A dynamic approach to country‐of‐origin effect

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to propose a dynamic model of country-of-origin (CO) effect. While there is no consensus definition of CO (Sauer et al., 1991), it is generally understood to stand for the impact which generalizations and perceptions about a country have on a person's evaluations of the country's products and/or brands. Thus, it is posited that the image a person has about a country and its product offerings influence buying intention. Therefore, measurement of the CO construct is necessary so that marketing strategy and production sourcing can be determined. In the sections that follow, we introduce the concept of product image life cycle and a dynamic model of country image.A brief literature review of CO Some authors consider CO as an overall perception of a country (Nagashima, 1977;Wall and Heslop, 1986) without reference to product line. There is evidence, however, that CO is contingent on a specific product line (Cattin et al., 1982;Eroglu and Machleit, 1988;Gaedeke, 1973;Han and Terpstra, 1988; Helsop et al., 1987;Wang, 1978) or that there is linkage between specific product categories and country image dimensions (Roth and Romeo, 1992). Other studies have found that CO is moderated by familiarity with a product (Heimbach et al., 1989), product brand (Han and Terpstra, 1988;Seaton and Vogel, 1985;Tse and Gorn, 1992;Witt and Rao, 1992) and use of product information (Han and Terpstra, 1988;Hong and Wyer, 1989;Hong and Toner, 1989; Kieker and Duhan, 1992;Obermiller and Spangenberg, 1989).While more recent CO research tends to be multi-variate, measuring the effect of CO on consumer perception along with other marketing variables such as price (Johannson and Nebenzahl, 1986;Seaton and Vogel, 1985) and promotion (Ettenson et al., 1988;Head, 1988), most studies are univariate and static. None of the existing research considers CO as a dynamic process, i.e. how CO changes over time. The few longitudinal studies that measured changes in CO over two or more time periods, e.g. Wood and Darling (1992), failed to provide a theoretical explanation for the changes observed. The effect of product image on perceptionOur CO construct is based on an assumption that there are brand and country images over and above the perceived attributes of products associated with a country or being sold under a specific brand name. We further propose that there

Soap Opera Effect on Product Preferences in Terms of Country Image: A Case of Turkish TV Serials in Albanian Market

“…The hypothesis, H3, which signifies the impact of the image of the country of origin in product preferences, and which was extensively studied previously (Bilkey and Nes, 1982;Roth and Romeo, 1992;Lampert and Jaffe, 1998;Roth & Diamantopoulos, 2009) was verified in this study as well (p<0.10). However, as no correlation was found between watching the TV serials of a specific country and the Soap Opera Effect on Product Preferences in Terms of Country Image: A Case of Turkish TV Serials in Albanian Market checking the country of origin of the products preferred and the hypothesis H1b was rejected.…”

Country Branding and its effect on the consumer in the global market

“…Brand names give the consumers insight into the country-of-origin (without explicitly using a Made In label), and may be authentic or may be adopted so as to draw upon the positive qualities of another country's image (Wee et al 1993;Papadopoulous et al 1997). Finally, the dynamic quality of country images proves that nations can manage their country image in order to improve negative stereotypes and work to maintain positive images (Nagashima 1977;Han 1990;Lampert and Jaffe 1998;Jaffe and Nebenzahl 2001). Country-of-origin and its effect on the product is only one part of understanding the global marketplace; the audience is another important variable that will affect how a foreign product or service is perceived (Johannnson et al 1985).…”

“…Country images are not stagnant (Nagashima 1977;Lampert and Jaffe 1998). Each market will have different reactions to COO cues, an idea that must be taken into account when promoting a product and its origin abroad.…”

“…Countries that enjoy a positive image could use it to promote exports. By managing a place brand, a country can attempt to improve its economic results, however, countries and place branders must keep in mind that country images are not consistent across all sectors and that these images are not stagnant (Nagashima 1977;Lampert and Jaffe 1998;Jaffe and Nebenzahl 2001). Simon Anholt's place branding hexagon created a simple diagram (Figure 4) to show the integral parts of place branding (Anholt 2003;Anholt 2004).…”

“…Gilmore points to the uniformity and omnipresence of the Brand Spain's logo (Figure 3: Joan Miró's sun), the globalization of Spanish companies, and brand ambassadors, which all form part of a coordinated effort of the Spanish government, individuals, and corporations to redefine Spain as a modern and dynamic young democracy, and not the isolated, impoverished country of Francisco Franco's 36-year dictatorship. Each Source: Own elaboration; adapted from Lampert and Jaffe (1998) …”