Consumer Ethnocentrism - The CETSCALE

The CETSCALE

Shimp and Sharma (1987) developed consumer ethnocentrism into a measurable construct through the use of the consumer ethnocentric tendencies scale (CETSCALE). The initial development of the CETSCALE began with 225 different questions, which were narrowed down to 100 before being sent to a survey group for the first purification study. Through repeated purification studies, the number of questions was finally reduced to 17. Repeated studies by Shimp and Sharma validated the CETSCALE in the U.S.

While the 17-item CETSCALE is the original version developed by Shimp and Sharma (1987), shortened versions have been used. One, with 10 items, was developed alongside the full version.

This is probably the most frequently used version of the CETSCALE, as a result of its relatively few number of questions (Balabanis et al., 2001; Klein, 2002; Klein et al., 1998; Neese & Hult, 2002; Netemeyer et al., 1991; Vida & Dmitrovic, 2001). Other versions have been used with success, including a version used by Klein (2002) with just four items that was found to have a .96 correlation with the 10-item version.

The first major test of the validity of the CETSCALE in countries other than the U.S. was carried out in 1991 (Netemeyer et al., 1991; Wang, 1996). Netemeyer et al. surveyed students in the U.S., France, Japan, and West Germany and compared the results.

Both the 17-item version and the 10-item version were tested. It was found that both versions of the CETSCALE were reliable across the different cultures where it was tested. The results also helped validate the CETCSCALE as a measure of consumer ethnocentricity. Since that time, the CETSCALE has been used in many studies in many different countries and cultures.