The Animosity Model of Foreign Product Purchase: An Empirical Test in the People's Republic of China

TLDR

The animosity model predicts that negative feelings toward a foreign nation reduce purchase of its products, independent of product quality judgments, contrasting with Shimp and Sharma's CETSCALE. The authors test this model among mainland Chinese consumers. They assess attitudes toward Japan and Japanese products. Structural equation modeling confirms the model, showing animosity significantly influences buying decisions beyond ethnocentrism, with results consistent across cohorts, and demonstrates that measuring cross‑national hostility helps managers understand consumer purchase behavior in international markets.

Abstract

The authors provide an initial test of the animosity model of foreign product purchase in the People's Republic of China. In contrast to Shimp and Sharma's (1987) CETSCALE, the model predicts that animosity toward a foreign nation will affect negatively the purchase of products produced by that country independently of judgments of product quality. The model was tested using mainland Chinese consumers' attitudes toward Japan and Japanese products. Structural equation modeling supports the model and shows that animosity has a significant impact on buying decisions above and beyond the effect of consumer ethnocentrism. Furthermore, these results were not cohort-specific. The measurement of cross-national hostility enables managers to understand better the purchase behavior of consumers in the international marketplace.