The Attitudes Underlying Preferences of Young Urban Educated Polish Consumers Towards Products Made in Western Countries

Jean-Sébastien Marcoux
Pierre Filiatrault
Emmanuel Chéron

ABSTRACT. This research deals with the influence of socio-cultural variables on preferences of Polish consumers towards specific products made in Poland versus the same products made in Western countries. A convenience sample of 265 Polish university students was used to assess the impact of ethnocentrism, susceptibility to interpersonal influence, conspicuous consumption and demographic variables on the preferred country of origin of clothing, cosmetics and electronic products. Results show that patriotism as a dimension of ethnocentrism is related to the preference towards Polish products, while social status demonstration, as a dimension of conspicuous consumption, is related to the preference towards Western products.

INTRODUCTION

The Central European Free Trade Area (CEFTA) agreement, has been signed by Poland, Hungary, and the Czech and Slovak Republics. It will result in the removal of trade barriers among these four countries starting on January 1^st 1998, thus creating a market of 64 million consumers (Business Central Europe, 1994(a)). Five years after the beginning of the transition of these countries (sometimes designated as Popular Democracies (Fejtö, 1952; 1969), Popular Logocracies (Milosz [1953] 1988), and post-socialist countries) towards a market economy, there is yet very little ethnographic information available on the extent and the nature of the impact of the planned economy on each of these countries. The aim of this research is to improve our understanding of consumption behavior in post-socialist countries. This research deals with the impact of the awareness of the country of origin of given products on preferences of Polish consumers from a cultural perspective. The premise is that goods have symbol-carrying cultural meanings, and that they acquire such meanings through interactions and interpretations of individuals consuming them. Consumers' preferences towards a particular product's origin are influenced by their social environment. The purpose of this study is to specifically identify the attitudes underlying Polish consumers' preferences for products made in Western countries, and thus increase our knowledge and understanding of consumer behavior in post-socialist countries.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The study of consumer behavior has evolved since the Information Processing Model (Bettman, 1979) assumed that the individual is logical in his/her buying process. This model was criticized because it failed to treat different consumption phenomena motivated by symbolic meanings (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982). Individuals are not always looking for efficiency and economy, but also for distraction, aesthetic, expression, etc. (Boyd and Levy, 1963). Calling for a broadening of theoretical frameworks of consumer behavior, many authors pleaded in favor of the study of all consumption forms (Holbrook, 1986), being inspired by European semiology and American semiotic (Levy, 1959, 1963, 1981; Hirschman, 1980; Kehret-Ward, Johnson and Louie, 1985; Mick, 1986; Holbrook, 1986; O'Shaughnessy and Holbrook, 1988; Nöth, 1988; Stern, 1988; Grafton-Small and Linstead, 1989). These are the study of signs, meanings and production of symbols. Fantasy, emotion and pleasant aspects of consumption were then tackled from an experiential point of view. The Experiential View is a phenomenological perspective that perceives consumption as a primary state of consciousness having a variety of symbolic meanings, responses and hedonist criteria (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Olshavsky and Granbois, 1979). The basis of the traditional Information Processing Model is the optimization of the utility of a product under the basis of an utilitarian evaluation of its tangible characteristics. Nevertheless, it neglects emotional aspects. On the other hand, the Experiential View leaves out different factors such as economic conditions, expectations, some elements of the marketing mix (price, distribution), perceived risk and conflicts, but mostly the social influence of the consumers' reference groups (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982 ; Business Central Europe, 1994) which is the aim of the Symbolic Interactionism Perspective.

Acquisition, possession and consumption are activities taking place in a process of impressions creation or identity management which is, according to Belk (1978), an interactive process concerning both the image of goods consumed and that of the individuals consuming them. The Symbolic Interactionism Perspective deals with the relationship between consumers and the products they consume, and suggests that a significant proportion of consumption behaviors consist of social behaviors, and vice versa (Solomon, 1983). This leads us to consider the importance of socialization processes (family, reference groups) through which individuals learn the meanings of symbols and those of consumption. With the aforementioned meanings being negotiated and built through interactions with others, consumption is not only an individual activity, but also a social process of goods definition (Gallant and Kleinman, 1983). Since individuals are often motivated to acquire products according to what they mean to them and to members of their social reference groups (Leigh and Gabel, 1992), their behavior is subject to the pressures of cultural norms and the expectations of socialization institutions rules such as those coming from family and other reference groups (Faber, O'Guinn and McCarthy, 1987; Engel, Blackwell and Miniard, 1993). Thus, Symbolic Interactionism Perspective considers the human spirit as fundamentally social, and dependent on shared symbols. The symbols being generated at a global level (Geertz, 1973; Solomon, 1983; McCracken, 1986, 1988; Leigh and Gabel, 1992), the Symbolic Interactionism Perspective accepts as precept the fact that society and its culture precede every individual action, and that a cultural consensus results from interactions, communication, and negotiation between social actors (Charon, 1989).

If, at a conceptual level, the consumption good becomes an instrument of communication, at an operational level, image variables may be regarded as the intangible attributes of the product that carry cultural and social meanings. According to Erickson, Johansson and Chao (1984), an image variable is defined as "some aspect of the product that is distinct from its physical characteristics but that is nevertheless identified with the product". The image variables emerge from four cognitive representations individuals have of their environment: the symbolism of advertising, the celebrity endorsement, the brand, and the country of origin of the product.

In this paper, we focus on the country origin of the product. The made-in is considered by Dichter (1962) as the fifth element of the marketing mix, and is defined as the country where are located the corporate headquarters of the organization doing the marketing of the product or the brand (Johansson, Douglas and Nonaka, 1985). The country of origin carries a rhetoric that influences consumers' preconceptions towards the products of a country. Its meaning can be conceived as an indication serving as a basis of evaluation (Bilkey and Nes, 1982), when one considers a product as a bundle of information. Consequently, according to Kaynak and Cavusgil (1983), the images of a foreign country that are formed by consumers are made of cognitive, affective and behavioral components. The first one represents the perceived characteristics of the country. The second one concerns the appreciation or not of those characteristics, and the third one corresponds to the actions about the country that the consumer feels are appropriate. A tendency to evaluate positively the local production compared to imported production, and a bias in favor of industrialized countries have been found in previous studies (Bilkey and Nes, 1982; Cordell, 1992). This does not mean the consumer will not buy the product, but rather that he is not inclined to do so (Schooler, 1971). "When entering foreign markets, sellers often face quotas, tariffs, and non-tariff barriers. In addition, they may face an intangible barrier in the form of consumer bias on the basis of product origin" (Schooler, 1971).

The informational value of the country of origin was also found to vary according to the level of involvement of the consumer in purchasing the product and the presence of other cues such as brand name, guarantee and price (Ahmed and d'Astous, 1993). In a recently published meta-analysis of country-of-origin effects, Peterson and Jolibert (1995) conclude that the average effect size is lower (0.19) for purchase intention, higher (0.30) for quality/reliability perceptions and context dependent. More specifically, they found that the characteristics of the study (research design, type of respondents, study cues, sample size, stimulus context etc.) influence the relative effect of country-of-origin to a lesser degree for quality/reliability perceptions than for purchase intention. However, the type of respondents (students, consumers or businesspeople) had no influence on quality/reliability perceptions.

Purpose of the study

Although the country of origin concept has been the subject of many studies, little attention has been paid to its influence on consumption in post-socialist countries. According to Krzysztof Pawlak, director of POLLENA EWA, a Polish company, counting on consumers' patriotism is "a dubious bet, since it is still unclear how much they care about product origin". Referring to research on consumers conducted by his company, Pawlak adds: "if you ask if it is important to buy Polish products, 90% say it is [¼] But if you ask what shampoo they bought last week, 90% bought Western" (Business Central Europe, 1994(b)). Traditional marketing variables such as quality, value and availability may account for this difference. In this research, consumer preferences are measured while controlling for differences in traditional marketing variables by specifically asking respondents to only consider the origin of manufacture. Thus, the original contribution of this research is to measure the influence of socio-cultural variables on the preferences "ceteris paribus" of consumers in a post-socialist country towards products made in Poland versus products made in Western countries.

Hypotheses

The dependent variable under study is the consumer's preference for a product made in Western countries. This variable is likely to be influenced by ethnocentrism (Shimp and Sharma, 1987), by susceptibility to interpersonal influence (Bearden, Netemeyer and Teel, 1989), and by the conceptual meanings of conspicuous consumption.

First, the conceptual framework takes into account the three dimensions of the ethnocentrism scale, which are: protectionism, socio-economic conservatism, and patriotism. These variables are relevant because the meaning of consumption ethnocentrism consists of an understanding of what purchase is acceptable or not for the consumer in relation to his reference group. According to Shimp and Sharma (1987): "From the perspective of ethnocentric consumers, purchasing imported products is wrong because, in their minds, it hurts the domestic economy, causes loss of jobs, and is plainly unpatriotic [...], to non-ethnocentric consumers, however, foreign products are objects to be evaluated on their own merits without consideration for where they are made". This leads us to formulate a first hypothesis:

H₁: No dimensions of the ethnocentrism scale (CETSCALE) influence consumers' preferences towards clothing, cosmetics, and electronic products of Western relative to Polish origin.

Second, the conceptual framework also comprises the two dimensions of the interpersonal susceptibility scale (sensitivity to others’opinions) which are: the normative and informational influences. The choice of these variables rests upon the influence of social referents in the symbolic consumption phenomena, as suggested by the Symbolic Interactionism Perspective. According to Bearden, Netemeyer and Teel (1989), the interpersonal susceptibility construct is defined as "the need to identify with or enhance one's image in the opinion of significant others through the acquisition and use of products and brands, the willingness to conform to the expectations of others regarding purchase decisions, and/or the tendency to learn about products and services by observing others or seeking information from others". Accordingly, a second hypothesis is formulated :

H₂: No dimensions of the interpersonal susceptibility scale influence consumers'preferences towards clothing, cosmetics, and electronic products of Western relative to Polish origin.

Third, the conceptual framework integrates the five dimensions of a scale of the meanings of conspicuous consumption developed, tested and evaluated for reliability by Marcoux, Filiatrault and Chéron (1995). The structure of the scale, the final items included, associated components and reliabilities are presented in Appendix 3. As this research deals more specifically with symbolic aspects of consumption, and as conspicuous consumption is a multidimensional construct whose meanings depend on social referents, the influence of these meanings on preferences are also investigated. Those five meanings are: 1) materialistic hedonism (which brings together information acquisition and pleasant aspects of consumption), 2) communication of belonging to/dissociation from a group (concerns the association in a positive or negative way to demographic, socio-economic, ethnic or cultural stereotypes), 3) social status demonstration (which includes success, wealth, and prestige), 4) interpersonal mediation (which corresponds to the influence of social relations), and 5) ostentation (which rely on buying a product because of its high price, and the fact that this price is known by others). This leads to a third hypothesis:

H₃: No dimensions of the meanings of conspicuous consumption scale influence consumers'preferences towards clothing, cosmetics, and electronic products of Western relative to Polish origin.

In addition, the influence of socio-economic variables such as age, income, and sex are also taken into account, as well as previous buying behavior. Age will influence preference if consumers are young adults more open to changes and Western influences (Bar-Haïm, 1987). Income is influential because of its link with discretionary income, hence to the consumer's capacity to buy or not to buy luxury goods. Sex is often an important exploratory variable linked to preferences towards the purchase of various products. Finally, previous buying behavior is included as past experience may influence actual and future preferences of consumers.

METHODOLOGY

Data collection was carried out in Poland. The questionnaire was first prepared in French, and pretested during the winter 1994 among 10 Polish individuals now living or staying in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Because of limited time and money, the pretest was conducted in Canada using Polish residents. We are aware that it could have been better to pretest the questionnaire in Poland to avoid cultural biases resulting from the North American acculturation of respondents.

The questionnaire was then translated from French to Polish by one translator, and independently back-translated from Polish to French by a second one to ensure a lexical equivalence between the two languages (Campbell and Werner, 1970). The questionnaire was administered in Poland during the spring of 1994, among a sample of Polish university students in management and economics, living in the following urban centers: Warsaw (Central School of Economics), Gdansk (Faculty of Economics of the University of Gdansk) and Cracow (Academy of Economy of Cracow). Although the sample of students comprises some potential statistical biases (Park and Lessig, 1977), this method was chosen because of the ease of access and the familiarity of this population with the products under study, which was also expected to improve external validity. The questionnaire was administered with the help of one research assistant in each university. These collaborators established contact with teachers (professors and assistants) who accepted to distribute the questionnaire during their classes. They accompanied the researcher in each university, they supervised the students filling in the questionnaire which took an average of 20 to 25 minutes to complete, and they were also available to answer questions.

The sample of the study is a non-probabilistic convenience sample, comprising 265 respondents (see Table 1). Forty seven percent of the respondents are males. Respondents are divided into three age groups: the youngest (less than 20 years old) represent 15.3% of the sample. Those between 21-24 years old represent 75.5% of the sample, and the oldest (more than 25 years old) represent 9.2% of the sample. The majority of the respondents (56.5%) has an average income of two million zlotys per month (about US$95 at the average exchange rate at the time of the data collection). The cities of Warsaw, Gdansk, and Cracow respectively account for 63.0%, 18.9% and 18.1% of the sample.

Table 1

Distribution of the sample by sex, age, and income

			Women (n=130)										Men (n=115)
	Age	³20yrs				21-24 yrs					25 yrs+		³20yrs			21-24 yrs				25 yrs+				Total
Income/month			Freq.		%			Freq.		%	Freq.	%	Freq.		%		Freq.		%	Freq.			%			Freq.		%
Less than 2m zlotys			21	8.8			60		24.5		1	0.4		9	3.7			42	17.1		5	2.0			138		56.5
2 to 4m zlotys			2	0.8			23		9.4		3	1.2		5	2.0			26	10.6		2	0.8			61		24.9
4 to 6m zlotys			-	-			11		4.5		2	0.8		-	-			8	3.3		3	1.2			24		9.8
6m zlotys or more			-	-			4		1.6		3	1.2		-	-			11	4.5		4	1.6			22		8.9
Total			23	9.6			98		40.0		9	3.6		14	5.7			87	35.5		14	5.6			245		100.0

The questionnaire consisted of 11 questions on previous purchase behaviors, information sources about goods, perception of the luxurious/convenient character of the goods, preferences, attitudes, and socio-demographic profile of the respondents. Previous purchase behaviors were assessed on a ratio scale going from 0 (never), 1 (only once), 2 (two times), 3 (three times) and 4 (four times and more). Respondents pointed out how many times they had bought the products during the last five years. This period was chosen because of the symbolic meaning of the year 1989 in Poland. That year marked the transition of Poland to a democratic system and the restitution of the Royal crown to the emblematic Polish eagle (Geremek, 1990).

The questionnaire referred to eight product categories either made in Poland or in Western countries (jeans, sport shoes, deodorant, perfume, after-shave, walkman, calculator, and watch). The reference to Western products was used because during the pretest, respondents seemed to be able to distinguish Polish products from Western ones, but were unable to distinguish among Western products. In the questionnaire, the West was defined as comprising North America (USA and Canada), and the European Union, but not Asia and Japan.

Preferences for each of the eight specific products were measured by the following question: "Assuming equal price and quality, and only considering the origin of manufacture (Western vs. Polish products) which type of product would you buy?". Respondents circled their answers for each product on a five-point interval scale ranging from 1 to 5 where 1 (always prefer to buy Western made products), 2 (prefer to buy Western made products rather than Polish made products), 3 (no preference), 4 (prefer to buy Polish made products rather than Western made products) and 5 (always prefer to buy Polish made products). Thus, a low score indicates a preference for Western country of origin, and a high score indicates a preference for Polish country of origin. The attitudes towards ethnocentrism, interpersonal influence susceptibility and the meanings of conspicuous consumption were assessed with three scales. The underlying constructs of each scale were isolated by an R-type factor analysis, using a Varimax factor rotation procedure.

First, the ethnocentrism scale (CETSCALE i.e. Consumers' Ethnocentric Tendencies) was originally intended to evaluate attitude towards the purchase of American products in comparison with products from outside the USA (Shimp and Sharma, 1987). For our purpose, two major modifications were carried out: 1) The scale orientation towards American products was modified to meet the aim of this study, i.e. comparing Western made products to Polish products; 2) The number of items was reduced from 17 to 15 because of translation and cultural adaptation difficulties (see Appendix 1). Using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the scale reliability was equal to 0.86. The items were kept if their factor loading was at least 0.45. In this way, only one additional unreliable item had to be removed. The revised scale then consisted of 14 items. A factorial analysis was performed over these items, three factors were obtained explaining 55.3% of the variance shared by the original variables: the first factor, protectionism, accounted for the greater part of variance with 36.9%; the second factor, socio-economic conservatism, accounted for 10.2% of variance; and the third factor, patriotism, accounted for 8.2% of variance.

Second, the interpersonal influence susceptibility scale (Bearden, Netemeyer and Teel, 1989) had to be modified considering the purpose of this study: 1) The concept of brand, which is irrelevant in the present study, was removed from all items. 2) The initial scale that counted 12 items (8 under the normative dimension, and 4 under the informational dimension), was reduced to 10 items (7 under the normative dimension, and 3 under the informational dimension) because of translation and cultural adaptation problems (see Appendix 2). The reliability of the revised scale was assessed with Cronbach's coefficient, which was equal to 0.75. The items were retained if their factor loading was at least 0.45. No items were deleted. The resulting factorial model consisted of two factors explaining 45.4% of the variance. The first factor, the normative influence, accounted for 31,0% of variance, and the second factor, the informational influence, accounted for 14.4% of variance.

Third, the meanings of conspicuous consumption scale was developed for the purpose of this research in Poland. The development of the scaled was based on works by Woods, Chéron and Kim (1985) on purposes for buying, Tharp and Scott (1990) on the meanings of consumption, and Sheth, Newman and Gross (1991) on consumption values. This scale concerns the measure of attitudes towards the meanings of conspicuous consumption suggested by goods. The scale consisted of 29 items. The reliability of each component of the scale was assessed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Once the least reliable items were deleted, 18 items were left (see Appendix 3). The factorial model resulting from the factor analysis consisted of five factors explaining 64.3% of the variance. Materialistic hedonism, was the first factor accounting for 34.0% of variance, followed by communication of belonging to/dissociation from a group accounting for 10.2% of variance, status demonstration accounting for 7.5% of variance, interpersonal mediation accounting for 6.4% of variance, and ostentation accounting for 6.2% of variance.

RESULTS

The univariate analysis of the scores of preferences for the Polish vs. Western made-ins shows that, on average, respondents have no confessed preference "ceteris paribus" for a particular origin. For the eight products under study, the average scores is about three out of five, which corresponds to "no preference" (see Appendix 4). In the case of previous purchase behaviors, in general, people buy Polish products less often than Western ones. The product which is the most often purchased is the Western deodorant, and the least often purchased is the Polish walkman (see Appendix 5). Despite the absence of confessed preferences towards one particular country of origin, some differences exist in the purchase behaviors that tend to confirm Pawlak's remark. In contrast to purchase behavior, the absence of definite preference seem to indicate that the control for market variables such as: quality, price etc. introduced in the formulation of the question has been effective.

In order to test our hypotheses, a stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed on the variables of preference towards Western products. For parsimony, the eight products were grouped in three categories: clothing (jeans, sport shoes), cosmetics (deodorant, perfume, after-shave), and electronic products (walkman, calculator, watch). These categories were obtained by averaging the preference score for each product (the use of summation was also tested and yielded similar results). Table 2 presents the independent and dependent variables introduced in the models, and Tables 3, 4 and 5 show the results of the regression analysis for each category.

Table 2

Variables of the regression models

Independent variables		Dependent variables
X1	Sex	Y1*	Preference towards clothing
X2	Age	Y2*	Preference towards cosmetics
X3	Income	Y3*	Preference towards electronic products
X4	Protectionism
X5	Socio-economic conservatism
X6	Patriotism
X7	Normative influence
X8	Informational influence
X9	Materialistic hedonism
X10	Communication of belonging/dissociation
X11	Social status demonstration
X12	Interpersonal mediation
X13	Ostentation
X14	Previous purchasing behavior

X₁: Dichotomic variable where woman=0, and man=1.

X₂: Multichotomic variable where 20 years old or less=1, 21 to 24 years old=2, and 25 years old or more=3 (comparison group for dummy codes).

X₃: Multichotomic variable where less than 2 million zlotys=1, 2 to 4 million zlotys=2, 4 to 6 million zlotys=3, and 6 million zlotys or more=4 (comparison group for dummy codes).

X₄ to X₁₃: Factor scores for each principal component with Eigenvalue above one.

X₁₄: The previous purchase behavior is the respondent ratio of Western to Polish purchases for each product, excluding respondents with a purchase frequency equal to zero in the last five years. The number of valid observations for each category of products is then: 263 for clothing, 261 for cosmetics, and 245 for electronic products.

* Lower scores are associated with a relative preference for Western products and higher scores are associated with a relative preference for Polish products

Preferences towards clothing

A stepwise regression model using preferences towards Polish vs. Western made-in clothing as dependent variables was first carried out. Examination of the residual plots for the resulting regression indicate no clear departure from normality, linearity and homoscedasticity. As far as multicolinearity is concerned, the tolerance values were all higher than 0.96, indicating a low colinearity. Table 3 shows the results of the analysis performed on the preferences towards clothing. According to the results, the multiple R coefficient is equal to 0.47 and the multiple R squared coefficient adjusted for the degrees of freedom is equal to 0.21. The variables included in the equation were in decreasing order of importance: X₆ (patriotism), X₁₁ (social status demonstration), X₁ (sex), X₇ (normative influence), and X₂ (age of the respondent).

Table 3

Variables in the model of preference towards clothing

Independent variables (n=224)		Unstd. beta	Std. beta	T value	Significance	Cumulative Adj. R^2
X6	Patriotism	0.4595	0.3433	5.69	0.00	0.1381
X2	Age (category 1 vs. category 3)	-0.4697	-0.1234	-2.03	0.04	0.1598
X11	Social status demonstration	-0.2104	-0.1599	-2.65	0.01	0.1752
X1	Sex	0.3915	0.1483	2.43	0.02	0.1897
X7	Normative influence	-0.1837	-0.1381	-2.29	0.02	0.2051
	Constant	2.9714

Durbin Watson = 1.93 > du =1.65; 0 01

Multiple R: 0.4722; Adjusted R square: 0.2051

Thus, younger women having a low interest in patriotic consumption, inclined to use goods to aspire to a social status, subject to the normative influence of significant others (parents, friends, colleagues) would show a preference for clothing made in Western countries. This leads us to reject the first null hypothesis.

Preferences towards cosmetics

Once again, examination of the residual plots for the resulting regression indicate no clear departure from normality, linearity and homoscedasticity. As far as multicolinearity is concerned, the tolerance values were all higher than 0.95 indicating a low colinearity. Table 4 presents the results of the analysis performed on preferences towards cosmetics. The multiple R coefficient is equal to 0.43 and the multiple R squared coefficient adjusted for the degrees of freedom is equal to 0.18. The variables included in the model were in decreasing order of importance: X₆ (patriotism), X₁₂ (interpersonal mediation), and X₁₄ (previous purchase behavior). That is to say that preference for Western made-in cosmetics would depend on a low interest in patriotic consumption, a tendency to use products to enhance social relationships, and previous purchase behavior dominated by Western goods. This leads us to reject the second null hypothesis.

Table 4

Variables in the model of preferences towards cosmetics

Independent variables (n=221)			Unstd. beta	Std. beta		T value	Significance	Cumulative adj.^2
X6	Patriotism	0.3931			0.2999	4.80	0.00	0.1097
X12	Interpersonal mediation	-0.2975			-0.2261	-3.68	0.00	0.1635
X14	Purchase behavior	-0.0076			-0.1371	-2.18	0.03	0.1778
	Constant	3.7977

Durbin Watson = 1.75>du = 1.65; 0.01

Multiple R = 0.4347; Adjusted R square = 0.1778

Preferences towards electronic products

Third, in the case of electronic products, examination of the residual plots for the resulting regression also indicate no clear departure from normality, linearity and homoscedasticity. As far as multicolinearity is concerned, the tolerance values were all higher than 0.98, indicating a low colinearity. Table 5 presents the results of the analysis performed over the preference towards electronic products. The multiple R coefficient is equal to 0.38 and the multiple R squared coefficient adjusted for the degrees of freedom is equal to 0.13. The variables in the model were in decreasing order of importance: X₂ (age), X₆ (patriotism), X₁₂ (interpersonal mediation) and X₁₁ (social status demonstration). In this case, a preference towards Western made-ins electronic products would depend on a low interest in patriotic consumption, a tendency to use products to enhance social relationships, a young age and a tendency to demonstrate or to aspire to a higher social status. These results lead us to reject the third null hypothesis.

Table 5

Variables in the model of preferences towards electronic products

Independent variables (n=206)		Unstd. beta	Std. beta		T value	Significance	Cumulative adj.^2
X6	Patriotism	0.3428		0.2584	3.93	0.00	0.0735
X12	Interpersonal mediation	-0.2060		-0.1534	-2.35	0.02	0.0926
X2	Age (category 1 vs. category 3)	-0.5682		-0.1480	-2.25	0.03	0.1121
X11	Social status demonstration	-0.1842		-0.1373	-2.10	0.04	0.1268
	Constant	3.1410

Durbin Watson = 2.02 > du =1.65; 0.01

Multiple R = 0.3792; Adjusted R square = 0.1268

DISCUSSION

It appears that a low interest in patriotic consumption is the determining factor of the preference towards Western made-ins. In fact, the dimension of patriotism which comes from the CETSCALE (Shimp and Sharma, 1987) is the most important variable in all three models. Also of importance are social status demonstration and interpersonal mediation, two variables from the meanings of the conspicuous consumption scale.

These results shed light on consumer behavior in post-socialist countries concerning the influence of country of origin on consumer preferences. Nevertheless, there are a some limitations to this research. A first limitation concerns external validity. A convenience sample of students is not representative of the whole population. Since all respondents came from an urban environment, results cannot be generalized to other groups of Polish society, such as to rural areas. In addition, we cannot generalize these results to other bordering post-socialist societies such as Hungary, Czech and Slovak Republics. A second limitation relates to the products under study, some of which were perceived as convenience goods by respondents. The possibility of extending the results to other classes of products or services is limited to other relatively low-involvement, and low-risk products. Additional research may consider the level of involvement and the perceived risk of buying the product or services on preferences with respect to a specific country of origin. A third limitation might result from the order of presentation of the products in the questionnaire which was always the same for all respondents (Polish products first, Western products second). This could create an ordering effect in the pattern of responses. Finally, another limitation comes from the data collection instrument itself. Even with complementary personal interviews, a questionnaire cannot really reveal all the underlying cultural meanings implied by Polish consumer behavior. The full comprehension of the Polish culture with respect to the meanings derived from its own history could only be attained by acculturation of the researcher. In addition, data were collected at a single point in time, it could be of interest to consider a longitudinal study in order to capture the dynamic nature of culture.This implies that further studies will have to be undertaken in order to dynamically understand consumer behavior in the context of upheavals taking place in Poland, Hungary, and the Czech and Slovak Republics.

From a managerial point of view, the results are instructive for international marketing managers and local marketing managers focusing on young urban educated consumers in Poland. First, international marketers from Western countries should be aware that, irrespective of their advantages in traditional marketing variables such as: value for the price, availability and advertising coverage, additional social and cultural factors are involved to tip consumers’preference in favor of products of Western origin. For instance, when preparing copies for advertising and promotion, they should avoid the sensitive aspect of patriotism and focus on social status demonstration (see items associated with component 3 in Appendix 3), interpersonal mediation (see items associated with component 4 in Appendix 3) and previous purchase behavior (for follow-up promotions of cosmetics). Some possible solutions to the pervasive negative effect of patriotism is to assemble or manufacture their products in Poland or to set up joint-ventures with Polish partners. Second, Polish marketers competing for the young educated urban market, may use the theme of patriotism in advertising and promotion to their advantage, once they are on par for traditional marketing variables. In addition, they also could use social and interpersonal factors similar to those recommended for international marketers, with the advantage of a better knowledge of the local cultural nuances to prepare more effective advertising copies.

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Appendix 1

Principal components analysis of the Polish adaptation of CETSCALE

	Components
Items*	(1)	(2)	(3)
2. Only those products that are unavailable in Poland should be imported.	.67
12. Curbs should be put on all imports.	.65
14. Foreigners should not be allowed to put their products on our markets.	.62
15. Foreign products should be taxed heavily to reduce their entry in Poland.	.63
16. We should buy from Western countries only those products that we cannot obtain within our own country.	.74
6. It is not right to purchase Western products, because it puts Poles out of jobs.		.74
8. We should purchase products manufactured in Poland instead of letting other countries get rich off us.		.57
11. Poles should not buy Western-made products, because this hurts Polish business and causes unemployment.		.58
13. It may cost me in the long run, but I prefer to support Polish products.		.49
17. Polish consumers who purchase Western-made products are responsible for putting their fellow Poles out of work.		.81
1. Polish people should always buy Polish-made products instead of Western-made products.			.62
7. A real Pole should always buy Polish-made products.			.55
9. It is always best to purchase Polish products.			.74
10. There should be very little trading or purchasing of goods from Western countries unless out of necessity			.76
Eigenvalues (trace=14)	5.17	1.43	1.15
Variance explained (%)	36.90	10.20	8.20
Cronbach alpha	0.75	0.79	0.72

* Item numbers are those of the original CETSCALE published by Shimp and Sharma (1987)

- Item 4 (American products, first, last, and foremost) and item 5 (Purchasing foreign made products is un-American) were removed because of translation and cultural adaptation difficulties.

- Item 3 (Buy American (Polish)-made products. Keep America (Poland) working) was removed because of a loading below .45.

(1) Protectionism;

(2) Socio-economic conservatism;

(3) Patriotism.

Appendix 2

Principal components analysis of the adaptation of the interpersonal influence susceptibility scale

	Components
Items*	(1)	(2)	Communality
1(N). I rarely purchase the latest fashions until I am sure my friends approve of them.	.58		.34
2(N). It is important that others like the products I buy.	.67		.46
3(N). When buying products, I generally purchase those products that I think others will approve of.	.68		.50
5(N). I like to know what products make good impressions on others.	.65		.44
7(N). If I want to be like someone, I often try to buy the same products that they (sic) buy.	.60		.39
8(N). I often identify with other people by purchasing the same products they purchase.	.56		.32
1(I). To make sure I buy the right product, I often observe what others are buying and using.	.54		.32
2(I). If I have little experience with a product, I often ask my friends about the product.		.78	.61
3(I). I often consult other people to help choose the best alternative available from a product class.		.71	.52
4(I). I frequently gather information from friends or family about a product before I buy.		.78	.63
Eigenvalues (trace=10)	3.10	1.44	4.54
Variance explained (%)	31.00	14.40	45.40
Cronbach alpha	0.74	0.64

* Items associated with an "N" are adapted (not using the term: "brands") from those of the normative original Interpersonal Influence Susceptibility scale. Items associated with an "I" are those of the original Information Seeker (Interpersonal) scale published by Bearden, Netemeyer and Teel (1989)

- Item 4N (If other people can see me using a product, I often purchase the brand they expect me to buy) was removed because of difficulties of adaptation to a product category situation. - Item 6N (I achieve a sense of belonging by purchasing the same products and brands that others purchase) was removed because of translation and cultural adaptation difficulties.

(1) Normative influence;

(2) Informational influence.

Appendix 3

Principal components analysis of the meanings of conspicuous consumption scale

	Components
Items	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)
1. People buy Western products to enhance their image.	.67
2. People buy Western products for uniqueness, to have products others do not own.	.66
3. People buy Western products to be fashionable.	.69
4. By using Western products people intend to please others.	.72
5. People using Western products feel more important.	.60
6. People want to have Western products owned by their friends and colleagues.		.80
7. People want to have Western products owned by their neighbors.		.84
8. People want Western products owned by everybody.		.67
9. People buy Western products to show off, to be noted.		.62
10. Western products are social status symbols.			.84
11. Western products are a symbol of success and prestige.			.80
12. Western products mean wealth.			.80
13. People using Western products increase their own value from the point of view of others.				.73
14. People using Western products are more attractive than others.				.64
15. Use of Western products allows popularity among friends and colleagues.				.67
16. Using Western products induces respect from others.				.76
17. If people could afford it, only Western products would be bought.					.74
18. People buy Western products only because they are more expensive than Polish products.					.82
Eigenvalues (trace=18)	6.12	1.84	1.35	1.15	1.12
Variance explained (%)	34.00	10.20	7.50	6.40	6.20
Cronbach alpha	.78	.79	.89	.74	.49

(1) Materialistic hedonism;

(2) Communication of belonging to/dissociation from a group;

(3) Social status demonstration;

(4) Interpersonal mediation;

(5) Ostentation.

Appendix 4

Preferences towards Polish vs. Western made-ins

	Jeans	Sport Shoes	Deodorant	Perfume	After- shave	Walkman		Calculator		Watch
Average preference*	3.01	3.10	3.31	3.02	3.30	3.00			3.19	3.02
Std. error	1.38	1.35	1.29	1.40	1.34	1.39			1.37	1.41
Nb. valid obs.	261	260	259	256	246		257		260		260

* Scale from 1 to 5 where 1 = Western preference, and 5 = Polish preference

Appendix 5

Average purchasing frequency over a 5 year period for Polish and Western products

		Jeans	Sport Shoes			Deodorant	Perfume	After- shave		Walkman	Calculator	Watch
Polish	Average	0.89	1.13		1.05		0.53	0.80		0.09	0.17	0.23
origin*	Std. error	1.29	1.30		1.53		1.10	1.35		0.43	0.51	0.66
	Nb. valid obs.	263	263		260		260	252		260	260	259
Western	Average	2.84	2.22		3.55		2.32	1.97		0.87	1.04	1.30
origin*	Std. error	1.26	1.35		1.01		1.62	1.68		0.78	0.90	0.99
	Nb. valid obs.	263	264	262			256		229	261	260	261

* Scale from: 0 to 4 where 0 = none, 1 = only once, 2 = twice, 3 = three times, and 4 = four times or more