Abstract:
Globalization has brought a variety of foreign products to the Sri
Lankan cosmetics market and the competition between domestic
and foreign entities has intensified. Therefore, local marketers focus
on consumer ethnocentrism as a strong weapon to influence the
purchase decisions of consumers and to face intense competition in
the cosmetic industry. This study attempted to address the gap of
insufficient studies to measure the ethnocentric tendencies using a
valid extended scale which can tackle the intensely competitive
nature in the Sri Lankan skin care product market. Thus, multi dimensional CEESCALE was applied instead of CETSCALE to
measure consumer ethnocentrism in the Sri Lankan context. The
five dimensions of CEESCALE (pro-sociality, cognition, insecurity,
reflexiveness and habituation) were used as independent variables
in order to identify the impact of consumer ethnocentrism on
willingness to buy domestic skincare products. The survey method
was employed as the main research method and the sample
comprised of 170 Sri Lankan female consumers. Ethnocentric pro sociality, ethnocentric insecurity, ethnocentric reflexiveness and
ethnocentric habituation showed a significant impact on
willingness to buy domestic skincare products while ethnocentric
cognition showed no significant impact in the Sri Lankan context.
The study also revealed significant differences among income
groups and education levels regarding the willingness to buy
domestic skincare products.
