Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumer ethnocentrism (CET) and cosmopolitanism (COS) may affect Asian consumers’ perceptions of out-group countries and their products, doing so by examining similar vs dissimilar countries across countries of origin. Given the strong inter-country rivalries that exist among Asian countries, the authors propose two alternative hypotheses, drawing from social identity theory and realistic group conflict theory. Design/methodology/approach To test the hypotheses, the authors examine consumer perceptions of both Western countries (dissimilar out-groups) and Asian countries (similar out-groups) within China (Study 1). In addition, the authors investigate how CET and COS affect consumer perceptions of Asian countries in Japan and in non-Asian dissimilar countries, and compare the effects between the two regions (Study 2). Findings The findings indicate that CET shows greater negative effects on perceptions of a country and its products, when the country is from a similar out-group than when it is from a dissimilar one. On the other hand, COS showed equally strong positive effects among consumers for both similar and dissimilar out-group countries. Research limitations/implications The results suggest that Asian consumers feel a sense of intergroup rivalry with other Asian countries, and, as a result, exhibit a greater degree of ethnocentric biases toward these countries and their products than they do toward Western countries and products. Also, the results suggest that COS may transcend national differences and inter-country rivalries in consumer consumption tendencies. Originality/value The study examines inter-country similarities as a moderator of CET and COS effects, which has not been extensively researched in the past. In addition, the study discusses the concept of intergroup rivalry among neighboring countries and examines how it affects consumer perceptions of out-group countries and their products in Asia, where strong inter-country rivalries exist.