Old Country Passions: An International Examination of Country Image, Animosity, and Affinity Among Ethnic Consumers

Ethnic consumers are an important market segment in both traditionally multicultural countries and newer destinations of growing immigration waves. Such consumers may carry with them "old country passions " that may influence their attitudes toward the products of countries perceived as friendly or hostile in relation to the consumers' original home countries. This study is the first to examine together four place-related constructs-namely, country and people images, product images, affinity, and animosity-and their potential effects on purchase intentions for products from countries that may be perceived as friends or foes from the perspective of the ethnic consumers' homeland, while also juxtaposing these measures against views toward a neutral "benchmark " country for comparison. The results show that country/ people and product images, affinity, and animosity work differently depending on the target country; both affective and cognitive factors influence product and people evaluations; and attitudes vary in their predictive ability on purchase intentions. The article concludes with a discussion implications from the findings and directions for further research