Do ethnocentric consumers really buy local products?

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 43 (2018) 139–148

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Do ethnocentric consumers really buy local products?☆ a

Hélène Yildiz , Sandrine Heitz-Spahn a b

b,⁎

, Lydie Belaud

T

b

CEREFIGE – Université de Lorraine, IUT de Longwy, 186 Rue de Lorraine, 54 400 Cosnes-et-Romain, France CEREFIGE – Université de Lorraine, IUT de Metz, Ile du Saulcy, 57045 Metz, France

A R T I C LE I N FO

A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Ethnocentrism Commitment Local products Purchase behavior Global products

While the impact of consumer ethnocentrism on preference for local products has received extensive attention by researchers, this research provides further understanding by investigating the impact of commitment to a consumer's place of leaving on consumer's attitudes towards local product and on effective purchase of local products. Based on the concept of behavioral commitment from Kiesler's theory (1973), this research shows that a consumer with a high degree of ethnocentrism has a more favorable attitude towards local products than the one committed to his place of life. However, when it comes to effective purchase of local products, a consumer who is strongly committed to his place of life tends to purchase local products more than a consumer with a high level of ethnocentrism. This research contributes to existing research in supporting Kiesler's argument that consumer behavioral commitment has a stronger effect on local product purchase than beliefs (in this case ethnocentrism). In terms of practice, this research may orient retailers, manufacturers and public organizations to strengthen consumers’ commitment to their place of life.

1. Introduction As pointed out by Siamgka and Balbanis (2015), since the last financial crisis, there has been a worldwide rise in the nationalist discourse which defends national / local products / companies. This posture can go as far as disrupting the international trade, which has been falling since 2014 despite the global economic recovery (World Bank data base, 1990–2015). This type of nationalist discourse tends to exacerbate consumer ethnocentrism and the literature on ethnocentrism (Xie et al., 2015; Fischer and Zeugner-Roth, 2017) underlines how this variable tends to encourage the consumption of local products. Defined as "the beliefs held by consumers about the appropriateness, indeed morality, of purchasing foreign-made products"(Shimp and Sharma, 1987, p.280), ethnocentrism is manifested through a social value that discriminates against products that are manufactured outside the area of the local community (Shimp and Sharma, 1987; Nguyen et al., 2008; Steenkamp and De Jong, 2010; Xie et al., 2015). This construct is related to the literature on the country of origin (COO). Literature in the field of marketing has long stressed the importance of the role played by the origin of the product ('country of origin') in consumer purchasing decisions (Schooler, 1965; Tan and Farley, 1987; Peterson and Jolibert, 1995; Kreckova et al., 2012; Strizhakova and Coulter, 2015). As well as price, brand name, or the possibility of a guarantee, the origin of the product is considered as an

☆ ⁎

essential attribute of consumer choice (Papadopoulos and Heslop, 1993). To explain the choices consumers make in the area where they live, researchers have deliberately placed themselves in the cognitive world of the individual. Thus, the preference for local products rather than global products is deeply rooted in the values and beliefs of individuals in relation to their own countries (Nijssen and Douglas, 2011). The COO literature primarily relies on cognitive factors in order to explain the buying preference for local products. However, it is possible to assume that other factors explain this purchasing preference for local products. Yildiz (2007), Julienne (2013) and Yildiz, Heitz-Spahn and Belaud (2017) show that beliefs or attitudes cannot explain any future consumer behavior and that it is necessary to take into account actual behaviors. These results show how behaviors can generate other behaviors consistent with the former. Moreover, these behaviors can have a greater impact than attitude, as revealed in the study by Yildiz (2007) and confirmed by Julienne (2013) who also demonstrated a higher predictability of behaviors over attitudes and beliefs. Thus, in line with Bourdieu's work on behaviors that engender other behaviors coherent with the first (habitus), and more specifically with reference to Putnam's (2000) work on behavioral civic engagement, we may ask if some behaviors reinforce the importance of other behaviors such as the purchase of local products. In fact, ethnocentrism encourages consumers to choose local

This research did not receive any specific grand from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (H. Yildiz), [email protected] (S. Heitz-Spahn), [email protected] (L. Belaud).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2018.03.004 Received 25 April 2017; Received in revised form 5 February 2018; Accepted 6 March 2018 0969-6989/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Therefore, the ethnocentrism of a consumer, influenced by an exaggerated nationalism, affects their attitude and intentionality towards product purchase. In fact, individuals who have an elevated tendency towards ethnocentricity are likely to avoid buying foreign products for nationalistic reasons, because doing so would be seen as harmful to the national or local economy, or simply considered unpatriotic (Durvasula et al., 1997). Moreover, the literature on ethnocentrism has demonstrated that this construct affects the attitude of consumers to domestic products (Shimp and Sharma, 1987; Herche, 1992; Balabanis and Diamantopoulos, 2004). Shimp and Sharma's (1987) study shows that consumers with a high level of ethnocentrism tend to assess foreign products in a negative way, and ascribe a much higher quality to domestic products, compared with foreign ones. In line with this work, the research of Vida and Reardon (2008) confirms these results and concludes that consumer ethnocentrism is a normative component in the formation of consumer preferences. Thus, an elevated tendency towards ethnocentricity will result in a rejection of foreign products manufactured outside of their own group. Steenkamp and De Jong (2010) characterize this as the tension generated between local products and those manufactured globally, outside the area considered as a community for an individual with elevated ethnocentrism. Other factors affecting attitudes towards local versus global products have been examined by researchers. The factor of nostalgia is an example, which is something linked to the need of an individual to recreate the kind of local consumer environment that existed in the past (Holbrook, 1993). For people with a tendency towards nostalgia, the present and the future represent everincreasing globalization (Steenkamp and De Jong, 2010). Another factor that has been studied is environmentalism, which is an expression of the tendency of consumers to attach a large importance to the environment and reject consumer products that cause pollution (Steenkamp and De Jong, 2010). Thus, for environmentalists, more local production means less waste generated and fewer resources used (Bougherara et al., 2009). As a result, the individual will have a more positive attitude towards local products than those produced globally. For some researchers, these latter factors have a direct impact on attitudes towards local versus global products (Steenkamp and De Jong, 2010). For others, these factors represent antecedents to ethnocentrism (Shankarmahesh, 2006). A proportion of studies on ethnocentrism focus on ethnocentrism generated by the local culture in areas where consumers live (Saffu et al., 2010; Wang and Chen, 2004; Spielmann and Babin, 2011; Fernández-Ferrín and Bande-Vilela, 2013). Fernández-Ferrín and Bande-Vilela (2013) have showed that an individual's ethnocentrism can also be manifested at national and regional level, as well as locally. The work of Onozaka and McFadden (2011) indicates that a local product will be preferred to a national product, which is itself preferable to an imported product. For Lusk and Anderson (2004), it is primarily protectionism and ethnocentrism that compel the consumer to choose a national product. These findings generate the following propositions:

products, with the aim of supporting the local economy. However do consumers who contribute to supporting their local area through their activities, such as local commitment, show a more favorable attitude towards local products? This is a question that our research seeks to answer. Building on the theory of behavioral commitment developed in social psychology by Kiesler (1971), we analyze the effect on the attitudes individuals express, in terms of local products, as a result of commitment in local activities. As a corollary, we may also consider whether the effects of acts of commitment by individuals in their local areas might be greater than the effects produced as a result of ethnocentric attitudes. Thus, our main research question is: Are ethnocentric people the only ones to have a favorable attitude and to be more inclined to buy local products instead of global products? Our research contributes to the COO literature, including the explanation of consumer preference for local products on several aspects. 1 / It suggests a complementary approach to the analysis of the ethnocentric attitude by taking into account the behavioral commitment of an individual towards the community in his place of life and the impact on the purchasing act of local products. 2/ It shows that the civic acts of commitment of the consumer in his place of life has a higher explanatory power than ethnocentrism. Reviewing the relevant literature, three concepts seem to be worthy of further consideration: consumer's ethnocentrism, the degree of behavioral commitment of the consumers within the area where they live, and the consumer's purchasing behavior in terms of local products. In the methodological section that follows, we propose metrics to measure these constructs; we then check their validity and test their theoretical relationship with propositions. Finally, we conclude with the contributions, limits and ideas for future research that arise from this work. 2. Theoretical development 2.1. Ethnocentrism and attitudes towards local products and ethnocentrism Arising from ethnological and anthropological work, ethnocentrism reflects a tendency for people to reject those who are different from themselves and to prefer those whom they perceive as similar (Sumner, 1906). The precursors (Shimp and Sharma, 1987) of the construction of the scale of measurement for individual ethnocentrism conclude in their first study (1987, p.280) that consumer ethnocentrism encompasses "the beliefs held by consumers about the appropriateness and morality of purchasing foreign-made products ". Fernández-Ferrín and Bande-Vilela (2013) have shown that the concept of ethnocentrism can be used at the national, regional and local levels. The work of Onozaka and McFadden (2011) indicates that a local product is preferred to a domestic product, being itself preferred to an imported product. Therefore, the terminology of the concept refers throughout the article to a national, regional or local product. The stream of research is based on literature from the field of marketing, about countries of origin (COO). Research in this area focuses on the concept of country of origin in the assessment of a product. Authors here demonstrate the effect that the signal - "origin" - can have on bringing into the minds of consumers beliefs and attitudes that may favor, or disfavor, a product of a certain country of origin. For example, various studies have examined the impact of the image of a region in explaining how products originating from it are evaluated. The origin of the product is an extrinsic attribute, allowing consumers to infer the quality of the product, but it can also have a symbolic meaning. In this sense, the origin of the product, when linked to a national identity, can carry with it strong emotional attachment towards certain trademarks and products (Verlegh and Steenkamp, 1999). Therefore, in the process of making the decision to buy a product, the consumer has a tendency to differentiate between the products that originate from within their own country and those from outside of it.

H1:. elevated ethnocentrism leads the consumer to adopt a favorable attitude towards local products from their own area (a) and, therefore, to be less favorable to globally produced products (b). 2.2. Attitudes towards local and The act of commitment to a local area Attitudes towards local products have been studied by considering a variety of different threads, including three main ones. The first arises from the disciplines of sociology, human geography and environmental psychology. This initial thread is focused on the link between the individual and his environment: both physical and geographical. The ideas involved here, such as identifying with a place (Proshansky et al., 140

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binding on its agent, who cannot disengage from it. They locate the rationale for the act entirely within themselves, identify fully with it and take sole responsibility for it. The commitment of an individual to an act can be measured, then, according to Kiesler (1971) by the degree of that the individual identifies with the act. Even though the author does not provide a formal definition of the concept of commitment, he nevertheless clearly identifies the essential conditions that make an act, a "committed" act. In their 1966 article, Kiesler and Sakamura showed that acts carried out under certain conditions resulted in different degrees of commitment from individuals. Their results highlight two key aspects of the behavioral commitment. On one hand, the conditions under which the act is carried out, and, on the other, the variation in the degree of commitment, as a function of these conditions. If the individual freely undertakes an act (without any constraints), which has had a cost (in time and energy), and that act is repeated, is irreversible and is rendered public, then the degree of commitment in an individual will be higher (Kiesler and Sakamura, 1966). It is, therefore, important that the individual performs a local civic act that meets these conditions in order to experience commitment. Civically committed consumers prefer to buy products from their local area as a way of supporting it. This generates the following propositions:

1983; Stedman, 2002; Bougeard-Delfosse and Robert-Demontrond, 2008) or else attachment to a place (Hidalgo and Hernandez, 2001), are highlighted in order to demonstrate their effects on attitudes towards local and regional products. The results from this thread of research show little significant impact of these concepts on attitudes towards local products. Therefore, in this study, we focus more on the threads below in order to build our theoretical framework. The second stream of research, which draws on sociological and economic literature, considers the concept of "local" not in its geographical and physical sense, as the area where a consumer lives, but in terms of "social ties" (Coleman, 1988; Putnam, 2000). This thread recognizes the importance of social ties as a success factor in economic development in an area of community (Putnam, 2000). The foundations of this theory are based on commitment and mutual support among individuals in a group at the level of a village or a town (Abrahams, 1992). Without these two factors, commitment and reciprocity between members of a group, the social and economic development of an area are severely constrained (Crowe, 2006). As a result of research in this vein, some authors have demonstrated that individuals committed in their local areas do have a favorable attitude towards local businesses (Lee et al., 2007; Niehm et al., 2009). However, we note that these authors exclusively consider the attitudes of these committed-individuals towards businesses within their own towns. Therefore, the question of whether the commitment behavior of these people in their local areas can affect their attitude vis-a-vis local versus global products or not is an interesting one to consider. This cognitive perspective, which emphasizes values, beliefs and attitudes, describes a consumer whose thoughts are in harmony, but it does not take into account the effects that their daily activities can have on preferences for local versus global products. In fact, work in the area of sociology, on the behavior of individuals in their local areas shows the impacts that these activities can have on behavior with regard to local purchases. This work draws on the concepts of commitment and reciprocity in a community, showing that the acts of an individual within their local area and the community of people that define it, such as those who are active in parents’, neighborhood or other associations, encourage purchasing behavior that supports local businesses and shops (Lee et al., 2008; Niehm et al., 2009). Considering this, Lee et al. (2008) have highlighted the commitment behavior of individuals in their local area and its impact on their local buying behavior. The work of Son and Lin (2008) shows how the civic actions of individuals within a municipality can affect their local purchasing behavior. This set of behaviors can be defined as local civic acts (Putnam, 1995; Son and Lin, 2008). By linking the theories of Putnam (1995) and Kiesler (1971), civic behavioral commitment can be defined as behavioral conduct that results in the commitment of the individual to the community of people that define it. Thus, to make behavioral commitment clear, we will use Kiesler's (1971) work as a basis, in which commitment is first and foremost a behavior. Kiesler (1971) defines commitment as the link between individuals and their behaviors. For him, only acts result in commitment from individuals. Kiesler (1971, p. 63–64) defines commitment specifically as a force that has the effect of stabilizing the behavior of an individual. In turn, commitment itself is also born of external stimuli. It is a demand that aims to produce a particular behavior, which unlike an incentive, establishes a sustainable link between the behavior it has caused and the individual who has exhibited it. However, for Kiesler (1971 p. 33), commitment only results if the act takes place under certain conditions. In a non-exhaustive manner, the act must be carried out in public, and render its agent visible; it must be irreversible, and it must also be costly, meaning that it requires effort; it must be repeated and, above all, it must be carried out with a sense of complete freedom. This assumes the absence of pressures of any kind, such as rewards or threats. When one, or more, of these conditions is met, the act becomes

H2:. Higher behavioral commitment of a consumer to their community leads them to adopt a favorable attitude towards local products (a) and, as a result, a less favorable one towards global products (b). H3:. Higher behavioral commitment of a consumer to their community leads them to purchase more local products (a) and less global products (b). H4:. Higher behavioral commitment of a consumer to their community leads them to purchase more local products (a) and less global products (b). 2.3. Ethnocentrism and committed consumer purchasing behavior towards local products The Country Of Origin (OCC) literature clearly shows that the high degree of ethnocentrism of the individual has a positive impact on the attitude towards local products and the purchase of these products versus global products (Westjohn et al., 2012). No other factor has been as strong as this cognitive variable, and recent work on consumer behavior may bring a new perspective to this, as these studies show greater predictability in terms of impact. Julienne's (2013) and Yildiz (2007) studies show that behaviors such as commitment can have a greater impact than a cognitive-type variable. Based on these results, we ground our reasoning on the commitment escalation theory which strengthens the behavioral commitment of an individual. The commitment escalation is based on the behavioral commitment theory (Kiesler, 1971). The first committing act is decisive in the spiral of commitment. As a sequel to the work of Kiesler, Joule and Beauvois (1998) have shown how crucial the first phase of the commitment can be, this first phase giving rise to the perseverance effect and to the commitment escalation. Several factors play a role in this commitment behavior: freedom (the more the individual feels free when performing the act, the more he is committed), repetition (an act which is repeated is more committing than an act which is only realized once), irreversibility (the individual feels that he will not be able to change what he is about to do), the cost of the act (the more expensive the act, the stronger the commitment (Joule and Beauvois, 2002) and finally the public characteristic of the act (the strongest commitment results from an act which is publicly issued). Commitment is the bond that unites individuals to their behavioral acts; only our acts mean commitment and only decisions freely taken give rise to perseveration as a consequence of commitment: this is called “escalation of commitment”. Close to this idea, the reinforcement 141

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3.3. Data analysis technique

theory indicates that individuals tend to replicate a previous behavior that has satisfied them (Platt, 1973). This process of behavioral reinforcement, which is akin to an escalation of commitment, is clearly explained in the pioneering work of Festinger and Carlsmith (1959). This escalation of commitment is then a freely and repeated chosen process. This commitment escalation and its predictability have been tested in the work of Yildiz (2007), Julienne (2013) and Yildiz et al. (2017): the more individuals are committed through civic acts where they live, the more they act in favor of the actors of their place of life. For example, we can assume that when the consumer is committed to a local association, he will meet local actors within this association. These actors may be shop owners or local producers. During these free and repeated associative meetings, the consumer will become involved in his territory and will favor local actors when purchasing goods. Indeed, we could then make the following proposition:

To test the proposition developed from the theoretical framework, a structural equation model was used to test the relationship between the degree of behavioral commitment to a local area, ethnocentrism, attitudes towards products in terms of local versus global, and finally the act of purchasing in terms of local versus global products. Nineteen items were selected for integration into the structural equation model. To estimate the parameters we used the Muthén and Muthén Mplus program (version 7.00) with the appropriate "MLR" estimator (Satorra and Bentler, 2004). Validation of the measurement scales was carried out in two phases, the first exploratory and the second, confirmatory. Exploratory factor analysis prompted us to reduce the number of initial items, removing items that presented simultaneously high loadings on several factors or loadings that were too low. After refinement, a satisfactory factor structure can be obtained for the "ethnocentrism" construct, according to the validity indicators available from the literature. The post adjustment quality indices for the structural model of c2 = 112, df. = 71, p = 0.000; CFI = 0.991; TLI = 0.988; RMSEA = 0.027; SRMR = 0.028 meet the requirements demanded by the literature (Hu and Bentler, 1999). All indices are in fact within the ranges of values recommended by the literature (Hu and Bentler, 1998).

H5:. Consumers committed to their local areas will adopt a local product purchasing behavior that is more pronounced than an ethnocentric consumer is.

3. Methodology and procedure 3.1. Data collection

4. Results and discussion The scales used were drawn from the existing literature, with the criteria for reliability and validity verified. The study was conducted in three major towns of Lorraine, whose principal shared characteristic was the presence of shopping streets within their town centers. Data collection was conducted in collaboration with local authorities and associations. These latter provided us with access to a database of some 7000 email addresses. An email was sent to each person in the database, who was invited to click on a link to a web page containing the questionnaire. We received 713 complete responses, which is a response rate of 10.1%. 70.4% of responses were from women and 29.6% from men; 8% of respondents were under 20 years old, 56% were aged from 20 to 39 years old; 25% from 40 to 59 years and 11% were aged 60 and over.

The results of causal analysis from the structural equation modelling (Fig. 1) show that consumer ethnocentrism is positively related to the attitude towards local products (b = 0.498, t = 1.39, p < 0.001) and negatively related to attitude towards global products (b = −0.332, t = 2.63, p < 0.000), which confirms H1 (a, b). The causal relationship is as follows: the more elevated a consumer's ethnocentrism, the greater their preference for local products, and the less favorable they are towards global products. H2 (a) is also confirmed in terms of the link between consumer ethnocentrism and local product purchasing behavior (b = 0.106 t = 3.36, p < 0.000). On the other hand, the link between a consumer's ethnocentrism and the purchase of foreign products was positive (b = 0.108, t = 1.39, p < 0.001), rejecting H2 (b). The results of the causal analysis of the structural equation modelling (Fig. 1) show that local behavioral commitment is related to attitude towards local products (b = 0.322, t = 4.33, p < 0.000), thus confirming H3 (a). The results of the causal analysis of the structural equation modelling show that behavioral commitment is positively connected to local product purchasing behavior (b = 0247, t = 5.63, p < 0.000), thus confirming H3 (b). In addition, the link between the behavioral commitment and behavior stated with regard to buying locally is significant (b = 0247, t = 1.39, p < 0.0001) confirming H4(a). Standardized estimates of parameters are reported in the causality diagram, shown in Fig. 1. Finally, to test our last proposition, H5, a chi-square difference test (with equality constraints imposed) allowed us to conclude that local commitment-behavior has an impact in terms of attitudes towards local products which is stronger than those of ethnocentric consumers (D chi2 = 13.356 with 2 df. and p = 0.0013). Also, the link between consumer ethnocentrism and the purchase of global products is positive (b = 0.108, t = 1.39, p < 0.001) accepting H5. In other words, individuals committed to their local area actually purchase more local products than those who claim to be supporters of their country. This last group buys fewer local products than consumers committed to the local area. Furthermore, to justify the interest of the role of the actual behavior (that is to say, the commitment of an individual to his / her place of life), we wanted to show that a person who is strongly committed to his / her place of life has little or no ethnocentric attitude towards local products. Hence, we ranked respondents according to their level of

3.2. Operationalization of the variables The measurement instruments used were derived from the relevant literature published in the fields of marketing and social psychology. Nevertheless, we have adapted most of the items that we have used to reflect the specific nature of this research. The scale of measurement for attitudes towards local/ global products explores one dimension. To operationalize this construct we drew upon from items used by Steenkamp and De Jong (2010), because of the psychometric quality of these instruments. To operationalize ethnocentrism we drew on items used by Shimp and Sharma (1987). We retained five items from the entirety of the original scale, reinforced by the methodological approach from several studies (Nguyen et al., 2008; Steenkamp and De Jong, 2010). To operationalize behavioral commitment we drew on the commitment list developed by Son and Lin (2008). This list details the different acts carried out by an individual said to be committed to their local area and adds the conditions developed by Kiesler (1971), tested in Yildiz et al.’s (2017) study. The measurement design allows the evaluation of the degree of commitment of an individual. A Likert-type approach with two anchor points: "strongly disagree" and "strongly agree", and seven levels (see Appendix A) was used. According to the ratios of Churchill (1979) and Bagozzi et al. (1991), the measurement validity of these constructs was tested by calculating Cronbach alpha coefficients.

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Fig. 1. Path-diagram for the structural equation model. *p < 0.001, **p < 0.005, NS: non-significant.

are more likely to have a low level of ethnocentrism. 2 / A large number of individuals with a high degree of ethnocentrism are poorly committed to their place of life. In other words, this group of people has a favorable attitude towards local products. They indicate favoring the purchase of local products over global products. On the other hand, they tend not to be heavily involved in terms of civic acts in the territory where they live. Moreover, when we analyze more specifically the type of acts carried out within their territory, the individuals with a high degree of ethnocentrism are weakly committed to their place of life:

Table 1 Ranking of respondents according to their degree of ethnocentrism and their degree of behavioral commitment (713 individuals). Degree of behavioral commitment

Degree of ethnocentrism

Low High

Low

High

49,65% (354 respondents) 25,42% (181 respondents)

13,28% (95 respondents) 11,65% (83 respondents)

– they have a level of behavioral commitment which does not exceed 2/9 acts of commitment unlike the group with a low level of commitment and with a low level of ethnocentrism (the average being between 3/9 acts of commitment). – the commitment behavior is either political or related to leisure (the individuals are simple members without constraint, they belong to sports association) therefore it is turned towards personal gratification.

commitment and their degree of ethnocentrism (the ethnocentrism measure is based on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 “strongly disagree” to 5 “strongly agree”). The first step was to compute an "ethnocentric" score from the average of all items on the ethnocentric measurement scale. We then divided the respondents into two groups based on the median (2.7): 1 / the group with an average score inferior or equal to 2.7 was called the "Low ethnocentric" group; 2 / the group with an average score superior to 2.7 was called the "strong ethnocentric" group. The behavioral commitment measure is based on the nine acts for which an individual can potentially get committed in his /her place of life (see Appendix A). We calculated the median (3.1). Two groups have been formed: the "weakly committed" who perform less than 3 acts of commitment in their place of life and the "highly committed " who perform more than 3 acts of commitment in their place of life. By crossing the variables of ethnocentrism and behavioral commitment within the place of life, the 713 respondents could be classified in one of the four boxes of Table 1. When analyzing Table 1, we notice that the group which is not very committed and not very ethnocentric represents a little less than half of the individuals in the sample, which seems to be representative of the structure of the French population. Thus, in France, according to Rambonilaza et al. (2015), the commitment level of individuals in their place of life is rather low (in associative structures for example). Similarly, France represents a country with a low level of ethnocentrism when considering the whole population (Javalgi et al., 2005). While reading these results, two other observations can be made: 1 / Respondents who are strongly committed to their place of life

Conversely, non-ethnocentric and committed individuals are more oriented towards the realization of acts beneficial for the whole community (they may be active local members, activists in an association, volunteers …). We can note that this group of individuals is not opposed to non-local products since their attitude toward non-local products is not negative. Thus, the nature of commitment differs between the strongly committed and weakly ethnocentric group, and the strongly ethnocentric and weakly committed group (p < 0.01). It is therefore possible to suggest that this significant difference is related to the nature of the commitment. Based on this classification, we performed a multi-group analysis in order to complete the statistical analysis proposed in the first version of the paper to test H5. Thus, an interaction variable (Ethnocentrismlow * Behavioral commitmentlow) is introduced in the estimates of the theoretical model to fine-tune the degree of ethnocentrism (low/ high) on the purchasing behavior of local products. In order to test the moderating role of the variables "commitment" and "ethnocentrism", we have resumed the classification into 4 groups: low/ high level of 143

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Table 2 The impact of low/high level of ethnocentrism and low/ high level of commitment on the purchase of local products. Level of behavioral commitment: low /high H1 Modela

H0 Modelb

Low level of Commitment Ethnocentrismlow *Behavioral commitmentlow→ Purchasing local products

high level of Commitment Ethnocentrismlow *Behavioral commitmenthigh→ Purchasing local products

Low level of Commitment Ethnocentrismlow *Behavioral commitmentlow→ Purchasing local products

high level of Commitment Ethnocentrismlow *Behavioral commitmenthigh→ Purchasing local products

raw Est

raw Est

raw Est

raw Est

Std Est.

Std Est.

Std Est.

Std Est.

Low level of ethnocentrism 0.432 0.117 0.512 0.215 0.437 0.119 0.526 0.221 Chi-square difference test according to the procedure described by Satorra and Bentler (1999) for robust estimators::Δ χ² = 0.056 degree of freedom: 1 p = 0.002 High level of ethnocentrism 0.444 0.123 0.453 0.127 0.445 0.124 0.457 0.128 Chi-square difference test according to the procedure described by Satorra and Bentler (1999) for robust estimators::Δ χ² = 0.056 degree of freedom: 1 p = 0.011 a b

Effects are different, free estimates of the coefficients. Effects are equal, equality constraint on the coefficients.

5.1. Theoretical contributions

ethnocentrism and low/ high level of behavioral commitment. Models with groups were estimated twice each time. A first estimate M1 of this model released all the parameters for each of the four groups. In accordance with the hypotheses, a second estimate M0 placed an equality constraint on the parameter measuring the influence of the degree of ethnocentrism (low/ high) and the degree of behavioral commitment (low/ high) on the buying behavior of local products, in each group (Table 2). The Chi-square difference test, carried out according to the procedure described by Satorra and Bentler (1999), leads to accept the hypothesis of equality of this parameter for the low / high level of commitment moderator variable p = 0.002 and also to accept the equality assumption of this parameter for the low / strong ethnocentrism moderator variable (p = 0.011). Thus, the level of behavioral commitment has an impact on the purchase of local products in a stronger way (Low commitment level (β = 0.117), high commitment level (β = 0.215)) while ethnocentrism has a more moderate impact on the purchasing behavior of local products in spite of its significance (Low level of ethnocentrism (β = 0.123), high level of ethnocentrism (β = 0.127)). Thus, individuals who purchase local products are indeed individuals committed to their territory and to some lesser extent individuals with a high ethnocentrism level. This reinforces the H5 hypothesis; it highlights a predictability of the commitment behavior higher than the degree of ethnocentrism on the variable to explain: the buying behavior of local products. In conclusion, the academic research on consumers’ ethnocentric behaviors highlights the consumer preference for domestic products (Balabanis and Diamantopoulos, 2004; Wang and Chen, 2004; Watson and Wright, 2000). However, no study has ever compared these consumers with a high level of ethnocentrism with those consumers committed to their community. The results of this comparison moderates the relationship between ethnocentrism and foreign product purchasing behavior compared to local commitment-behavior.

This research sheds a light on another factor than consumer's ethnocentrism: preferring a local product instead of a global product. Several studies point out that a high degree of ethnocentrism promotes a positive attitude towards local products and that this high degree of ethnocentrism positively impacts the purchasing act of these local products. Until now, the degree of ethnocentrism was considered a strong moderating variable regarding the consumer's attitude towards global / foreign products until the recent works of Yildiz et al. (2017) which results underline the positive impact of the behavioral variable, that is, civic engagement, regarding the act of patronizing these small local shops. We have relied on the results of this research because they emphasize the preference for local products, for individuals who are committed to their place of life. Based on the concept of behavioral commitment from Kiesler's theory (1973), our research shows that an individual who is strongly committed to his territory tends to purchase local products more than an individual with a high level of ethnocentrism. We consequently studied in two phases the relationship between the two groups of individuals (ethnocentric and committed) and their attitude / buying behavior towards local versus global products: First, we tested: 1. the relationship between ethnocentric individuals and their attitude / buying behavior towards local versus global products And finally: 2. the relationship between the individuals involved in their living place and their attitude / behavior toward local versus global products. Then we compared these two groups in order to identify which group has a more positive attitude towards local products and which group buys local products. The results showed that the group committed to their living place will purchase more local products than people with a high degree of ethnocentrism. Conversely, these ethnocentric people have a more favorable attitude towards local products and their attitude is very unfavorable towards global products. These results enrich the literature on COO and provide an additional understanding of why some consumers may be reluctant to buy nondomestic products and why they prefer to buy local products. The results of our study confirm it, but they also highlight the influence of another variable "the commitment in one's place of life" which has even

5. Theoretical and managerial contributions As a final stage in this research, it is useful to consider the extent of its contribution, its limitations and the academic and business perspectives it has to offer.

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of consumers who are committed to their local areas. In fact, according to the results of Kim and Stoel's (2010) study, efforts to generate civic commitment behavior need to come not only from the consumer side but also from small local businesses in order to strengthen the protective behaviors of consumers with regard to their local areas. The results clearly show that an individual committed to his living place is bound to the fact that he buys local product. It is therefore very important that local producers or local retailers specifically communicate with this target, highly dedicated to the actors and the life of the community. The company should not exclusively communicate on exacerbating ethnocentric beliefs, but it should also bring a more corporate and societal message to both groups: ethnocentric consumer and committed consumer.

more impact on the purchasing preferences of local products (versus global products) when it is compared to a consumer with a high level of ethnocentrism. Indeed, this research shows that behaviors can have more important effects than beliefs (in this case ethnocentrism). These results also confirm studies on consumer behavior in highlighting the fact that some types of behavior impact other types of behavior more than attitudes can do (Yildiz, 2007; Julienne, 2013). The main contribution of this study lies in the theoretical framing, which complements the theoretical literature on Country Of Origin (COO). In fact, Kiesler's (1971) behavioral theory goes beyond cognitivist approaches in order to offer a different perspective on this problem. Moreover, in the decision-making process, these results highlight the more significant impact of behavior as compared to attitude. on the purchasing behavior of local products. As stated by Julienne (2013) and Yildiz (2007), behavior can be a powerful explanatory variable and perhaps a better predictor than more cognitive variables such as ethnocentrism. These results confirm the conclusions of Kiesler's (1971); Kiesler and Sakamura (1966) experiments according to which the commitment behaviors reinforce attitudes. Because of this, the more individuals carry out behavior in circumstances that lead to their commitment, the more their attitudes are modified. Moreover, it is interesting to note that consumers committed locally are more likely to buy local than those showing a high degree of ethnocentrism. These results are consistent with those of Yildiz et al. (2017) which show the impact of acts on behavior and their more significant impact on a future behavior. These results are in the same line as the sociological studies carried out in this area. As an example, Kim and Stoel's (2010) research emphasizes that the more individuals are aware of their actions and the impacts they have on their local area the more they make decisions that support that area. Thus, there would be a significant difference between 1/the individual having a committed behavior within his territory and who would be a very outward-looking, very collective and humanistic individual and 2/the ethnocentric individual who would seem to be selforiented, individual and non-collective, contrary to the idea underlying the concept of ethnocentrism in-group versus out-group

5.2.2. At the level of local businesses and the links with various stakeholders The social capital theory (Putnam, 2000) on which is based the theoretical model highlights the following result: the behavioral commitment of the consumers is an important variable in the attitude and the purchasing behavior of local products. These committed consumers also require commitment and reciprocity from the various stakeholders of this exchange process: that is, the physical point of sale, the producers / companies and the public authorities. Indeed, this theory emphasizes the role of all the stakeholders from manufacturers to retailers. Miller and Besser (2000) and Miller et al. (2003) emphasize the importance of cooperation between companies, businesses, private organizations, the public and consumers, with the aim of building partnerships with all local stakeholders. The model suggests that manufacturers or/and retailers should communicate and participate in the life of their communities to establish some visibility and close links with community members. As underlined by Spielmann and Bernelin (2015), social interactions are necessary: retailers should not act alone or in accordance with their own interests, but rather collectively and according to the collective interest. Various studies have highlighted this mutual relationship among stakeholders that constitute a “city” in the ideal, Aristotelian way: that is, a place that favors moral and political principles (Rackham, 1932). The efforts must not only come from consumers but also from small local retailers (Miller and Kean, 1997). It is very important in this exchange process to conduct collective action. Thus, local retailers should behave as such. Namely, they should plan their marketing strategy collectively and they should communicate on the “brand” - being local. For example, in Millau, a town in the south of France, all the retailers in the downtown area participate in a single loyalty system with a loyalty card (Millau j′y gagne) in order to reward the consumers who locally shop. Civically committed consumers in Millau do want to find local retailers according to the results of this study, which makes it incumbent on the retailers to brand themselves with local signals. Retailers should display the impact of the purchasing behavior of their customers on their community thanks to traditional communication tools such as local newspapers or local billboards. A permanent link with loyal customers should be maintained through digital platforms, in order to constantly remind them of the consequences of their purchasing acts on small local retailers, and consequently on the place where they live. As mentioned by Pandey et al. (2015), small local retailers should build on their strength such as product assortment variety (e.g. offering products which are not similar to the ones from a Big Box Retailer) and customized relationship (e.g. getting to know the specific needs of their customers, organizing events for customers such as wine tasting). If the company or the producer wants to sell its products on a foreign market, it is crucial for this company to carry out local actions coherent with this committed target, that is to say actions which would favor the products of the economic actors involved in their place of life. Indeed, beyond the desire to communicate on the origin of the

5.2. Managerial implications This research has managerial implications at different levels of analysis. Local businesses should pay particular attention to consumers committed to their living space, as they have a greater purchasing behavior potential than ethnocentric consumers. Moreover, according to the social capital theory used to build the theoretical model, reciprocity / interaction with the stakeholders of the exchange process is essential because it is at the core of a virtuous relationship between the actors involved in this exchange: thus, local businesses, committed consumers, subcontractors, retailers as well as public authorities support the business sector. 5.2.1. At the level of committed versus non-committed consumers Currently fashionable slogans, like: "Buy French", "Buy regional products" or "Buy local!" are likely to exacerbate consumers’ ethnocentrism but without changing their purchasing behavior in terms of buying local products. In fact, the results of this research suggest that people who may have a favorable attitude towards supporting their local area do not necessarily match this with action in terms of purchasing products from it. On the other hand, people involved in activities in their local area, and committed to them, will exhibit more protective behaviors with regard to their area, without rejecting products originating from other areas. These results suggest that businesses should place more emphasis on their efforts to communicate their commitment to the local areas where their customers live, in order to raise their profile with this niche group 145

product, which may generate negative attitudes from the consumer, companies should give a different meaning to their communication strategy, which could be more focused on the responsibility of each one in a sustainable perspective. 5.3. Main limitations and research avenues A major limitation of the study is the size of the sample and its unrepresentative nature. It is essential that this study is duplicated using a larger sample, in order to confirm and refine the results. In particular, any generalization of these results should be made based on a duplication of such experiments in other cities and particularly in other countries in order to to bring greater scope to this research as well as an international comparison Another important methodological limit of this research is bound to the selected measurement scales, the contents of which could actually

raise the issue of the respondents’ social desirability. Moreover, the wide representation of women in this sample may bias the results of this study; this is one of the major limit of this research. It will also be important to integrate the concept of "reciprocity", how consumers perceive acts of commitment made by businesses in their areas, and to perform a crosscutting analysis of the behavibyby6 673(may(this)-456he)-314.3(a

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Measurement scale for behavioral commitment: Kiesler's (1971) three conditions:

LIB3 PUB4 COU1

I decided to undertake this local activity in absolute freedom Those around me consider me to be locally committed I spend a lot of time on my local commitments

behavioral commitment

Items I decided to undertake this local activity in absolute freedom Those around me consider me to be locally committed I spend a lot of time on my local commitments

Loading Fiabilité 0.611 Alpha 0.90 0.879

ρ

0.858

0.81 AVE 0.68

Adjustment: Chi2 = 3,53 2 ddl p = 0.17 CFI = 0.99 TLI = 0.98 SRMR = 0.013

RMSEA = 0.060 Confidence interval 90% 0.000 – 0.161 significant Barttlet statistic 980.3 (ddl = 18; P = 0.000015) Prob RMSEA < = 0.05 0.325 and the KMO index is very satisfactory (= 0.83) Cronbach alphas 0.90 Variables

Items

Civic Behavior Commitment

CBC Have you already been involved in a local activity (e.g. volunteering with an association, etc.)? – as an active volunteer member of a local association (sports, cultural, parentteacher association, etc.) – simply as a member of a local association (sports, cultural, parent–teacher association, etc.). – by attending town council meetings – by participating in neighborhood councils – as an activist in a local association – as a manager of one or several local associations – as a defender of local social-economic fabric of the community – as a member of a local group of a union – - as a member of a local group of a political party

Variables Purchasing local products Purchasing global products Gender Age Status

I often buy local products from local producers

I often buy global products from international groups and international brands Gender Male = 1, Female = 2 Age Younger than 18 years = 1; 18–22 = 2; 23–30 = 3; 31–45 = 4; 46–65 = 5; older than 65 years = 6 Status Farmer = 1; tradesperson, businessperson= 2; manager = 3; employee = 4; manual workers = 5; retired = 6; other = 7

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(i) http://walmartstores.com/sites/ResponsibilityReport/2011/environment_products_AgriculturalCommitment.aspx (ii) In this article, we refer to the definition of the concept of local versus global products, developed in the work of Steenkamp and De Jong (2010). They define a local product as a product adapted to local markets, marketed and distributed only in the country of origin of the consumer; whereas global products are designed and marketed to world markets and distributed in several countries around the world (Steenkamp and De Jong, 2010, p. 19).

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