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The purpose of this paper is to create and validate a scale that measures consumer xenocentrism in developing countries, where this phenomenon is furthermost prevalent. This study aimed for the conceptualization, construct development and validation of a new scale labeled X-Scale. The theoretical framework was based on the theories of social comparison, system justification and culture.

This study employed a mixed-method and multi-stage research approach to investigate the domain of xenocentrism in the context of consumer behavior and subsequently develop a scale (X-Scale), while assessing its dimensionality, reliability and validity. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were used for the development of the scale. Multi-stage data from five developing countries were collected for validation purposes: Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and China.

Results indicate that the consumer xenocentrism construct has two dimensions: foreign admiration and domestic rejection. Each dimension is comprised of five items. The reliability tests, the goodness-of-fit measures and the psychometric properties indicate a reliable construct. In addition, this study shows that consumer xenocentrism is a key predictor of consumers’ preferences for foreign brands over domestic ones.

This is the first empirical study on consumer xenocentrism conducted in several developing countries. The X-Scale developed here is invariant across countries and, therefore, allows for comparison among them.

This exploratory research examined how emphasizing a brand’s unethical behaviour through high moral intensity news framing influences consumer boycott intention.

The hypotheses were tested and validated using two experimental studies that expose customers of real retail and personal care product brands to news articles that have high and low moral intensity news frames.

The results showed high moral intensity news framing’s positive effect on consumer boycott intention. The frame’s influence is moderated by moral awareness and partially mediated by perceived moral intensity and moral judgement. The findings suggest that consumers’ perception of the frame and their attitude towards the brand will have a substantial role in boycott intention.

These research outcomes aid in the understanding of news framing effects on boycott intention, providing both insights for consumer activists and managerial implications for stewards of brands.

While previous research have examined the impact of news frames on the typical audience, there has been relatively little focus on news framing’s impact on consumers and their decision to boycott brands. This study addresses this gap by applying the work on emphasis framing to a consumer decision-making context. It also introduces moral intensity framing to the news frame classification. In addition, this study expands current conceptualizations of individual ethical decision-making to help explain consumer boycott intent.