Regional Ethnocentrism as One of Consumer Choice Predictors Within Neurobrand Paradigm

The development of priority economic activities is predetermined by the availability of natural resources,material, labor and infrastructural potentials of the territory, the effective use of which as a competitive advantage contributes to the production of competitive goods with high consumer value. As a result, such products can become regional brands that are promoted to foreign markets and ensure the recognition of the territory and enhance its image. The article proposes a scale for the assessment of regional consumer ethnocentrism (RCETSCALE), which is one of the components of a neurobrand that measures the trends of ethnocentric consumers when deciding to purchase locally produced goods, consisting of 21 questions combined into 5 subscales: “Identity”, “Support”, “Threat”, “Propaganda”, “Habit”. The validity and reliability of research results were confirmed by appropriate statistical tests. Based on a survey of 379 respondents using the PLS-SEM conceptual model, it was determined that the indicator of regional consumer ethnocentrism in relation to all goods produced in the Republic of Crimea, as a whole, has a positive relationship and explains the purchase of locally produced goods by 10.6%. RCET component analysis showed that “Support”, “Propaganda” and “Habit” were significantly and positively associated with the purchase of locally produced goods, while “Identity” and “Threat” were negatively associated, since consumers are not ready to abandon goods produced in other regions, due to the unsaturation of the domestic market with locally produced goods, as well as the availability of visitors and tourists who, so far, do not identify themselves with Crimea. Thus, studying the attitude of consumers to products from local manufacturers will allow improving strategic marketing decisions, taking into account a valid and reliable assessment of consumers’ tendency to prefer one product over another.