Exploring the animosity domain and the role of affect in a cross-national context

► Exploratory and empirical research is carried out in two countries in order to explore the domain and to test the factor structure and the hypotheses through confirmatory analysis. ► The research extends the domain of the animosity construct to a four-dimensional structure rather than the two-dimensional structure used in most previous studies. ► The four dimensions are: war/military animosity, economic animosity, politics animosity and people animosity. ► It is the first study to empirically test an extended animosity domain and investigate the mediating role of affective emotional responses between animosity and buying intentions. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the development of animosity theory in three areas; construct domain, the mediating role of affect and model testing. Exploratory and empirical research is carried out in two countries in order to explore the domain and to test the factor structure and the hypotheses through confirmatory analysis. We find animosity is a four-dimensional construct which impacts buying behavior through affect. The research extends the domain of the animosity construct to a four-dimensional structure rather than the two-dimensional structure used in most previous studies. It is the first study to empirically test an extended animosity domain and investigate the mediating role of affective emotional responses between animosity and buying intentions.