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A Comparative Case Study of Global Marketing and Ethnocentrism ...

A Comparative Case Study of Global Marketing and Ethnocentrism ...

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INTRODUCTION<br />

This thesis studies ethnocentrism in global marketing, focusing on the Internet<br />

as a global marketing medium. It asks whether or not the Internet as a marketing tool<br />

aggravates or helps to break down the barriers <strong>of</strong> Western culture ethnocentrism in<br />

cross-cultural marketing messages. It tests the hypothesis that U.S. based companies<br />

promote Western culture ethnocentrism across country <strong>and</strong> cultural boundaries when<br />

marketing through the Internet. Additionally, it seeks to establish a prototype model<br />

for developing culturally sensitive Internet marketing.<br />

<strong>Ethnocentrism</strong> is a universal phenomenon that affects all kinds <strong>of</strong> interactions<br />

between different groups <strong>of</strong> people (Sinkovics <strong>and</strong> Holzmuller 4). The term<br />

“ethnocentrism” was coined in 1906 by William Graham Summer who defined<br />

ethnocentrism as having a view <strong>of</strong> things in which one’s own group is the center <strong>of</strong><br />

everything <strong>and</strong> all others are scaled <strong>and</strong> rated with reference to it (Summer 13). It is<br />

generally thought <strong>of</strong> as the feeling that one’s own culture is better than all others. Past<br />

research in the area <strong>of</strong> global marketing <strong>and</strong> ethnocentrism shows that ethnocentrism<br />

can determine how companies act in <strong>and</strong> toward certain cultures when conducting<br />

business. Examples <strong>of</strong> many traditional cross-cultural marketing practices reveal that<br />

ethnocentric thinking is detrimental to international advertising <strong>and</strong> product design.<br />

This has been especially true for U.S. based companies marketing to non-western<br />

cultures.<br />

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