Consumer Cosmopolitanism in the Age of Globalization

CHAPTER 4

Relative National Identity and Consumer Product Evaluations

Aditi Grover

Plymouth State University

Philip Ramsey

University of New Hampshire

Introduction

Drawing on self-identity theory and the concept of Oneness, we propose a conceptual framework which highlights the role of identification with the nation of birth. We present the construct of Relative National Identification (RNI)—a measure that attempts to capture residual identification with the country of birth, once identification with the country of residence has been acquired.

Background

Despite the great lengths that businesses go to to customize their products in order to account for country-of-origin (COO) effects, there seems to exist a force that supersedes, at least ...