Urban adult Chinese consumers favour foreign products? An investigation of the effects of Country of Origin and Consumer Ethnocentrism on product preference and willingness to buy.

Abstract

Since the then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping introduced the „open door‟ policy, the Chinese economy has experienced rapid economic growth for over 30 years. It has now surpassed Japan as the world‟s second largest economy. (Bloomberg, 2010) Mainland China has fast developed into one of the world‟s largest consumer market. It had already proved its worth by becoming the second biggest luxury goods market, and is expected to become the largest in next five to seven years. (Boston Consulting Group, 2009) Further encouraged by Chinese central government‟s policy to stimulate domestic consumption, that is to shift from an export oriented economy into a more balanced development model, China presents a tremendous opportunity to both Chinese and foreign companies. This study is to investigate the impact of Country of Origin (COO) and Consumer Ethnocentrism (CE) on Urban Adult Chinese Consumers‟ (UACC) product preference and willingness to buy. To put it in plain terms, it will seek to clarify whether UACC prefer foreign products or Chinese products and investigate the rationale for such decision