The effect of consumer racism, ethnic-based consumer ethnocentrism and ethnic-based consumer animosity on Malaysian Malays' product judgment and willingness to buy Malaysian Chinese products

• Main Author: Samshul Amry, Abdul Latif
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: HF5415.33 Consumer Behavior.
• Online Access: https://etd.uum.edu.my/6134/1/s94676_01.pdf; https://etd.uum.edu.my/6134/2/s94676_02.pdf; https://etd.uum.edu.my/6134/

This thesis investigated the effects of consumer racism, ethnic-based consumer ethnocentrism and ethnic-based consumer animosity of ethnic Malaysian Malay consumers’ product judgment and willingness to buy Malaysian ethnic Chinese products. This thesis used a collection of familiar consumer products and brands to elicit generalized consumer response. Respondents were obtained through two approaches; social media platform and the traditional pencil-and-paper approach. The combined total usable respondents were 425. The hypothesized relationships between the constructs were analyzed through the partial least squares structural equation modeling approach (PLS-SEM). The results showed the constructs were distinct. There were three unsupported hypotheses with significant t-values, suggesting rather interesting findings. Consumer racism was found to have positive relationship on product judgment but not relationship with willingness to buy. The results also suggested that ethnic-based consumer ethnocentrism have negative impact on product judgment and but have positive relationship with willingness to buy, while ethnic-based consumer animosity have positive relationship with willingness to buy only. Future studies can use specific brands or products or product categories associated with a particular ethnic group. This thesis utilized a modified consumer racism scale suited to the Malaysian marketplace as according to the country’s historical aspects and operationalized both consumer ethnocentrism and animosity at subnational level or ethnic-based. The modified scale can be adjusted and be utilized in countries with similar historical background and/or multiethnic societies for future research.