Long-term stability of ethnocentric consumer attitudes

This research conducts the first cohort longitudinal study of the CETSCALE. Data collected in surveys of Business Administration students in 2000, and the fall of 2005 and winter of 2006 are analyzed to determine whether the ethnocentric attitudes of consumers have changed. Nonnormal distribution of the data due to kurtosis and severe skewness complicate confirmatory factor analysis, necessitating a three-phased effort to obtain an acceptable construct. The results indicate that although the mean CETSCALE score decreased two points (from 45.2 to 43.2), the change was not significant at p = 0.05. This research also confirms that the CETSCALE remains a highly reliable survey instrument, with Cronbach's Alpha of 0.94 and Composite Reliability of 0.93. Implications of this study for practitioners and the future study of consumer attitudes toward the purchase of imported products are also addressed.