Individual Cultural Values and Consumer Animosity: Chinese Consumers’ Attitude Toward American Products

Abstract

The importance and interest in individual cultural values have been increased considerably in recent years. Cultural values have been examined as the antecedent to many consumer behaviors and attitudes. The individual cultural values of consumers are shaping attitude and behavior and how that influence consumer animosity is less studied in the literature. To address the research gap, the current study proposes a theoretically and empirically tested framework based on value–attitude–behavior (VAB) model. This study aims to investigate the role of individual cultural values on consumer animosity in the context of 2018 China–United States (U.S.) trade war. The study also examines the relationship between consumer animosity and reluctance to buy (RTB) U.S. products by Chinese consumers. The hypothesized model is tested in China in the context of the ongoing political conflict initiated by United States over Donald Trump’s administration’s tariffs policy targeting China. A convenience sample of Chinese consumers ( n = 303) yielded a total of the questionnaire. The results point to a positive and significant relationship between collectivism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and consumer animosity and a negative relationship between power distance and consumer animosity. Moreover, result shows an insignificant association between long-term orientation and consumer animosity. Finally, the result of this study shows a positive relationship between consumer animosity and RTB U.S. products. The theoretical and practical implications of the proposed study are also discussed.