The Xenocentrism scale in Brazil: validation with wine consumers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to obtain evidence for validity of the consumer xenocentrism scale adapted to wine consumption in Brazil. Xenocentrism is the internalized belief of the consumer about the inferiority of national products, and a propensity to prefer foreign products when compared to national products for the purposes of social aggrandizement. Design/methodology/approach Two samples composed of wine consumers were investigated (online and paper-and-pencil questionnaires), and the scale validation process was carried out in two studies. The sample of the first study was composed of 195 participants, and in the second study, 258 participants were investigated. Data were treated with confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling. Findings Main results pointed to the discriminant and predictive validity for the Brazilian version of the scale of consumer xenocentrism adapted to the context of wine consumption. Originality/value This study expands on the original one by Balabanis and Diamantopoulus (2016), proposing the validation of the scale with Brazilian consumers. It also expands on the understanding of this behavior to a specific product (domestic wines) and offers evidence of scale validity in a culturally and economically context different from that of the original study, suggesting some evidence that the xenocentrism construct may actually occur in different cultures. An agenda of empirical research is suggested, to the understanding of the antecedents of xenocentric consumption behavior that will help Brazilian wineries to come up with more effective marketing strategies.