University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2015 Why Do U.S. Consumers Purchase Ethnically Disparate Products? Jong Han Hyun University of Tennessee - Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Marketing Commons Recommended Citation Hyun, Jong Han, "Why Do U.S. Consumers Purchase Ethnically Disparate Products?. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2015. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/3339 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Jong Han Hyun entitled "Why Do U.S. Consumers Purchase Ethnically Disparate Products?." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management. Ann E. Fairhurst, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Hee-Jin Lim, Sejin Ha, Stephanie M. Noble Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Why Do U.S. Consumers Purchase Ethnically Disparate Products? A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Jong Han Hyun May 2015 Copyright © 2015 by Jong Han Hyun All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, who have been, and always will be a constant source of inspiration. I can never thank you enough. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Ann E. Fairhurst, for her guidance on my dissertation and also her support during my years in the doctoral program. She has been an amazing professor and mentor. I owe special thanks to the other members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Hee-Jin Lim, Dr. Sejin Ha, and Dr. Stephanie Noble for their contribution, expertise, and guidance. I would also like to thank the faculty and staff members at the Kent State University Fashion School and the Hanyang University Department of Textile and Clothing for their support. Finally, to all my family and friends. You have been a great encouragement and motivation. I’m especially thankful for my father and mother for their faith in me. iv ABSTRACT The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate why U.S. consumers approach products that are ethnically disparate. The study purpose is addressed by developing a framework which investigates the consumption values consumers seek in ethnically disparate products. In addition, factors that antecede the different consumption values are proposed based on theories and literature that are believed to be relevant to the context. The findings suggest that the intention to purchase ethnically disparate products is influenced by multiple consumption values (social value, emotional value, epistemic value). Furthermore, attitude towards the ethnic culture, cultural value discrepancy, and diversity seeking are suggested to antecede the different consumption values. Moderating effect of ethnic-embeddedness is suggested as well. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................1 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...................................................................................6 Consumption Value Theory .........................................................................................................9 Functional Value.....................................................................................................................10 Emotional Value .....................................................................................................................10 Social Value ............................................................................................................................12 Epistemic Value ......................................................................................................................13 Conditional Value ...................................................................................................................14 Application of the Consumption Value Theory .........................................................................15 Antecedents of Social, Emotional, and Epistemic Values .........................................................16 Attitude Towards an Ethnic Culture .......................................................................................17 Cultural Discrepancy ..............................................................................................................20 Diversity Seeking ...................................................................................................................25 Consumption Values and Purchase Intention .............................................................................28 Emotional Value .....................................................................................................................28 Social Value ............................................................................................................................29 Epistemic Value ......................................................................................................................31 Moderating Effects of Ethnic-Embeddedness ............................................................................32 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................35 Stimuli ........................................................................................................................................35 Sample and Procedure ................................................................................................................37 Measurement ..............................................................................................................................38 vi CHAPTER IV RESULTS ..............................................................................................................44 Measure Assessment ..................................................................................................................44 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) ........................................................................................44 Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) .....................................................................................49 Manipulation Check ...............................................................................................................54 Descriptive Statistics for Cultural Discrepancy .........................................................................55 Test of Hypotheses .....................................................................................................................57 CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION ..........................................................................................................69 LIST OF REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................83 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................107 VITA ............................................................................................................................................117 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Stimuli ............................................................................................................................. 36 Table 2. Sample Characteristics by Treatments ............................................................................ 38 Table 3. Ethnicity of the Respondents by Cultural Treatments .................................................... 40 Table 4. Means and Std. Deviations by Treatments ..................................................................... 41 Table 5. Three Factor Solution for the Exogenous Constructs ..................................................... 46 Table 6. Two and Four Factor Solution for the Exogenous Constructs ........................................ 46 Table 7. Four Factor Solution for the Endogenous Constructs ..................................................... 48 Table 8. Two, Three, and Five Factor Solutions for the Endogenous Constructs ........................ 49 Table 9. AVE and Squared Correlations....................................................................................... 53 Table 10. Manipulation Check Item Means Within Each Cultural Treatment ............................. 54 Table 11. Count of Adjectives Selected for Each Cultural Treatment ......................................... 56 Table 12. Discrepancy Scores for the Assigned Adjectives ......................................................... 57 Table 13. Critical Ratios for Differences Among Path Coefficients (Overall Data) .................... 60 Table 14. Critical Ratios for Differences Among