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

subjects’ scores were inverted on statements that are worded in an opposite manner
wherein a response of “1” (strongly disagree) indicates the perception of extreme
ethnocentrism rather than very low ethnocentrism (i.e. question 9 states “It is best to
purchase American products rather than Brazilian”). In this case an answer of “1” or
strongly disagree, represents a perception of high U.S. company ethnocentrism, which
is equivalent to the answer of “5”.
Additionally, in the modified version of the CETSCALE a score of “3”
indicates that the subject is “indifferent” in his or her perception of ethnocentrism
regarding that particular statement, because when looking at something as subjective as
perceived ethnocentrism, indifference conveys possible feelings on both sides of the
spectrum. It should not be interpreted as an outlier, but rather as a point on the
continuum of ethnocentricity.
Survey and Structure
To fully understand people’s perceptions, qualitative interview questions were
developed to supplement the 17-item scale. When analyzing something as qualitative
in nature as the perception of ethnocentricity, quantitative analysis should be
supplemented to increase understanding (Berg 2). Therefore, open-ended questions
were added to the survey (appendix C).
According to Oppenheim, it is likely that no other skill is as important to the
survey research worker as the ability to conduct good interviews (65). Open-ended, or
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