Historic Problem or Ongoing Crisis? An Exploratory Study of Causes and Consequences of Consumer Animosity in China

This paper aims to test the consumer animosities against Japanese, American, French products amongst Urban Adult Chinese Consumers (UACC), explore causes and consequences of consumer animosity and examine the moderating effects of locations, gender, age groups and education levels. It discovered that there was strong consumer animosity towards the Japanese, however, animosity directed at Americans and the French were relative low. There are a wide range of causes of animosity, apart from previous identified factors such as Nanjing Massacre and economic concerns, this study discovered a wide range of sources including school education, media influence, Japan’s close relationship to United States and attempts to curtail China’s influence, concerns for further military clashes, Japanese government attitude towards war past, perceived consumer discrimination by Japanese companies, peer pressure etc. all contributed to UACC’s animosity towards the Japanese. The impacts of animosity on willingness to buy have 3 distinct patterns: boycott, avoid and only avoid Japanese products if better alternatives are available. Japanese animosity is stronger in Northern China. Gender and education levels have no significant moderating effects. Older generations appear to harbour stronger Japanese animosity

What If They Don’t Like You? An Investigation of Consumer Animosity amongst Urban Adult Chinese Consumers

This paper aims to investigate urban adult Chinese consumers (UACC)’s animosity towards the Japanese, Americans and French. It adopted a mixed methods approach that consists of street surveys and semi-structured interviews conducted in Northern and Southern China. It discovered that consumer animosity towards the Americans and French were relatively low and there was strong animosity towards the Japanese. It discovered a wide range of sources including school education, media influence, Japan’s close relationship to United States, concerns for further military clashes, Japanese government attitude towards war past, perceived consumer discrimination by Japanese companies, peer pressure etc. all contributed to UACC’s animosity towards the Japanese. Depending on the levels of animosity, some UACC could choose to boycott or avoid purchasing Japanese products

Urban adult Chinese consumers favour foreign products? An investigation of the effects of Country of Origin and Consumer Ethnocentrism on product preference and willingness to buy.

Since the then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping introduced the „open door‟ policy, the Chinese economy has experienced rapid economic growth for over 30 years. It has now surpassed Japan as the world‟s second largest economy. (Bloomberg, 2010) Mainland China has fast developed into one of the world‟s largest consumer market. It had already proved its worth by becoming the second biggest luxury goods market, and is expected to become the largest in next five to seven years. (Boston Consulting Group, 2009) Further encouraged by Chinese central government‟s policy to stimulate domestic consumption, that is to shift from an export oriented economy into a more balanced development model, China presents a tremendous opportunity to both Chinese and foreign companies. This study is to investigate the impact of Country of Origin (COO) and Consumer Ethnocentrism (CE) on Urban Adult Chinese Consumers‟ (UACC) product preference and willingness to buy. To put it in plain terms, it will seek to clarify whether UACC prefer foreign products or Chinese products and investigate the rationale for such decision

Chinese products for Chinese people? Consumer ethnocentrism in China

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine consumer ethnocentrism (CE) in China and clarify whether CE impacted on Chinese consumers’ product preferences between local and foreign products. Design/methodology/approach Street surveys and mall intercepts were conducted, 367 questionnaires were collected with 170 from Shenyang – Northern China and 197 from Shenzhen – Southern China. Findings CE is low in China, it poses no serious threat to foreign products. Consumers living in second tier Northern city like Shenyang have higher ethnocentric beliefs than those living in a first tier like Shenzhen in Southern China. CE’s impact varies between product categories and availability of domestic alternative could be a key issue. Age and education level have significant moderating effects. Research limitations/implications It only collected from two Chinese cities, distribution pattern of CE data determined non-parametric data analysis methods were adopted. Practical implications Regional differences in China matters, first tier Southern cities like Shenzhen could be less challenging destinations for foreign retailers. Targeting young and highly educated consumers could be more effective. Although CE level is low in China, a cautious approach beyond first tier cities is recommended, especially when facing competent local rivals. Originality/value It clarified that CE did affect product preferences amongst Chinese consumers, highlighted China’s regional differences in terms of North-South divide and first and second tier cites. It also identified that availability of domestic alternative is a key factor that cannot be ignored. This study provided evidence to demonstrate that with unprecedented uncertainties on global free trade, there is no grassroots support for protectionism and isolationism in Chin

The Effects of Country of Origin, Consumer Ethnocentrism and Consumer Animosity on Product Preference and Willingness to Buy

This study’s primary aim is to explain Urban Adult Chinese Consumers’ preference between foreign and Chinese products. It examines how Country of Origin (COO), Consumer Ethnocentrism (CE) and Consumer Animosity (CA) influence Urban Adult Chinese Consumers’ product preference and willingness to buy. The existing knowledge is divided on this issue. By reviewing the relevant literature, it is clear that there are two completely different approaches of investigating the impact of COO on Chinese consumers. The researcher of this current study classified the two opposing methods as ‘the simplistic approach’ and ‘the cautious approach’. Studies follow ‘the simplistic approach’ firmly believe Chinese consumers overwhelmingly evaluate foreign products positively and they have a strong preference for foreign products. Research follows ‘the cautious approach’ argues that Chinese consumers’ complexity and internal differences cannot be ignored, some of them prefer Chinese products and they cannot be simply considered as in favour of foreign products. Past studies all concluded that Chinese consumers hold low to moderate level of CE beliefs. However, two investigations concluded Chinese consumers harbour strong animosity towards the Japanese. This study follows the philosophical understanding of pragmatism. The research questions are the most important factors that determine the research strategy and quantitative and qualitative methods can complement each other to address the research problem. This study employs a concurrent embedded mixed methods research strategy that consists of a street survey and semi-structured interviews. Due to the distribution pattern of the quantitative data, this study used non-parametric analysis methods including: Chi-Square Test for Independence, Spearman’s Rank Order Correlations, Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis Test. The qualitative section of the investigation focuses on four issues: how Urban Adult Chinese Consumers (UACC) determine whether a product is foreign or Chinese, sources and background of animosity, the impact of domestic alternatives and areas for Chinese products to improve. This study discovered that UACC’s preference between foreign and Chinese products remain divided. They cannot be simply considered overwhelmingly in favour of foreign products or prefer Chinese products. For those UACC have a preference for foreign products, quality and design are the main two reasons. Desire to support China’s domestic industry and patriotism are the main driving forces behind some UACC’s preference of Chinese products. UACC holds low to moderate level of CE beliefs, which suggests they are worldminded consumers that capable of evaluate foreign products based on merits, without strong negative bias. UACC have strong animosity towards the Japanese, but antagonistic sentiments towards the Americans and French are relatively low. There are complex sources of animosity and this study identified a wide range of factors that contributed to UACC’s strong animosity towards the Japanese. The main area of original contribution of this study concentrates on Consumer Animosity. It discovered a wide range of sources of animosity towards the Japanese and constructed an enhanced animosity model

Ours are always the best? A study of consumer ethnocentrism amongst urban adult Chinese consumers

This study aims to test urban adult Chinese consumers’ level of consumer ethnocentrism and examining the moderating effects of location, age group and education levels. It collected 367 questionnaires in Shenyang- Northern China and Shenzhen – Southern China. The findings suggested urban adult Chinese consumers have relative low level of ethnocentrism beliefs. There is no strong negative bias towards foreign products, which means they do not evaluate foreign products negatively. Consumers living in Northern China have stronger ethnocentrism beliefs than those living in Southern China. Older generation holds stronger ethnocentric views than the younger generation and education plays a major role. More educated consumers are more likely to be more open minded about foreign products and services. Generally speaking, strident protectionism or calls for blanket bans or boycott of foreign goods are unlikely to occur in China. CE does not pose a serious threat to foreign products

Vortex Dynamics in Rotating Rayleigh-B\'enard Convection

We investigate the spatial distribution and dynamics of the vortices in rotating Rayleigh-B\'enard convection in a reduced Rayleigh-number range $1.3{\le}Ra/Ra_{c}{\le}166$. Under slow rotations ($Ra{\gtrsim}10Ra_{c}$), the vortices are randomly distributed. The size-distribution of the Voronoi cells of the vortex centers is well described by the standard $\Gamma$ distribution. In this flow regime the vortices exhibit Brownian-type horizontal motion. The probability density functions of the vortex displacements are, however, non-Gaussian at short time scales. At modest rotating rates ($4Ra_{c}{\le}Ra{\lesssim}10Ra_{c}$) the centrifugal force leads to radial vortex motions, i.e., warm cyclones (cold anticyclones) moving towards (outward from) the rotation axis. The mean-square-displacements of the vortices increase faster than linearly at large time. This super-diffusive behavior can be satisfactorily explained by a Langevin model incorporating the centrifugal force. In the rapidly rotating regime ($1.6Ra_{c}{\le}Ra{\le}4Ra_{c}$) the vortices are densely distributed, with the size-distribution of their Voronoi cells differing significantly from the standard $\Gamma$ distribution. The hydrodynamic interaction of neighboring vortices results in formation of vortex clusters. Inside clusters the correlation of the vortex velocity fluctuations is scale free, with the correlation length being approximately $30\%$ of the cluster length. We examine the influence of cluster forming on the dynamics of individual vortex. Within clusters, cyclones exhibit inverse-centrifugal motion as they submit to the motion of strong anticyclones, while the velocity for outward motion of the anticyclones is increased. Our analysis show that the mobility of isolated vortices, scaled by their vorticity strength, is a simple power function of the Froude number