Consumer Animosity Scale

What it measures

Measures animosity — residual anger toward a foreign country based on previous or ongoing military, political, or economic conflicts — and its impact on willingness to purchase that country's products. Distinct from consumer ethnocentrism (general foreign product aversion), animosity is target-country-specific and can reduce purchase intentions even when consumers acknowledge product quality.

Response format

Likert (1–7, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

Scale items

War Animosity — animosity based on past or ongoing military conflict (Likert 1–7)

• I feel angry toward [country].
• [Country's] economic success has come at the expense of [own country].
• [Country] has not yet adequately compensated for its wartime actions.
• [Country's] wartime actions still anger me.
• [Country's] friendship has not erased the anger I feel.

Economic Animosity — animosity based on economic competition and trade practices (Likert 1–7)

• [Country] is not a reliable trading partner.
• [Country] does not play fair in its trade practices.
• [Country] is taking undue economic advantage of [own country].
• [Country] has too much economic influence in [own country].
• There is too much [country-made] merchandise in [own country].

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Two subscale scores. Adapt items to the specific country pair. Score = mean per dimension. War animosity and economic animosity have different antecedents and consequences. Widely used in research on product boycotts, international crises, and the impact of geopolitical events on consumer behaviour.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Klein, J.G., Ettenson, R., & Morris, M.D. (1998). The animosity model of foreign product purchase: Does where it was made matter to consumers? Journal of Marketing, 62(1), 89–100.

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