Friend or Foe? The Role of Brand and CSR in the Animosity–Travel Relationship Under Boycott Contexts

This study aims to extend research on the consumer animosity–travel relationship by examining consumer boycotts directed at global companies from a target foreign country. Additionally, we theorize the boundary conditions of product brand strength and the corporate social contributions of global companies to better predict the dynamic nature of the consumer animosity–travel relationship. Using two datasets collected from South Korean consumers (Study 1: 504 participants in 2020; Study 2: 478 participants in 2022), we employ Hayes’ PROCESS macro to test our moderated mediation hypotheses. The key findings are as follows. Corporate social contributions mitigate the positive indirect effect of consumer animosity toward economic sanctions on intentions to travel to a target country through increased boycott intentions. Contrary to our prediction, the brand strength of global products strengthens this same indirect effect. By integrating these findings across two independent studies conducted at different time points, this study offers important theoretical and practical implications. Specifically, the effects of brand strength and corporate social responsibility (CSR)—typically viewed as positive marketing signals in contemporary marketing philosophy—may differ substantially in the context of consumer boycotts during periods of international conflict.