moderator of the relationship between CET and the
consumers' willingness to shop in foreign grocery retail stores (WTS). Other important
research gaps addressed in this study are context specific (i.e., consumers and grocery
retailers in China), which includes an investigation of the impact of country-of-origin cue,
store brand cue, CET and shopping orientation on WTS, the causal relationships between
CET, WTS and customer loyalty (i.e., attitudinal and behavioural loyalty) as well as
between shopping orientation and customer loyalty, and the robustness of the CETSCALE
(i.e., CET measurement instrument) in relation to socially desirable response bias.
Building on an extensive literature review, a consumer ethnocentrism model of foreign
grocery retail store patronage was conceptualised and examined for its theoretical
applicability in Beijing via an initial qualitative study. The conclusive quantitative phase
was store-intercept surveys conducted in four Beijing hypermarkets owned by two
established domestic and foreign grocery retailers in China; this achieved a total sample of
500 questionnaires. Rigorous statistical assessment of the collected questionnaires was
undertaken, where the raw data was verified for data entry accuracy, missing values in the
raw datasets were resolved via the multiple imputation method, and the multiple imputed
datasets were assessed for outliers and non-normality.
The conceptual model was then tested using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Based
on conventional SEM procedures, the main results revealed that utilitarian value was a
significant moderator of the relationship between CET and WTS, whilst the country-of- origin
cue and store brand cue returned non-significant effects. In addition, store origin was
a significant moderator of the relationship between WTS and loyalty intention towards
foreign grocery retailers, i. e., this relationship was positively related for Beijing consumers
who shop in foreign grocery stores but non-significant for those who shop in domestic
grocery stores. The findings, theoretical and managerial implications, limitations and
directions for future research are discussed.
History
School
- Business and Economics
Department
- Business
Publisher
© Chee Hsien Kelvin TayPublication date
2006Notes
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University.EThOS Persistent ID
uk.bl.ethos.432246Language
- en