2008 - Marketing Educators' Association

TABLE 2
Example Frequencies:
“Russia is Least Like (Country B) Because …”
Country
Economic
Political
Cultural
Technological
Linguistic
Historic
Geographic
USA 24 45 5 2 2 4 2
Japan 3 2 1 3
UK 3 6
Australia 2 1 1
individual dimensions. Similarity can be compared
with the one’s own country or with other countries.
To ease the analysis effort for the instructor, a limited
set of countries can be presented for the students to
rate. Experience indicates that 4 or 5 countries
permits an adequate range for illustration and 10
countries presents a challenge of too much data for
the instructor to discuss in the classroom.
Another option is to have the students rate the
importance (perhaps on a 5-point scale) of each
dimension when comparing country A with country B.
It is interesting to observe that while students may
feel that countries differ on some dimensions, they
may rate those differences as low importance. A
conversation about differences versus the importance
of those differences can be a fascinating discussion.
DISCUSSING MULTIDIMENSIONAL
FOREIGNNESS
The purpose of this exercise was to demonstrate the
complexity of foreignness and why countries are
different (Lundstrom, White, & Schuster, 1996). The
dimensions indicate that foreignness is a more
general and more complex concept than country-oforigin,
ethnocentricity, and liability of foreignness.
Points of differences may be found to be important
depending on the reference country (cf., Netemeyer,
Durvasula, & Lichtenstein, 1991). Thus the criteria of
foreignness in each market must be considered
separately when developing firm or product
strategies. This exercise is a very accessible option
(cf., Tyagi, 2001) in raising international awareness
and broadening the students’ view of what it means
to be foreign. Students can become more aware of
their own perspectives and the potential attitudes
held by others (cf., Lundstron, White, & Schuster,
1996). Discussions can solidify concepts and
improve the students’ understanding of international
marketing decisions.
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Using multiple dimensions of what it means to be
foreign enables the instructor to capture a wide array
of issues and provides the underlying rationale that
ultimately affects managerial decisions. These
dimensions may have direct effects such as
consumers feeling that Italian designed clothing are
better than other clothing. In this case, country-oforigin
is affected without passing through
intermediate attitudes such as ethnocentricity (cf.,
Sharma, Shimp, & Shin, 1995). Underlying
foreignness attitudes view people, counties,
companies, and products as not-like-each-other in a
wider, more cosmopolitan worldview. Conversely,
ethnocentrism combines the underlying attitudes into
a narrower construct of not-like-us. These narrower
attitudes suggest natural or cultural protectionism that
affects both country-of-origin and liability-offoreignness.
These narrower attitudes may be more
strongly held than underlying attitudes because they
may be conceptually closer to the self. Ethnocentrism
attitudes are directed without discretion at all
counties perceived to be foreign (cf., Sharma, Shimp,
& Shin, 1995). The intermediate attitudes combine
some very strongly held underlying opinions into
strongly held negative intent-to-purchase positions
directed toward a country and create special liabilities
that must be overcome (cf., Zaheer, 1995).
STUDENT RESPONSE TO THE SAME /
DIFFERENT EXERCISE
Following the exercises, students were presented
with an open-ended evaluation of their experience as
well as Likert scales for statements on their beliefs
about the same/different exercise. Ratings
statements asked how useful the exercise was in
raising awareness and understanding of the number
of criteria used to evaluate whether a country is
foreign (Table 3). Results indicated that students
would use more evaluation criteria in foreignness
judgments. The exercise helped them to improve
their ability to judge and integrate issues. In addition,
the exercise allowed them to predict responses from
others beyond their original considerations. They felt
more comfortable in their own judgments and relayed
concern for making good judgments about
foreignness.