Even before Chinese retailers stripped NBA merchandise from their shelves in retaliation for a league executive’s public support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, a yearlong trade war has stoked a surge in Chinese nationalism and anti-American sentiment that’s increasingly bleeding into marketing decisions and consumer buying habits. Companies such as Apple Inc. have seen market share in the country dwindle. And American brands including Coach and Calvin Klein have rushed to issue public apologies after some of their products ran afoul of Beijing’s political sensitivities. Even if a trade truce is reached, marketing executives say that lasting brand damage has been done.
Some American companies now worry that a preference for buying Chinese could morph into an all-out boycott of U.S. goods, as happened when Beijing banned consumers from buying South Korea’s goods in retaliation for its government saying in 2016 it would let the U.S. build a missile defense system in the country. The results of that action: Korean companies lost an estimated $15.6 billion in revenue, hitting giants such as supermarket operator Lotte Shopping Co. and Hyundai Motor Co.particularly hard, according to the Hyundai Research Institute.
