A three-process model of consumer animosity in situational animosity: reference group perspective

Purpose This study aims to investigate informational influence and the underexplored role of interpersonal influences by proposing and empirically validating a three-process model, providing a framework for understanding the social psychological mechanisms that shape consumer attitudes and purchase decisions in situational animosity. Drawing on a reference group perspective from social influence theory, this study explores how these influences, manifested through the processes of internalization, identification and compliance, shape consumer responses toward foreign products and brands. Design/methodology/approach Three studies, including two longitudinal surveys and one experiment, were conducted in China to validate the hypotheses, involving 1,149, 1,537 and 1,400 consumers, respectively. The research contexts included the 2021 Xinjiang Cotton Event, the peak of the USA–China Chip War in 2024 and 2025 and an experimental design in which exposure to a primed Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute stimulus served as the manipulation. Findings Findings reveal that informational influence (from comparative reference groups) and value-expressive influence (from normative reference groups) shape situational animosity attitudes, whereas utilitarian influence, driven by social pressure from normative reference groups, translates these attitudes into product avoidance/boycott participation. The moderating effect of stable animosity on the relationship between informational influence and situational animosity attitudes was not supported. Research limitations/implications First, future studies could explore whether cognitive vs emotional distinction observed in stable animosity play a distinct role in shaping consumer reactions to real-time international crises. Second, future longitudinal studies could track whether prolonged exposure to situational conflicts gradually reshape stable animosity attitudes. Third, future research could explore how cultural factors moderate the effects of social influence on situational animosity. Fourth, this study encourages future research to examine boundary conditions under which situational animosity might evolve into stable animosity. Finally, while this study offers theoretically grounded recommendations for mitigating situational animosity, future research could empirically test the effectiveness of these interventions. Practical implications Findings reveal that consumer animosity and shifts in purchasing behavior can rapidly emerge, driven by continuous media coverage and reinforced through social norms shaped by consumers’ proximal group attitudes. These dynamics leads to collective consumer actions (protests, boycotts), significantly impacting foreign firms. While this study does not empirically test crisis management strategies, its findings underscore the necessity for firms to proactively assess and respond to informational, value-expressive and utilitarian influences that shape consumer attitudes and behavior in situational animosity. Firms must recognize that crisis management preparedness should involve a strategic understanding of the social normative mechanisms driving consumer responses. Originality/value This research advances animosity literature by demonstrating the distinct roles of reference group influences (informational, value-expressive and utilitarian) in shaping consumers’ animosity attitudes and purchase decisions toward foreign products and brands in situational animosity.