English and Chinese? The Role of Consumer Ethnocentrism and Country of Origin in Chinese Attitudes towards Store Signs

Abstract

This article examines how consumer ethnocentrism (CE) relates to Chinese consumers’ evaluations of three store signs – Chinese name, English and Chinese name, and both languages along with the country of origin (COO) – for a hypothetical foreign bread shop. From an applied perspective, consumer attitudes and intention to purchase significantly favour the latter strategy. From an academic perspective, CE showed a significant relationship with bi-lingual signs. Compared to low ethnocentric consumers, high ethnocentric consumers had significantly less favourable attitudes and buying intentions towards bi-lingual signs. Ethnocentrism however, showed no relationship with attitudes and intentions towards a sign solely in Chinese. The study also found that COO can moderate the impact of CE on foreign brand evaluations, significantly so for a US brand but insignificant when the COO was Australia. The article closes with academic and applied implications for foreign brand naming strategies in China, as well as future research areas