BACKGROUND OF THE ARTICLE:• Exploratory study of Turkish consumers’ lifestyle dimension and

ethnocentrism and how the two can affect market segmentation in the country.

• The writer begins by forming a basis for understanding consumer ethnocentrism when dealing with the transfer of products across borders.

• He gives supported arguments as to how consumer ethnocentrism as well as nationalism and patriotism makes consumers have a high regard for their country’s products than those of foreign origin. (Han, 1988,…..Johansson et al., 1985)

BACKGROUND OF THE ARTICLE:• The author also looks into Lifestyle dimension which is often denoted by

economic terms and how one spends money or time. Lifestyle dimension is determined here as the personal value of time and money that can be shared by a group of people.

• Supported evidence is given to the fact that people tend to attach common thoughts to people from other countries. In turn, those thoughts (stereotypes) affect their evaluations of products from foreign areas.

• We are introduced to the relevance of the scales of measurement that will be used in this study namely CETSCALE (Consumer Ethnocentric Tendencies Scale) and AIO (Activities Interests and Opinions rating).

• Because the studies on consumer ethnocentrism and lifestyle dimension are sparse in relation to studies from Turkey, the writer has identified a gap that can be filled through this study.

RESEARCH PROBLEM:• The author places forward an argument for the need to understand how

ethnocentrism and lifestyle dimensions will affect how markets are segmented in the region due to different consumer behavior.

• In having this knowledge existing and potential firms in Turkey can be away of the various groups to serve and how to present their product.

• No available studies on analyzing Turkish segmentation using consumer ethnocentrism and lifestyle dimension. Most studies based on Western nations such as USA and not developing ones.

• To test the validity of the CETSCALE and AIO rating measures in Turkey.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:Why does the author need to study consumer ethnocentrism and lifestyle

dimensions in Turkey?

1. To investigate the effect of consumer ethnocentrism and lifestyle dimension on segmentation in the Turkish market.

2. To test the validity of the already well used CETSCALE that has been used in previous studies other than in Turkey.

3. To incorporate another element of lifestyle dimension into the study so as to see how this too affects market segmentation in Turkey.

4. Both the evaluation of consumer ethnocentrism and lifestyle dimension of the Turkish is scarce. So essentially the author aims to bridge this gap and ultimately contribute he’s piece of the puzzle.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:

5. To aid future academic researchers in understanding the dynamics of Turkish markets.

6. To facilitate a mechanism of ensuring the success of Marketing Models by tactfully identifying variables that distinguish consumer performance in the marketplace.

7. To explore an area of research that has not been thoroughly looked into.

METHODOLOGY:The survey instrument was designed with Five Sections. Questionnaires were

administered in local language. First they were translated from English to Turkish

then back translated to sieve out any mistakes in translation.

• SECTION1: Existing literature supplied 56 Activities, Interests and Opinion statements to identify the lifestyle of Turkish consumers.

• SECTION 2: Decision –Making roles of the consumers by asking them questions like when they bought; where they bought; what they bought ; how much they paid for; etc

• SECTION3: Ethnocentrism using the CETSCALE. • SECTION 4: Perception of foreign country products using a five-point Likert Scale.• SCETION 5: Demographic and Socioeconomic questions for the inferences to be made on

other questions.

METHODOLOGY:

Factor analysis the study identified 8 factors that were used in the evaluation of

lifestyle namely; Fashion conscious factor, Leadership factor, Health

consciousness factor, Family concern factor, Carefree factor, Community

consciousness factor, Cost consciousness factor and Practicality factor

A 17 item CETSCALE was then incorporated into the AIO results using three

clusters (Cluster I: Liberals/ Trendsetters, Cluster II: Moderates/Survivors and

Cluster III: Traditionalists/Conservatives) to derive the conclusions.

EVALUATION OF THIS PAPER:SIGNIFICANCE: • It addresses the importance of segmentation in foreign nations using Turkey as an

example. Also the writer gives a valid argument as to the value of learning about consumer ethnocentrism and lifestyle dimensions.

CONTRIBUTION:• The paper goes beyond existing knowledge on consumer ethnocentrism and lifestyle

dimension to test existing scales in Turkey. The writer also adds to the knowledge on Turkish consumers for Firms that exist or hope to interact with consumers in Turkey.

 

ORGANIZATION:• The paper is generally well presented and defines knowledge in the field of consumer

behavior. The flow is well organized from the building of arguments to the inferences made using the literature provided.

EVALUATION OF THIS PAPER:RELEVANT LITERATURE:• Since the paper was published in 1997, the literature is fairly recent and represents up to

date information applicable to the study.

 

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS:• Appropriate definition of the survey methods and designs were given and an extensive

statistical interpretation of results used.

 

INTERESTING PAPER?• Yes. It does engage the reader into thinking about how their country would be evaluated

using the CETSCALE and AIO Statements.

 

OVERALL EVALUATION:• Overall, this was an interesting paper that was well supported with literature and findings.

FUTURE RESEARCH & NEW DEVELOPMENTS • Future research could look into how the cultural attributes of consumers lead to their

lifestyles and ethnocentric nature. For instance are consumers from countries with a high power distance more susceptible to being ethnocentric or otherwise?

• Most recently, consumer ethnocentrism has been widely researched with the latest article found published in 2007 by Altintas et al. and titled “Cultural openness and consumer ethnocentrism: an empirical analysis of Turkish consumers”. 

 • As the above article, other writers have also incorporated other elements into consumer

ethnocentrism like Elliot et al., 2006, “A less-developed country perspective of consumer ethnocentrism and “country of origin” effects: Indonesian evidence”.

 • Other articles related to this field listed on wiki/.