Nationalistic Sentiments of Chinese Consumers: The Effects and Determinants of Animosity and Consumer Ethnocentrism

The purpose of this study is to examine the antecedents of consumer ethnocentrism and test the effects of animosity and consumer ethnocentrism on the purchase of foreign products in China. A questionnaire survey (N = 600) was conducted in Shanghai in 2005 using the mall-intercept survey technique. The results indicate that the effects of animosity and consumer ethnocentrism are significant in the case of Japanese and U.S. products in China, and that Chinese consumer ethnocentrism is a combination of patriotism and negative internationalism. Patriotism is positively correlated with consumer ethnocentrism, but is negatively correlated with animosity. As compared to patriotism, the total effect of exclusionism on the willingness to buy foreign products is much stronger.