The Influence of Foreign Language Labels on Milk Packaging among Albanian Consumers: The Moderating Role of Ethnocentrism

This study explores the impact of English and Italian packaging labels on consumer evaluations of utilitarian food products in Albania, focusing on the moderating role of ethnocentrism and the influence of cosmopolitanism. Employing a 4 × 1 factorial design, we assessed three language labels (Albanian, English, Italian) and cosmopolitanism across four consumer perception variables and using milk as the utilitarian product category. Data from 304 participants were analyzed using ANOVA and regression analyses to identify significant differences and moderation effects. Ethnocentrism significantly moderates the relationship between English labels and perceived quality, trust, and purchase intention, but not for Italian labels. This indicates that ethnocentric consumers favor English-labeled products, possibly perceiving them as enhancing domestic competitiveness by signaling international standards. Meanwhile, cosmopolitanism positively influences most of the consumer perception variables. Marketers targeting ethnocentric consumers should consider the strategic use of English labels to enhance perceived quality, trust, and purchase intentions, while carefully balancing global elements with local values to avoid alienation from ethnocentric consumers. Italian labels may be perceived negatively by ethnocentric consumers due to strong country-of-origin effect. This research highlights the nuanced moderating role of ethnocentrism and the influence of cosmopolitanism on consumer responses to foreign language labels in emerging markets, contributing to the literature on cross-cultural consumer behavior. Limitations: The use of snowball sampling and focus on a single utilitarian product (milk) may limit generalizability. Future research should explore other product categories, employ representative sampling methods and consider additional variables for deeper insights.