Country Of Origin Perceptions Research Articles

“I Am Who I Am, But I Am Complicated”: The Mediating Role of Ambivalence on Country of Origin (COO) Between Consumer Self-Positioning and Willingness to Buy

This paper examines the intricate relationship between consumer identity, COO (Country of Origin) perceptions, and purchasing intentions. Utilizing a quantitative approach, it collected survey data from a survey of 521 participants in China, offering a comprehensive view of consumer attitudes and behaviors, by adopting Structural Equation Models. A key finding is the mediating role of ambivalence toward COO in the relationship between consumer self-identity and purchasing willingness. This ambivalence, influenced by factors like nationalism, product quality perceptions, and ethical concerns, divided into animosity and admiration on COO, is shown to influence purchasing propensity. The study underscores the fluid nature of consumer identity, shaped by personal, cultural, and global influences, particularly under globalization where exposure to products from diverse COOs leads to varied responses. Recognizing and strategically responding to this ambivalence can enhance consumer engagement and willingness to buy. This research contributes to global consumer behavior studies by emphasizing the complex interplay between consumer identity, COO perceptions, and purchasing decisions, offering insights for developing effective international marketing strategies.

THE MEDIATING ROLE OF CONSUMER ETHNOCENTRISM BETWEEN COUNTRY OF ORIGIN AND PURCHASE INTENTION

In the face of changing conditions and consumer needs around the world, businesses need to be able to adapt to these conditions and respond to the needs of the consumer in order to survive. For this reason, companies have to analyze the ethnocentric tendencies of the consumers, as well as the country of origin perceptions and their effects on the purchase intention. The aim of this study is to reveal the mediating role of consumer ethnocentrism between country of origin and purchase intention. For the purpose of the research, consumer ethnocentrism, country of origin effect and purchase intentions for local cheeses of North Cyprus, were examined. Quantitative research method was used in the research. The model design of this study was conducted in accordance with the causality research purpose. The sample of the research is composed of consumers in Northern Cyprus. Study participants were identified using convenience sampling method. 421 consumers participated in the research. The results show that there is a positive relationship between consumer ethnocentrism, country of origin and purchase intention. According to the results, it was determined that the consumer ethnocentrism tendencies partially mediated the relationship between the country of origin scale and the consumer purchase intention.

Antecedent Factors Impacting Country of Origin (COO): An Investigation into Food Provenance in China

This paper reports a study that sought to investigate the antecedent factors influencing consumer COO perceptions. A review of the literature revealed that most previous studies consider these factors independently, however, it is now widely accepted that consumer decision making does not involve the consideration of variables one-at-a-time but rather as a small group of factors often referred to as the evoked set. This study, therefore, set out to fill a gap in the knowledge regarding the factors influencing consumer COO when considered collectively. A model of the antecedent factors impacting COO was developed from the literature and a three stage methodology involving both qualitative and quantitative techniques was then used to test the model. The findings not only confirm COO as an important factor in the decision making process of Chinese consumers when purchasing food products but go on to suggest that the role played by the antecedent factors of COO is much more complex than the existing literature might suggest. The main limitations of the study related to the work being conducted in just one country (China) and the inherent issues associated with research that is based on sampling. Despite the limitations, the paper makes an original contribution to knowledge regarding antecedent factors impacting COO and presents a number of implications for both practicing marketing managers and academic theorists.

PENGARUH COUNTRY OF ORIGIN PERCEPTION, PERCEIVED QUALITY DAN PROMOTIONAL MIX TERHADAP PURCHASE INTENTION DENGAN BRAND IMAGE SEBAGAI VARIABEL INTERVENING (STUDI PADA SMARTPHONE BUATAN INDONESIA)

ABSTRACT This study aims to analyze the influence of Country of Origin Perception, Perceived Quality and Promotion on Brand Image and Purchase Intention. Then to analyze whether Brand Image always affect consumers to make purchases of products especially smartphones made in Indonesia. To achieve that goal used as many as 125 respondents taken by purposive sampling with questionnaires as a method of data collection. The data is processed by means of analysis of Structural Equation Modeling. The results show that Country of Origin Perception, Perceived Quality and Promotion affect Purchase Intention either without or through Brand Image. Thus, it is suggested that Indonesian smartphone business players are expected to increase their promotion intensity and product performance in order to be able to build a consumer brand image that will ultimately affect the buying interest of Indonesian smartphone consumers.

Assessing the Impact of Country of Origin Perception on Purchase: A Case of K-Pop

The aim of this paper is to expand upon previous research into the CO perception effect through use of empirical data by formulating an analysis method which allows measurement of the extent of the CO effect by proxy of an object associated with CO image (ex. Pop musicians) and to propose an alternative framework which provides an explanation as to the discrepancies between empirical data and prior research. This paper proposes a generalizable analysis method to assess the extent of the CO perception effect and test how strongly a brand is associated with its CO regardless of brand attitude, involvement level, or product type. The level of exposure and interest in musicians associated with their CO was selected as a variable for measuring CO association strength, which was then compared with the purchase data of two automobile brands from the same CO, measured in terms of export and sales, and analyzed empirically. Study 1 suggests that K-pop musicians’ popularity overseas had a high effect on Korean exports in both B2B and B2C industries. A larger extent of the CO effect was found among high GDP per capita countries than in long GDP per capita countries. Study 2 reveals that the impact of CO effect associated with ‘PSY’ on the auto sales of two Korean brands in U.S. was significant. The extent of the CO effect differed between the two brands of the same industry group and dissipated over time as ‘PSY’s popularity faded away. An asymmetric pairwise CO effect was found vis-a-vis American and Japanese brands. In contrast to previous research, this paper investigates the extent of the CO effect associated with popular musicians and directly assesses their effect purchase behavior. Our findings do confirm the existence of the CO perception effect on real purchase behavior and propose possible future research expansion into a two track process of CO effect: long term attitude change and short term memory lift.

Georgian consumers' evaluation of products sourced from European Union member countries

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine country of origin (COO) effects among Georgian consumers towards selected European Union (EU) member country products. Within this general framework, the present paper aims to determine Georgian consumers' perception of products sourced from Germany as the largest EU exporter to Georgia, Italy as the source of some well‐known product classes, and Poland as a new member of the EU.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted among 313 consumers, from Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi, and Rustavi in May and June of 2005. Based on the experiences and the findings of an earlier survey, ten products available in the Georgian market were identified as relevant for the study. A five‐point Likert scale was used to gauge respondents' perceptions of quality of each product from respective countries.FindingsMost of the products made in Germany are perceived high in quality. Italy is rated high in some major product classes like clothing and fashion products. Poland is not rated high for any product class but, its products' lower prices are appreciated by Georgian consumers. Findings support the earlier research specifying the heuristic between product evaluation and degree of economic development of the sourcing country. COO evaluations vary according to product class. The results also confirm past research indicating the differentiating effect of demographic variables on COO perceptions. COO image of Germany and Italy contributes to general “made in Europe” image, the image of Poland moderates it.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper's main tenet was that Georgian consumers had high regards for products coming from highly developed EU member countries. This is a static study and looked at the COO phenomenon during one period of time (static approach). Further studies are needed to determine the COO effect over a longer period of time (longitudinal studies). In addition to the study of COO effects on country's product class, the study of product form, product brand, and product brand options may produce more illuminating results.Practical implicationsGeorgian importers and European exporters should consider the “made in” strength of each product for competitive advantage and build up their product assortments accordingly. For promotion, exporters to Georgia and resellers in Georgia may put more emphasis on COO of the products which have relatively strong product country image. Relatively, weaker products from Italy and Germany may be supported by using a general country image. The “made in Europe” label may also help to increase the appreciation of products coming from Poland.Originality/valueThe present paper provides empirical evidence about consumers' perception of foreign products in a less researched geography.

Perceptions of country of origin: An approach to identifying expectations of foreign products

In the contemporary marketplace, country of origin (COO) has been considered one of the most significant phenomena impacting evaluations of foreign products. Understanding consumer behavior in relation to the perception of COO provides fundamentals to strategic decisions in marketing and consumer behavior. The question of how COO information cues are utilized by consumer insights in what conditions is important in product evaluations. This study endeavored to provide an approach to understanding COO perceptions based on consumer expectations of foreign products. Interviews were conducted with 170 undergraduates in China with the help of a formal questionnaire to collect data. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted in order to examine four types of consumer expectations of foreign products: Economic, Information, Social and Personality. Based on the results, it was concluded that when a consumer buys a foreign product, he considers the economic value of the product, wants more information about the product, and considers to what extent the product has an impact on social status and how the product enhances personality. Moreover, the Goodness of Fit indices of the derived model of consumer expectations of foreign products indicated the potential of using the approach to examine consumer expectations of these products.

Antecedents, moderators and dimensions of country‐of‐origin evaluations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an in‐depth examination of country‐of‐origin (COO) perceptions of consumers in a multinational setting. It shows how explanatory factors like demographics, familiarity with a country's products, purchase behaviour and psychological variables jointly work to explain consumers' COO perceptions.Design/methodology/approach – This is a quantitative study using a drop‐off and pick‐up survey among three samples of consumers in Canada, Morocco and Taiwan. The final sample size was comprised of 506 male consumers. The data were analyzed using factor analysis to group countries of origin and analyses of variance to relate COO perceptions to the explanatory variables.Findings – The familiarity with products made in a country was the strongest predictor of country perceptions, followed by nationality and the manufacturing process and product complexity dimensions of country evaluation. Canadians had the highest propensity to distinguish between countries of origin on ...

Country of origin perception and industrial purchase decision-making in New Zealand

This paper focuses on the impact of country of origin (COO) factors on New Zealand purchasing managers’ perceptions of two categories of industrial products, namely machine tools and component parts. These products are from 17 countries which are categorised in three kinds, namely developed, newly industrialised and industrialising countries. In this study a distinction is also made between country of design and country of assembly. Despite the debate that COO effects may no longer be clearly delineated because of globalisation of markets and outsourcing, this study confirms the importance of COO in industrial purchase decision-making by managers in New Zealand.

Segmenting Kyrgyz Consumer Markets Using Lifestyles, Ethnocentrism, and Country of Origin Perceptions

(1997). Segmenting Kyrgyz Consumer Markets Using Lifestyles, Ethnocentrism, and Country of Origin Perceptions. Journal of East-West Business: Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 83-96.