The Effects of Consumer Cosmopolitanism on Purchase Behavior of Foreign vs. Domestic Products

The purpose of this empirical study is to investigate the effects of consumer cosmopolitanism on foreign product purchase behavior in three major categories of consumer products (alcohol products, clothes, furniture). Based on the existing theoretical and empirical knowledge, we develop a conceptual model and identify two additional constructs as antecedents of foreign purchase behavior, i. e., consumer ethnocentrism and consumer knowledge of brand origins. The measurement model is examined using a data set of 261 adult consumers and tested via structural equation modeling. The study results confirm the strong total effect of consumer cosmopolitanism in purchase behavior and indicate a strong direct effect of this phenomenon on the behavioral outcome. The more cosmopolitan consumers have a stronger tendency to buy foreign rather than local products. On the other hand, the direct relationship between cosmopolitanism and consumer knowledge of brand origin was not supported in the study.