Animosity on the Home Front: The Intifada in Israel and Its Impact on Consumer Behavior

Abstract

International animosity significantly affects the purchase of foreign products. However, domestic conflicts are also rampant in many countries, giving rise to similar issues. October 2000 marked the beginning of the second Arab Intifada (uprising) in Israel. In contrast to the first Intifada of the late 1980s and early 1990s, this time, Israeli Arabs joined the Palestinians in violent demonstrations in Israeli locations with large Arab concentrations. This research studies Jewish Israelis’ reactions to Arab Israelis in the context of purchases and consumption of products and services produced or marketed by Arab Israelis. It examines animosity, its antecedents, and its consumption consequences within the large Jewish majority of the population in Israel. The authors find that dogmatism, nationalism, and internationalism affect animosity, which in turn predicts willingness to buy and actual changes in purchase behavior for goods and services produced or marketed by Israeli Arabs. In contrast to previous research, animosity also predicts product judgments.