Impact of Acculturation and Ethnocentrism on Food Consumption: Evidence from Rural India

Abstract

Interaction between multiple cultures in a globalized market place had increased opportunities as well as challenges for organizations. Culture globally is experiencing two opposite movements: the homogenization and the heterogenization. Cultural homogenization leads to a global uniform consumer culture where as heterogenization is making the society bi-cultural. Culture impacts consumer behaviour during consumption by associating symbols to items. Some items resemblances global culture and some are identified with local culture. A confusing cultural impact on consumption is clearly visible in almost all countries due to advancement of technologies and globalization. This paper attempts to investigate the cultural impact on consumption in the era of globalization focusing on food items in the context of rural India. Study measured the role of consumer ethnocentrism and acculturation in rural consumers’ food consumption behavior along with demographic predictors of the two constructs. Study concluded with education and gender as the predictors for the constructs with varied propositions. Study also identified a negative association amongst consumer ethnocentrism and multiple dimensions of acculturation. A positive association of global food consumption and acculturation and negative with local food is also observed. For ethnocentrism, positive association with local food and negative with global is recorded. Study concluded with discussion of the significance of such phenomenon along with future scopes and possible limitations.

Keywords: Consumer Culture, Acculturation, Consumer Ethnocentrism, Consumer Behavior, Rural India

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