Title: Attitudes and reactions of Galician (Spanish) consumers towards the purchase of products from other regions

Authors: Pilar Fernández-Ferrín; Belén Bande-Vilela

Addresses: Departamento de Economía Financiera II, Escuela Universitaria de Estudios empresariales, Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU), Vitoria-Gasteiz, 01006, Spain ' Facultad de Administración y Dirección de Empresas, Departamento de Organización de Empresas y Comercialización, University of Santiago de Compostela, Avda. Alfonso X el Sabio, s/n (Lugo) 27002, Spain

Abstract: Although research on consumer ethnocentrism is plentiful, there has been limited interest in carrying out such research in a regional setting. However, within the borders of many countries lie strong regional identities which may indeed influence the attitudes and behaviours of consumers towards products from both inside and outside their region. This study analyses the attitudes of Galician consumers towards the purchase of products from other regions and assesses their regional or non-regional preferences for different types of products. The study also performs a cluster analysis in order to obtain different consumer profiles based on degree of regional ethnocentrism. In general, it appears that Galician consumers positively view products from their own region and make a conscious effort not to buy products from other regions. However, they do not feel guilty when they purchase non-regional products. They have a strong preference for three Galician products in particular: potatoes, beef and milk.

Keywords: consumer ethnocentrism; regional ethnocentrism; regional products; Galician consumers; CETSCALE; consumer preferences; cluster analysis; willingness to buy; product judgements; regional identity; Spain; consumer attitudes; consumer behaviour.

DOI: 10.1504/GBER.2015.068563

Global Business and Economics Review, 2015 Vol.17 No.2, pp.131 - 150

Received: 25 Apr 2013
Accepted: 23 Aug 2013
Published online: 06 Apr 2015 *

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