Are Iranian consumers poised to “buy American” in a hostile bilateral environment?

The current bilateral relationship between the United States and Iran is fraught with intense political and military tension revolving around the nuclear issue in Iran. Open hostility between the two governments has recently spilled over into national, regional, and global forums. Despite this turmoil, the Iranian consumer is actively engaged in the global marketplace, buying goods from around the world. Our research spotlights Iranian consumers’ attitudes toward importing and buying foreign-made products, with a special focus on American-made products. Our 2006 survey of 902 Iranian consumers suggests that Iranians are very open, but not exclusively so, to the purchase of foreign-made and American-made products. We also found the political-military bilateral tension or animosity between the Iranian and American governments has not transferred to the Iranian consumer. The Iranian consumers’ openness to foreign-made (including American-made) goods, coupled with low consumer animosity vis-à-vis the United States from Iranian consumers, provides an opportunity for American and Western multinational companies to actively compete for and engage with the Iranian consumer in the Iranian marketplace.