Abstract:

The fact that most developed economies are becoming a service economy is well known. Consequently, in the process of globalization, it becomes important from a commercial perspective to understand that we deal with people from diverse cultural background. For the first time, Gannon (2003, 290) pointed out that a social function could be hidden behind a stereotyping mechanism helping to assess and allocate social contexts and social distinctions. If we consider culture as a set of norms, rules and customs, clients from antagonist cultures do not always maintain the behavior expected by domestic supplier, mostly because the national cultural values are inherited from generations and are difficult to be changed, even the immigrants are forced to adapt to the new environment, in a new country. Sizoo et al (2005, 245-255) point the fact that intercultural sensitivity is a skill that can be measured and learned. Harries (2004, 556-563) also suggests that if the European Union has to continue to succeed, leaders in all 27 member countries have to devote more attention to culture and business.

Using self administrated questionnaires I intended to prove the high degree of consumer ethnocentrism that depends on 4 factors: openness to foreign cultures, patriotism, conservationism, and the level of collectivism/individualism in the society. Empirical analyses of survey data and social experiments (Eurobarometer surveys) indicate that many people who strongly identify with their nation-state also feel a sense of belonging to the European Union... but we have to remember that most of the respondents were European born individuals. In this paper I get forward and analyze some aspects of national identification in the context of the EU, using self prepared questionnaires (based on Eurobarometer and ISSP) to non-EU born individuals, most of them coming from opposite cultures.