Foreign Product Perception in Albanian Market; an Analysis of Country Origin Image, Ethnocentrism and the Position of Turkish Products

Öz

The Country-Of-Origin (COO) effect is a reality of international marketing and multifaceted structure of COO makes it important in this field. Albania is a particular instance to examine this topic in order to observe current situation after the communism term. The main objective of this research is to examine the country-of-origin effect upon Albanian consumers to observe their product preferences, reactions, and willingness toward domestic and foreign products. Furthermore this research intended to provide an idea regarding the countries whose products are more preferable and what, among these countries, the place of Turkish products in Albanian market is. We adapted and used CETSCALE (Consumer Ethnocentric Tendencies Scale) to measure consumer attitudes. Findings reveal that ethnocentric tendency of Albanian consumers is strong and Turkish products are preferred less than the products of European countries, whereas more than Chinese products in this market

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Country of origin (COO), customer perception, ethnocentrism

Arnavutluk Pazarında Yabancı Ürün Algısı, Menşei Ülke Etkisi ve Türk Ürünlerinin Pazardaki Yeri Üzerine Bir İnceleme

Öz

Ürünlerdeki menşei ülke etkisi uluslararası pazarlamanın bir gerçeğidir ve menşei ülke etkisinin çok yönlü yapısı onu uluslararası pazarlamada daha önemli hale getirmektedir. Arnavutluk, komünizm sonrası mevcut durumu görmek açısından, bu konuda güzel bir örnek niteliğindedir. Bu çalışmanın temel amacı, Arnavutluk halkının tüketim tercihlerinde, yabancı ürünlerin yeri, yabancı ürün tüketimindeki isteklilik düzeylerinin incelenmesi ve onların ithal ve yerel ürünlere karşı bakışının ortaya çıkarılmasıdır. Ayrıca, bu pazarda hangi ülke ürünlerinin daha çok tercih edildiğinin belirlenmesi ve Türk ürünlerinin pazardaki yerinin tespit edilmesi de araştırmanın amaçları arasındadır. Bu alandaki tüketici tutumlarını ölçmek için Amerika’da geliştirilen ve pekçok ülkede uygulanan ethosentrizm (CETSCALE) ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Bulgular, Arnavut halkının yabancı ülke ürünlerine kapalı olmadığını ve bu pazarda Türk ürünleri algısının Avrupa ülkelerinin gerisinde fakat Çin ürünlerinin ilerisinde olduğunu göstermektedir

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Menşei ülke etkisi, müşteri algısı, etnosentrizm.

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