NATID - THE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF A NATIONAL IDENTITY MEASURE FOR USE IN INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

The international marketing literature abounds with studies outlining the various similarities and differences that exist across cultural an d national boundaries (e.g. Hofstede 1980). Unfortunately, many of the se studies have focused on descriptive comparisons between cultures an d nations. This article develops a measurement instrument designed to explicate the degree to which national identity can be specified and t he differences between that national identity and other nations. Utili zing Churchill's (1979), and Anderson and Gerbing's (1988) guidelines for scale construction and application, this article develops an instr ument to measure national identity and establishes norms for its usage , using samples from the United States, Japan, and Sweden. The overall objective of this study is threefold: 1) to develop an empirically so und instrument for measuring national identity; 2) to explore the impo rtance placed on a unique national identity in the three nations compr ising the sample; and 3) to consider differences in the underlying dim ensions comprising these countries' national identity and their impact on marketing strategy The development of such a measurement instrumen t should provide a means by which the results of cross-cultural and cr oss-national research can be empirically tested and on which more rigo rous theory building can be based.