Country Of Origin Image Research Articles

Athletes as destination ambassadors: understanding the role of athlete attachment and sport involvement on country-of-origin’s image and intention to visit

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to examine (1) the effects of athlete attachment on the athlete’s country-of-origin (COO) image and visit intentions, and (2) how athlete attachment is influenced by individuals’ involvement with sport (in general and to specific sport). Data were collected from four European countries (the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy) using an online questionnaire (n = 818) focused on one prominent tennis athlete and his COO. A confirmatory factor analysis assessed the psychometric properties of the constructs, and a subsequent structural equation model was conducted to test the research hypotheses. Results indicate the relationships between athlete attachment, COO image and visit intentions were positive and significant among participants of all countries. General sport involvement was positively related to specific sport involvement among participants of all countries, but only impacted athlete attachment for one country participants. In turn, specific sport involvement was significantly related to athlete attachment in all countries and showed a positive effect on visit intentions among participants of one country. These findings advance the understanding of leisure contexts by highlighting athlete’s importance as country ambassadors and generating destination benefits.

IMPORTED ELEGANCE: INVESTIGATING THE INTERPLAY OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE, AND BRAND IMAGE INFLUENCES ON CONSUMER PURCHASE DECISION IN THE AUTOMOBILE BRANDS

This study explores the complex relationships that influence consumers' decisions to buy foreign car brands. In order to understand how these three crucial elements together affect customers' choices and preferences, the study focuses on three key variables: brand image, product knowledge, and country of origin (COO). Using a thorough approach that includes surveys and case studies, this study attempts to offer a nuanced understanding of how the origin, consumer product knowledge, and brand image of imported vehicles affect the perceived elegance associated with consumers. The study postulates that customers' decision-making process while choosing an imported car is greatly influenced by the interaction of these elements. This research aims to provide significant insights to the automobile industry as well as academics by examining the relationships and conflicts that exist between COO, product knowledge, and brand image. Marketers, politicians, and industry stakeholders might find the findings useful in fine-tuning tactics to improve the attractiveness and market placement of imported automobile brands. "Imported Elegance" ultimately hopes to illuminate the complex decisions that consumers make in the global car industry, providing useful advice for companies that operate in this fast-paced and cutthroat industry. The method of analysis technique in this study is quantitative research method, sampling conducted with purposive sampling technique from questionnaire result that was shared to 130 respondents who lives in Jakarta, Indonesia and have at least 1 unit of imported car. The results of this study indicates that there are the direct effects of Country of Origin, product knowledge and brand image to purchase decision significantly

Understanding employee branding capability and country-of-origin image impacts for internationalised firms

This article focuses on understanding the role of employee branding capability (EmpBCap) in leveraging country-of-origin image (COI) as a firm resource. Drawing from the resource-based theory and signalling theory, we identify that EmpBCap enhances COI as a country-specific advantage (COI-CSA). Three sets of data were gathered, with 1,060 observations of executives working within internationalised Portuguese and Brazilian firms. Using psychometric procedures and SEM, the findings show that EmpBCap capability is an antecedent of COI-CSA and exerts an indirect effect on firm performance. The article extends previous research on COI from the supplier perspective by addressing calls for COI management research and provides further knowledge on internal brand management

Factors affecting the intention to receive the Sinofarm vaccine

PurposeThis study aims to explain the factors associated with receiving a specific brand of COVID-19 vaccine within the framework of the theory of reasoned action (TRA). This study extends the TRA with the country-of-origin image (COI), brand image and electronic word of mouth variables.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on a cross-sectional survey conducted among 460 people who received the Sinofarm vaccine. Participants were selected using an online convenience sampling method. The structural equation modeling technique tests the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe results showed that the essential factor associated with the intent to get the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is the attitude toward the Signopharm vaccine. Also, word of mouth, subjective norms and brand image are the most critical factors that play a role in forming a favorable attitude toward the Sinopharm vaccine. Finally, the country-of-origin image does not affect attitudes toward the Sinopharm vaccine.Originality/valueThe area of vaccine marketing has been given limited attention in academic literature. This study addresses this area with little research and is greatly attractive to many brands targeting the consumer market. The study results can form a foundation for creating the branding strategy for this product category and assessing its demand in various markets.

Country-of-origin and online retailing ethics: the mediating role of trust and satisfaction on purchase intention

PurposeOnline shoppers feel insecure due to the various unethical practices of e-tailers. It is, therefore, crucial for online retailers to alleviate customer concerns. Extant literature indicates that country-of-origin (COO) cues influence consumer perception. A relatively underexplored phenomenon in an emerging market context, the COO image of the online retailer, i.e. a foreign-origin online retailer (FOOR) or an Indian-origin online retailer (IOOR), needs validation. The current study investigates customer expectations of online retailers' ethical behaviour against the backdrop of online retailer-based signals in emerging markets.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers floated an online questionnaire using a seven-point Likert scale. The authors sought recipient responses in Google Forms shared via e-mails and social media connections. The authors analysed 1,018 useable responses using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in Smart PLS 3.FindingsThe empirical study examined the influence of the consumer perception of ethics of online retailers (CPEOR) and COO on consumer purchase intention. It validated the proposed research model. The research findings inform that the CPEOR and the COO influence purchase intention through the mediation effects of trust and satisfaction. Results indicate that privacy, security, non-deception, fulfilment, customer service, FOOR and IOOR strongly predict consumer trust. In contrast, privacy, non-deception, fulfilment, customer service and FOOR strongly predict consumer satisfaction. However, security and IOOR did not influence consumer satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsThe study results have theoretical and practical implications for academic researchers and online retailing managers. Future studies can validate the model in different geo-demographic scenarios and e-commerce settings.Originality/valueThe study enriches the extant literature on CPEOR in the Indian context. This study is pioneering work examining consumer purchase intention by adding the COO construct to the CPEOR model.

A Cross-Cultural Investigation on Consumer Responses to Failures of Domestic and Foreign Products

This research examines how consumer ethnocentrism (CET) and product failure type affect consumers’ attitudes toward domestic and imported product failures. It also explores product failure’s impacts on country-of-origin (COO) image, and cultural difference in product failure tolerance. Two experiments in the U.S. and China were conducted. Hypotheses were tested using both regressions and structural equation modeling analyses. Findings include, first, CET affects attitudes toward product failures; second, failure type has both main and moderating effects; third, COO image fluctuates with failure experience, regardless of failure type and product origin (domestic or imported); and finally, Chinese consumers are more failure tolerant than U.S. consumers. Theoretically, as the first study, this research differentiates two product failure types (competence versus ethical) and confirms that failure type has both main and moderating effects on attitudes. It also extends the scope of CET’s predictive power by empirically confirming that CET can affect attitudes toward products even with failures. Managerially, more effort is needed in handling ethical than competence failures. When a firm’s product fails, other firms from the same country should react proactively. If a product fails in both the U.S. and Chinese markets, more recovery efforts should be invested in the U.S. market.

Social media campaigns and domestic products consumption: a study on an emerging economy

The growth of the “Internet” and the subsequent use of smartphones has led to heavy social media usage in recent years. Social media campaigns have been successful in influencing purchase intention. Ethnocentrism also affects the purchase intention (PI) of domestic products. ETH is an evolving field, particularly for the purchase intention of domestic products. Considering the same, we examined the impact of social media campaigns (SMC) and ethnocentrism (ETH) on the purchase intention of domestic products. The mediating role of ethnocentrism and the moderating role of country-of-origin image (COOI) are examined further. The proposed hypotheses were examined using structural equation modeling. Data was collected from 431 avid social media users in a region that saw massive protests through social media campaigns. The results exhibit the positive impact of social media campaigns and ethnocentrism positively over the purchase intention of domestic products. In addition, ethnocentrism was found to be a mediator between social media campaigns and the purchase intention of domestic products. Moreover, the country of origin image strengthens the positive relationship between social media campaigns and the purchase intention of domestic products. However, COOI dampened the positive relationship between social media campaigns and ethnocentrism. This study provides fresh insights and implications for theory and practice.

The Effects of China’s Country-of-Origin Image on Uzbekistani Consumers’ Food Purchase Intentions

Country of origin (COO) is one of the key extrinsic factors to consumers in their decision-making process. This research evaluates the effects of COO image on food purchase intentions in terms of Chinese processed foods among Uzbekistani customers, and there are four dimensions of COO image: product, economic, people, and international relationships. A questionnaire was distributed to consumers in the city of Tashkent, and a total of 287 valid samples were collected. The collated data were analyzed using frequency distribution and charts in addition to Cronbach’s alpha, which was utilized to determine the reliability of the variables. In addition, definitions and explanations were provided with the aid of means and standard deviations, percentages, correlation, and regression. The results showed that product image and people’s perception of COO image influence customers’ food purchase intentions, but there is no significant correlation between economic image or international relationship image and customer purchase intentions inclined towards foods manufactured in China based on the view of Uzbekistani consumers. Furthermore, the outcomes indicated that the effect of COO image would vary based on the nationality of the consumer.

Managing brand equity in the brewing sector

PurposeThe paper analyzes the effect of country of origin (COO) image, word-of-mouth (WOM) and brand distinctiveness toward overall brand equity (OBE) and its dimensions (brand awareness/associations; perceived quality; brand loyalty) in the brewing sector.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative research has been conducted by adopting the survey technique and structural equation modeling based on a sample of 401 Italian beer consumers.FindingsResults corroborate a positive effect of (1) COO image and brand distinctiveness on brand awareness/associations, perceived quality and brand loyalty; (2) WOM on perceived quality and brand loyalty; (3) brand awareness/associations and brand loyalty on OBE. Findings also verify the mediating effects of the OBE dimensions on the relationships between the analyzed antecedents (COO image, WOM and brand distinctiveness) and OBE.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the selection of a sample composed of Italian students guarantees good research internal validity, findings are not generalizable.Practical implicationsThe study offers valuable strategies for brewing firms to reach high levels of brand equity. In particular, it identifies the key role of COO image, WOM, brand distinctiveness and OBE dimensions in realizing careful brand management processes.Originality/valueThe paper focuses on analyzing the influence of COO image on brand equity in the brewing industry, thus enriching an area of investigation that requires further insights within an under-investigated sector.

Exploring the impact of country-of-origin image and purchase intention in cross-border e-commerce

Product country-of-origin (COO) is now playing a central role in consumers’ purchase behavior. Previous studies have investigated several factors that impact COO. However, little attention has been paid to the impact of COO on consumers’ product evaluation on Chinese products, especially in the cross-border e-commerce context. Using a multi-methods design, this study first unearthed the antecedents of COO image towards Chinese products from the qualitative data in Study 1 by drawing on the legitimacy theory and then develops a contextual model of consumers’ product evaluation and purchase intention, integrating the role of a product with a different level of involvement. Using quantitative survey data from 252 foreign consumers, the study tests the research model in Study 2. The findings provide empirical evidence to support the model and highlight the importance of COO cues on foreign consumers’ purchase intention towards Chinese products. The results also enhance our understanding of consumers’ purchase decision in cross-border e-commerce.

The Effect of Brand Internationalization Strategy on Domestic Consumers' Purchase Intention: Configuration Analysis Based on Brand Authenticity Perspective.

Brand internationalization is an important strategy for emerging market enterprises to promote their self-owned brand to the international market. It has practical significance for promoting domestic consumers’ trust and acceptance of the international self-owned brands. This paper uses the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) as the method and 218 consumers in China as the survey subjects. The research focuses on exploring the core factors that stimulate domestic consumers’ purchase intention from the perspective of consumers’ perceived authenticity of brand internationalization (PABI) and how these factors cooperate to affect the driving path of domestic consumers’ high purchase intention. The findings show that (1) country of origin image, quality perception, credibility, and self-identity are the four core factors that stimulate domestic consumers’ purchase intention from the perspective of PABI, but each factor cannot be the necessary condition for high domestic consumers’ purchase intention alone. (2) Three types of conditional configurations constitute the driving path of high domestic consumers’ purchase intention: “country of origin image – self-identity,” “self-identity – credibility,” and “country of origin image – quality perception – credibility.” (3) The potential substitution relationship among the four core factors reflects that emerging market enterprises should choose a targeted driving path to implement brand internationalization strategies; this strategy helps enterprises to enhance domestic consumer trust and acceptance. This study broadens the exploration of brand internationalization through new research methods and perspectives and helps emerging market enterprises to design and implement various targeting, positioning, and segmentation strategies to successfully promote brand internationalization in the contest between globalization and anti-globalization.

Organizational legitimacy of emerging multinational enterprises: An individual perspective

Drawing on the information processing perspective from psychology, the study builds and tests a conceptual model to explain how the country-of-origin image (COI) and media coverage are associated with the organizational legitimacy of emerging multinational enterprises (EMNEs), and how the relationships are moderated by the education level of individuals in a developed host country. This study investigates the relationships by highlighting the multidimensional nature of these concepts. Our findings suggest that affective COI is positively associated with both pragmatic and sociopolitical legitimacy, economic COI is positively associated with pragmatic legitimacy, and political COI is positively associated with sociopolitical legitimacy. The findings also demonstrate that media influence legitimacy; however, the extent to which media influence legitimacy depends on individuals’ education levels. These findings advance our understanding of organizational legitimacy and its antecedents, providing new insights into strategies for building legitimacy in foreign countries.

The Impact of Country of Origin, Image, and Consumer Ethnocentrism Toward Purchase Decision of Casual Apparel in Young Adult

Indonesia is among the top 10 textile and apparel producer in the world the industry has become more competitive in both domestic and international markets. Indonesian Government has also been making tremendous effort in boosting local product purchases with the aim of making domestic consumption as the main pillar of Indonesian economy. However, data and statistic still shown the lack of appreciation from Indonesian consumers toward its apparel industry. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of Country of Origin Image and Consumer Ethnocentrism toward Purchase Decision of casual apparel in young adult. The data used was primary data which was obtained through self- administered questionnaire and processed quantitatively using multiple regression in SPSS to test the hypotheses exploring the impact Country of Origin Image and Consumer Ethnocentrism toward Purchase Intention. A total sample of 100 respondents were collected. The result showed that Country of Origin Image does not have significant impact toward Purchase Decision. In contrast, Consumer Ethnocentrism does have significant impact toward Purchase Decision. The result of this study further supports and add to previous research of Country of Origin Image and Consumer Ethnocentrism concepts together. Moreover, the result of this study can benefit Indonesian casual apparel companies in providing additional insights which can further support and add to their existing sales and marketing strategies to maximize their competitive force in local market.

Research Note: Assessing the Impact of K-pop on the Sales of Korean Brands: A Case of Automobile in the U.S. Market

The aim of this paper is to expand upon previous research into the country of origin effect through the use of empirical data by formulating an analysis method which allows the measurement of the extent of country of origin effect by the proxy of K-pop musicians associated with country of origin image and to propose an alternative framework which provides an explanation as to the discrepancies between empirical data and prior research. Our analysis results reveal that the impact of country of origin associated with ‘PSY’ and ‘BTS’ on the automobile sales of ‘Hyundai Sonata’ was significant in the U.S. market. An asymmetric country of origin effect was found vis-à-vis American and Japanese brands.

The Mediation Role of Attitude toward Purchase in the Relationship between Country of Origin Image, Religiosity, Ethnocentrism, Animosity and Intentions to Purchase in the Egyptian Context

This research investigates the relationship between differences (ethnocentrism, country of origin image, religiosity and animosity) which may affect intentions to purchase. In doing so, it measures the effect of country of origin image, religiosity, animosity and ethnocentrism and their relationships with intentions to purchase Chinese fashion products in Egypt, through attitude toward purchase. Both of positivism and quantitative approach represent an organized method of research that combine the deductive logic and the empirical observations of individual behavior together in order to be able to note a group of causal laws that can be used for general prediction patterns of human activity. This study collects the data of the required variable by making a questionnaire. This questionnaire targeted a population that is represented in customers who purchase Chinese fashion products in Egypt. The analysis conducted is applied using SPSS 22.0 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) and AMOS 24. Due to the infinite number of the targeted population, the sample of the study consisted of 384questionnaires gathered from Egyptian customers. The results of the analysis indicate that ethnocentrism and country of origin image have a positive impact on intentions to purchase and attitude toward purchase. While, religiosity and animosity have a negative impact on intentions to purchase and attitude toward purchase. Moreover, the results partially support the Mediation role of Attitude toward purchase in the relationship between (Ethnocentrism, Country of origin image, religiosity and Animosity) and Intentions to Purchase Chinese Fashion Products.

Exploring the Impact of Country-of-Origin Image and Purchase Intention in Cross-Border E-Commerce

Product country-of-origin (COO) is now playing a central role in consumers’ purchase behavior. Previous studies have investigated several factors that impact COO. However, little attention has been paid to the impact of COO on consumers’ product evaluation on Chinese products, especially in the cross-border e-commerce context. Using a multi-methods design, this study first unearthed the antecedents of COO image towards Chinese products from the qualitative data in Study 1 by drawing on the legitimacy theory and then develops a contextual model of consumers’ product evaluation and purchase intention, integrating the role of a product with a different level of involvement. Using quantitative survey data from 252 foreign consumers, the study tests the research model in Study 2. The findings provide empirical evidence to support the model and highlight the importance of COO cues on foreign consumers’ purchase intention towards Chinese products. The results also enhance our understanding of consumers’ purchase decision in cross-border e-commerce.

The Antecedents and Consequences of Korean Brand Equity in Myanmar: Focusing on Country of Origin Image and Advertising Awareness

Purpose - Brand equity has emerged as an indispensable marketing tool for firms engaging their business in developing nations. This study proposes that the country of origin image and advertising will affect the Korean brand equity formation, which leads to repurchase intention of Korean brands. In the study, attitude factors are applied in brand equity theory to predict repurchase intention of Korean brands. Cognitive brand equity, such as brand awareness, brand association, brand image and attitudinal brand equity, such as perceived quality and brand loyalty are considered with regards to their attitude towards the Korean brand. Design/methodology - A total of 178 Myanmar consumers out of 200 participants who have used Korean brands answered the survey and data were analyzed through SmartPLS 3.3.2 version. PLS-SEM is considered a more suitable analysis to pin down and evaluate the cause-effect relationship among all of the constructs with relatively complex models. Findings - Our results substantiate that the country of origin image positively affects brand awareness, brand associations, and brand image and advertising awareness positively affects brand awareness. Brand awareness gives positive effect only on brand association, which sustains a positive effect on brand image and brand loyalty. Brand image only has a positive effect on perceived quality, which again affects repurchase intention and brand loyalty. Brand loyalty also shows a positive effect on repurchase intention. Originality/value - Brand equity dimensions were viewed as cognitive and attitudinal outcomes of brand equity which affects repurchase intention. The drivers of brand equity were considered from the perspective of country of origin image that firms cannot control or mange, and advertising awareness which firms can control and manage. The findings also explored the relationships between cognitive and attitudinal brand equity.

Conceptualizing country-of-origin image as a country-specific advantage: An insider perspective

This study proposes a new approach to the Country-of-Origin Image (COI) literature. Unlike previous research which gathers COI from an outsider (external) perspective, it argues that the COI phenomenon should be understood from insider (internal) perspective, that is how national stakeholders within the home country perceive COI. Measuring the image of a country from the insider perspective can help its national stakeholders recognize COI as a valuable resource that can be translated into a Country-Specific Advantages (CSA). It thus introduces the construct ‘Country Self-image’ (CSI) that covers an insider perspective and identifies it as an antecedent of COI based CSA (COI-CSA). It adapts and validates a scale of CSI to this effect and test the relationship between CSI and COI-CSA by performing a structural equation modeling (SEM) on a dataset collected from two different surveys. The adapted scale of CSI comprises six dimensions and twenty-three items.

“Foreign brands of course!” An ethnographic study exploring COO image perceptions and its influence on the preference of foreign clothing brands

ABSTRACT This study explores Jordanian women’s preferences for foreign over local clothing brands through exploring perceptions of COO image. An ethnographic approach has been utilized, consisting of 3 data generation stages: interactive group interviews; shopping observations; and one on one responsive interviews. This study highlights new reasons for preference of foreign brands, overlooked in previous studies, stemming from self and social symbolism, consumption symbolism, status and conspicuous consumption and country of origin image. Furthermore, a key outcome of this research is the conceptualization of “Country of Purchase”. Implications are provided for local clothing brands on ways to improve their image in the eyes of Jordanian consumers – particularly women. Recommendations regarding local brands’ pricing, store atmosphere and image, and symbolic value are highlighted and discussed. Previous research is extended by exploring different reasons for foreign brand preference in developing countries and introduces an inductive and interpretive approach to obtain descriptive and rich data providing understanding of the phenomena of country of origin and country of purchase in the fashion industry.

Analyzing Attitude towards COVID-19 Vaccine in the Context of the Health Industry: The Role of Country of Origin Image

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate individuals’ attitude towards the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, and explain vaccination intention in the framework of the theory of reasoned action. The study extends the theory of reasoned action with country of origin image variable. Material and Methods: The data of the study were collected by survey method. The survey consists of a total of 48 items, including individual innovativeness, subjective norms, attitude towards COVID-19 vaccine, intention to get COVID-19 vaccine, country of origin image, demographic characteristics, and general opinions about the vaccine and COVID-19. 333 participants answered the surveys. Data were analyzed by structural equation modeling using SPSS v.21 and AMOS v.23 package programs. Results: Attitude towards German COVID-19 vaccine (β=0.888, p<0.001) and German’s country of origin (β=0.436, p<0.001) variables have significant and positive relationships with intention to get German vaccine. Subjective norms (β=0.750, p<0.001), China’s country of image (β=0.265, p<0.001), attitude towards Chinese COVID-19 vaccine (β=0.198, p<0.001), variables have significant and positive relationships with intention to get Chinese COVID-19 vaccine. Country of origin image is significantly and positively related to both attitude towards German COVID-19 vaccine (β=0.690, p<0.001) and Chinese COVID-19 vaccine (β=0.461, p<0.001). Conclusion: The most important factor associated with the intention to get German COVID-19 vaccine is the attitude towards the COVID-19 vaccine. The most important factor associated with the intention to get Chinese COVID-19 vaccine is the subjective norm. Country of origin image is a significant variable for both countries.