Marija Čutura

The Influence of Ethnicity on Consumers’ Purchase Patterns in the Context of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract The aim of this study is to establish the importance of ethnicity in consumers’ perception of the country image, product quality and its influence on willingness to buy products originating from different countries. The study was conducted using a stratified sample of the population from Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) by the questionnaire method. The propositions were tested by the multiple regression models with socioeconomic, demographic and ethnic characteristics in the function of independent variables with the consumer ethnocentrism as a control variable. The measurement scales of country image, quality perception and willingness to buy were treated as dependent variables. Analysis showed the high importance of ethnicity as predicting variable in the specific research context of B&H. The main contribution of this study is in providing better insight into sub-cultural aspects of consumers’ purchase patterns. Marketing implications of the study refer to the possibility of creating specific marketing approaches depending on the country of origin and ethnicity of target consumer groups.