Trade politics at the checkout lane: ethnocentrism and consumer preferences

Abstract As international trade flourishes, Americans can choose from an increasing number of foreign products even at their local grocery stores, allowing consumers to directly experience the consequences globalized in a simple and intuitive way that does not require much political expertise. Yet, most prior scholarship on consumerism assumes are aware economic implications choices checkout lane. We move away this assumption, focusing instead more fundamental psychological predispositions such as ethnocentrism may guide daily consumer choices. Using discrete choice conjoint experiment, we show Americans, average, exhibit ethnocentric preferences, with demand for falling they produced culturally ethnically distant places. Additionally, effect is pronounced among those higher levels ethnocentrism. Our results provide evidence “naïve” form consumerism.