Own Culture First? Nationalism and the Preference for National Cultural Goods

Abstract

To what extent do people prefer domestically produced cultural goods? We examine the influence of nationalism on preferences for national cultural goods, and the socioeconomic stratification of these preferences. By combining theoretical insights from research on the stratification of cultural consumption with research on nationalism, we answer our questions by analyzing ISSP data from 32 countries. Results indicate that educational level and social class are negatively related to the preference for national cultural goods. With respect to nationalistic attitudes, chauvinism and cultural patriotism are positively related to the preference for national cultural goods, whereas societal patriotism is negatively related. Moreover, nationalistic attitudes partially explain the stronger national cultural preference among the lowly educated. Overall, the findings are cross-nationally comparable.