Why Country of Origin Effects Vary in Consumers' Quality Evaluation

Abstract

This paper provides a global theoretical explanation for why country of origin effects vary in consumers' quality evaluation-a puzzling issue in the research-based on the framework of accessibility-diagnosticity and information integration. Findings of judgment weight changes, quality assessment speed, and perceived quality support the hypotheses of the framework that country of origin effects vary not only by the diagnosticity of the country of origin, but also by the accessibility-diagnosticity of its accompanying cues. The findings also demonstrate strong competing relationships among quality-signaling cues in the quality evaluation, such that even with the same country of origin, country of origin effects are weaker when accompanied by more diagnostic accompanying cues (e.g., strong brands, distinctive prices) compared with less diagnostic accompanying cues (e.g., weak brands, less distinctive prices). This paper discusses the application of the framework to country of origin management and suggests ways to manipulate a variety of quality-signaling cues (e.g., brand, price, product design, and product warranty) to minimize less favorable or to maximize favorable countries of origin.