The Impact of Consumer Animosity and Consumer Ethnocentrism on Intention to Purchase Foreign Products: The Case of Chinese Branded Household Appliances in Vietnam Market

Abstract

Vietnam-China bilateral relationship has sharply declined due to the recent conflicts on both economic and political affairs. On top of that, the current controversial incident regarding the East Sea issue has constantly deteriorated the connection. At this critical time when the effects of consumers’ attitude toward Chinese products could not be overlooked, the empirical study aims to investigate the impacts of Consumer Animosity and Consumer Ethnocentrism on Purchase Intention of Chinese branded merchandise with the mediating role of Consumer Judgment. Household appliance category is chosen because of the dominance of Chinese brands in Vietnam market. In addition to the assessment of Animosity effect on Purchase Intention, the research is designated to examine its antecedences, including Perceived Economic Hardship and Normative Influences as well as their influences on Animosity. Structural Equation Modeling was utilized to test the theoretical framework, analyzing the data from a sample of 349 consumers with diverse backgrounds. The results have demonstrated that only Perceived economic hardship manifest a significant impacts on Animosity. Meanwhile, Animosity and Ethnocentrism have negative relationships with both Chinese branded household appliances Judgment and Purchase Intention. Overall, the study provides specific discussion and recommendations for the Vietnam household appliances industry and at the same time points into various directions for further researches.

Impact of consumer animosity, boycott participation, boycott motivation, and product judgment on purchase readiness or aversion of Kurdish consumers in Iraq

“…Giang (2015) illustrated that consumer animosity could negatively impact product judgment in their research on Vietnamese consumers' intention to purchase Chinese household appliances, which illustrated how consumer animosity significantly influences product judgment. There are other studies in which consumer animosity is not deemed to be a significant factor.…”

“…In a study on consumers in Italy, the country image was found to be an important aspect that is affected by animosity, which leads to the damage of the receptivity for products (De Nisco et al ., 2013). In an investigation into Vietnamese consumers' perception of Chinese products, Giang (2015) illustrated the effect of animosity on purchase intention, ethnocentrism, and product judgment. Albayati et al .…”

The Impact of Cultural Similarity on Consumer Ethnocentrism Tendencies Toward Foreign Products

“…Previous studies related to the purchase of domestic and foreign products have found that when attitude towards and intention to purchase are positive, the consumer is highly likely to purchase that product (Giang & Khoi, 2015). Empirical evidence in this area found that ethnocentric consumers demonstrate a negative attitude that, in turn, affects their intention to purchase foreign products (Sharma et al, 1995;Giang & Khoi, 2015;Kumar et al, 2009;He & Wang, 2015;Josiassen et al, 2011). Thus, based on the previous findings in the literature, consumer ethnocentrism is negatively related to purchase intention toward foreign products.…”

“…Based on the concept of consumer ethnocentrism, ethnocentric consumers have a strongly favourable attitude toward local products rather than foreign products. Previous studies found that consumer ethnocentrism negatively affects attitudes toward foreign products (Batra et al, 2000;Giang & Khoi, 2015;Hamin & Elliott, 2006;He & Wang, 2015;Nijssen et al, 1999;Shankarmahesh, 2006;Sharma et al, 1995;Shimp & Sharma, 1987;Tsai et al, 2013;Watson & Wright, 2000). This indicates that consumers have positive feelings toward domestic products and a bias against foreign products.…”

“…From a marketing standpoint, ethnocentric tendency is a consumer's positive perception of domestically-made products that, in turn, create a preference for their own local products (He & Wang, 2015;Maina et al, 2015;Nguyen et al, 2008;Sharma et al, 1995;Šmaižienė & Vaitkienė, 2014;Tsai et al, 2013). Previous studies related to the purchase of domestic and foreign products have found that when attitude towards and intention to purchase are positive, the consumer is highly likely to purchase that product (Giang & Khoi, 2015). Empirical evidence in this area found that ethnocentric consumers demonstrate a negative attitude that, in turn, affects their intention to purchase foreign products (Sharma et al, 1995;Giang & Khoi, 2015;Kumar et al, 2009;He & Wang, 2015;Josiassen et al, 2011).…”