Tracing the ethnocentric tendencies of Iranian clothing buyers

Over the last three decades, consumer nationalism or consumer ethnicity has been discussed in scientific community, specifically in the consumer behavior arena. Consumer ethnocentrism has a direct and positive effect on the preference of domestic brands, while it does not have a real effect on the actual purchase of domestic brands. The purchasing behavior in a significant part of domestic products is influenced by the phenomenon of ethnicity in consumption. The concept of ethnicity reflects the general tendency of individuals to portray their own groups as the core and refers to the patriotic sentiments and ethical standards of consumers in the preference of domestic products over imported products. Using this concept, individuals compare other social units based on their own groups, reject those with cultural differences, and blindly accept people with cultural similarities in their group. In other words, consumer ethnocentrism is a sociological and economic generalization of ethnocentrism defined as a specific concept in the study of consumer behavior and marketing. A perceived brand value is a consequence of consumer ethnicity, which is defined as the consumer's overall assessment of the benefits of consuming the product based on the perceptions received by the consumer. This evaluation is based on tangible and intangible factors. I The tangible factors are price and quality, and the intangible ones are reputation as well as social and emotional needs. National identity is also referred to as an intangible factor affecting perceived value. This effect is strengthened despite the phenomenon of consumer ethnicity and leads to competitive advantage. The aim of this study was to identify the components of consumer ethnicity events that affect the consumption of domestic goods. The research method was a mixed method. First, the theoretical literature was reviewed. Then, interview questions were designed, and the interviews were conducted with experts in the clothing industry. After the interview and the identification of the components, the thematic analysis method and the fuzzy Delphi method were used to prioritize the components and the adequacy of the data. In the following, the items that have been identified according to the qualitative method were examined using the factor analysis method. The main factors were identified using heuristic analysis, and their accuracy was investigated using the confirmatory method. In the qualitative method, the research community consisted of 20 people including experts in the clothing industry. The consumers of this industry were part of the research community which numbered 310 people.  In this study, through in-depth interviews with the academic and executive experts of the Iranian garment industry and through content analysis and fuzzy Delphi technique, the components of consumer's ethnicities in the consumption of domestic goods were identified. After that, the exploratory factor analysis technique was used to classify the variables, and their accuracy was examined by the confirmation method. In this way, 20 in-depth interviews were conducted. During the interviews, as much as possible, an attempt was made to ask the questions in a way that they did not cause the respondent to be biased. It should be noted that after each interview, the researcher reviewed the text of the interview several times and discovered the basic concepts, extracted and coded them. After the themes were identified, the extracted themes were validated using CVR and CVI tests. Fifteen experts helped with this section. Both tests approved of the research indicators. After the identification and prioritization of the dimensions of national identity, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis methods were used to classify the identification items in terms of the dimensions of consumer ethnicity events. These items were divided into three dimensions, and strategic strategies for developing ethnocentric events in brand consumption were presented. Consumer ethnicity has been identified as a factor for the growth of the domestic economy and the development of domestic industries. For the growth of ethnicity in consumption, there are also economic, political and social events identified. The most important economic factors include government economic policies, the economic policies of producers and the economic situation of households. Major social factors include the cultural policies of governments, the cultural policies of producers, the cultural factors of the individual, and the influence of groups and others on the choice of individuals. There are the major economic factors of the binding laws of governments and the political conditions that govern the society. Finally, an integrated root-finding framework is designed for domestic consumption. In the field of consumer ethnocentrism factors, it is suggested that clothing designing be done according to the values ​​and principles of the Islamic society and the social factors. By doing this, designers can have a large part of the domestic market. Brands can use the unique capabilities and potentials of social media marketing to achieve their business goals and objectives. Companies can engage with social media by identifying opinion leaders or influencers. Therefore, a high number of followers of these influencers can cause the introduction of a brand or a brand page on social media, which leads to the recognition of the brand on social media and its recommendation to others.