Research report Influence of ethnocentrism and neo-phobia on ethnic food consumption in Spain Dena M. Camarena a, *, Ana I. Sanjua ´n b , George Philippidis c a Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrı´colas y Pecuarias (INIFAP), Carretera a Bahı´a de Kino km. 12.6, Col. La Manga, CP. 83220 Hermosillo, Mexico b Department of Agrofood Economics and Natural Resources, Centre of Agrofood Research and Technology of Aragon (CITA), Avda. Montan ˜ana 930, 50059 Zaragoza, Spain c Aragonese Agency for Research and Development (ARAID), Government of Arago ´n. Avda. Montan ˜ana 930, 50.059 Zaragoza, Spain Introduction Over the last ten years, immigration in Spain has shot up. According to figures released by the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (INE, 2010), the number of immigrants has expanded by over 500% in the last decade. Consequently, the proportion of immigrants as a percentage of the population has increased from 2.3% in 2000 to 12.3% in 2009 (INE, 2010), which has given rise to significant growth in ethnic food demand (Dura ´ n, 2006). Ethnic foods can be thought of as an all encompassing image of a country’s culture in terms of its traditions, heritage, religion or national origin. Moreover, ethnic food not only encapsulates specific ingredients, but also the method of seasoning, preparing, cooking or consuming, that renders the end product as typical of a particular ethnic grouping. In general, relatively higher birth rates amongst immigrant populations suggest that ethnic food markets in Spain will consolidate in the long term. Indeed, in the USA where the population consists of an eclectic mix of cultures, these markets have become ‘mainstream’, which has generated a number of related consumer based studies (Ayala, Mueller, Madurga, Camp- bell, & Elder, 2005; Batres-Marquez, Jensen, & Brester, 2003; Satia et al., 2001). The situation in Europe, however, is much more heterogeneous. On the one hand, countries like Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the UK have a much more integrated view of ethnic foods owing to their longer history of immigration. 1 Consequently, consumer perceptions of these products amongst immigrant populations have received (albeit limited) attention in the consumer literature (e.g., Jamal, 1998; Laroche, Kim, & Tomiuk, 1999; Verbeke & Poquiviqui, 2005). On the other hand, for those European countries along the northern basin of the Mediterranean, ethnic food markets are still in their relative infancy as is the related applied consumer literature (Camarena-Go ´ mez & Sanjua ´ n- Lo ´ pez, 2010). A related research question is the extent to which the incumbent population is receptive toward newly introduced food products of foreign origin. Some authors (Lowenberg, Savage, Todhunter, Lubawski, & Wilson, 1979; Sloan, 2001) suggest that factors such as greater foreign trade, improvements in infrastruc- Appetite 57 (2011) 121–130 ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 16 November 2010 Received in revised form 7 March 2011 Accepted 4 April 2011 Available online 9 April 2011 Keywords: Ethnic food Nested logit Ethnocentrism Food neo-phobia Indigenous consumers Spain ABSTRACT Over the last decade, a strong upsurge in Spanish immigration has fostered a thriving ethnic food market. To examine indigenous consumer predilections toward ethnic foods, a carefully designed choice experiment is employed, with particular focus on ethnocentricity and food neo-phobia traits on potential purchase decisions. Employing a two level nested logit model, consumers choose to accept/ reject ethnic foods, with a positive response met by a further series of different ethnic cuisine and consumption scenario alternatives. Bivariate tests reveal that higher ethnocentric and neo-phobic segments possess common socio-demographic characteristics, whilst neo-phobia plays a significantly stronger role in determining the probability of rejection. Further tests reveal culturally similar Mexican food as the preferred ethnic food across all consumption scenarios. Moreover, the ‘restaurant’ is the favoured format of consumption, whilst there is evidence of a strong association between specific ethnic food types and consumption formats. The implications of our research suggest that in the short to medium turn, price is a strong strategic variable, whilst marketing strategies must successfully isolate and exploit specific ‘ethnic food/consumption scenario’ mixes. Finally, stronger messages emphasizing quality and convenience factors are seen as key to bolstering the underrepresented ‘home preparation’ ethnic food market in Spain. ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: camarena.dena@inifap.gob.mx, c_dena@hotmail.com (D.M. Camarena), aisanjuan@aragon.es (A.I. Sanjua ´ n), gphilippidis@aragon.es (G. Philippidis). 1 Given Spain’s relatively late economic development compared with other parts of Europe, it is only relatively recently that net immigration has gained momentum, largely fuelled by the construction boom. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Appetite journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/appet 0195-6663/$ – see front matter ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2011.04.002