Culture mzb

Consumer Ethnocentrism and Conspicuous
Consumption of Domestic and Foreign
Consumer Goods in Mozambique, a
Less-Developed SADC Country

ANNA V. JOHN*,1 AND MALCOLM P. BRADY*

ABSTRACT he focus of this study is on implications of consumer ethnocentrism and conspicuousness on buyers’ behaviour in one of the least researched but rapidly growing economic groups in the world – the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This study examines how ethnocentric tendencies and conspicuousness of foreign products influence consumer preferences in the context of imports from South Africa, the most developed
SADC state, into Mozambique, the least developed SADC state. The survey involved 273 representatives of different ethnic groups. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the model and hypotheses (using LISREL 8.8). The paper suggests that the outcome of the consumer dilemma between ethnocentric consumption of domestic products on the one hand, and conspicuous consumption of foreign products on the other, depends upon the consumption mode of products – whether products are publicly or privately consumed. T

Key Words: Mozambique; South Africa; consumer ethnocentrism; conspicuousness
INTRODUCTION
The rapid pace of integration in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has revealed new opportunities and challenges for international marketers in the region. A free trade area was established for the twelve member states of the SADC in January 2008, resulting in a significant reduction of tariff barriers (Free Trade Area, 2008; Southern African
Development Community, 2009). However, new non-tariff and intangible barriers have been re-enforced by national governments. One such barrier is consumer ethnocentrism.
* DCU Business School, Dublin City University

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42 Consumption of Domestic and Foreign Consumer Goods in Mozambique

A factor of domestic product bias, consumer ethnocentrism is