ABSTRACT
Since the economic and political changes of the 21st century, ethnocentrism has been playing an increasingly important role in consumer decision-making and purchasing, and purchasing decisions are not only influenced by price or quality. Consumers have many choices regarding local, regional, and national products, which play an increasingly important role among European Union consumers, as well as imported products. This chapter aims to better understand the role and the meaning of ethnocentrism, especially regarding the use and purchase of local and regional products. This chapter builds on the results of the H2020 project called Strength2Food. It is common among European consumers to choose local or regional products; and, principally, quality, support, and trust (reputation and tradition) are the main components of ethnocentric preferences. Our results illustrate the presence of ethnocentrism in the selected European countries.
