Why Consumers Reboycott: Brand Betrayal, Animosity, and Cosmopolitanism in Corporate Social Irresponsibility Contexts

Previous boycott models inadequately explore why reboycott occurs. Our study fills this research gap by examining the negative psychological responses of consumers that influence their reboycott decisions by focusing on corporate brand betrayal and consumer animosity toward (global) fashion companies. Additionally, we explore the moderating roles of corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) and consumer cosmopolitanism to gain a deeper understanding of the consumers’ reboycott mechanisms. We utilize a hierarchical linear regression model and PROCESS macro (Model 4) with data from 603 Chinese consumers to test our hypotheses. We find that consumer animosity toward fashion companies positively mediates the relationship between corporate brand betrayal and reboycott intention. Furthermore, we present a novel implication that consumer cosmopolitanism diminishes the positive interaction effect between corporate brand betrayal and perceived severity of CSI on consumer animosity toward fashion companies, aiding practitioners in developing effective strategies to address challenges in global market.