Mapping the influence of country-of-origin knowledge, consumer ethnocentrism, and perceived risk on consumer action against foreign products

Consumers in Western markets are often called against foreign-made products and their country-of-origin (COO), particularly against controversial COOs and products. As a result, Asian emerging countries and their manufacturing industries (e.g., apparel, toys, or chemicals) have become major targets of anti-consumption in the West, with criticism rooted in political-economic, social, and/or environmental issues. In addition, Western consumers' ethnocentric tendencies are often reinforced by campaigning for domestic product/service alternatives. This backdrop raises questions about the degree of consumers' macro COO knowledge and ethnocentrism, and of their importance as levers of consumer concern about (i.e., risk perceptions) and anti-consumption of foreign products from a controversial COO. This article thus sheds light on the extent to which COO knowledge (whether macro or based on usage experience), along with consumer ethnocentrism, can be considered antecedents of two risk perception types and, in turn, of country-driven anti-consumption (CDAC)-in the context of this work, Spanish consumers' reluctance to buy and (non-)ownership of Chinese apparel products. The findings reveal that consumer ethnocentrism heightens both psycho-social and performance risk perceptions and contributes to reluctance to buy. Macro COO knowledge affects CDAC only indirectly through performance risk perceptions. By contrast, usage experience attenuates both performance and psycho-social risk perceptions and directly affects foreign product ownership. Risk perceptions predict and mediate most of the effects of COO knowledge, consumer ethnocentrism, and usage experience on CDAC outcomes. Implications for research, policy, and practice are also discussed.