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An Assessment of the Consumer Ethnocentric Scale

(CETSCALE) in an Advanced and Transitional Country:
The Case of Canada and Russia
Kojo Saffu
Brock University, Canada
John Hugh Walker
Brock University, Canada
Improving our understanding of the proclivities, preferences and attitudes of consumers
for foreign products is a precursor to a successful foray into international markets. The
need for a measure that is cross-culturally valid and reliable underpins such a goal.
This paper addresses such an issue by evaluating the properties of the CETSCALE for
measuring consumer ethnocentrism in an advanced country, Canada and a country in
transition, Russia. Ourfindings are both consistent and inconsistent with prior studies.
We found the CETSCALE to be a reliable measure in both Canada and Russia with
Cronbach alphas of 0.933 and 0.925 for Canada and Russia respectively. However our
findings pertaining to the scale's uni-dimensionality was inconclusive. While the scale
was uni-dimensional in Canada, it was multi-dimensional in Russia. Marketing and
research implications are discussed.

Introduction
Since the demise of communism in Russia, a new optimism has become apparent even
to the cursory viewer of Russia's economic landscape. The ensuing market reforms
under President Putin have led to what can be described as an economic renaissance in
Russia. Perhaps, the renaissance is exemplified by the revival of St Petersburg for its
300th year celebrations (The St Petersburg Times, Tuesday, May 27 2003). The reforms
have led to numerous bilateral relations between Russia and western advanced countries
including Canada. Several multinational companies have also availed themselves of
the opportunities and entered into joint ventures with Russian partners (Wall Street
Journal, November 1 1990; Wall Street Journal, April 26 1996: B7) and also to promote
their brands (Corner, 1989; Durvasula et. al., 1997).
Associated with the developments evolving from the reforms in Russia has been an
increased tempo of governmental and commercial relations between Russia and Canada.
It is essential to understand the behaviour of Russian and Canadian consumers toward
foreign products. Successful conduct of business will be dependent on how well
marketers understand the attitudes of consumers to foreign and home made products
(Durvasula et. al., 1997). The need for a measure that can be used to assess Russian
consumers' receptiveness of foreign products will be of immense help to Canadian
businesses and vice versa. Essentially, the way Russian consumers feel about Canadian
products as well as the way Canadian consumers feel about Russian products will go a
long way to building more satisfied consumers and ultimately more profitable businesses.

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However, this cannot be achieved until consumers' receptiveness to products can be

measured with an instrument that is cross-culturally valid and reliable.
Scholars have called for cross-cultural validation of measures (Ayeb, 2001; Netemeyer
et al 1991; Shimp and Sharma, 1987; Shimp, 1984) because the appropriateness and
rigour of measures as well as their validation may affect the conclusions that are drawn
(Scandura and Williams, 2000; Sackett and Larson, 1990). According to Cook, and
Campbell (1976) when measures are unreliable, they threaten internal validity. This is
especially the case where scale is used in cross-cultural settings because of the likelihood
of great variation of psychometric properties across cultures (Parameswaran and Yaprak,
1987). Given such concerns, an assessment of the CETSCALE is needed especially if it
is to be used in the international arena. Researchers have been advised to use the scale
in countries in transition such as Russia (Netemeyer et al., 1991; Duravasula et al.,
1997).
The aim of this paper is to compare the psychometric properties of the CETSCALE in
Canada and Russia and to ascertain the scale's cross-cultural reliability and validity.
Given the differences in western (e.g. Canadian) and non-western (e.g. Russian) cultures
(Hofstede, 1980) and the fact that scale properties vary across cultures (Shimp and
Sharma, 1987), this study is warranted. Unless this study is done any conclusions reached
may not be valid and reliable (Cook and Campbell, 1976; Douglas and Craig, 1983;
Parameswaran and Yaprak, 1987).
The paper is structured as follows: First, to position the paper, the context of the study
is provided by highlighting the importance of the relations between Canada and Russia.
This is followed by a brief review of prior ethnocentrism research. Methodology is
presented, followed by discussion of the results. The paper concludes with a discussion
of the implications of the study's fmdings for marketing and research.

Context of study
Evidence of the strengthening of the relations between Canada and Russia can be
surmised from the following: exchanges at the highest level of government, economic
and technical co-operation, and trade and investment.
Recent Canada - Russia exchanges have been at the highest levels of government. For
instance, in February 2002, under "The Team Canada" visit, Jean Chretien, the Prime
Minister of Canada, led a team comprising 12 of the 13 Provincial Premiers, 5 Ministers,
250 representatives from private business and another 150 representatives of trade and
regional associations. Similarly, in 2001, Canada's ministers of Foreign Affairs,
Intergovernmental Affairs, National Defence, Heritage, Transport and the Secretary of
State visited Russia. In December 2002 the Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov
visited Canada, while President Putin also paid a state visit to Canada in December
2000. A new bilateral agreement to promote co-operation between Canadian provinces
and territories and their Russian counterparts was signed during the visit (http://
www.dfait.ca).

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Technical cooperation between Canada and Russia also provides evidence of the good
relations between the two countries. Russia accounts for Canadian International
Development Agency's (CIDA) sixth largest country programme, with over $150 million
committed to more than 200 projects. For fiscal year 2000/2001, a budget of
approximately $24 million was committed to over 50 active project (http://www.dfait.ca).
Additionally, trade between Canada and Russia has also increased. In 2000, the total
bilateral trade between Canada and Russia was $866 million, an increase of 10% over
the preceding year ($787 million in 1999). Of the $866 million in bilateral trade, $666
million represented import of goods from Russia. This was an increase of 9.6% over
1999 figures of $607 million (http://www.dfait.ca). With the current trade in favour of
Russia, it is imperative for Canadian businesses to sell more goods to Russia in order to
balance the trade imbalance.
Another indication of increased relations can be gleaned from the magnitude of Canadian
direct investment in Russia, which is estimated at $940 million. Canadian and Russian
companies are entering into joint ventures. An example of such a Canadian-Russian
joint venture is DokaGene Technologies Inc in the north west of Moscow (http://
www.dfail.ca).
With an increase in relations between Canada and Russia both at the governmental
level and at the private sector level, the need for Canadian marketers to understand the
extent to which consumers in Russia exhibit ethnocentric tendencies, country of origin
biases or other general indicators of receptiveness to foreign products cannot be
overemphasized. The same case can be made for Russian marketers to understand
Canadian consumers' attitudes toward Russian products.

Prior ethnocentrism research

Ethnocentrism is a sociological concept, which became a psychosocial construct with
relevance to individual-level personality systems as well as to the more general culturaland social-analytic frameworks (Levine and Campbell, 1972), has been borrowed by
marketers. Ethnocentrism is anchored in the belief that one's own group (the in-group)
is superior to other groups (out-groups) (Adorno et al., 1950). It represents omnipotence,
superiority acceptance of culturally identical views and ideas while rejecting culturally
dissimilar ideas or people (Shimp etal., 1987; Netemeyer etal., 1991). The implication
is that a person regards his/herowncultureassuperiorto the culture of others (Czinkota
and Ronkainen, 1998).
Consumer ethnocentrism can be found in developing and developed countries (Stein,
1987), and gives the individual a sense of identity, feelings of belongingness (Shimp
and Sharma, 1987). According to Shimp and Sharma (1987:288) the "various
ethnocentrism scales have little relevance to the study of consumer behaviour and
marketing phenomena". The CETSCALE therefore answers the plea for domain-specific
concepts in marketing and consumer behaviour (Jacoby, 1978).

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The CETSCALE is a 17 - item Likert scale developed and tested by Shimp and Sharma
(1987) to measure the extent to which consumers feel that buying foreign products is
unpatriotic or immoral because of its adverse impact on jobs and the economy. It
involves normative beliefs about morality in purchase behaviour, for example moral,
economic and social implications (Herche, 1992). To ethnocentric consumers, the
product from other countries are objects of contempt or rejection juxtaposed with local
products that are objects of national pride or duty. Shimp and Sharma (1987) defme
ethnocentrism as "beliefs held by American consumers about the appropriateness or
morality of purchasing foreign products". Purchasing foreign products is seen as wrong
as it will harm the domestic economy, having an adverse impact on domestic employment
and is unpatriotic. Previous studies have found high ethnocentrism scores are related to
reluctance to purchase foreign products and tendencies to evaluate them negatively
(Shimp and Sharma, 1987). Shimp and Sharma have advised researchers to validate the
scale.
Measuring the level of consumer ethnocentrism across countries is of interest to
multinational companies because it facilitates marketing strategies in foreign countries
such as developing product-positioning strategies in overseas markets may help explain
the bias toward domestic products (Cateora, 2000).
Research in international marketing shows that consumers evaluate products by using a
number of cues, which may be extrinsic and/or intrinsic. Bias, real or imagined, toward
products has featured prominently in the literature. One of these biases is the economic
development of the country of origin leading to the perception that products manufactured
in advanced western countries are better than those from developing or less developed
countries (Bilkey and Nes, 1982). In other words, there is the perceived correlation
between quality and country of origin; the link is the mediator in this relationship
(Okechuku, 1994; Mashewaran, 1994; Iyer and Kalita, 1997; Thakor and Katsanis,
1996).
Bilkey and Nes (1982) note that this bias or stereotype can in fact be carried over to real
evaluations leading to consumer ethnocentrism. Consumers who have this predisposition
are ethnocentric and are more likely to emphasize the positive aspects of domestic
products while non-ethnocentric consumers would be more pragmatic and evaluate
products in relative terms (Caruana and Magri, 1996). Causes of consumer ethnocentrism
include nationalism (Han, 1988), xenophobia, national or racial superiority (Ardono et
al., 1950), animosity (Klein et. al., 1995), and a feeling of immorality (Shimp and Sharma,
1987).
Preference for home products over foreign products has been consistently found in
studies (Papadopoulos et al., 1989; Shimp and Sharma, 1987; Netemeyer et al., 1991;
Sharma, Shimp and Shin, 1995). Thus, local products are more favourably assessed
even when there are no differences between the products. Locally made products have
the propensity of being selected by consumers over foreign products if they compare
favourably on all attributes (Bilkey and Nes, 1982; Han and Terpstra, 1988; Elliot and

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Cameron, 1994; Okechuku, 1994). It is reasonable to assume that consumers choose

domestic products over foreign products when they are identical on all other respects,
because of ethnocentrism (Shimp and Sharma, 1987) or prejudice against foreign
products (Sharma, Shimp and Shin, 1995).
Hypotheses
Reliability and dimensionality
To what extent can the appropriateness of the consumer ethnocentrism scale and the
associated CETSCALE measure in Canada and in Russia be assessed by examining the
psychometric properties of reliability and dimensionality? In previous studies (see for
example Netemeyer et al., 1991; Durvasula, et. al., 1997; Shimp and Sharma, 1987, and
Sharma et al.,1995), researchers found that the CETSCALE measure is reliable with
uni-dimensional factor structure. Arguably, if the CETSCALE measure is applicable
in Canada and in Russia, then the CETSCALE properties in both countries should be
comparable to those obtained in prior studies. The CETSCALE properties in Russia
have recently been examined (Dursavual et.al.,1997) using a smaller sample from
Moscow. We wish to examine the CETSCALE properties in Canada and at the same
time replicate earlier results for a different Russian data set. Erom the foregoing, we
posit that:
HI: The internal consistency estimates for the CETSCALE in Canada and Russia will
be high and comparable to earlier studies of the CETSCALE.
H2: The CETSCALE will have a uni-dimensional factor structure in Canada and in
Russia.
H3: The CETSCALE's pattern of factor loadings will be invariant across the Canadian
and Russian data sets.
Previous studies have shown that the CETSCALE mean values include 85.07 in Korea
(Sharma et al., 1995), 32.02 in Russia (Durvasula et. al., 1997) and 89.24 in Australia
(Mulye et al., 1997). In particular, we note that samples from the United States have
scores ranging from 68.58 in Detroit, 56.63 in Los Angeles (Shimp and Sharma, 1987),
and 50.24 in mid-Western sample (Durvasula et. al., 1997).
According to Andrews et al., (1994), Russian consumer attitudes toward advertising
are more favourable than the attitudes toward advertising of a Western society, the
United States. We argue that because of the proximity and the close relationship between
Canada and the United States, we believe Canadian and United States consumers may
behave in an identical fashion. Therefore, it is expected that Russian respondents will
be less ethnocentric than Canadian respondents. Erom the foregoing, we set the following
hypothesis:
H4: The mean value for the CETSCALE will be significantly higher for respondents in
Canada than for respondents in Russia.
As reported by Sharma et al., (1995), female consumers have higher ethnocentric
tendencies than males. In spite of the fact that the correlation reported is statistically

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56t

significant, it does not show a strong relationship (r=0.172). Mulye, Rickard, and
Higginson's (1997) study found a similar result. Education has been found to be
negatively correlated with measures of ethnocentric tendencies by these same researchers.
This suggests that:
H5: Consumer ethnocentric tendencies, as measured by the CETSCALE, will be
negatively correlated with levels of education and will be positively correlated for
females.

Method
Instrument
Consumer ethnocentrism was measured using the 17 Likert-item CETSCALE developed
and tested by Shimp and Sharma (1987) (.see Table 1).

Table 1. CETSCALE items and Reliability

Country

Canada Russia

Item
1. Canadian (Russian) people should always buy Canadian (Russian)-made
products instead of imports
2. Only those products that are unavailable in Canada (Russia) should be
imported
.3. Buy Canadian (Russian)-made products. Keep Canada (Russia) working.
4. Canadian (Russian) products, first, last and foremost.
5. Purchasing foreign products is un-Canadian (Russian).
6. It is not right to purchase foreign products, because it puts Canadians
(Russians) out of jobs.
7. A real Canadian (Russian) should always buy Canadian (Russian)-made
products
8. We should purchase products manufactured in Canada (Russia) instead
of letting other countries get rich off us.
9. It is always best to purchase Canadian (Russian) products.
10. There should be very little trading or purchasing of goods from other
countries unless out of necessary.
11. Canadians (Russians) should not buy foreign products, because this
hurts Canadian (Russian) business and causes unemployment.
12. Curbs should be put on all imports.
13. It may cost me in the long run but 1 prefer to support Canadian (Russian)
products.
14. Foreigners should not be allowed to put their products on our markets.
15. Foreign products should be taxed heavily to reduce their entry into
Canada (Russia).
16. We should buy from foreign countries only those products that we cannot
obtain within our own country.
17. Canadian (Russian) consumers who purchase products in other countries
are responsible for putting their fellow Canadians (Russians) out of work.

Scores*
0.9.'^14 0,9208

* alpha scores on the deletion of an item

0.9.^19 0.9198
0.9.'!09
0.9287
0.9293
0.9271

0.9229
0.919.'i
0.9241
0.9190

0.9265 0.9196
0.9263 0.9168
0.9295 0.9172
0.9283 0.9222
0.9267 0.9196
0.9307 0.9244
0.9315 0.9232
0.9267 0.9224
0.9272 0.9219
0.9300 0.9179
0.9289 0.9219

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High reliabilities have been reported in studies using the scale (Shimp, Shin and Sharma,
1995; Netemeyer etal., 1991). All items were measured on a 7-point scale, with 1 being
Strongly Disagree and 7 being Strongly Agree. Additional questions addressing
demographic information on gender, age group, and education level were included in
the questionnaire containing the 17-item CETSCALE. The age groups were 18 to 29;
30 to 39; 40 to 49; 50 to 59; 60 to 69; and over. An ordinal scale was used to measure
educational level as follows: 1= Completed elementary, 2= High school graduate, 3=First
degree, 4=Masters/doctoral degree, and 5=0ther.
Sample
As in previous studies (Netemeyer etal., 1991; Duravasula, etal., 1997), students were
used in this study. Students were used for a number of reasons. First and foremost, was
to improve homogeneity ofthe sample. This was necessary since similar proportions of
gender and age would be expected among the groups. Secondly, although these samples
may not be nationally representative, they are comparable populations in the two
countries. Thirdly, as citizens of their respective countries the students should mirror
the larger national attitudes of their countries in their ethnocentric tendencies.
The total sample was 263 students and comprised of 144 Canadian students at a major
university in Southern Ontario and 119 Russian students attending a major university
in St. Petersburg, Russia. The data was collected in the Fall of 2002 in Canada and
Russia. The questionnaire was administered during class time in each country. In Canada,
the questionnaire was administered by the authors, while in Russia, the questionnaire
was administered by two professors, who had been fully briefed on the questionnaire
administration by one ofthe authors. The questionnaire was first translated into Russian
by a Russian-English translator in St. Petersburg, Russia. The translated questionnaire
was then back-translated into English to ensure its precise meaning and the cross-cultural
equivalence ofthe language (see Berry, 1980). A second bilingual expert, a Professor
of Russian Languages at a university in Southern Ontario, provided an independent
check on the back-translation.
Approximately 42 percent of the Canadian sample was female, whereas 37 percent of
the Russian sample was female. For the Canadian sample, almost 97 percent were in
the 18 to 29 age group, and for the Russian sample, 98 percent were in this age category.
With respect to education, almost 95 percent ofthe Canadian students were high school
graduates, while 97 percent of the Russian students were high school graduates.
Therefore, with regard to the demographic data, these two groups are closely matched.
As stated by Douglas etal., (1994) and Irvine, etal., (1980), these groups are considered
appropriate for cross-national theory testing.
Data Analysis
For analysing the data, we used the following statistical programs SAS'''8.2 and
SPSS'"! 1.5 in conjunction with AMOS4.0. The two statistical software packages were
employed for different analyses because ofthe unique features offered by each package.

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Results and Discussion

Scale Reliability
CETSCALE's internal consistency was determined using Cronbach's alpha for the 17item scale first for both groups, and then for the complete sample. The results are
presented in Table 2,
The estimates are high for Canada (0.933), for Russia (0,925), and for the whole sample
(0,929), Evidently, all the scales are reliable, since all the values exceed the 0.70 rule
suggested by Nunnally (1978), Therefore, the reliability estimates from the samples
support Hypothesis 1. It is worth noting that all the alpha scores for Canada and for
Russia upon the deletion of a particular item, as presented in Table I, are less than the
corresponding alpha values in Table 2. These indicate that none of the items should be
deleted from the CETSCALE, This further supports the stability of the scale. Further
evidence of the reliability of the CETSCALE in the samples is provided by the itemtotal correlations ranging from 0,536 to 0.758 in Canada, from 0,511 to 0,771 in Russia,
and from 0,528 to 0,768 in the whole sample. The variance extracted for both samples
is also reported in Table 2, These values are quite close to the 0,50 benchmark reported
by Hatcher (1994).
Known Group Validity
The scores on the 17-item CETSCALE range from 17 to 119 due to the 7-point Likerttype scale. A summary of the mean scores for the two groups are provided in Table 3,
The mean CETSCALE score for Canada (48,611) was statistically significantly lower
than the mean CETSCALE score for Russia (53.454), These values are within the
ranges reported by other researchers (Durvasula et al,, 1997; Shimp and Sharma, 1987),
Therefore, we refute hypothesis 4, It is interesting to note that based on these results,
Russian respondents are more ethnocentric than Canadian respondents. Perhaps, the
younger generation of Russian consumers may be exhibiting more tendencies to buying
domestic products than the consumers who were studied by Netemeyer et al, (1997)
over a decade ago, who had a mean CETSCALE score of 32,02, It is noted that nonparametric tests were employed because ofthe non-continuous nature ofthe CETSCALE

Table 2. Internal Consistency

Canada

Russia

Complete Sample

Composite Reliability
(Cronbach a)

0,933

0,925

0,929

Variance Extracted

0,463

0,435

Note for the two factor Russian model we have items 10; 12-16 on Factor 2; the rest on
Factor 1

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scores. Individual item analysis was also conducted, and is provided in Table 3, Three
items, item 5, item 10, and item 15 were statistically significantly different in the two
groups. These particular items may lead to the overall differences in the mean
CETSCALE scores for the two samples. Item 5 suggests that buying domestic products
are more important to the Russian respondents than to the Canadian respondents. Item
10 shows that Russian respondents believe buying other countries products should only
be done out of necessity. This view was not as strongly supported by the Canadian
respondents. Finally, item 15 illustrates the need for taxing foreign products more
heavily in Russia than in Canada, These three items support the more ethnocentric
tendencies ofthe Russian respondents when compared with the Canadian respondents.

Table 3. Wilcoxon Rank-Sum Test Table of item means

Canada

Russia

Wilcoxon W
(p=two-sided
Normal Aproximation)

Item 1

3,097

2,992

15221,50 (p=0,4197)

0,1050

Item 2

3,181

3,412

16113,00 (p=0,5038)

-0,2310

Item 3

4,597

4,412

15395,00 (p=0,6047)

0,1850

Item 4

3,174

3,529

16605,50 (p=0.1373)

-0,3550

Item 5

1,993

2,773

17391,00 (p=0,0040)

-0,7800

Item 6

2,590

2,958

16643,50 (p=0.1193)

-0.3680

Item 7

2,174

2,361

15953,00 (p=0.6750)

-0.1870

Items

2,806

3,361

17104,00 (p=0.2070)

-0.5550

Item 9

3,479

3,143

14585,50 (p=O.6O35)

0,3360

Item 10

2,632

3,218

17383,50 (p=O.OO53)

-0,5860

Item 11

2,715

3,134

16871,00 (p=0,0528)

-0,4190

Item 12

2,750

3,109

16311,00(p=0,3166)

-0,3590

Item 13

3,750

3,714

15543,00 (p=0,7856)

0,0360

Item 14

2,000

2,050

15965.00 (p=0,6500)

-0,0500

Item 15

2,500

3,538

18604.50 (p<0.0001)

-1.0380

Item 16

3,083

3,471

16814.50 (p=0.0672)

-0.3880

Item 17

2,090

2,277

16047,00 (p=0.5591)

-0.1870

Total (CETSCALE) 48,611

53,454

16973,50 (p=0.0393)

-4.8430

Mean
Difference

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Dimensionality
Factor analysis was undertaken to test the hypothesis regarding the uni-dimensional
structure ofthe CETSCALE and to examine the stability ofthe CETSCALE across the
Canadian and Russian samples. Prior to conducting the factor analysis, we examined
the appropriateness of conducting factor analysis on the data. The Bartlett's test of
sphericity and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sample adequacy were carried out.
The results are presented in Table 4. For the Canadian data, the values were 1415,54
(p <0.000) and 0.926, and for the Russian data the values were 1153,59 (p < 0,000) and
0,897. These values indicate that factor analysis could be appropriately carried out on
the data sets since Bartlett's test of sphericity results indicate that the variables are
coilinear, and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin results indicate that the variables are measuring
a common measure.

Table 4. Properties of the CETSCALE for Canada and for Russia

Dimensionality
Russia: Two
Canada: Single Russia: Single
Factor (n = 144) Factor (n= 119) Factors (n= 119)
Chi-Square,,^ (null)

1482,95

1220,84

1220,84

Chi-Square,!, (1 factor model)

Chi-Square|||, (2 factor model)

316,38

358,40

332,25

Chi-Square/df

2,66

3,012

2.816

CFI

0,853

0,779

0,803

GFI

0,779

0,726

0,744

AGFI

0,716

0,648

0,669

Bentler and Bonnett's NNFI

0,833

0.748

0.772

Bentler and Bonnett's NFI

0,787

0.706

0.728

RMSEA

0.108

0.131

0.124

INormalized Residual| >1.96

Number of Item Loadings

statistically significant at p< 0,01

all

all

all

1415,54,
p<0,000,
df=136

1153.59,
p<0,000,
df=ll6

1153,59,
p<0,000,
df=116

0,926

0,897

0,897

Bartlett's Test of Sphericity

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure
of sampling adequacy

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As suggested by Hatcher (1994), exploratory data analysis was conducted because we

wanted to examine the common variance among the items and not the total variance in
the data sets. Using the eigenvalue greater than one rule in conjunction with a 10% rule
for the proportion of common variation explained by a factor as well as varimax rotation
gave rise to a single factor solution for Canada and a two factor solution for Russia. In
Canada the single factor accounted for 83,07% of the common variance while the two
factor solution for Russia had the first factor accounting for 75,63% of the common
variance and the second factor accounting for 11,09% of the common variance. The
finding for Russia contradicts the findings of previous consumer ethnocentrism studies,
which reported a uni-dimensional scale structure (see Netemeyer et al,, 1991; Durvasula
et, al., 1997; Sharma et al,, 1995; and Shimp and Sharma, 1987), In particular, the first
ethnocentrism study in Russia (according to the authors) found the scale to have a unidimensional structure. However, other researchers, (Herche, 1990; and Mulye et al,,
(1997) have found two factor solutions while Marcoux et al., (1997) has found a three
factor solution.
Before refuting Hypothesis 2, the data sets were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis
using AMOS 4,0,1. Because of the uncertainty regarding the uni-dimensional structure
for the CETSCALE in Russia, one factor and two factor models were constructed for
the Russian data. For the two-factor model, items 1 through 9, item 11, and item 17
were the manifest variables on one factor while item 10 and items 12 through 16 were
the manifest variables on the other factor, A covariance term between the two factors
was included in the model, along with residual terms for all the items (see Byrne, 2001).
The goodness-of-fit indices for the models are presented in Table 4, The one factor
model for Canada and the two factor model for Russia both satisfy the convention that
the Chi-square per degree of freedom should be less than 3, In addition, all the other
indices indicate that for Russia, the two factor model is superior to the one factor model.
Based on these results, we reject hypothesis three, that the CETSCALE is unidimensional across the two countries. Because the uni-dimensionality ofthe CETSCALE
was rejected, it is impossible to garner support for an invariant factor structure across
Canada and Russia. Therefore, we also reject hypothesis 4.
Demographic Factors
A number of tests were conducted to ascertain the impact of the demographic factors
and their relationship with the CETSCALE scores. Firstly, Fisher's Exact test was used
to examine differences in the demographic variables between the countries. No
differences were noted for gender (p=0,45) and age (p=0,32), although differences
were noted for education (p < 0.000). Spearman Rank Correlations were calculated for
the three demographic variables. The correlations (and p-values) are 0,032 (p=0,608);
0,065 (p=0,290); and 0,023 (p=0,713), respectively for gender; age; and education.
Therefore, we reject hypothesis 5, Based on our findings, education is not negatively
correlated with the CETSCALE and gender is not positively correlated with the
CETSCALE, Therefore, we reject hypothesis 5,

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Conclusion and Implications

This study set out to compare the psychometric properties of the CETSCALE, an
instrument that is known to capture the ethnocentrism of consumers, in a cro.ss-cultural
context involving Canada, an advanced country, and Russia, a country in transition. In
so doing, the study answers the call for validating instruments that are to he u,sed in
international studies (Parameswaran and Yaprak, 1987; Shimp and Sharma, 1987; Shimp
1984), The study also underscores our need to understand the receptiveness of consumers
in an advanced western country such as Canada, and a non-western transitioning country
such as Russia, to foreign made products. By so doing, the study adds to our knowledge
of the stability of international consumer behaviour.
As a result ofthe increased bilateral and trade relations between Canada and Russia, it
is imperative to understand how the receptiveness ofCanadian and Russian consumers
to the goods made in each trading partner's country. Even more importantly, given that
trade is skewed in Russia's favour, it behooves Canadian businesses to understand the
ethnocentrism of Russian consumers.
Earlier studies have reported high reliability and validity and stability as well as unidimensionality of the CETSCALE in the US, ( Netemeyer et al,, 1991; Shimp and
Sharma, 1987 ), A recent study, and perhaps the first consumer ethnocentrism study in
Russia (Durvasula et al,, 1997) found the scale to be reliable, valid, stable and unidimensional. The data for the above study was collected in the Spring of 1992 and
reported in 1997, using a sample of 60 students from two Russian universities (Durvasula,
Craig, and Netemeyer, 1997). Our study is consistent with prior studies with regard to
the reliability of the CETSCALE with alphas of 0,933 and 0.925 for Canada and Russia
respectively. However, the finding relating to the scale's dimensionality was consistent
only for Canada but inconsistent with a recent study for Russia,
We determined the appropriateness of the data set for factor analysis by using the
Bartlett's test of sphericity and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sample adequacy.
The tests indicated that the variables were coilinear, and that the variables were
measuring a common factor, Eollowing Hatcher's (1994) advise, we conducted
exploratory data analysis to examine the common variance among the items and not the
total variance in the data sets. Using the eigenvalue greater than one rule in conjunction
with a 10% rule for the proportion of common variation explained by a factor and
varimax rotation resulted in a single factor solution for Canada and a two factor solution
for Russia. In Canada the single factor accounted for 83,07% ofthe common variance.
For Russia, the first factor accounted for 75,63% of the common variance and the second
factor accounted for 11,09% ofthe common variance.
Because ofthe uncertainty regarding the uni-dimensional structure for the CETSCALE
in Russia, we constructed one factor and two factor models for the Russian data. For
the two-factor model, items 1 through 9, item 11, and item 17 were the manifest variables
on one factor while item 10 and items 12 through 16 were the manifest variables

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(exogenous/endogenous) on the other factor. A covariance term between the two factors
was included in the model, along with residual terms for all the items. The goodnessof-fit indices for the models showed that the one factor model for Canada and the two
factor model for Russia both satisfied the rule that the Chi-square per degree of freedom
should be less than 3, Additionally, all the other indices indicate that for Russia, the
two-factor model is superior to the one factor model.
Our study shows that Russians (with a CETSCALE mean of 53,454) are more
ethnocentric than Canadians (CETSCALE mean of 48.611), Proximity of Canada and
the US and the fact that they are the biggest trading partners, with 85% of Canada's
exports accounted for by the US, one would think that long period of trading would
impact on the way the two countries accept foreign products. The rapidity of the
changes in Russia may explain the shift in ethnocentrism of the samples used in the
earlier study and the current one, Durvasula et al., (1997) found the Russian sample to
be less consumer ethnocentric and had more accepting beliefs and attitudes toward
foreign products than their US sample.
It is plausible to argue that three or four years after the fall of communism coupled with
Putin government's efforts to turn the economy around may explain the differences in
the CETSCALE results. Perhaps, another study should be undertaken in 10 years time
to determine if a shift in the CETSCALE has occurred, and the direction of the shift.
Marketing implications
The findings have implications for marketing managers in Canada and Russia, Canadian
firms that plan to do business in Russia should consider the moderate ethnocentricity of
Russian consumers in their segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies. For
instance, Canadian marketers in Russia should exercise caution in using the country of
origin label in their promotion. Rather, they should explore the possibilities of employing
a nationalistic theme in a buy 'made-in-Russia' campaign. Similarly, Russian marketers
should factor the Canadians' less ethnocentric tendencies into the marketing strategies
in Canada, Perhaps, more emphasis should be put on quality and price considerations
and less on made-in-Russia label in marketing to Canadians,
Research implications
As in previous studies (Shimp and Sharma, 1987; Netemeyer et al 1991; Durvasuala et,
al,, 1997) students were used in the current study. Although the use of students provides
homogeneity in the samples (Durvasualaet, al,, 1997; Douglas et, al., 1994 ) as well as
being the- leaders of tomorrow's consumers their opinions are important (Evans and
Birch, 1994), different segments of the population above the age group should be
investigated, tt may be worthwhile studying this subgroup over a long period of time to
see if their attitudes change over time or stay the same as they become educated middle
class consumers in the market-driven Russian economy.
It is possible that other subgroups may exhibit different receptiveness of foreign products.
Finding the CETSCALE scores of other sub-groups would be helpful to Canadian

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businesses in determining which consumer segments show ethnocentric or nonethnocentric propensities.

A longitudinal study in a rapidly changing environment such as Russia is recommended
(Durvaisual et al,, 1997) to ascertain the validity ofthe findings of this study. In particular,
further research is needed to determine the CETSCALE's dimensionality over a long
period of time. It is interesting that an earlier study (Netemeyer et al,, 1997) found the
scale's factor structure to be uni-dimensional while the current study with a much larger
sample size, a two-factor model was superior to one-factor model (see Table 4). Perhaps,
a study done in ten year's time may unearth different, but nonetheless interesting results.
Limitations
It is important to draw attention to limitations that confront this study. The first limitation
pertains to the use of students in the study. While students provided sample homogeneity
(Douglas et, al,, 1994), the question of how representative they are of the general
population is worth raising. Another limitation is the size ofthe sample and the fact that
the sample is drawn from one city in Russia, making generalisability of the findings
problematic, A third limitation relates to the artificiality of the buying scenarios that the
respondents had to contend with. In spite ofthe limitations this study contributes to the
ethnocentrism literature in two ways. First, it answers the call for researchers to focus
attention on countries undergoing market reforms (Durvasula et al,, 1997; Netemeyer
et al,, 1991), Second, it also answers the plea for researchers to undertake cross-national
assessment ofthe psychometric properties of instruments (Parammesweran and Yaprak,
1987; Shimp and Sharma, 1987),

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