Search

Purpose – Consumer ethnocentrism and consumer animosity provide marketing management with two useful concepts to understand the reasons behind consumers’ purchase decisions concerning domestic vs imported products. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the antecedents and consequences of animosity and ethnocentrism within a single model, and respondents’ evaluations of a specific product category are solicited. Design/methodology/approach – The study is conducted within an ideal context for the study of consumer animosity: data were collected in Belgrade shortly after the US-led NATO bombings of 1999. The surveys were carried out in person at the interviewees’ home. The sample was part of a regular omnibus panel composed of 270 adult respondents, of which 92.2 percent agreed to participate. Findings – The findings indicate that animosity and consumer ethnocentrism are distinct constructs. Also consistent with previous research, results obtained confirm that each construct has unique antecedents and consequences. Practical implications – Once consumer animosity and ethnocentrism levels have been measured, managers can then make decisions about whether to promote their country of origin or, alternatively, create more powerful local connections for their products. Thus, the consideration of animosity and ethnocentrism can be part of a firm’s international strategies. Originality/value – Previous studies on consumer animosity have demonstrated through structural equation modeling that the two constructs are distinct and have distinct antecedents, but research has not examined both the antecedents and the consequences of animosity and ethnocentrism in the same study. Thus, this study investigates the antecedents and consequences of animosity and ethnocentrism within a single model.

PurposeDespite the recognition that the subordinate's influence is a particularly noteworthy feature of the social context with considerable potential to affect the performance evaluation process, there are almost no studies that consider this influence in a selling context. Attempting to contribute to address these needs, the model presented here depicts a number of social and situational factors influencing supervisor's rating of salesperson's performance, primarily operating through affective processes.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 122 salespeople and their immediate managers from 35 firms pertaining to nine different industries.FindingsSEM results indicated that supervisor‐focused impression management was positively related to the supervisor's liking of the salesperson. Consistent as well with prior research is the positive influence of supervisor's affect towards salesperson on the supervisor's ratings of sales performance, both directly and indirectly, through the effect on salesperson's perceived interpersonal skills. Finally, a salesperson's physical attractiveness demonstrated significant positive effects on performance ratings, through the influence on supervisor's liking and salesperson's interpersonal skills.Practical implicationsThese results have important managerial implications: sales managers should be aware that salespeople might be using impression management tactics and that the use of these behaviours might influence the way that they evaluate their employee's performance. Managers should also remain vigilant to the potential bias based on physical appearance in hiring and supervising salespeople.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the knowledge of the social and affective variables that influence the sales performance appraisal process, an area of research that is almost unexplored.