“Consumer Demographics as Antecedents in the Animosity Model of Foreign Product Purchase”
Charles W. Richardson, Jr.

Abstract
The globalization of markets appears to be limited by key social factors still present in the mind of the consumer. One of those factors is ethnocentrism, which protects local products against foreign products. Another factor is animosity, which distinguishes foreign products between those that are favored and those that are rejected on the basis of a specific country of origin. Both constructs have been defined on a nationalistic basis, and prior research has focused on country-to-country relationships and interaction. However, either construct may not impact similarly one country’s consumers. Key antecedents include demographic characteristics of the consumer. American consumers were surveyed regarding their attitudes towards Japan and Japanese products. Results indicate that various demographic measures do, indeed, have a significant impact on the presence of animosity and/or ethnocentrism. This confirms that sub-national segmentation can be a critical consideration.

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