Did the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal Harm the “Made in Germany” Image? A Cross-Cultural, Cross-Products, Cross-Time Study

Aichner, Thomas; Coletti, Paolo; Jacob, Frank; Wilken, Robert L.

doi:10.1057/s41299-020-00101-5

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Qiao, Guo and Klein, 2010; or the Volkswagen emissions scandal in Germany, cf. Aichner et al, 2020). We call for more research on both cognitive and situational reasons for the evolution of a differentiated country image.…”

Section: Theoretical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of the export country's environmental image for consumer responses to an imported environmentally friendly product

Thøgersen

Pedersen

2021

IMR

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PurposeFilling a gap in extant research regarding the measurement of an export country's environmental image and investigating its importance for consumers' evaluation of an environmentally differentiated imported product.Design/methodology/approachOnline surveys carried out in Denmark (Study 1), Germany and France (Study 2; N˜500 from each country). In Study 1, we develop an environmental country image instrument and investigate its nomological validity vis-à-vis other country image constructs and Danish consumers' evaluation of organic milk from Germany. In Study 2, we validate the instrument with consumers from Germany and France, evaluating organic milk from Denmark.FindingsConsumers differentiate between a country's environmental image and its general and production-related images. The country's environmental image is important to consumers' evaluation of an environmentally differentiated product from the country. Specifically, we find that a country's environmental image strongly influences its product-specific images and, through these, the consumer's evaluation of an organic food product from the country.Practical implicationsConsumers' use of a country's environmental image as a cue to the credibility of environmental claims gives competitive advantages to exporters from countries with a favorable environmental image, while exporters from countries with an unfavorable environmental image need measures to compensate. Companies and countries should monitor how the environmental image of their country evolves in important markets and be ready to act when facing damages to their country's environmental image.Originality/valueThis article is the first to propose a measure of environmental country image and to document that consumers use the environmental image of an exporting country to assess environmental claims on imported products.

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Section: Theoretical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of the export country's environmental image for consumer responses to an imported environmentally friendly product

Thøgersen

Pedersen

2021

IMR

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“…Among the clues available at the time of purchase, CoO serves as a signal to infer the quality of F&V products and evaluate their social acceptability [8,20]. If consumers have limited or incomplete (intrinsic) information on product quality, they tend to rely on external properties while evaluating a product [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Computational Technologies for Pakistani Consumers’ Understanding of the Country-of-Origin Label for Fruit and Vegetable Products in Social Networks

Wang

Hong

Zhou

et al. 2022

Security and Communication Networks

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Whether or not consumers consider information about origin in their routine food purchase decisions is a contentious issue. Usage of social networks has redefined lifestyle and culture, and firms are finding it difficult to understand their customers. This study aims to investigate the effect of social networks (digital marketing) on Pakistani consumers’ understanding of the CoO (country-of-origin) label for F&V (fruit and vegetable) products and its relative importance in daily purchase decisions of fruit and vegetable products. In a random survey of 797 consumers in two Pakistani cities, we found that the relationship between the CoO information and the daily F&V product choices of Pakistani consumers was less important than other factors. Consumers are mistaken about the CoO label, with only one-third of respondents correctly understanding the difference between labels of “made in...” and “product of....” Therefore, mandatory CoO label policies may increase costs and reinforce consumers’ misinterpretation of the meaning of these labels; obtaining a “user-friendly” CoO label serves only those consumers who properly understand the information. This study contributes to understanding of the extent to which consumers are competent in their knowledge and understanding of these informational labels.

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Section: Future Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the negative side, brand transgression may also affect the home country image negatively. Volkswagen's circumvention of emissions tests has arguably hurt Germany's global image as a leading car manufacturer (Aichner et al, 2021). Reciprocal spillover effects (Balachander and Ghose, 2003), also referred to as "reverse COO effects" (Lee and Lockshin, 2012), deserve more attention because of their economic importance at both macro and micro levels, making it a welcome avenue for future research endeavors.…”

Section: Future Research Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumer animosity: the mitigating effect of perceived brand globalness

Mandler

Bartsch

Krüger

et al. 2023

IMR

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PurposeThis research investigates if perceived brand globalness (PBG) can help mitigate the adverse effects of consumer animosity on brand evaluations and purchase intentions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyze survey data from Chinese consumers (N = 395) and South Korean consumers (N = 420) using multi-group structural equation modeling. In both countries, the authors use Japanese products as stimuli, ensuring high comparability levels between the studies.FindingsThe authors empirically demonstrate that PBG can mitigate the negative consequences of consumer animosity by weakening the spillover effect between product–country image and brand evaluations. However, the authors find the mitigating effect of PBG only in China, not in South Korea.Originality/valueBy highlighting PBG's role as an actionable moderator that firms can manipulate to attenuate the negative consequences of consumer animosity toward a brand's country of origin, this work adds to the much-needed debate about how animosity-induced effects can be mitigated in times of global conflicts and tensions.

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Did the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal Harm the “Made in Germany” Image? A Cross-Cultural, Cross-Products, Cross-Time Study

Cited by 8 publications

References 75 publications

The importance of the export country's environmental image for consumer responses to an imported environmentally friendly product

The importance of the export country's environmental image for consumer responses to an imported environmentally friendly product

Computational Technologies for Pakistani Consumers’ Understanding of the Country-of-Origin Label for Fruit and Vegetable Products in Social Networks

Consumer animosity: the mitigating effect of perceived brand globalness

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