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