Willingness to buy from Eastern bloc countries: U.S. consumers before and after political changes in Eastern Europe

Recent events around the world have shifted the attitudes of US consumers towards Eastern bloc countries. Subsequently, this shift in attitude toward the countries as a whole has influenced US consumer willingness to buy foreign apparel. A study using multivariate analysis compared data collected from questionnaires of a group of consumers in 1982 to those of a similar group of consumers in 1990. The 1990 consumers were significantly more willing to buy apparel from Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the former Soviet Union. However, these consumers were still reluctant, or at least neutral, to buy apparel from these countries. As Western and Japanese companies begin to ship home global brand name products made in Eastern Europe, consumer willingness to buy products from these nations is bound to increase. If progress continues, it is likely that the US consumer will soon view the world as an acceptable warehouse of products.