The Role of Occupation in an Integrated Boycott Model: A Cross-Regional Study in China

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study examines the role of occupancy status in an integrated boycott model, which synthesizes related theories that involve consumer animosity and five other constructs. The status of occupancy introduced in this paper is determined by the real-life incidence of military occupation imposed on China by Japan in the 1940s. The findings suggest that, regardless of the status of the occupancy condition, the tendencies of animosity, efficacy, and prior purchase behavior play important roles in attitudes toward participating boycott activities. The findings offer implications for marketing practice in that the management of multinational corporations that are concerned with increasing their share in any specific country must be aware of that country's history. In this regard, large companies need to pay much more attention to the ingrained and explosive emotion derived from the legacy of past conflicts (i.e., war, economic, political, etc.) between their host and home nations, regardless of a difference in the status of past occupation.